Why use canned when you can have fresh?

I have never made my own pureed pumpkin before but thought I would give it a try this year thanks to some encouragement from one of my husbands friends and oh the free pumpkins from his work didn't hurt either. :)

1. Split the pumpkins in half and scrape out the seeds/pulp.
2. On a rimmed cookie sheet, pour a half cup of water and put the pumpkins cut side down.

3. Roast at 350 for 45-60 minutes, until soft.
4. When cool enough to handle, I scoop the flesh out of the pumpkin.
You can run it through a food mill so that any seeds, skin or pulp that are missed get strained out when pureed, or alternately use a potato masher, blender, food processor, etc.

Freezing the puree guarantees you have pumpkin to cook with year round instead of hunting around for the canned stuff in the off season at your local grocery store.

Whole chicken in a crock pot

This is a GREAT way to save time and money on chicken.
Buying a whole chicken can be much cheaper then buying it piece by piece and you can have fresh chicken broth when you're done!

I got this from The Happy Housewife's blog and so I encourage you to follow the link on over there!
Whole Chicken in a Crock pot.

Turkey Chili

This one comes from the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld (yes she's married to THAT Seinfeld) :)


Prep 15 minutes Total 35 minutes Serves 8
**I doubled this one though so it took a little longer to cook**

Nonstick cooking spray
1 Tbs Olive oil
1/2 C chopped red onion
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used my grater plater for this one!)
1 Tbs chili powder, or to taste
1 tsp salt
1/4 sp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (15 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 (26 oz) carton of reduced fat low sodium chicken broth (I used my vegetarian/organic bouillon chicken cubes for this one)
1/2 C red pepper puree (this is one of her "trick" veggie slip ins since I didn't have this I used red pepper instead to spice it up a bit, only about 1 tsp.)
1/2 C carrot puree (another one of her "truck" veggie slip ins that I just did right there while cooking.)
1/4 C cornmeal
2 Tbs flaxseed meal (I could NOT for the life of me find this so we skipped it)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Coat the bottom of a large pot with cooking spray and set over medium heat. When the pot is hot, add the oil. Add the onion and cook until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile sprinkle the turkey with the garlic, chili powder, salt, paprika and pepper. Add the turkey to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the turkey is no longer pink.

Stir in the tomatoes. Add the broth, red pepper puree, carrot puree, cornmeal, and flaxseed meal, stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered. 15-20 minutes, or until the flavors have blended. Stir in the beans and cook a little longer, just to heat them through and to help thicken.

mexi deli rolls revisited

Mexi deli rolls were something my mom used to make as a quick lunch/dinner idea that was fast and very filling when I was kid.
However this time around in making them I didn't have the exact ingredients she had so I improvised a bit.

Mexi Deli rolls

1 package of Flour tortillas (on average we have 1-2 rolls per person depending on the age here so my family usually uses 10 tortillas)
Sliced deli ham
Sliced turkey smoked or regular will do
guacamole (we didn't have this so we used sliced avocado and I liked it better!)
sour cream
shredded iceberg lettuce (I only had romaine so I used 1 leaf per roll)
shredded mexican or shredded cheddar cheese
toothpicks

I spread a little bit of sour cream and guacamole on the tortilla maybe about a 1/2 Tbs but you can do this to taste. Then lay slices of ham and turkey usually about 2 each and finally put some cheese and lettuce on top of that to taste I do about a little less then a 1/4 or so.
Last but not least roll tightly without splitting the tortilla and use a toothpick to hold together if necessary.
Can be served with chips and salsa.