Novemeber Food Recipes

Here are some recipes I have been meaning to blog about, but never got around to it.  I am way behind in my blogging, so you are going to get 3 recipes in one post today.  Lucky you!  Well since we had so many apples, I wanted to find some other ways to enjoy them besides eating them for lunch everyday.  I thought Hope would enjoy making caramel apples (and obviously this baby has a major sweet tooth as well, which works for me).  Adam wasn't as excited about them at first but then when I told him he wasn't out and trying to eat them with his teeth (you can cut off a piece from the apple) and eat it, he perked up. 



My ingredients

5 apples with wooden sticks poked in the tops

1 bag of caramels microwaved until nice and soft

Butterfinger candy bars crushed up

Crushed walnuts (toasted and cooled)

Chocolate chips (not shown yet)

After I dipped the apples into the caramel and let the excess drip off, I immediately coated them in either the butterfinger crumbles or the walnuts (one had both - talk about yummy!). 

Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes.  You could be done or . . .  Then for good measure, I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzled the chocolate over the top of each caramel apple (like they weren't sweet enough).  These were amazing!  It was so nice to have these in the house.  They were so good!  Adam and I would split on after lunch most days.  Yummy!!!  I highly recommend!

After carving our pumpkin every year, I always take the seeds and separate them from the stringy stuff to roast.  This year I went took a different angle though.  My seeds from our pumpkin, cleaned.

Additonal ingredients - 1 tablespoon Earth Balance, 1 tablespoon organic sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (mixed together)

I threw the butter in the the seeds and mixed and followed by the sugar mixture.  Then it's off to the pan and into the oven (400 degrees) for about 45 minutes.   

Yum again!  This was my midmorning snack everyday for at least a week.

On Halloween, before all the crazy trick or treating started, I made a festive dinner for all 3 of us (yes, Hope got one too).  I adapted this recipe from Angela (thanks, it was great). 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili in Pumpkin Bowls

Ingredients

• 3 mini sweet pumpkins
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 1-15oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1-15oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Take the mini sweet pumpkin and slice the top off about 3/4 of the way up. Scoop out the insides of the pumpkin using a spoon. This is time consuming, so make sure you remember to do this earlier in the day. I saved the seeds again and did a savory roasted pumpkin seeds with a little kosher salt on them on then pop them in the oven.
When the pumpkins are empty and cleaned out, spray or drizzle the insides with olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. You will be eating the pumpkin flesh so you want it to taste delicious!
Now pop your pumpkins onto a baking pan and into the oven for 30 minutes. While they are roasting in the oven, make the chili.
In a large pot, add the oil and turn heat to medium. Add chopped onion and minced garlic and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes or so. Reduce heat if necessary to avoid burning.
Now add the chopped pepper and butternut squash. Cook for about 12-15 minutes.
Now add in the drained and rinsed beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, vegetable broth, and S & P and stir well.
Simmer on low-medium for another 5 minutes.
Now remove your pumpkins from the oven and fill the bowls 3/4 of the way full. Place pumpkins carefully back into the oven (again without top) and bake for another 30 minutes.
Once they are cooked, turn oven off and leave pumpkins in the oven with lid on to stay warm. They will stay hot in the oven for another hour if necessary. Serves 3.

The chili was very good, but I might do a little emersion blending next time to thicken it up.  It was nice having the baked pumpkin to add into each chili bite but it was very time consuming, so I might have to save that for special occasions only. 

Well now I am caught up for October and Novemember recipes.  I did one last night that I will post soon!