Don’t you just love this set of piecrust cutters for Thanksgiving.  My mother always used a leaf from the yard and cut her own leaves for the top of pumpkin pies.  It’s such a nice memory.  These are just a bit more refined…

If you’re interested – here’s the link>>>

Okay ladies, I never steer you wrong, do I?  Nope, I never do.   Law-dee, let me tell you, these things are pure heaven, nectar of the gods, bone tingling delicious. The kind of thing you take a bite, roll your eyes and go, OMG, OMG, this is delicious!  For real they are.

I picked up a pack of Caramel Creme.  One taste and and you won’t miss dessert, pinkie swear.  The taste is unbelievably good.  Reminiscent of a tart, tangy creme brulee. 

Next I’m trying the Lemon Torte,  then the Chocolate Raspberry.  The Triple Berry Creme doesn’t do it for me as much, but I’ll eventually get around to those as well.

Check them out here, all are 100 calories of pure decadence.  Trust me on this one, they are to-die-for.

~ jan

.

Slice tops from 16 (1-oz.) hearty round dinner rolls, and then let guests hollow out centers and spoon chili into them.

Total: 27 minutes
Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2  pounds  lean ground beef
• 2  tablespoons  chili powder
• 1  tablespoon  Creole seasoning
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 2  (16-oz.) cans diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion
• 2  (16-oz.) cans small red beans
• 2  (8-oz.) cans tomato sauce
• Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, diced tomatoes

Preparation

1. Brown beef in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring often, 6 to 8 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Return beef to Dutch oven; sprinkle with chili powder, Creole seasoning, and cumin, and sauté 1 minute.

2. Stir in diced tomatoes and next 2 ingredients, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Serve with toppings.

Southern Living, FEBRUARY 2010

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Here is the original recipe:

3 cups French bread, cubed
⅔ cup 1% low fat milk
¼ cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 egg white
8 packets SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener with Fiber
¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray four (4 oz) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside until ready to use.
   2. Cut bread into one-inch cubes. Set aside.
   3. Mix milk, pumpkin, egg, egg white SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener with Fiber, spices and vanilla together in a medium mixing bowl. Add bread chunks and stir until bread is coated. Allow bread to soak up moisture for 10-15 minutes.
   4. Spoon bread pudding into the prepared ramekins. Top with chopped pecans. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and cover with foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Serve warm or chilled.

Serving Size: 1 ramekin (about 4 oz)

                    ************************************************

And here are my changes to make it even lower in calories

I used 4 slices of cubed 100% Whole Wheat Nature’s Own bread instead of the french bread the recipe calls for.

I didn’t have Splenda with Fiber, I just used 8 packets of regular Splenda

I doubled the pumpkin pie spice to a heaping 1/2 teaspoon and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

If you have almond milk, this will pull the calories down even further, but I didn’t have it so I used skim milk.

Weight Watcher Calculations for the entire recipe –

• Wheat bread – 2 points for 4 slices
• Pumpkin – 0 points
• 1 egg and 1 egg white – 2 points
• Skim milk – 1 point

That’s 5 points for the entire recipe.  So that comes to 1.25 points per serving, if you add a few pecans and Cool Whip, you will still have less than 2 Weight Watcher points per ramekin.

If you are one of those people who doesn’t care for Splenda, you can substitute sugar or brown sugar, but of course your calories are going to increase.

This would be great with a sauce on it, I personally didn’t think it needed it, and I didn’t want to add the calories. 

I served this with just a dollop of Cool Whip Lite…

The original recipe came from the Splenda web site, check out the original recipe and other great ideas using Splenda here>>>

Badass ginger molasses cookies photo from jellypress.com
Nancy Gail Ring copyright 2010. All rights reserved."

When John and Ryan were little boys, I baked these cookies a lot.  They were one of our favorites, and I sometimes substituted sorghum if I didn’t have molasses.  If you like a moist, chewy, spicy cookie, this one is awesome.  So good that they’re going in the Tried ‘n True Hall of Fame, as well as the cookie category.

I didn’t have a photo of these cookies, but the ladies at Jellypress allowed me to use theirs.  They are using a different recipe, but the cookies look very similar to mine.

Try a batch, your family will love them, pinkie swear!

~ jan

Silver Palate Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter; add sugar and molasses, and mix thoroughly. Lightly beat egg and add to butter mixture, blend well. Sift flour with spices, salt and baking soda, and add to first mixture; mix. Batter will be wet. Lay a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet. Drop tablespoons of cookie batter on foil, leaving 3 inches between the cookies. These will spread during baking. Bake at 350 degrees until cookies start to darken, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven while still soft. Let cookies cool on foil, but remove foil from cookie sheet. Makes 24 very large flat cookies. These soft, chewy, spicy cookies will stay moist, in an airtight tin, for at least a week.

Note - It is easy to overbake these cookies. Remove them from the oven earlier than you think.

We didn’t have non-stick foil when this recipe was printed, but it would work great.

Source:  Silver Palate Cookbook

Check out Jellypress – Old Recipes Modern Life, it’s a bookmarker, ladies.  Very visual and arty, these ladies did a great job!

Ingredients
   
1/2 gallon(s) apple cider
1/3 cup(s) dark brown sugar
2 stick(s) cinnamon
5  whole allspice berries
1  (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) chunk fresh ginger, peeled
3  whole cloves
8 slice(s) orange

Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan, combine cider, sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, ginger, and cloves. Heat to a simmer and allow to cook 20 minutes. Strain into a punch bowl and garnish with orange slices. Serve warm.

Source:  Country Living

This is on my “must try” list.  My family are huge fans of Mac and Cheese, and we’re always searching for the perfect recipe.  This one, adapted from Paula Deen sounds great, nobody does this kind of dish better than Paula.

~ jan

Ingredients
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained (we’re a fan of shells, I would substitute Creamettes large shells for the elbow macaroni
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, or half Velveeta, half cheddar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

A butter/crumb topping on this would be excellent

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Top with additional cheese if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings

Source:  Paula Deen

This recipe got fantastic reviews.  I would adapt it a bit by adding roasted pecan pieces to the top, and omitting the rum in the glaze.  Orange juice would be a nice substitue.

~ jan

Ingredients:
1   pinch salt
1   9 ounce box raisins
2   Eggs, beaten
2   4.5-oz cans fruit cocktail (undrained)
1   14-oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated)
2 dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts
1 or 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Butter Rum Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioner’s sugar
Rum to taste

Directions
Cube donuts into a large bowl.  Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes.  Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour until center has jelled.  Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Butter Rum Sauce:

Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioner’s sugar.  Add Rum and heat until bubbly.  Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Adapted from a recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients:

2 lbs cut-up chicken or whole bone-in chicken breasts

Sauce mixture:

4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot sauce ( I use Louisiana Hot Sauce, Tabasco might be hotter)

Seasoning blend:

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Dredging mixture:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

I will add 1/2 cup of cornstarch to the dredge mix.  Cornstarch makes crust extra crispy.

Never cover chicken when it’s frying if you want that deep, crispy crust.

Directions:

Heat peanut oil in a large deep pot to 350°F (do not fill more than half full--you don't want a hot-oil spill-over accident!).

For sauce mixture: in a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the water.
Add hot sauce and whisk together well.

Source:  Food Network