Prep:5 min
Cooking: 25 min
Yields:6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover, cooked rice
1-2 cups coconut water, rice milk or water
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons raw honey or maple syrup

Directions:

-Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil.
-Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.
-Continue cooking until raisins are plump, coconut is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated.
-Taste and add more sweetener if necessary.

Sweet Squash Corn Muffins
(makes 12 muffins)

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or barley flour
1 tablespoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons dulse flakes
2 cups winter squash puree or sweet potato puree
1/3 cup cold-pressed vegetable oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup water

Topping
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and dulse flakes; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together squash, oil, syrup, and water, until smooth. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients and mix with a minimum of strokes. Spoon into muffin cups. Decorate top of each muffin with pumpkin seeds. Bake 20 – 25 minutes. Top of muffin should crack slightly when done.

* * * * *

photo: Beau B

Prep time: about 1 to 2 hours
Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients:
1 8-oz. container of your favorite flavor of yogurt

Utensils:
small paper cups
wooden popsicle sticks
plastic wrap

Directions:
Pour yogurt into paper cups. Fill them almost to the top.
Stretch a small piece of plastic wrap across the top of each cup.
Using the popsicle stick, poke a hole in the plastic wrap. Stand the stick straight up in the center of the cup. Put the cups in the freezer until the yogurt is frozen solid.
Remove the plastic wrap, peel away the paper cup, and eat your pop!

photo: averagejane

Please note that all of the images presented in this post are Copyrighted by Jen Yu and should not be copied/used without her permission.  I of course got very special permission, but that was before Jen knew I was stalking her…er, hi Jen!

Sugar Plums
from Saveur Magazine

2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for ten minutes. Set aside to cool and then finely chop. Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Mix almonds, apricots, dates and spice mix in a large bowl. Mix well. Pinch off rounded teaspoon-sized pieces and roll into balls. Dust the sugar plums with powdered sugar and refrigerate in single layers between sheets of wax paper in airtight containers for up to one month.

Modest Beet Salad

4 beets, peeled and cut into 8ths
2 oranges, segmented
2 oz goat cheese
wild greens (as much as you like)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, mashed to hell
salt
pepper
1 tsp sugar
2/3 cup olive oil
garlicky croutons (optional)

Roast the beets in a sealed foil packet at 400F for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit sealed for another 10 minutes. Remove from foil. Spread the beets, oranges, and crumbled goat cheese over the greens. In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. Dress the salad and serve. I like to add some crunchy, garlicky homemade croutons.

Grandma Esau’s Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the eggs until foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and the oil. Add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda) and incorporate until just combined. Fold in chopped nuts and pour batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake for an hour or until a toothpick comes out almost clean (moist crumb stage).

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Jen swears this could serve over a dozen people

2 medium butternut squash
2 green apples, peeled, cored, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tsp fresh marjoram (optional – I omitted)
2 qts chicken broth
salt
pepper
2 oz. butter

Cut squashes in half or quarters and scoop out the seeds. Roast in a 400F oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until soft. Peel and chop the squash. Boil onions, apples, and shallots in broth and simmer for 30 minutes or until soft. Purée the squash adding broth from the simmering pot as needed (I needed a few cups). Strain the apples, onions, and shallots from the broth and reserve the liquid. Purée the solids. Add both purées to the broth and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the butter and heat the soup until it just begins to simmer. Serve hot.

Ingredients:
1 cup grapes
1 cup blueberries
2 sliced bananas
1 apple cut into cubes
2 peeled & sliced oranges
10 halved strawberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

Instructions:
Mix all of the fruit in a large bowl. Whisk the pineapple juice & yogurt together and pour over the fruit. Refrigerate before serving.

*image courtesy of Calirity

1/2 c PB crunchy or smooth
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg white
1 c rolled oats
1 c oatflour
1/2 c Splenda
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c raisins (optional)
water as needed

1. Mix dry stuff together
2. Mix wet stuff together
3. Combine both dry & wet (Hmm, sounds kinda bad)
4. Spoon out 24 cookies on to sprayed baking sheet, bake 325, 10-15 min. until done

*image courtesy of bcmom

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of fat free cottage cheese
1/2 scoop of protein powder (vanilla flavor works best)
1 packet of Splenda (optional)
1 tbsp sugar free instant pudding mix (cheesecake or vanilla flavor)
4-5 tbsp of fat free milk or water (helps thin out mixture)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix for about 1 minute until smooth. Top with sliced almonds, strawberries, or nothing at all.

Chill for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

*Image courtesy of Scubadive67