Cooking with real pumpkin

Posted on October 17, 2011 by admin

How to make fresh Pumpkin Puree

During colder months one of the main activities that people participate in is baking. Baking anything and everything. If it isn’t nailed down it typically ends up in a brownie mix and you like it, odd how that works isn’t it.

One main ingredient that I have being using A LOT of this season is pumpkin. I am using pumpkin puree for dinner, desert, and occasionally breakfast. As I was making dinner last night, with pumpkin puree, I took note of the fact that I only ever use fresh puree and I decided to tell you why.

Whether you want to read it or not.

Fresh Pumpkin puree is probably one of the easiest fresh ingredient to incorporate into your cooking. The flavor is not overwhelming and it is crammed with vitamins. Vitamin A, C, K, E, Z,G, Magnesium, Potassium, Fiber (I added some of my own vitamins letters to shake it up)

You can eat healthy without noticing. This is a big win for me. I enjoy feeling like I am getting away with something.

Would you like to know how?

Get a pie pumpkin and slice it in two. Lay it meat side down and bake it at 350 for an hour to an hour and a half. When it is done, scoop it out and throw it into a food processor until it is smooth.

Voila – Fresh Pumpkin puree that is not canned from a factory. If you want to save it then put it in a storage container and place in the freezer.

Super simple and you can feel like you are getting away with something just like me.

Gold Medal Flour Baking Giveaway

Posted on October 12, 2011 by admin

The fall season is practically synonymous with baking. I know, that for me, not only is it synonymous with baking but it is practically goes hand and hand with images that can primarily only be found on a Hallmark card.

That is where I want to live, in a Hallmark card or Prescott, AZ. However, until that becomes a reality I am going to settle for the reality of my current situation. It’s still hot outside and the AC still kicks on and I am going to be bitter about it until November.

This afternoon I used my imagination and pretended that I was indeed in the middle of fall weather and that baking Pumpkin Bars was a good and sensible idea. Other than the heat aspect it was a VERY GOOD idea.

Earlier this month Gold Medal Flour sent me a package that hurled me directly into fall season. They sent me baking supplies and then told me to bake. I didn’t have to be told twice. I went through the recipe cards and selected the the pumpkin bars and today I went to work….

Here is the progression of the Pumpkin Bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour

Pumpkin bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat flour do not last long

Pumpkin bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour
And yes… That is how my table looks…perfectly coordinated with pumpkins.

The Pumpkin Bars were unbelievably good. The house smells delicious and the boys devoured their slices.

I could go on about how I was secretly proud of myself for baking with Wheat flour and that my children had no idea or the wonderful surprise there was no “wheaty” taste to the bars. But I’m not going to…..When it comes to baking I care about the flavor and these were a huge hit.

Now Gold Medal Flour is giving you the opportunity to bake the Fall season away.

Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour giveaway

They are providing the same giveaway as I received:

A VIP coupon for a free bag of Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour

A cookie jar (porcelain)

Recipe Cards

Instructions for conversion

Here are the rules to win:

Follow Becoming Homegrown and tell me your favorite thing to bake

Follow Gold Medal Flour on Facebook

Tweet about the give away and reference BecomingHome

Don’t forget to come back and tell me each of your entries – Three separate entries available

The giveaway will end October 25. 1:30 pm PST Good Luck!

** Disclosure:The Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour product, information, and giveaway have been provided by Gold Medal through MyBlogSpark.**

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on August 3, 2011 by admin

Bacon seems to be all the rage right now. Its celebrity status is almost equal to the Deep Frying rage of the early 2000s. Pigs everywhere are running to the hills…

I recently stepped into the Bacon popularity and made a bacon lovin’ friend some cookies. Chocolate chip BACON cookies. Surprisingly, they turned out fairly good. It definitely is a different flavor but not a bad one.

How to make Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, room temp

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maple extract

1/3 cup chopped COOKED bacon

1 cup BITTERSWEET chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt – set aside

3. Beat together the brown sugar, white sugar, butter with an electric mixer

4. Add the eggs one at a time and add the maple and vanilla extract

5. Stir in flour mixture until it is just combined.

6. Add the bacon and chocolate chips

7. Bake between 10-12 (I found 11 minutes did the best)

(recipe from all recipes.com)

Give it a try and let me know what you think. I would love to see pictures as well!

Apple-Bran Pancakes and Green Giant Giveaway winner

Posted on March 2, 2011 by admin

Bran-Apple Pancakes. Does the word Bran make you shudder and cringe? Do images of backpacking, fast digestion, and the vegan hippie at your local organic store pop into your mind? It did for me.

Usually, as a rule, I stay away from anything that has high fiber and bran in the name. However, I am on a new eating routine and I do not want to gain all the weight that I lost so I sucked it up and pushed my digestive worries to the side and made some Bran-Apple Pancakes.

They look like normal pancakes!

Do you like my “decorative” placement of the strawberries?! That was just for you guys.

These pancakes were good. Seriously. I am not lying. They hit the spot and they did not taste weird healthy. You know what I mean, don’t deny it, that weird healthy after taste you get after consuming something that is extremely good for you… These pancakes had NO aftertaste, my kids gobbled them up and I did NOT GAIN one pound. The perfect pancake. Love it!

Alright, I also made these last Friday.

So not healthy.

Sooooo Good!

Sigh- I love you mini-cheesecakes.

Winner Time:

The winner of the Green Giant Giveaway is

# 29.

Kimberly

She said:

I like you on Facebook

Kimberly – You have 24 hours to contact me through my profile email contact!!!

Thank you everyone for playing and I do have another giveaway soon. CRAZY!