Weekly plan, 12/7

Dairy delivery this week: Two 1/2 gallons of 2% milk, one dozen eggs

Monday - Sinterklaasavond leftovers

Tuesday - Two bean tamale pie and asparagus

Wednesday - Grilled pork loin, spinach and orzo pasta, sweet potato fries, and spinach salad (with feta, olives, and pine nuts)

Thursday - Leftover tamale pie

Friday - Leftover pork dinner

Saturday - Dinner with friends! I'm in charge of wilted chard and pumpkin cheesecake...yum!

Sunday - Lentil veggie soup (with carrots, kale, tomatoes, and celery), and fresh bread

Grocery List - For the tamale pie I'll dried pinto beans, vegetable juice, and Bob's organic corn muffin mix; for the pork dinner night I'll need a pork loin and spinach; for dinner with friends I'll need chard, and, for the cheesecake, just cream cheese (I already have sour cream, pumpkins, graham crackers, etc. on hand); and for lenitil veggie soup I'll need kale.

Pumpkin pancakes

With all the baked pumpkin in the house this just seemed like a great idea. In the end there wasn't quite enough flavor, so next time I think I'll add a little more cinnamon. Here, though, is the recipe as I used it today. As usual it's an online recipe search hybrid.

Pumpkin pancakes

Ingredients:
  ● 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 white, 1 whole wheat
  ● 4 tbsp. brown sugar
  ● 2 tbsp baking powder
  ● 1 tsp. ground allspice
  ● 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  ● 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  ● 1-2 tsp. ground ginger
  ● 1/2 tsp. salt
  ● 1 1/2 cups milk
  ● 1 cup pumpkin puree
  ● 2 eggs
  ● 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
  ● 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  ● chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Directions:
 1. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine, then allow to sit for a few minutes to fully absorb dry mixture before adding the remaining 1/2 cup milk. Stir just enough to mix in. Add nuts directly to batter and fold in gently.
 2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Weekly plan, 11/30

Dairy delivery this week: Two 1/2 gallons of 2% milk

Monday - Thanksgiving leftovers

Tuesday - Sunday night dinner leftovers, orzo, and swiss chard

Wednesday - Leftover orzo thrown with kale and chicken sausage

Thursday - Leftover orzo, thrown with spinach, feta, and canolinis

Friday - Cheese sandwiches and tomato soup in front of a fire!

Saturday - Sinterklaasavond! We'll be having Huzarensalade, Alkmaarse Kaassoep, Runderlappen, Boerenkool met aardappel, Runderlappen, and Speculaas.

Sunday - Leftover Dutch dinner shared with family

Grocery List - This could be a lot of shopping. We need kale, swiss chard, spinach and feta for the earlier part of the week. For the big Dutch celebration we'll need Round steak, bacon, and a lot of onions for the Runderlappen; kale and several pounds of potatoes for teh boerenkool met aardappel; lettuce, beets, cocktail onions, apples, gherkins, and fresh parsley for the huzarensalade; Sharp ghouda, milk, and celeriac for the Alkmaarse Kaassoep; and sliced almonds for the speculaas;

Pumpkin cupcakes

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin! You know we're always trying new pumpkiny things, and I had extra pumpkin puree after baking the pie for Thanksgiving, so I decided on cupcakes (you know how long it's been since I made cupcakes? too long). This is a combination of recipes I found around the web, and it went over well with all four of the families we noshed with this holiday, so I hope you like it!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Yield: 24 cupcakes.
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients for the cupcakes:
  ● 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  ● 1 tbsp. baking powder
  ● 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  ● 1/2 tsp. salt
  ● 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  ● 1/2 cup butter, softened
  ● 1 1/3 cups sugar
  ● 2 eggs, beaten
  ● 1 cup pumpkin puree
  ● 3/4 cup milk
  ● 1 cup chopped pecans

Ingredients for the frosting:
  ● 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  ● 1/2 cup butter, softened
  ● 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
  ● 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, then blend in mashed pumpkin. Stir in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth after each addition; fold in chopped pecans. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. While baking, beat butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until well blended, then mix in sugar. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Vegetarian tostadas with lentils

Lots of veggies and a lighter cheese make this a healthy meal with a good enough protein to pack a punch (one tostada is about 270 calories, 9g of fat, and 18g protein).

Vegetarian toastadas with lentils

Yield: 4

Ingredients:
  ● 1-3/4  cups water
  ● 3/4  cup dry red lentils, rinsed and drained
  ● 1/4  cup chopped onion
  ● 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
  ● 1  clove garlic, minced
  ● 1/2  tsp. salt
  ● 1/2  tsp. ground cumin
  ● 4  tostada shells
  ● 2  cups chopped fresh vegetables (I used broccoli, tomato, zucchini, and summer squash)
  ● 3/4  cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese (3 ounces)

Directions:
1. In a saucepan stir together water, lentils, onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash mixture to make a spread (I used a potato masher).

2. Spread the lentil mixture on tostada shells (I made homemade tortillas, then brushed them with olive oil and baked them for a few minutes until they were browning and crunchy); top with the vegetables and cheese. Place on a large baking sheet. Broil tostadas 3 to 4 inches from the heat about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 4 servings.