Pumpkin, Raisin and Ginger Cookies

from: somewhere on the web

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 apples – peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch tube pan. Cover raisins with warm water, let soak for 10 minutes and then drain. Whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir together soda and 1 tablespoon warm water, and mix into the sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture, apples, and strained raisins until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan. Once cool, shake pan to loosen cake. Turn onto plate, and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

from: Pillsbury Bake-Off

Ingredients
1 (14-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury Pumpkin Quick Bread & Muffin Mix
1/2 cup cinnamon-covered raisins or plain raisins
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, combine quick bread mix, raisins and ginger; mix well. Add butter and egg; stir until dry particles are moistened. (Mixture may be crumbly.)

In small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; mix well. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove from cookie sheets.

Nutritional Info (1 cookie)
150 calories; 6g fat; 25mg cholesterol; 120 mg sodium; 23g carbs; 1g fiber; 15g sugar; 2g protein

Fancy Grilled Cheese

from: the food labs of Jesser.org

Ingredients
bread (various varieties)
cheese (various varieties)
spreadable butter
ham (optional)
apples (optional)
anything else you can dream up

Directions
Choose your fixings carefully. Butter two slices of bread and make a sandwich of them, buttered sides facing out. Put whatever you like in the middle. Jess loves jack cheese and thinly sliced apples on raisin bread. Matt loves ham and cheddar on wheat bread.

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat. You don't want it too hot, because then the bread toasts before the cheese melts. You don't want it too cool because then the bread gets soggy instead of toasty.

Put your made up sandwich in the skillet and let it brown up. Flip it over and repeat on the opposite site. Pull it off and enjoy cheesy gooey yumminess.

Roasted Fresh Corn, Poblano, and Cheddar Pizza

from: CookingLight July 2005

Ingredients
2 poblano chiles
Cooking spray
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup l% low-fat milk
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
Heat Broiler

Place poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 10 minutes or until blackened and charred, turning occasionally. Place in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and discard skins, seeds, and stems. Chop peppers.

Lower oven temperature to 425°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add corn, green onions, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in milk; cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Cool slightly. Place egg whites, egg, salt, and black pepper in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in poblano peppers, corn mixture, and cheese.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll dough onto parchment paper; pat dough to form a 13 x 8-inch rectangle. Spread corn mixture over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold 1 inch of dough over corn mixture. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until set. Serve with sour cream; sprinkle with cilantro.

Nutritional Info (1/6th pizza(
CALORIES 331(28% from fat); FAT 10.3g (sat 4.4g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 15.8g; CHOLESTEROL 57mg; CALCIUM 186mg; SODIUM 808mg; FIBER 1.6g; IRON 2.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44.5g

Peach Shakes

from: Martha Stewart Kids Summer 2002

Ingredients
4 medium peaches (about 1 lb)
6 oz soft tofu
1/3 cup orange juice
1 T honey

Directions
Score an X in the bottom of each peach. Prepare an ice bath. Heat a saucepan with water to a boil. Place each peach in the boiling water for 30 seconds and then transfer to the ice bath. Drain the peaches and then peel them, starting at your X. Cut the peaches away from the pit in chunks.

Place the chunks of peaches and the other ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Oven Chips

from: CookingLight August 2005

Ingredients
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)
Cooking spray

Directions
Heat oven to 425°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Info (3/4 cup)
CALORIES 61(28% from fat); FAT 1.9g (sat 1g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 3.8g; CHOLESTEROL 5mg; CALCIUM 87mg; SODIUM 231mg; FIBER 1g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 7.6g

Sunrise Smoothie

from: Shape Magazine

Ingredients
1 c lite vanilla soy milk
1/2 c calcium OJ
1 banana (I like frozen ones), peeled, obviously

Directions
Chunk it all in a blender and smoothie it up.

Mini Calzones

from: Adapted from Jamie's Dinners

Ingredients
puff pastry (freezer section)
pepperoni
mozzarella (shredded)
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
mushrooms (fresh, sliced)
sea salt
egg wash (1 egg yolk, 2 tbsp water beat together)

Directions
Heat oven to 425 Roll out your puff pastry to a bit less than 1/4″ thick. Use some kitchen object as a template to cut out 7″ rounds. Take each round and squish a cherry tomato over it, breaking up the skin into small pieces. Cover the tomato with some shredded cheese. Sprinkle on some basil and sea salt. Top with a couple of slices of pepperoni and some mushrooms.

Fold the pastry in half onto itself, trapping the filling inside. Crimp the edges of the pastry with your finger or a fork or whatever. Brush the pastry with the egg wash.

Arrange the little calzones on a cookie sheet and bake them until golden brown and puffy … approx 15-20 min.

Sweet Potato Fries

from: Matt & Jess Nichols

Ingredients
a few sweet potatoes
oil to fry (1 cup?)
seasoning salt (garlic salt, onion salt, lawson’s)

Directions
Peel the potatoes and slice them into fry-like pieces (you know, kinda long and squarish).

Heat the oil (you don’t need tons … just an inch or so) to frying temperature (you know, when you flick a little water in it, it bounces and hisses). Then you dunk your potato slices in there and fry them for a couple of minutes.

Drain them on a paper towel on a plate and season them with the salt of your choice while they’re still hot.

Let cool slightly and much away!

Confetti Quesadillas

from: Cooking with Jaz

Ingredients
1 dozen flour tortillas
1 large can whole green chiles
1 large can tomato sauce
1 lb. monterey jack cheese, cut in 1/4″ thick slices
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Directions
Heat oven to 400. Brown ground beef and drain. Add tomato sauce and simmer for a few minutes. Add the pepper and chili powder. Simmer for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, grease a 9×13″ pan. In each tortilla, roll up a slice of cheese and a chile. Line burritos up in the baking pan. Add the juice from the chiles to the sauce. Pour sauce over the burritos and bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

from: 98

Ingredients
1 pound bacon
2 white onions, thinly sliced
1-2 freshly caught, pan-sied trout, cleaned
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Fry, drain and nibble on bacon while doing next step! Saute onions in bacon grease, drain and salt, and nibble while preparing the fish. Coat fish well with mixture of corn meal, flour, salt and pepper. Fry fish inhot grease until done and very crisp. Garnish with onion and baking.

from: 96

Ingredients
1 tablsepoon butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 garlic clove, minced
2/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons minced seeded jalepeno
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 8-inch tortillas
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions
Heat butter in a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, corn, and garlic, and saute 30 seconds. Add tomato and jalepeno; saute 4 minutes. Stir in shrimp, lemon juice, cilantro and salt; saute 3 minutes. Remove corn mixture from skillet; keep warm.

Place one tortilla in a skillet over medium heat, and top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1/2 cup corn mixture over cheese; top with a tortilla. Cook 3 minutes, pressing down with a spatula until the cheese melts. Turn carefully and cook until thoroughly heated (about 1 minute). Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with salsa or sour cream or guacamole.

Calzones

from: Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2003

Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup light-brown sugar
2 small pink grapefruit
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup milk
whipped cream (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Put 4 tablespoons butter in a 9-inch round baking pan. Place the pan in the oven just long enough to melt the butter. Remove pan from oven; scatter ½ cup brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.

With a sharp knife, peel the grapefruit, removing all pith (the white stuff). Slice into small rounds. Arrange the slices to cover the bottom of the pan. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and allspice. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat remaining butter until creamy. Add granulated sugar and remaining ¼ cup brown sugar; beat until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add dry ingredients and milt to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Pour batter over grapefruit in pan. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; turn cake out onto serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream if desired.

from: Matt & Jess Nichols

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cups flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
¾ cups milk
1 ½ cups mixture coarsely chopped bananas and strawberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 5×9 inch loaf pan. Cream 1 cup of the sugar, and butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the flour. Sift the remaining flour with baking powder and salt. Mix flour alternately with milk into creamed mixture, beating until smooth after each addition. Combine the reserved 2 tablespoons flour with fruit and gently fold into batter.

Turn into prepared pan and bake 1 hour fifteen minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes then pierce gently with a fork. Makes 1 loaf.

from: Jess & Matt Nichols

Ingredients
2 packages of ready-made pizza dough
mozzarella cheese, grated
pizza toppings (we like mushrooms & ground beef)
marinara sauce for dipping

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. If you need to prepare any of the ingredients (grate the mozzarella cheese, brown the ground beef, etc.) do that.

Spread out one can of dough on a cookie sheet with your fingers. Cut it into four sections. On each half of the dough slices, put some mozzarella cheese and pizza toppings. Fold over and seal edges with your finger tips or a fork. Arrange the calzones on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes in the oven or until golden brown.

Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.