Michelle's Pumpkin Brownies

Pumpkin Brownies (allrecipes.com)

I like to read the reviews and followed a few suggestions-I used less flour (I actually used white-wheat flour) 1/2 a cup instead of 3/4 because I didn't want them to be cake-y. Also I used a teaspoon of pumpkin spice instead of the individual spices they mentioned.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan. Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, stir together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla extract; beat in the eggs one at a time with a spoon. Gradually add the flour mixture, and stir the batter until it's evenly moistened. Divide the batter in half in two separate bowls.
3. Into one bowl of batter, blend the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In the second bowl of batter, stir in the pumpkin puree, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
4. Spread 1/2 of the chocolate batter into the bottom of the prepared baking pan, and follow with 1/2 of the pumpkin batter. Repeat the layers, ending with a pumpkin layer, and drag a kitchen knife or small spatula gently through the layers in a swirling motion, to create a marbled appearance.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan, cut into squares, and serve.

Michelle and Ashley's Lasagna

Michelle's Comments:
So instead of Basil mine has Rosemary...last time I added chicken and since I don't like big chunks of squash I used canned butternut squash. (I found at target). Made prep super easy. I wish I knew how to tone it down a bit cause it was a little to rich. Also I made mine before church with no bake noodles, let it sit in refrigerator and cooked it after church was done.

Ashley's Comments:
'Tis the time for BUTTERNUT SQUASH! We LOVE butternut squash (maybe it is really just me, and Jason entertains me:) ) Here is the recipe I tried this month that turned out super yummy. Tiff, Mom says you make a GREAT Butternut Squash soup. I would love to have it if you have a chance to send it!

The only thing I did differently on this was that I sprinkled dried basil in between the layers. I think it made a big (delicious!) difference. And I also didn't quite use all of the cream mixture on top. Plus, one of the reviewers said that they didnt use any of the cream mix and it still turned out great. So just some things to keep in mind. :) ENJOY.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Garlic Lasagna

Ingredients

• 8 1/4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 3 pounds)
• Cooking spray
• 4 cups fat-free milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°.
• Arrange butternut squash in a single layer in a large roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Coat squash with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 25 minutes or until squash is just tender, stirring once. Set aside.
• Lower oven temperature to 350°.
• Combine 3 1/2 cups milk and rosemary in a 1-quart glass measuring cup, and microwave at high 5 minutes or until mixture begins to boil. Let stand 10 minutes. Strain milk through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard rosemary.
• Lightly spoon all-purpose flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and remaining 1/2 cup milk, stirring flour mixture with a whisk until well blended to form a slurry.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute or until tender, stirring constantly. Stir in steeped milk, and increase heat to medium-high. Gradually add slurry to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Combine milk mixture and squash, tossing gently.
• Spread about 1 1/2 cups squash mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over squash mixture; top with 2 cups squash mixture and 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers once with 3 noodles, 2 cups of squash, and 1/4 cup of cheese. Top with 3 noodles.
• Beat whipping cream and remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt with mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Spread the whipping cream mixture over noodles; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes.

MIchelle's Dinner in a pumpkin

Dinner in a Pumpkin

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (I use one package of fresh sliced mushrooms cut up smaller)
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 5 tablespoons dried currants (I use cranberries)
  
• 1/4 cup Progresso ® Chicken Broth
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 medium pie pumpkins (2-1/2 pounds each) (or one large one)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (I just use garlic salt and shake it from the bottle and don't measure)
  

• In a large saucepan, bring the water, rice, bouillon and curry powder to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until tender.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, onion and shallots for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
• Reduce heat; add the currants, broth, poultry seasoning, sage and marjoram. Return sausage to the pan. Cook and stir for 5-7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat; stir in rice.

I put mine in a regular large pumpkin, if I do that again I will pre-cook my pumpkin. Scrape out the inside guts and put a cup of water in it, put the pumpkin cap back on and put into a baking dish. Cook at 350 for 30 mins, sprinkle with garlic salt and then follow the rest of the recipe for putting in the filling and cooking it.

Michelle's Pumpkin Pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup

Pumpkin Pancakes
(This recipe can also be simplified by using bisquick and adding 1 cup pumpkin puree with spices and then milk to get to the right consistency)
*1 1/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 TBS honey
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C. milk
1 egg
1 C. pumpkin puree- with spices

*For blender wheat use:
1 C. wheat
1 C. buttermilk (or milk)

Blend for 5-7 min till smooth. Then add rest of ingredients and blend, if too thick add milk.

Syrup:

1/2 C. buttermilk
1 cube butter
1 C. Sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to boil all but vanilla. When sugar is dissolved take off heat and add vanilla.