Pumpkin Pie Hummus

Fall is in on the way - it is getting cooler outside and the leaves are starting to fall off the trees. This time of year always has me wanting to make comfort food, start packing away food for the winter and bake. One of my favorite ingredients to play with in the fall is pumpkin. I was playing on Pinterest and saw some pumpkin dips popping up so I thought I would try and make a somewhat healthy alternative to pumpkin pie. I ended up with a pumpkin pie hummus - eaten on a graham cracker this really does taste like pumpkin pie, but full of protein, fiber and iron!

Ingredients:
1 cup chick peas (about 1/2 a can)
¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp all spice
⅛ tsp ginger
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp molasses
3 tsp maple syrup

Directions:
Combine the ingredients in a blender or food process and mix until smooth.

This is a starting point - taste it and see if you think it needs any more spice or sweetener, I change the amounts a bit depending on the day and what I am wanting.

I love this spread on graham crackers!

Reviews:

I enjoy this and a friend ate ½ a batch in one day and then proceeded to demand the recipe, so it must be pretty good!

Egg Rolls

I had stumbled across this recipe a while ago on My Kitchen Café, and thought it would be fun to try and make them. The problem I soon discovered was in trying to find egg roll rappers. Apparently they aren’t easy to find around here.

I finally stumbled upon the wrappers and all the necessary sauces and was able to whip up some up. The key was to look in the correct area of the store – and despite the warnings from the author, they were actually called egg roll wrappers, not spring roll wrappers.

I decided to ½ the recipe as it was going to produce way more than I needed.

Egg Rolls
1 package vermicelli noodles
1lb ground pork
1 lb ground chicken
½ head of cabbage, shredded finely
2 whole eggs
1 egg white (save the egg yolk for sealing the egg rolls)
1/4 pound carrots, shredded finely (about 2-4 depending on size)
1 onion, finely chopped

Cook the noodles according the package instructions (soaking in hot water for 10 to 20 minutes). Once soaked, drain very well and chop noodles up a bit into 2-3 inch pieces (not too short).

Mix all the above ingredients (noodles, meat, cabbage, whole eggs, egg whites, carrots and onions) in a large bowl. Hand mixing works best. Then add:

1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoons fish sauce

Mix together.

Take a wrapper and place filling about a 1/3 of the way up the wrapper. Fold the end over, then fold the bottom up and roll. Seal using the leftover egg yolks.

In a pot heat oil (I used safflower) to about 375F. Drop in the rolls and cook until golden brown and cooked through, you will have to turn them so it cooks on both sides. (I tested the first couple with a thermometer to figure out how long it took to cook the insides.)

Reviews:
I only wrapped about 1/3 of the filling before I ran out of wrappers, oops. I froze the rest of the filling to use later – note this makes a lot of filling.

These were delicious, O loved them and friends enjoyed them. The 30 that I made and wrapped were gone in a matter of days, even after putting them in the freezer! They are completely addictive, and I can’t wait to make up the rest of them (although I am trying to hold out as I can’t imagine they will last very long).

A tip: make a bunch and put them in the freezer after cooked. When you want to have them for supper bake them for 20 min at 350F. They remain crisp and still taste amazing!

Wings, wings wings!

What goes better with a hockey game and friends but some yummy chicken wings! After searching for a good wings recipes that wouldn't take me ages to make, I made up my own "cheater" wings as well as trying another recipe from allrecipes.

My Cheater Chicken Wings

1/2 to 1 pound chicken wings
1 chicken bbq sauce

In a pan cover the chicken wings with bbq sauce and marinade for 1-2hours. (it also works without marinading them). Cover and place in oven, cook for 30 minutes at 375F. Remove and stir/flip wings, cover and cook for 30 more minutes. Uncover and cook 15 minutes.

"Candied" Garlic Chicken Wings (from allrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
2 pounds chicken wings

Heat the honey, soy sauce and garlic in a pan until they boil to form the sauce.

Place wings in the bottom of a pan (9x13 works well) and pour the sauce from step one over the chicken. Cover (with foil) and marinate in the fridge (hour to overnight).

Bake at 375 covered for 1 hour (turning after 30 minutes).

Remove cover and bake 15 minutes.

Remove wings from sauce and place on a rack. Bake for 20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes.

Hubby Rate: 8/10 for both kinds

Our friends loved the wings and we will definately make these again!