Pie Pumpkin Puree ~ New Recipes Tried ~ Medjool Date Treat ~ First Cantaloupe

We finally got one evening of rain here.  I'm not sure how much more we'll get from the cucumbers, but they are almost all dead plants at this point.

The jalapenos are rolling in, so I have plans to bake us a jalapeno cheddar frittata for breakfast soon.  I also have plans to try a new hummus recipe (Jalapeno-Avocado).

I've been trying new tea infusions, and have included some new ones and excluded some we didn't like.  I found that yerba mate iced in the early part of the day is delicous with nothing else in it.

Once again, there are locals stealing, cars getting broke into, and in one small town, a person walked through the woods to break into a house.   

I have discovered something new!  I can substitute pie pumpkin puree for mashed bananas in a zucchini muffin recipe.  I have only made the recipe a few times, as we lacked the zucchini (squash bugs).

I did not know I could swap the pumpkin for the bananas, and I am blown away how good it tastes in the muffins.  I hope to try it in other recipes.

(You can read about pumpkin puree making last fall HERE)

Is there a book that is specific on recipes with either use pie pumpkin puree in recipes or with information on what you can swap pumpkin puree for?  I know you can use it for eggs, oil, and butter in baked recipes too.

I'm curious if other squash can be used in place of pumpkin puree (in case there is a year without a harvest).  For example, sweet potato, butternut squash, or roasted acorn squash.

My husband is not a fan of bananas, so I was thrilled to learn this swap with the pumpkin I froze last year.  By the way, the pie pumpkin we planted has been the best, but I only see about two on the vines this year (again squash bugs galore).

The recipe is online by Real Food Dietitions - Gluten Free Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I'm not trying to go gluten free, but the oat flour in this worked great.  You can use all-purpose too, but I was trying to make them diabetic friendly for my husband.  I have to tell you, that the pumpkin puree muffins were more moist and we loved them.  I tossed in some chia seeds in both batches too.

Do you like medjool dates?  We love a sweet treat once in a great while, and these will be on the repeat list.  However, dates do not freeze solid, so here is my tip.  First, the filling is frozen in a loaf pan, then sliced, then dipped.  I do recommend cutting smaller pieces than the recipe says, and keeping half of it in the freezer, while you dip the first half.  The "frozen" filling will go too soft to dip.  I keep our finished treats in the freezer.  As you can see, when I attempted to cut one in half, the inside is too soft to do that (even frozen).  They are delicious.  I used a non-gmo dark chocolate.  Recipe is from Clean Food Crush  - Date Caramel Bites (free recipe online if you google it).

Medjool dates are pretty expensive here, so we do have to limit the purchase, but there may be a new cookie recipe tried in the near future.

                                               

August 14th, we enjoyed our first home grown canteloupe.  We have not grown fruit in several years here.

It's still hot and muggy here, which in August is pretty much the typical weather.  There is usually one week or weekend later in the month where it's cooler, but that is about it. 

I hope you enjoy your weekend.  

Pie Pumpkin Puree ~ New Recipes Tried ~ Medjool Date Treat ~ First Cantaloupe  © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells ~ Winter Prep

It's a chilly 32°F here this morning.  Brrr.  We have not yet turned on the heat (nor burned wood).  Wood....let's not be reminded we are so far behind on that chore (gasp!).

I recently used some pumpkin puree to try another new recipe - Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (Country Living, online).

I purchased my pasta shells.  Barilla is certified Non-Gmo.  If you prefer, you could use homemade lasagna noodles and roll them, slice and bake in the tomato sauce too (for a completely self-sufficient dinner, adding a garden veggie for a side, homemade rolls etc.).  The basil and sage came fresh from my herb garden.  I had just enough of each herb.

We absolutely loved this dish, but to me it lacks a protein.  I think I'll have a side of meatballs or something with it next time, for us meat eaters. 

Tuesday night I went to bed completely e-xh-aus-ted.  I spent the day baking and mashing sweet potatoes, amongst other chores.

We had a freeze warning Wednesday night, so I froze the last of the chives, and green onions.  It was a humdinger of  a morning.  The parsley filled my 9 tray dehydrator.

I brought in more thyme to dehydrate, but not much.  It's recovering from the cat sitting in it all season the year prior, and is finally getting more growth.  It'll be used in another recipe very soon.  A recipe I should have started 4 weeks ago (gasp!).

I brought in my pots of rosemary, tarragon, and tulsi. I brought in one last geranium.

After getting the laundry on the line, I drained the rain barrels, and flipped them over for winter.  I started to put the front porch to bed too.  Sigh.  Just some small stuff - plant hanger pots, small furniture, wind chimes, bird houses, etc.  I pulled out all of my painted mushrooms from the flower beds.

The flags came down too.  I waited for the morning dew to dry them, and rolled them up for winter.  We fly the American flag, the Army and the Marine flag.  

I pulled all of the hot pepper plants, green pepper plants, and removed all the old squash and cucumbers out of the garden.  

There is much more to do, but rotten veggies are out.  I have dead tomato plants, beans, and other veggie vines to yank yet.  I did a quick check on the raspberries too.

That's not all I did though.  I brought in all the garlic hanging in the garage.   

I gave my ladies and gent extra straw for the cold nights ahead.  Just after I snapped that photo, a barred rock jumped up and pushed this blondie out of that roost, ha ha!

And....

I washed and bleached the shower liner and curtain (both are fabric), and put up my Christmas shower curtain.  My pitiful attempt at the continuation of my "extreme clean."

I thought, "why the heck not?"  I don't have a fall one, and I need to steam out the creases.  So up it went, he he!  By the way, Hubby loves it.  Thought it was "cute" and laughed when he saw it.  I have never changed out my white shower curtain.  Ever.  This was the year to do it.

And I came in and vacuumed, before I declared it quits for the day.  Nettle tea to the rescue!

However. . .

There is always something I forget to do.  Pick the pears.  At 5:30pm, I tra-peezed out to the tall grass (in muck boots and with Hubby's help) where the pear trees grow, and picked them.  Just in time before that hard freeze arrived. 

Hubby agreed that we will try the wine making again next year (if we get pears next year).  We just have too many "irons in the fire" and we want this holiday season to be a happy and restful one.

 King and Zuri, waiting for their master to return home.  They sit at this door and watch for her (Grad Daughter).  They were also keeping a stray cat from coming up to eat our barn cat food.  Good Pups.

Facial Toner ~ Brain Booster tea ~ Pumpkin Hummus

In the midst of my morning routine lately, I have been forgetting to hunt down my recipe for my apple cider vinegar facial toner.  The empty bottle haunted me long enough.  Oh, I found several recipes for the toner on the internet.  That's now restocked.  I use lavender essential oil, because organic is expensive.  A 1/2 oz bottle is $37.50.

In search of that recipe, I dug out my essential oil/herbal DIY books, and came across my copy of this book. . .

Losing my Mind. . . Holiday Prep ~ Paranoid Prep

My brain has gone plain insane.  I feel like I'm caught up in a whirlwind and I'm trying to reach out to stop and get a job done, and I'm sucked back in again heading another direction. 

The barn....

Oh lets not talk about that job.  It's getting on my nerves, although I've wanted that job done for several years.  So. Much. Work. The barn siding was delivered.  Then rain arrived, so garden work halted, and I was back indoors.  Deep cleaning, cooking, putting up. . .


The hens are molting.  Egg supply is at it's all time lowest.  I made a crock pot of pumpkin oats.  We are not tired of pumpkin just yet, ha ha!  I picked a handful of red raspberries for topping the oats too.

I baked my first flourless pumpkin bread.  I have always baked it with flour, so this was a new recipe.  I only tired it out of curiosity, and the fact it saves me on ingredients.  Einkorn flour isn't cheap. It was so-so.  Not awesome, yet not bad either. 

Flourless Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkins ~ Prepardedness (a slight start) ~ Pranks!

I had a bit of a delayed start in my day at home yesterday.  I had another follow up at the new doctor.  

Grad daughter drove me, so my leg wouldn't be stressed.  I took along a book I'm trying to finish (that I found tucked away in my night stand).  I'm still reading my fiction book too.

The news?

Spider bite is healing, leg swelling is going down - doctor is very happy.  I don't have to go back for 2 more weeks, but I will be taking up stock with the company who manufacturers gauze and roll gauze (ha ha ha!).  I can exercise too, but have to start slow.  Woo hoo!  On the road to recovery!!

I ended up home after lunch time, and well, it left me with the question what to tackle next.  Oh, I have a funny to share (not so funny to me, but to a kid of mine)

I have more tomatoes, but I cannot can sauce related items late in the day, or I'll be up all night long.

I decided to roast all 6 pie pumpkins I recently brought in.  Most people who go through the lengths of cutting these, removing seeds, roasting them and pureeing them, go right back to buying Libby's canned pumpkin. 

Pie Pumpkin Puree

I purchased 8 pie pumpkins so far, and roasted them all for puree.  The first 6  weighed in about 15.71 lbs. 

I typically cut them and clean them all, and roast them all in one day.  This time I roasted two a day, until I was done.  I have a dog that likes to steal food, so I made sure I didn't have a lot going on.  Funny how all the dogs don't touch the tomatoes.  Anyway...

I used parchment paper this year.  I usually add water and cover, but not this year.  It works pretty well too.  Parchment paper isn't cheap, so I buy it at our dollar store for $1 a box.  It gets me through the holiday baking season on a dime as well.