A Few of My Favorite Fall Recipes Under 30 Minutes....and they are goooood!!

Alright, seriously, these recipes are so good. So good that I could probably rotate between the soup, bisque and lasagna as all I eat throughout the Fall and be so happy about my decision in the end that I'd do the same thing next Fall. :) Okay, well maybe that's pushing it, but these recipes are great...Reasons? Tasty. Healthy. Homemade. Low money cost. Under 30 minutes of hands on time. Yummy Fall fruits and veggies included. And anyone who sees and tastes your work will be thoroughly impressed! Hooray!

Okay, so here they are: Black Bean Soup (with Soda Bread), Apple Cake (with a browned butter frosting...mmm!), Butternut Squash Bisque, Pumpkin Muffins (no butter or oil), Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna (with easy semi-homemade garlic bread)

BLACK BEAN SOUP (an amazing, low-cost meal of soup and bread to stun your friends, and under 30 minutes!)

This calls for you to have fun, and make up your own recipe.  Here is my made up recipe you can use as a guide to make up yours.

(Feeds and fills four adults, I'd say.)

6-10 slices of bacon, depends on how many slices you have on hand & how bacony you want it
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 garlic cloves chopped/minced, I have jarred chopped garlic - I do about 5 small scoops
2 cups of chicken broth/stock
1-2 tablespoons of ketchup, to taste
1-2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce (we have Jack Stack), to taste
some chili powder
some cumin
4 cans of black beans, drained but not rinsed (.89/can at Trader Joes!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Additions/Substitutes: Add tomatoes (freshly chopped or canned) and/or green or red pepper for taste and color, and you can substitue great northern beans or navy beans if you don't have enough cans of black beans (I've done half and half before)

Fry bacon in large skillet or big pot. Set aside on papertowel. (Or you could cut up bacon into small pieces before frying and leave them in the pan). Put onion in bacon fat in pan. Cut up bacon into small pieces and add back to pot. Once onions translucent, add garlic. When you can smell the garlic, add broth, ketchup, bbq sauce, chili powder, cumin, and tomatoes and/or peppers if you are using. Stir in the beans, and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so soup is bubbling, but not boiling, for ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, prepare toppings! Cilantro, wash it and chop it. Shredded cheese. Sour Cream.

For a thicker, creamy soup (which I really like!) put half of soup in blender or food processor and pulse a few times for a chunky puree.  Pour back into pot, stir and serve with toppings.


IRISH SODA BREAD (great with soup, and no yeast involved so no rise time! Get in the oven before beginning soup) original recipe from Love Food soup cookbook

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Dust a cookie sheet with flour.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 3/4 cup buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, so pour milk into a tablespoon or so of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes - a buttermilk substitute)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl together. Add sugar. Make a well, pour in buttermilk slowly - you want it soft, but not too wet or sticky. Turn dough onto a well floured surface (sometimes I use wax paper for easy clean up) and knead very briefly into a large circle, 2 inches thick.

Put onto flour dusted cookie sheet. Cut a deep cross into loaf, sprinkle with flour, and into the oven for 22-25 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Transfer to wire rack.


FRESH APPLE CAKE

I'm going to leave you with the link to the recipe on Southern Living's website.

My adjustments: HALF the sugar.  I also used red Gala apples because I did not have Granny Smiths, and walnuts because I did not have pecans. I didn't have enough walnuts to put into batter (and I have some nut allergy friends), so I just put them on top of frosting. The browned-butter frosting is sooooo delicious. You must use it.  The toasted walnut/pecan on top is also such a good added taste and crunch as well.  This is very apple-y!

Recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-apple-cake-10000002012760/


BUTTERNUT SQUASH BISQUE

(Feeds and fills 3-4 adults, I'd say)

I get a butternut squash at our farmer's market each weekend for a dollar and a quarter, so that makes this dish very low-cost!  We actually had this last night.  I served the bisque with a simple spinach & strawberry salad sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese and apple cinnamon muffins.

I also sprinkled the bisque with nutmeg before serving.

Recipe: http://www.oprah.com/food/Butternut-Squash-Bisque

PUMPKIN MUFFINS (a healthier version)

For these, I roasted a pumpkin and made my own pumpkin puree. I bought a pie pumpkin at Trader Joe's for $1.69.  After cutting off the top, I cut it in quarters and put in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 50 minutesish. The peel comes off pretty easy, but have a knife handy for scraping.  Put in blender or food processor with a bit of water and pulse - fresh pumpkin puree!

My changes to recipe below: I used all purpose flour (unbleached, whole grain) for all of flour because I didn't have whole wheat flour. I don't have cloves. I HALFED the sugar - I always do this for muffin recipes. I used a whole fat greek yogurt. And I didn't put in the raisins - sounded weird; in my mind's taste, pumpkin and golden raisins didn't mesh well together. I also sprinkled cinnamon & sugar on top before baking. Mmmmm, they were sooooo good! Makes 12 regular size muffins.

Recipe: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/1219/Healthy-Pumpkin-Muffins87167.shtml


EGGPLANT PARMESAN LASAGNA (sooooo good, yum yum!) original recipe from Rachael Ray

Feed and fills four adults, I reckon. Plan ahead on this dish! Eggplant will need to be baked for 30 minutes or so before lasagna layering. Once eggplant baked, you will layer lasagna and put dish in oven for 40 minutes. So plan on at least 1.5 hours or so before dinner to begin this dish.

Ingredients:
olive oil
1 large eggplant (we get ours at the farmer's market for a dollar!)
garlic (chopped/minced/smashed - however you like your garlic!)
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (or fresh)
salt and pepper
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I use whole grain)
8 ounces(ish) of cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, and some for sprinkling
6 ounces(ish) of mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut eggplant into 1/3 inch thick slices. Drizzle olive oil onto parchment paper and coat eggplant slices in oil on baking sheet. Arrange in single layer and bake for 30 minutes or so, until lightly browned.

While eggplant in oven, in a large deep skillet, heat some olive oil over medium heat, adding a couple scoops of garlic (I confess I used the jarred kind, I just don't like my fingers smelling garlicy all night!). After a couple minutes, add tomatoes. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes(ish). Add salt and pepper.

Line an 8x11 or 9x9 baking dish (I used glass) with parchment paper. Overhang is okay.

In a blender or food processor, puree the cottage cheese (I used a little more than half a 16 oz. tub). Add egg and 1/4 cup parmesan, and some salt and pepper. Pulse to combine.

Layers!
Spread third of tomato sauce on bottom of dish.
Three noodles.
Half of cottage cheese mixture.
Half of eggplant slices.
Third of mozzarella.
Tomato sauce.
Rest of noodles.
Rest of cottage cheese mix.
Rest of eggplant.
Third of Mozzarella. (Save rest for sprinkle at end)
Tomato sauce

Cover dish tightly with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle rest of mozzarella and some parmesan on lasagna. Bake for 8-10 minutes more, until bubbly. Let cool for a bit then serve!

 GARLIC BREAD (semi-homemade using sandwich sliced loaf bread) :)

For four slices of sandwich bread. Preheat oven to 350 F (or keep at 400 if you are making lasagna above). Mix a couple teaspoons of garlic (2 cloves minced) and some dried or fresh parsley in with a 1/4 cup of softened butter.  Spread on bread slices.  Put in oven for 10 minutes then broil for a minute or two until lightly browned. Ta-da, garlic bread!

What Not To Wear

Are you familiar with this show on TLC (The Learning Channel)? Oh, it's a good one.  It's totally an I AM WOMAN show. Women get turned in by their friends or family for the way they dress, mostly...and if they are picked to be on the show by Stacy and Clinton, they go through a transforming makeover of clothes, hair and makeup.  BUT much more than the outward transformation, their heart goes on a journey.

Stacy and Clinton are gifted and experienced to recognize what women may be trying to hide internally by how they are dressing/presenting themselves or what they are not hiding (too much skin!) because there is a need not being met internally to helping women who are still in the same wardrobe from a decade or two ago because they don't want to "grow up" or moms who taking care of their children have stopped taking care of themselves, etc...the list goes on!

They take on women of all shapes, sizes, and dress and almost all of the women who undergo the hard words and care of Stacy and Clinton have a life-changing experience.  At the end of the difficult week, they are refreshed, excited about life, feeling more themselves than they have in a long time and therefore more free and confident, and shouting from the rooftops "I am beautiful, inside and out!"

Basically,  I LOVE this show. It's one of my favs.  I learn something from every episode and I am encouraged in multiple ways as a woman. After every show, I am more in love and awe of God in how he has made women. Seriously, women are dang incredible. There is so much depth. So much breathtaking depth.  It makes me want to know every woman on earth.

So, I have my own What Not To Wear story.  And I looove this story!

When I was in university, I gained 25-30 pounds. No good! I went from being a size 6 to a size 12/14.  So much for the Freshman 15, eh? I went far and beyond!  It mostly came down to bad eating, little to no exercise and an irregular sleep schedule.

It really crept up on me, slowly. I went to college skinny, and I graduated fat. Haha. BUT I honestly didn't think that of myself when I looked at my body or put on clothes.  I don't remember ever having the thought that I was overweight or unattractive. It just never crossed my mind.  I wore the common college attire of jeans and t-shirts, which hid my growing waistline (even to myself!) and I did little shopping in college (money was tight!) so I didn't really see my pant size increasing.  My mom, though, was probably the one noticing my pant size increasing as she did buy me new clothes here and there when I was in college.  I would come home for a visit, and she'd have a new pair of jeans or skirt (with elastic waist!) waiting for me.  Kind lady!

Well, after college I moved home to live with my parents for a few months before I took a job in Kansas City, Missouri that following summer.  I was working at my dad's office doing computer work.  He wasn't too happy about my dress.  I remember coming downstairs one of those first mornings to go with him to work.  My dad was dressed up as usual for work in trousers, a button-up shirt and tie...and me?? Haha...I had on a frayed long denim skirt, a t-shirt and my well-worn chuck taylors.  I thought I was dressed up with a skirt on, but he didn't seem to think so.  He banned me from wearing my chucks to his work place and that weekend he took me shopping.

Now prior to the week of working with my dad, my mom had said something a little difficult to me.  I was in the kitchen eating something desserty, and we got on to the conversation about my diet. I felt fine about my diet and still didn't think of myself as fat, just a little more heavier than I used to be.  I don't remember what my mom and I talked about...all I remember her saying to me was "Allison, you are overweight." Bam. Overweight?! That was the first time any one had said that to me, as well as that thought go through my mind.  It kind of made me mad. Hmm...Overweight? No, I don't think so, Mom.

But that statement -that true statement, I turned over in my mind a few times that following week as I looked in the mirror, pulled out old pictures of me, looked at the pant and shirt sizes on my clothes, and went to my dad's office wearing my old college attire...oooo, eeek, I finally saw what my mom had said - I was overweight.

So after all the above, my dad who has never took me shopping, took me shopping!  He even picked out clothes for me and waited for me outside the dressing room.  He was my Stacy and Clinton, giving me rules for what I can and cannot wear to his office.  For the first time in a few years, I was trying on form-fitting clothes. Whoa. I felt uncomfortable and I didn't like them, but I had to get them if I was to keep working at my dad's office.  And I knew I needed a wardrobe-upgrade, as my parents were also telling me. I wasn't in college anymore.  Time to grow up.

So I began to dress in these awkward, "nicer-looking" clothes to be more presentable at my dad's office, as well as feel more like a college graduate.  And here's the WEIRD thing...After a week of wearing these non-t-shirt, non-frayed, non-elastic clothes, I began to like them and I began to want to display my beauty on the outside more and more as a healthy-looking, better-dressed, hair-and-face-given-attention Allison.

It was amazing how my appearance on the outside began to affect me on the inside. I wanted to be beautiful on the outside.  I wanted to show that I cared.  I wanted to be healthy.  I wanted people to see the beauty God put inside me on display on the outside - through my joy, love and service, but also by the way I dressed my body and presented myself.

My mom and sister invited me to start walking with them and I did here and there, increasingly doing so.  I also began to eat healthier (less desserts and mocha lattes!) and drink more water.  My walking went from jogging, my healthier eating became my diet....and within a few months, I had lost most of my college weight!!  It was amazing!  You know those last 5-10 pounds are the hardest to lose, but over the next few months I lost them and I was back to my high school size - size 6!

I also met my husband that summer in Kansas City, after my mom and dad told me some hard things (though the right things!) because they loved me.  I wasn't overweight Allison when my husband and I met, and he said if I was (he's seen pictures!), he probably wouldn't have been attracted to me.  But because my outside was cared for, it TRULY let my inside shine even more!  Seriously, isn't that so amazing?

That is what I see on What Not To Wear - that as women care for their appearance and receive the truth that they're beautiful on the outside (and inside), the beauty on the inside is more freely expressed...and it is breathtakingly beautiful! They SHINE!

This is I AM WOMAN living...Displaying our beauty from the inside out!

If you're having difficulty displaying your beauty on the outside, try a few things...put on some mascara or play around with makeup, do an exercise video or go for a walk, go shopping with a girlfriend and work hard to find an outfit you looove (great tips on What Not To Wear!), go out in a pair of heels, paint your fingernails, take a long bath with bubbles....these are just a few ideas!  I know from my What Not To Wear experience, that those awkward, uncomfortable first few days or weeks of what you might think is being "girly" will actually be a surprising doorway into discovering how beautiful you are - looking it and feeling it - and the world will take notice of the I AM WOMAN shining around them, calling them to a better version of themselves and into the fullness God desires for them!!

Oh yes, I AM WOMAN!!!!!

Pass On The Looooove

Seriously. The love I'm about to tell you about is real love.  You will be melting any of your girlfriends hearts by reading the below and putting it to action this week. Oh yes, real love is about to get passed on and on....

Okay, so last year when I was preggie (pregnant), my handsome husband and I decided we wanted to love on some of our friends with two boys.  We like to love on our friends with kids, especially, because most of our friends don't have family closeby and we want to love on them by giving them a break/night out, pursuing their kids with love from outside the family (like an aunt and uncle would), as well as getting to have a good time ourselves - children are great teachers and entertainers.

So we called up our friends and told them we want to give them a night out together - we'll watch the boys (their wild boys, one we call William Wallace). Turns out they had a groupon for a hotel downtown and so they pulled the risk of asking if we'd do an overnight with the boys next weekend...sure, we said!

My husband and I thought it'd be fun to take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese the night we babysit because um, hello...it's fun! (Though some people strongly disagree Chuck E. Cheese is fun.) And pizza.  That week before we did the overnight, with our first baby growing in my tummy, I wondered if someday someone would offer to do an overnight with our kids and maybe even take them to Chuck E. Cheese as were doing that weekend. One of those random thoughts.

Well, that Friday evening we arrive at our friends to watch the boys and tell them we are wanting to take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese (and I had found some coupons in the newspaper too!). Of course, they say! And they said what's crazy is that when they were married without kids they did an overnight with some of their friends' kids and took them to Chuck E. Cheese...exactly what we were doing!! Whoooooa, the love is being passed on, people!

Now I totally expect someone to give us an overnight in the future and take our kids to Chuck E. Cheese...I'm already excited!

So, I tell that story to say...love on your friends!  And who knows, someone just might love on you in that exact way someday, kids or not!  As a new mom, I have discovered how moms feel sometimes. Sometimes you feel stuck in your house, and the only way you can get out is if a girlfriend offers to come over and help a sister out.  Seriously.  And when no one offers, you've gotta ask people...and sometimes you feel like (because it's true at times) that whenever you need help (or just want it) you are needing to ask people again and again, trying to work out the time that works for them, bending over backwards so you can go to the grocery store or clean your bathroom or maybe even just go sit outside and drink a cup of joe for 20 minutes without your 2 year old pouring your joe on the carpet...when just for once, you dream of someone calling you up and offering to help you in any way! Oh, what a dream!

Ladies (and men!) without kids, you have the gift to make time and availability for your friends with kids...to choose them, to offer to them your time and energy, to really love on them and their children (parents loooove when their kids are loved on and chosen and cared for and treated by someone other than them)....seriously they will feel reeeeeaaaalllllyyy loved!

This is definitely I AM WOMAN living - helpin your sisters out!

One idea...

Today, my girlfriend (no kids) came over to my house this morning and brought coffee, scones, a jar of flowers from her garden, and even half and half for the coffee. Daaaaang, what a woman!  She just hung out with me and my 9-month old daughter Adelaide...we sipped on coffee, chomped on blueberry scones, changed a diaper, swung Adelaide, talked about what's going on in our hearts and lives, crawled around and played with Adelaide, fed Adelaide, etc. And oh, she did my dishes! Okay, whoa my friend is totally I AM WOMAN awesome!  If you love on one of your mom friends like this,  I can guarantee you are I AM WOMAN awesome and you need a badge.

So this week?? Let's PASS ON THE LOOOOOOVE!! :)

I AM WOMAN

This phrase "I am woman" is a deepening root in me, and when I say it or think it, it's not a surfacey thought, but it comes from a growing place of experience, education, reflection, and honestly more than any of that the simple fact that God has made me awesome. Oh, I AM WOMAN!

So this phrase...where did it begin for me? Jordin Sparks? No, no, no.  Before Jordin was shakin her booty on American Idol performing the song she surprisingly co-wrote "I Am Woman", I was pregnant the previous summer, my body doing all kinds of wacko things, my belly growing cute and round, and I was looking and feeling incredibly beautiful, inside and out.

Through my prego research, I knew going through the pain of labor and delivery naturally - without an epidural or any other drug or medication, was the best thing for me and our baby (by the way, I am married to an incredible fellow!).  By simply reading up and reflecting on the woman body - my body- I was empowered. God has straight up made me awesome, and I was determined to go through labor and delivery leaning in on that fact.  I was made for this.  In the midst of all my reading, reflecting and empowering moments, the phrase "I Am Woman" simply came to mind one day, and it's been my mantra ever since...particularly (most particularly!) when I became the labor-conquering woman and delivered our sweet daughter with the design of God in me (and the help and support of my husband and doula!).  I was wholly there - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually- for her birth.  I labored well.  I pushed her out of my body well.  And I have been on a high ever since.  I leaned in on God's design, believing that I am awesome, knowing the 7 billion people on the planet are here because women gave birth 7 billion times, and botta bing, here I am singin my song - my own "I Am Woman" song!

This mantra of mine has been growing in meaning and depth for me since giving birth, becoming more than the reality that I can deliver a baby naturally (I am strong!) to the life I can be and am living as a woman, the hood that I want to live in well - the womanhood. :)  Though I am in a season of mothering and wife-ing, my writings I hope to be for all women as womanhood stretches from when we are young girls to perhaps forever.  I am young, and experience and reflection are how I learn best, so this is where most of my writing will come from.  I will tend to lean towards the season I am in, as this is a very serious and long season, and a beautiful facet of my womanhood (and therefore my discovery).

I do believe women in different stages of their lives need each other.  If I'm talking too mommy or wifey talk for you at times, and you are not a mom or wife, still have a read. It's good to be aware of each other's stages and learn how we can serve and love one another in them.  Let's not let our personal ideas, media, or society's stereotypes keep us distant from one another.  As a young mother and wife (also living far from my natural family), I know I am in need of the pursuit and presence of my girlfriends and other women - married, single, kids, no kids and for moms and grandmas in my life.

Though womanhood is the conversation piece of this blog (and indeed, I hope a conversation happens - in here and many outside!), I am not binding myself to this subject. I may write on other things I find necessary or simply I feel at leisure to write. Why not, eh?

So here we go, let's see what happens...!