Peppermint Patties!!

I bought a bag of off brand peppermint patties and they were not very good. Wishing I had better ones, I decided to make my own using this easy recipe! They came out unbelievable! And so easy! Keep them in the fridge for best results!

First you freeze the peppermint dough in little circles

Then you dip them in melted chocolate! I added peppermint to the chocolate too.

Voila! Better than the store bought ones!

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I have had a can of garbanzo beans in my cupboard for a while so I made a recipe I have been eyeing on Tasty Kitchen for a while!

I mixed garlic, cumin, allspice, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon, salt, and curry powder together with some olive oil and mixed in the beans and put them on a cookie sheet. I baked them for a half hour until they were nice and crunchy! They did not last long!

Mexican Veggie Soup!

I have a bunch of veggies that I have needed to use up so I put a combo of chicken and beef stock in a pot and threw in a million different things!

They included: black beans, jalapeños, onions, roasted corn, celery, carrots, chili peppers in adobo sauce, butternut squash, zucchini, cilantro, garlic, and a bunch of seasonings!

Butternut Squash and Capers and Quinoa

I bought a huge jar of capers from Costco and have been trying to figure out how to use them all! This was a delicious solution!

In one pan I sautéed the butternut squash with a little bit of chicken bouillon and in another I sautéed the capers and some lemon. When the squash was almost done I added some zucchini and then added everything together and placed it over some golden quinoa! I was nervous it was going to be weird but it was actually really good!

Home Made Tortillas

I sautéed a bunch of chili peppers in adobo sauce, chicken, black beans, onions, jalapeños, roasted corn and tomatoes, zucchini, and cilantro!

I realized this would be way better with tortillas but I didn't have any do I made some! Not exactly like the ones you get in Old Town, San Diego from the little old ladies on the street but still pretty tasty!

I used whole wheat flour and only slightly overlooked them so go me!

White Chocolate Covered Ginger Cookies

Red cups at Starbucks arrived a few weeks ago and started (for me at least) the start of the Christmas season!! I like to kick the season off by watching Elf so I needed to make cookies to add to the celebration! This was also a part of the ginger themed night!

I made little poofy ginger cookies and replaced the oil with applesauce and reduced the amount of sugar it called for.

I immediately negated all the things I had done to make them "healthier" by dipping half of the cookie in white chocolate and covering it with my new Christmas sprinkles!!

So pretty!!

Sautéed Butternut Squash and Ginger

I bought a huuuuge butternut squash from the farmers market and have been making all kinds of delicious things! This was also a part of my ginger night.

I sautéed chunks of butternut squash in a little bit of butter until softened and then added in fresh ginger, garlic, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, a tiny bit of cloves, and allspice.

I topped it with fresh cilantro and it was sooooo amazing I highly recommend it!

Candied Ginger

I bought a giant hunk of ginger and had a whole ginger themed night! I asked Chris if he was ok with a night with a lot of ginger and he replied "you mean I get to hang out with you all night??" -__- har har.

Ehhhhhnyway I sliced it really thin and and boiled it within an inch of its life with sugar and lemon!

Then I drained it and sprinkled it with sugar! Yum!

I took the ginger infused lemon sugar water and added it to club soda and presto! Home made ginger ale!!

Pumpkin Butter

This is a recipe from Pioneer Woman! It was super easy! I made it with butternut squash instead of pumpkin so its really butternut..butter... But pumpkin sounds better. Make some toast and spread some cream cheese or butter on there and layer on a tablespoon or so of this stuff! Uh-mazing.

My Mom's Spaghetti

When I was feeling the most homesick last October I got this recipe from my mom because it has been my favorite home cooked meal since I can remember (that and beef stroganoff!). When I made it for the first time I burst into tears after the first bite because it tasted just like my moms! What a sap!

Anyway here are the ingredients (I added the mushrooms)! We use turkey bc I think beef is too intense. This is one of the reasons my mom calls this gringo spaghetti. While totally delicious its not exactly authentic . Or Mexican. But whatevs.

I wanted to make it healthier so I broke out my mandolin slicer and sliced down a zucchini into thin strips and boiled it for a minute or two to soften them.

And the finished product! After cooking the sauce for a few hours I put in on the "noodles" and added some Parmesan!Looks ugly but it was amazing!

Pumpkin Muffins!

'Tis the Season for everything pumpkin! I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen but had to change it because ground cloves are too expensive and they ran out of pumpkin spice so I used Apple Pie Spice and added more cinnamon to it.

First you mix all the delicious ingredients together

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full

And ta-da! The most delicious and moist pumpkin muffins I have ever tasted! I sprinkled some sugar on top before they baked and it gave them a subtle but sweet little crunch.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!
-Kelli