Beef Barley Stew with Pumpkin Cornbread

This is a perfect meal for any weeknight!  Add to it that the temperatures have stayed in the 50's today!  What better to warm the heart and soul than a big bowl of stew and cornbread on the side!  The Beef Barley Stew cooked in the crockpot all day.  (Don't you just love a crockpot!)  The Pumpkin Cornbread made the house smell so yummy!  It was wonderful to walk in the door this evening to such pleasing aromas!
What a satisfying meal it was!  The stew was fabulous - not to mention full of vegetables.  I loved that my 2 year old ate TWO bowl fulls, all those good veggies making him stronger!  And the Pumpkin Cornbread was really good.  I was unsure how it was going to be - I typically think of Pumpkin as Pie.  But the cornbread had great texture, very much like a sweet Corn Muffin with a hint of Pumpkin taste to it.  Both dishes are a Winner!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins Kid Style

This is a beloved recipe in my home.  Not only do the kids get huge grins on their faces when they see these muffins in the oven, so do their friends that sleep over.  And nothing makes me happier than happy children (well, technically the Big Guy being happy comes first but that's just too wordy!).
My children are monkeys.  Just without the tails.  They LOVE bananas. LOVE them.  They get excited when we BUY the bananas in the store.  And seeing them on the counter.  Just with the two boys, we easily inhale two large bunches of bananas weekly.  So we are constantly buying bananas.  This morning, I looked in our fruit bowl and on top were 2 very ripe bananas.  Perfect reason to make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins!  And as we had the window installers working in bedrooms, replacing our windows with much warmer, nicer, super insulated, make life easier on me windows, I needed something to occupy the boys' time.  So they helped to prepare the batter.  The highlight was smashing the bananas.  I mean, they are little boys, the love to smash anything they can.  It's just better when Mom asks them to do so!

I used 3 1/2 bananas for this batch.  Lowered the sugar to 1/2 a cup.
Hope you bake them soon!

Like to Win?? Check these out!

Who doesn't like to win?  Especially when the prizes are super cool and great!  So go check out these sites for wonderful goodies and great blogging!  Hope you enjoy the sites as much as I do - Go ahead, bookmark them, check back often!

Free 2 Be Frugal: Review (and a Giveaway, Too!)  Panko Bread Crumbs with Chef Michael Chiarello's Cookbook  Hurry ends Nov 8!

This ends FRIDAY Nov 5 so speedy hurry!!
2 Aprons, 2 tea towels, and
MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK

And for another great Cookbook giveaway, Check out Bo's Bowl: Lick it Clean! 
Great giveaway of Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That?  Cookbook  ends Nov 14, winner announced on Facebook.

And one more, from Busy-at-home, King Arthur Floor Baking Prize Pack, ends Nov 7!!!  I practically drool over the King Arthur Catalog when it arrives!

Good luck!   If any of you win, let me know!!! I love a reason to celebrate!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread and Pumpkin Marmalade Day 9 Autumn Foods

I can just imagine Thanksgiving morning breakfast.  Guests are beginning to wake, coffee brewing, big bowl of fruit, and a platter of bagels ready to serve.  What would be more perfect than Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread and Pumpkin Marmalade to accompany them?  And they are so simple to make!  FIVE ingredients is all you need for the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread.  Whip them all together smooth and refrigerate overnight.  See simple!  And the Pumpkin Marmalade - FOUR ingredients, 15 min, and an hour to cool!  That's it!
And don't limit using these spreads just for breakfast and brunch.  Grandma's Pound cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread on top - YUM!  What about using the Spread with the kids for an afternoon snack with apple slices or graham crackers?  And Both, the Spread and the Marmalade would be delicious with Ginger Snap cookies!  Or use the Marmalade for an appetizer with hearty breads and cheeses!
So if you come to my house Thanksgiving weekend for breakfast, these will be on the table!  Enjoy

Dinner on the Grill tonight!

Even though it is Autumn, we still use our grill.  Heck, we grill year round.  One of the BEST ideas Big Guy ever had was to have a gas line connected permanently to our gas grill.  No big deal right?  WRONG!  All I have to do is sashay onto the deck, turn the knobs and push a button!  FIRE!  Cavemen only wish they had it so easy!  I mentally thank him each meal I use the grill.  Thank you Big Guy!
So tonight I will be firing up the grill.  This is not what was on the menu planned two days ago.  Remember, the menu is a guideline for me - things happen and changes sometimes need to be made.  In this case, Big Guy went to the grocery store yesterday (dangerous sometimes!).  He came home with 4 BEAUTIFUL steaks.  So lovely, they did not need to find a home in our freezer.  So we did a little menu shuffle in the kitchen - fun little dance!  Tonight, we will be having Ribeyes, roasted Red Potatoes toasted with Kosher Salt and Olive Oil, and salads.  A Red Blooded American Man kind of meal!
Ribeyes are not my favorite steaks.  Big Guy has me spoiled, I'll admit it.  My favorite steak is a tenderloin. Period.  Not too marbled with fat but full of flavor.  We typically will buy a whole tenderloin when they are on Special at the grocery store and cut them into steaks at home, freezing individually.  Price per steak, this is the most economical for us for this cut of meat.
Don't know how to cut your own steaks?  Check out Karen's advice at the Art of Doing Stuff.
So what's on your menu for tonight?

Acorn Squash - oh so beautiful! Autumn Foods Day 8

I love pumpkins and squashes.  Honestly, I just think they are so beautiful!  If they weren't seasonal, I probably would decorate my kitchen with them.  I love the orange, the gold, the green.   And the shapes of each of the pumpkins and squashes are so eye appealing!
But suprisingly, I have only ate a handful of recipes that utilized these wonderful foods.  So as I have looked for recipe ideas for the 30 Days of Autumn Foods, it has been an education for me of the ideas that are available.  And all the good foods - I have been amazed at the choices!
This one is no exception!  Roasted acorn squash with cranberries, almonds, onion, apple, and quinoa - how much more Autumn can one get!  I am adding this to our menu for next week!  Looks so beautiful and full of healthy flavor!  Hope you will try this Acorn Squash Stuffed with Harvest Quinoa Salad.

My taste buds sang tonight!

I am STILL in awe of how wonderful tonight's dinner was!  And So simple it's ridiculous!  Tonight we feasted on Curried Chicken Rice Soup, Salads of Romaine lettuce, sliced onions, tomatoes (for the Big Guy only), feta cheese, Italian dressing, and Feta cheese, and yeast rolls (frozen - sorry, I'm only so good!).  This soup was so yummy I had two bowls.  And so easy, I still can't believe how simple it was.
I did substitute the milk for Coconut Milk for a bit more of a Thai taste.  The chicken I used was leftovers of a Roasted Chicken.  I also used Basmati Rice as I just love it's flavor.  And as several reviews suggested, several more shakes of the Curry Powder.
Two HUGE thumbs up on this one!  Definitely a keeper!  Full of flavor and very satisfying.
And dessert, of course, was Halloween Candy!