Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients:

Directions:

A recipe to try:

1 large jicama (peeled and julienne sliced)
1 cup finely diced peppers (I prefer red and yellow)
¼ cup diced red onion
1 cucumber, (peeled, seeded and chopped)
2 oranges (peeled, segmented and chopped)
¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/3 cup lime juice + juice of 1 orange
Salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in large serving bowl. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Toss and serve.

See the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch website for guidelines.

Lily Harvey

12 tall jelly (12-ounce) canning jars with lid and rings
    or you could use plastic gift bags and ties (which would yield more gifts)
2 cartons Epsom salts, 4 pound (approximately 16 cups)
4 lbs sea salt or kosher salt (approximately 6 cups)
twice 1⁄4 tsp. glycerin
12 drops peach essential oil
12 drops orange food color
cardstock (for gift tags)

Instructions

1. Wash, rinse and dry canning jars.
2. Empty one carton Epsom salts into large mixing bowl or batter bowl. Add 3 cups sea salt, stir well. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and 6 to 8 drops essential oil. Mix well.
3. In second large mixing bowl, empty other carton of Epsom Salts, and add 3 cups sea salt. Stir well. Add 1/4 teaspoon glycerin, 6 to 8 drops essential oil, and food color. Stir until completely blended. Color should be even.
4. Holding canning jars at an angle, layer salts in jars, alternating white and colored mixtures.
5. Seal each jar using lids and rings.
6. Print appropriate amount of copies of gift tags. Cut gift tags apart and attach to jars with ribbon.

The season of giving is upon us again (my how 2009 has gone by so fast). Instead of running around trying to find the perfect gift for friends and family, I have started an annual tradition of giving homemade gifts in a jar. There are many recipes on the internet, but I would like to share two of my best received ones. This allows me to spend time with the kids and make unique presents to share.

Healthy Eating,
Priscilla Paras-Huerta
Nutritionist

14 lb assorted dried peas, beans and lentils, at least 8 different varieties
    Choose from pink beans, black beans, baby lima beans, navy beans,
    black beans, lentils, red lentils, black eyed peas, pinto beans, great
    white northern beans, split peas, small red beans, white beans

12 beef or vegetable bouillon cubes (OK to use low sodium)

12 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Wash, rinse and dry canning jars.
2. Layer beans in jars. Add 1/4-cup of each type of bean to the jars, layering the beans. Choose the most colorful bean for the bottom layers of the jar. Add eight 1/4-cup layers to each jar.
3. Place 1 bay leaf and one bouillon cube on top of the beans in each jar.
4. Seal each jar using lids and rings.
5. Print appropriate amount of copies of gift tags. Cut gift tags apart and attach to jars with ribbon.

Gift tags to include these instructions:

nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup raw sunflower seeds or sliced almonds or nuts of your choice
4 Tbsp. golden brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
Optional: 1 cup dried fruit

(can be easily doubled)

Instructions

1. Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 300 F.
2. Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray.
3. Mix the oats, seeds or nuts, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
4. Combine oil, honey, and sugar in small sauce pan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir vanilla.
5. Pour hot liquid over oat mixture. Stir well until well mixed.
6. Spread granola on prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. If using dried fruit, add in the last 10 minutes of baking.
8. Transfer sheet to rack and cool completely.

For crunchier granola, hand pack firmly on the sheet and store in refrigerator overnight.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (210g) whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (1/4 L) pumpkin purée *
1/2 cup (1 dL) olive oil (really. Extra virgin, fully flavored)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup coconut milk (not allergenic, googled it first)
2 teaspoons Trader Joe’s pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup (1 dL) chopped walnuts (I omitted that for the bread I baked for the school of course)

* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a foil  (I used a pyrex glass dish). Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.

Freeze whatever you don’t use for future use, or dice it, put a little melted butter and some salt on and serve it as a side dish. Fakin’ Bacon bits (and I suppose real bacon bits too) taste really great on pumpkin.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda and baking powder.

2 Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, coconut cream, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.

3 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

(I tripled the recipe, and used a round, larger pan and had to bake it quite a bit longer…)