Trim, Healthy, Mama Harvest Treats - Pumpkin Cheesecakes

 Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts - Trim, Healthy Mama  S 

Harvest Treats

CRUST for the tarts
3/4 cup almond meal, almond flour, or home ground almonds
1.5 T melted butter or coconut oil
1.5 T  Truvia sweetener
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice

FILLING:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Greek yogurt style cream cheese or Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup  canned 100% Pure Pumpkin or cooked butternut, or other winter squash from your garden
• 1/2 cup granulated Truvia plus a few sprinkles of pure stevia extract powder (I use Trader Joe's) -- to taste1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or use  1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. allspice, pinch of nutmeg)
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt, plain, unsweetened, mixed with 1 tsp. Truvia
• 1/4 cup Sugar Free Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, melted with 1 tsp. coconut oil or butter

PREHEAT oven to 325*. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper or aluminum foil liners.

COMBINE almond meal, spices, sweetener and butter in small bowl. Press scant tablespoon onto bottom of each of prepared muffin cups. Bake for 5 minutes.

BEAT cream cheese, pumpkin, sweetener, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until blended. Add eggs; beat well. Pour into muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove tarts from pan; refrigerate. Right before serving garnish the tarts with sweetened yogurt, and a drizzle of melted sugar free chocolate chips.

 Place morsels in small, heavy-duty plastic bag. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 20 seconds; knead. Microwave at additional 10-second intervals, kneading until smooth. Cut tiny corner from bag; squeeze to drizzle over tarts.

 The following recipe was adjusted to make it low carb and Trim, Healthy, Mama -- friendly. You can learn more or order the book for your family at www.trimhealthymama.com or see their page on Facebook.

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/28492/pumpkin-cheesecake-tarts/detail.aspx?cmp=FB_recipe_10-07-13

Trim Healthy Mama - Kolz Garden Pizza Casserole

Kolz Garden Pizza Casserole (made with Venison or Grassfed Beef)

I used the inspiration from www.trimhealthymama.com 's "Pizza Casserole" which is an "S" in their diet plan. S for satisfying, yet trimming.


Brown 2 lbs. of venison or grass fed beef (which should be lean and have nothing to drain off, if not, then drain please). Add some garlic salt to taste, and a good pinch of celtic or REAL salt with minerals. Spread 1/2 of this meat as a layer of ground, cooked meat in the bottom of a large casserole dish (13x9 works for me).  Top with a thin layer of no-added-sugar Pizza or Pasta sauce that you prefer. You can even use alfredo sauce here, if you like, and add a little extra garlic -- that's my favorite.

Now sprinkle the whole lot of it with dried basil, oregano, and some garlic powder.

In the same skillet saute 2 onions***, a finely diced green pepper, a zucchini (shred or finely dice), until onions are clear, softened and veggies are nearly tender. It will cook more in the oven. You may add mushrooms if your family likes them too!


Sprinkle the cooked veggies on top of the sauce. Now add chopped olives if you like, sprinkle lightly with shredded mozzarella or farmer cheese. Top with turkey pepperoni now.

Use the rest of the ground meat for the next layer, and add a thin layer of your sauce again. Top the sauce with a thin layer of mozzarella cheese again, and sprinkle with more pepperoni scattered on top. Or diced bacon. It's your call. Bake at 400*  for 20-30 minutes, to heat all the way through, which should crisp your topping and warm up all the cooked veggies.

If you find your oven on the fritz, you can cook on the stove top, and then assemble into your crockpot, and leave it on low until you're ready to eat, which will melt the cheese!

You may include a layer of cooked spaghetti squash on top of the hamburger, to make this recipe even more hearty and filling. Just leave out the zucchini in that variation. I think your family will really like it.

****For speedy prep, just put a de-seeded bell pepper, 2 peeled onion, and zucchini into the food processor and bzzt until it's shredded up, and fry them in olive oil until tender, and you're almost done with this recipe.

Consider some of these combos:  Chicken and onions and peppers and alfredo sauce with spaghetti squash; beef and sausage and peppers and onions with marinara sauce and zucchini; beef and garlic and green chiles and cumin and green salsa instead of pasta sauce, topped with chorizo instead of pepperoni.







The book that inspires me is by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. Trim Healthy Mama: No More Fads!: A Common Sense Guide to Satisfy Your Cravings and Energize Your Life (Kindle Locations 8923-8938). Above Rubies.  www.trimhealthymama.com

Trim Healthy Mama - Swiss Chard Pockets with sausage and turkey

My camera is out of commission, so this is not my photo, but our stuffed swiss chard pockets looked eerily similar. Just picture the toddler helped me pour the spaghetti sauce over the top in our 13 x9 casserole pan. Thank you.

Swiss chard cooks tender rather quickly, so it doesn't require the long cooking that cabbage rolls would. My family likes sausage so that's a natural marriage in our household, to include sausage and ground turkey as a filling for swiss chard pockets.

Ingredients:
16 swiss chard leaves (large)
1 large sweet onion, chopped small
1 pound turkey or venison sausage (breakfast or Italian style)
1 pound ground turkey, plain
1 quart of marinara or spaghetti sauce, no sugar added please
1 8 oz. can Hunt's tomato sauce (this is natural, no sugar added)
2 tsp. oregano leaf, dried or few tablespoons chopped fresh leaves

Preheat oven to 375* F, or Gas mark 5 for my European friends.

Wash and dry the swiss chard leaves, and cut the large celery like stems off, and mince the stems and set them aside.

Saute' in a non-stick pan your sausage and ground turkey meat, the onion, the chopped chard stems, then season it all with garlic salt or minced garlic and celtic salt. When meat is cooked through, add canned tomato sauce and oregano, and stir to combine. Taste to be sure it's well-seasoned.  Cook a little longer to dry the mixture up a bit, so it's not too loose. Divide the meat mixture into 16 servings, roughly, so that you can fill each leaf.

Use cooking spray to coat 13x9 or similar baking pan. On a large cutting board or dinner plate lay out the raw swiss chard leaf, and spoon a narrow allotment of sausage mix into the leaf, fold or roll, seam side down and lay it into your pan. The food police do not live at your house, so just get them stuffed and folded and filled. Repeat 15 times, then sprinkle the rolls with a little salt and pepper, cover the pan of rolls with the quart of spaghetti sauce, wrap tightly with aluminum foil or other lid, and bake in oven for 1 hour until rolls are fall apart tender.

This dish has enough sauce that you'll be pondering serving it over mashed potatoes for those with high metabolisms, or faux-tatoes (creamed mashed cauliflower) for the rest of us, or even 3/4 cup of steamed quinoa. It's very good any of those ways. You can have this delicious dinner guilt free, and even top it with parmesan cheese if you like.

This is low fat, and has a reasonably small amount of carbohydrates, which would be an E food for the THM plan.

Buffalo Chicken and Veggie Bake (Trim Healthy Mama)

My friend Dianna, mother of one of the cutest redhaired child I know besides my own, was preparing the dish that inspired this "Trim, Healthy, Mama" re-make of The Loaded Potato  and Chicken bake. When I entered her home I said what smells so good? I looked at the recipe and said Seriously -- that sounds delish.

I'm trying to keep normal blood sugars and lose a few pounds so I made some carbohydrate reducing choices, and I think you'll find them delicious!

Living not far from Buffalo, NY at times, I insist that authenticity requires diced celery to mimic the traditional accompaniment to wings served in that fair city. It's baked with the chicken to give an interesting but not overwhelming note to the dish. In further interest of authenticity, you might want a  little blue cheese crumbled over the dish, on your plate.

Buffalo Inspired Chicken and Veggie Bake

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless thigh meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 (16 oz pkgs) frozen cauliflower,thawed or 4 cups of chopped cauliflower florets, diced 1/2-inch.
• 1 large zucchini or other summer squash, diced into 1/2 inch cubes (about 2 cups total)
• 1/3 cup olive oil  
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 TBS. paprika 
• 2 TBS. garlic powder 
• 6 TBS. Franks Red hot sauce, or other tangy Louisiana style sauce or substitute milder pepper sauces 

Topping:

• 1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded. (I cut this down from 2 cups)
• 1 c. turkey bacon, diced and fried crispy
• 1 c diced green onion
• 
  

Preheat oven to 500F for high heat roasting. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika,garlic powder & hot sauce.  Add the cubed vegetables and stir to coat. Strain the  veggies with your slotted spoon into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish, leaving behind the marinade for the chicken you're going to add in a minute.

Put the chicken into the leftover marinade, and set aside for the next few minutes while you fry the turkey bacon.  Stirring every 10 minutes, bake the veggies until they're crispy & browned on the outside. It may only take 20 minutes.  While the veggies are cooking, heat a medium skillet and dice one pound of turkey bacon into small cubes. Stir regularly until crispy.

Check the oven. When veggies are brown around the edges and crispy looking, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400F.  Top the cooked cauliflower and squash with the raw marinated chicken leaving behind any un-absorbed marinade.  Add the diced celery at this point to the chicken and give a quick stir. Discard the marinade.

Bake at 400*F for 10 minutes until chicken is nearly done, and then sprinkle the casserole with the shredded cheese, the diced turkey bacon, and the diced green onions. Return to oven for the final five minutes, which will melt the cheese and heat the toppings through. 

This is delicious served with a big green salad for the whole family, with a side of mashed or potatoes for those who need to have extra carbohydrates, and perhaps a small slice of .Trim, Healthy, Mama approved sourdough bread to sop up some of those juices. Some ranch dressing or extra hot sauce might be wanted at the table, or as the locals do, add Blue Cheese Dressing!

If you're interested in keeping your hunger at bay, feeding your whole family more healthy, and losing a few inches around your middle, this might interest you --- http://www.trimhealthymama.com/

Learn more about making gradual, reasonable changes in the way you eat and feel, here.   http://www.stacymakescents.com/change-your-life-become-a-trim-healthy-mama

Here's the original recipe: http://cooklisacook.blogspot.com/2012/03/loaded-potato-buffalo-chicken-casserole.html

Feliz Navidad de La Republica de Panama

Felicidades de Panama! I wish. I'm in Upstate New York, watching snow fall.

One of my lesser known personal facts is that I was born in the Canal Zone, making me a Zonian, in the country which is now appropriately the Republic of Panama. To honor and enjoy traditions with my children, we celebrate an additional Holiday that is commonly celebrated in Panama on January 6. Three Kings Day, or  Dia  de los Reyes Magos, is celebrated as part of the Epiphany tradition. It's given weight as the day where the Three Magi came and gave Christ the child his presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Lucky Panamanian and Zonian children could put out their shoes on the balcony, or a box of hay underneath their beds for the camels of the Magi, and in the morning of the 6th awaken to find presents left for them by the Three Magi. Usually there were a corresponding three presents, and that's the tradition we have continued in my family now.

That doesn't mean they don't celebrate Christmas. Panamanians put up Christmas trees and leave a few small toys for the children to open at Midnight on Christmas eve.

So let's talk Christmas. Christmas is celebrated with a parade, complete with marching bands, women in traditional layered ruffled dresses, and floats, and did I mention more marching bands? Bomberos are such a fun tradition, with every police or fire department offering up a band, and all the children learning to play musical instruments so that they can grow up and play in the fire department band.

The parade is typically earlier in December and is followed by every family setting up their nascimiento, or Nativity Scene, which grows each year and is proudly displayed. Some families do live Nativities but the majority have weather proof scenes set up outside. The church service is incomplete without a live nativity, and if you're lucky, even some animals are brought in, carefully,.

The real celebration is held Christmas Eve at midnight, fireworks blast off announcing the birth of the King of Kings. You'll never sleep through Christmas in Panama. Feasting begins at midnight, and the night time feast is followed by dancing and celebrating with your neighbors in the street. Because Panama is so international, their dinner menu is too. Chicken tamales, Arroz con Pollo: chicken and rice, Perhaps, pavo turkey and relleno, stuffing. Beautiful bowls of fruit, Flan and fruitcake are the traditional desserts.  I'm a fan of creamy flan with the syrupy caramel dripping down the sides of the custard as it jiggles on the plate.

Here's a photo of a successful flan, and a foolproof recipe, if you make no substitutions.


Easy Flan for Christmas Dessert

This Flan recipe is prized for it's simplicity. If you've never made flan before, now is the time to try this recipe.

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup and 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 13 oz cans evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware (a flan pan) and a large baking pan to put them in.

Pour 1 cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until is browns and becomes caramel. Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat caramel if it starts to harden.

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the milks then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard. It tastes really delicious!!

Note: you may substitute evaporated goat milk for the evaporated milk, but there is no substitute for sweetened condensed milk or you will have a flop. I learned from experience. Do not attempt to substitute, no matter how many encouraging words you find on the internet. 

As Christmas ends with dessert, and the children head off to sleep in the next morning,  they awaken to see a statue of Los Reyes on their dinner table. That's to remind them that the Three Kings are still coming.  January 6th is the big holiday -- and the children know that the Three Kings bring presents to the boy and girl who behaved all year long!
In fact one of the fun post-Christmas traditions in Panama is to take your Christmas tree down to the beach on Three Kings Day and burn it for your family bonfire, and party with the family in the tropical night air. Unfortunately, upstate New York weather discourages me from adding that tradition in, with subzero windchills not uncommon in January.

The night of January 5th, girls and boys cut grass or hay and put it in a shoebox or other small box or basket for the Three Kings' camels, and put the box underneath their bed with a brief wishlist on top. Hopeful aunts and uncles and grandparents insist the children put one under their bed too, just in case they're remembered for their good deeds too. The magic is that the Three Kings cannot stop at your house if you're awake, or if you're naughty. Children lay in bed feigning sleep, listening for the snorts of camels, or hoofbeats, or the jingle jangle of their caravan.

In the morning relatives come over with the boxes full of gifts that came under their beds, and children dart out of bed to see what the Three Kings left for them. They know the camels were there, because they snacked on the grass which has disappeared.

Another family feast is enjoyed, and children play outside with the bicycle or skateboard or hula hoop or rollerblades that Los Reyes brought them. This is a good night to have a whole roasted pig, Arroz con Pollo, tamales which are cooked in banana leaves instead of the corn husks like Mexican tamales are, or gallo pinto -- the Panamanian version of beans and rice with pork mixed in. Yucca fries, and fried plantains and fried empanadas are ever present. All the children, hot from rollerblading and bicycling will be looking for Raspados, a specialty in Panama. It's a snowcone with fruity syrup and the ever present sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top. 

So if you're in need of a winter pick-me-up -- try telling your children the story of Los Reyes who came and brought baby Jesus a treasure of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Today in Caribean counties they remember the wisdom, preparation, and gift giving of Los Reyes by commemorating Epiphany on January 6th with a family dinner celebration and presents underneath the bed.

Legend tells us that those very costly gifts were used by Joseph, Jesus stepfather, to help pay for their timely escape to Egypt for safety when King Herod was killing all the baby boys in the Bethlehem area. The Three Kings saved the day!

If sweets are not your thing, try this family favorite from my childhood.

Arroz con Pollo

1 fat chicken, cut up into 8 serving pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced sweet pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups long grain rice
3 cups boiling water and 2 broth cubes or 3 cups hot chicken broth
2 T pickled capers, drained
2 T green pickled olives, sliced
Goya brand Sazon seasoning with saffron, one packet (or 2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp,. black pepper (or to taste), and saffron threads soaked in water, then drained and added to the rice 

*****************************

Dry chicken pieces, then season with salt and pepper and garlic powder and powdered oregano. Then fry in olive until brown on all sides, 10 minutes. Remove from pot, and set aside. To the same caldera, add the onion, pepper, garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the rice. Stir and cook one minute, stirring constantly so that the seasoned oil coats all the rice kernels. Now add the boiling broth, the capers and olives and seasoning packet, and push the chicken pieces, skin side up, into the broth and rice mixture, and cover and cook for 25 minutes or until the chicken is done through to the bone. The rice is tender, the water is absorbed, and the bottom of the pan has a gentle brown crust of rice, the best part of the dish, claim the Abuelos. Top with thawed frozen peas, put the lid back on top, and let sit for a couple of minutes while you arrange the other dishes. This heats the peas, and leaves them fresh tasting. Now fluff the rice and scoop onto a platter, with the chicken on top, and stand back for compliments. Some abuelas decorate the top with slivers or flowers made of red pimento, but the children don't like to eat them. 

If you follow this recipe -- your dish may look like this:

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Dia de Los Reyes!

KelliSue Kolz

Meet Our New Goat Gretchen

Gretchen the goat lives up the street at a Mennonite Farm. She's pretty and has a sweet temperment. When she hears my voice she baas, being a very social animal. She shares her pasture with a horse and a pony and a herd of goats, and her barn stall with another goat named Blockie. It's Pennsylvania Dutch for something I've forgotten but is also a play on words for Blockhead in English because she's stubborn.

She gives just under a gallon of milk per day which Mrs. B filters and puts it in 2 quart jars for me to pick up later in the day, or the next day.  When I accumulate some leftover milk we didn't use, then I make some cottage cheese or vinegar cheese or paneer. It's delicious.

Six children and I - we drink a lot of goat milk. My husband still purchases cow's milk for himself. I just shake my head. We're so glad to move along and not have stomach aches and diarrhea. The enzymes in the raw milk also make a difference in my GERD. Reflux happens less with the raw milk in my diet -- and that's a good thing when I am sleeping.

Daniel, our toddler aka Dannyboy, also drinks more milk when it's raw goat milk. He drank some storebought ultrapasteurized goat milk and I'm grateful for it, but he clearly did not savor it as I had to keep pushing the milk on him to get a glass down. He just increased his breastfeeding to make up for it. That wasn't quite my very longterm goal for him since he'll be two years old in October.

Between the raw goat milk and some powdered goat milk in storage we should get through the coming winter just fine with our Dannyboy. No more soy milk sickness for him, or me.

Goat Milk

I had my first glass of store bought goat milk today. It's not very good. It's not very bad. It's not quite right. But it will have to do.

Dannyboy, almost 17 months old, transitioned to soy milk three days ago, and then 12 hours later began watery diarrhea and vomitting which has lasted for nearly 3 days.

It was very, very bad, and I called the pediatrician. He existed on breastmilk, gatorade, Pedialyte popsicles, and mom holding him. The ped said that was the perfect combination. I went and bought more galactagogue herbs. You can google that if you wish.

Danny baby slept through the night, twice now. He was too weak to get up and ask to nurse, I presume. When I woke up, I was convinced he was dead and prayed myself backed to calmness. Then I sat up, and he smiled at me. Whew. DonotscaremeagainlikethatIamthemotherofoldageandcannotlivethroughthistwice.

I predict he never sleeps through the night again. And nursing at night is okay with me. I get him all to myself, and he gets a midnight snack. Or consolation. Or both.

Yesterday Danny started reaching for food to eat again, and I held him off with breaking up Pedialyte popsicles into a bowl and handing him a spoon and fork. His diarrhea was still rather aggressive, and I didn't think food was a good idea yet. Sister sneaked him a graham cracker, but he only ate one nibble. Perhaps food really wasn't a good idea yet.

When Papa called on his morning break at the factory, he wanted to know if his boyo was feeling better. He said he grew so worried about his quiet that when the alarm went off at 4 am he got his flashlight out and shined it in the crib to make sure the baby had not died. (It's not just me!)

Then Papa called at noon, asked how the baby was again (just fine, running around giggling, still has diarrhea). And then I said: can you please buy some of that $4/quart goat milk for the baby, I think he may be seriously ill from the soy milk.

The goat is leaving in a few hours, so we have a pint of real goat milk per day until then (she's almost out of milk.) Wegman's carries Meyenberg goat milk, which is whole goat milk, ultrapasteurized. I drank some this morning, it tastes less goat cheesey than 3 day old unpasteurized, the texture is wrong, it feels funny in my mouth, but it won't give me a belly ache. I made a smoothie, for my calcium intake, and just hid the oddity of it. Baby drank some and didn't notice anything worth tossing a sipper cup for.

I've put the word out on the farm network that we're looking to buy two goats that recently freshened, so we can milk again for real goat milk. Since our goats were evicted from the village a Mennonite farmer up the road offered to board our goats and we'll pay their 12 year old son to milk them twice a day for us, and provide our own grain and hay for the goat girls. I hope that works out long term. It sure beats the taste and price of soy milk or $16 gallon goat milk.