HungrySister Presents: Sausage Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

Like HungryMom said, it's still pumpkin time! I made these 'stuffing muffins' for my work's Iron Chef: Pumpkin competition and I liked them so much I'm bringing them home for Thanksgiving. I adapted this RealSimple recipe to make these single serving muffins and they are really ADDICTING. Hot or cold, I couldn't get enough - and I hope you feel the same way!

You'll need:

3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

2 jalapenos, minced (with seeds)

2 or 3 stalks of celery, chopped (not pictured)

One small onion, diced

12 corn muffins or two 8.5-oz corn-bread mixes, prepared and crumbled (10 cups). (You'll see that I just bought 4 large cornbread muffins because I forgot how many I needed, and it was fine! I also made this with 8 muffins instead of 4 once…it was still good. You really can't mess it up)

One 15 oz can pumpkin

One 14 oz can chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup fresh sage or 1 heaping tbsp dried sage (I used two or three because I love sage :) )

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop up the onion, celery, and jalapeno and saute in a large skillet for 5 minutes or so. Add the sausage and cook until no longer pink. (I failed to take a picture of the sausage)

While your skillet is a-sizzlin crumble up your cornbread muffins. I thought this was a nice before and after shot!

Add cornbread to the pan once the sausage is cooked. Fold in the pumpkin, broth, cranberries, and sage. (I was pretty bad at taking pictures of all the steps! How does HM do it?)

Next, add heaping spoonfuls of this delicious concoction into a greased muffin tin. Pop in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until set (aka bake them until you can scoop them out of the muffin tin all in one piece).

If you can manage it, let the muffins cool. If you can't handle it, eat 2 or 3 immediately.
 

When I first sent HungryMom a picture of these she said "I can't decide if they look awesome or gross."

Whether you think they look awesome or gross, I promise you they taste amazing!!!

So Over It

Last week was amazing. Almost every day was above 50 degrees and we even had two glorious days that were close to 70! Then last night, it snowed. Winter, I am so over you!! Warm sunny days mean...

I can take caged-up, crazy boys outside to run out their energy during the witching hour and catch up with my neighbors!

It takes less than an hour to get everyone out of the house since we can forgo the coats, socks, gloves and hats!

I can wake up 10 minutes later to run since I don't have to bundle up in 25 layers like a snowman!

I'm done with soup, casseroles and comfort food. I'm over it. Bring on the crisp cold salads, dinner on the grill, fresh salsas, and margaritas!!

The nice weather last week got me fixated on making Green Papaya Salad (Tom Sum). I'm usually a curry-girl when it comes to ordering Thai food, but my girlfriend introduced me to this salad a few months ago and I haven't stopped thinking about recreating it. It's incredibly light and refreshing, with the perfect mix of sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It just screams summer time. And its like one calorie. Not that I really get hung up on calories, but if its one calorie and I love it, it's a win-win.

So I looked up a couple different recipes and it seemed simple enough. Except for that one main ingredient... Green Papaya. No ordinary papaya will do the trick here. Not a ripe one. Not a red one. I needed an unripe Green one so I could get that crunch.

So this weekend Superman ventured to the Asian store with me to scope out that Green Papaya. I had never been to Lotte, the huge ginormous Asian store about 10 minutes from my house. It was insane. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I walked in. Huge packs of basil for a dollar! Mangoes for 59 cents! Green papayas aplenty! I was throwing EVERYTHING into my cart.

Just like every other store on the weekend, this place was packed. It took a long time to navigate my way around (especially since I was pushing the obnoxious cart for kids with the race car in the front, banging Superman into a product display at least once every 2 minutes). By the time I got up to the register to pay there was a very long line waiting behind me. The cashier rang everything through, including the Cheetos Superman had already finished and the water he half drank. I reached in my purse to grab my wallet and felt... nothing. No wallet. In a panic, I asked the cashier if she could put the whole transaction on hold so I could run to my car and she could check out the long line of disgruntled customers behind me. She didn't quite understand and responded, No, I will wait. I told her to just void the whole transaction and I ran Superman out to the car praying my wallet was sitting in the glove compartment.

Let me paint this picture for you - this place is PACKED, there are gusts of 60 mph winds outside, I parked in the back corner of the parking lot, and I'm hitting every other customer in the ankles with my race car shopping cart trying to get to my car. I throw open the car door, lunge inside and find... no wallet. I told myself that the cashier understood that I wasn't coming back, and I left. I FELT SO TERRIBLE!! I really hope they gave up on me quickly, and I'm cringing at the thought of the poor soul who had to put back every single item that I threw in my cart in a fury of excitement.

But I wasn't giving up on Green Papaya Salad. I'm just over finding a Green Papaya. Besides, I want to share recipes with you all that are easy to throw together, and easy to shop for. So after browsing the internet a bit I found a good-enough substitute... Broccoli Slaw!

So Over You, Green Papaya Salad

1 package of broccoli slaw
2 tablespoons of Agave, palm sugar, honey or raw white sugar
juice from 1 lime
couple cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon salt
Thai basil (regular basil is fine, but if you can get your hands on Thai basil, its money. oh and its $1 at Lotte, just remember your wallet)
1 or 2 Thai red chiles (they do sell these at Harris teeter, wegmans, and bloom)
green onions
1 tomato
1/4 cup roasted peanuts

Halve the red chili and remove the seeds if you want it less spicy. I was making this for guests so I took the seeds out.

I have this fancy shmancy pestle and mortar I've never used so I decided to give it a whirl, but you can totally just rough chop all these things! Besides, I actually didn't really like the peanuts ground up, and next time I would just throw them in the salad whole.

The ingredients I ground up (or rough chop under a food chopper or in a food processor) were the red chili, salt, peanuts, garlic, and sugar

This was fun

Then mix in the juice from one lime, and the soy and fish sauce. I added a little more agave because it didn't taste sweet enough to me. Then throw in the bag of broccoli slaw!

Thinly slice tomatoes

Throw em in

Chop up the basil and green onion, throw that in

Throw some peanuts on top, mix it up, and you're done!!

Served it with a piece of grilled chicken. Salmon would be yum too.

It's not quite like the real deal from the Thai restaurants, but it did the trick for me!

Normal... But Better

Thanksgiving Day embodies everything I love about a "normal" day. Well, a normal day... on steroids.

My favorite parts of a normal day include a run, eating mostly healthy, and spending a whole lot of quality time with little people.

But on Thanksgiving... I race (annual 10K in the morning!), I absolutely stuff my face with whatever is on the table, and I get to hang out with tons and tons of family! It really is my dream day.

Here's the first of the two dishes I'm bringing to the In-Laws... I saw this on Pioneer Woman and had to re-create it! It's basically scalloped potatoes... but true to the Thanksgiving theme it's scalloped potatoes on steroids. Instead of potatoes it's turnips, and instead of cheddar cheese its Gruyere, and instead of being kind of tasteless, it is really really awesome.

I made it tonight to see how much of an undertaking it would be for the big day. It is SO simple and uses minimal ingredients, always a plus! Tonight I served it with pork chops. This could definitely be a good side dish on any winter night, but I like to save these cheesy-gooey-buttery-creamy-fat recipes such as this for the holidays! ...When 12 other family members are there to share in the guilt :)

Pioneer Woman's Turnip Gratin

(I made this to serve 3 to 4, so double/triple/quadruple if you need!)

3 small turnips
Half and Half or any cream
Gruyere cheese
Butter
Garlic
Chicken stock (forgot to picture)

Now go back and read those ingredients and tell me this isn't going to be awesome


Peel the turnips and cut off the tops and bottoms

Ta da... I thought they were pretty. I've never cooked turnips before! So this was very fun and exciting. Never thought I'd be 25 years old and finding turnips very exciting but it tis what it tis.

I used a mandolin to get even slices but of course you could use a knife too.

Now I decided to make this right in may pan because that's what Pioneer Woman did, but for actual TG I'm going to layer it in a casserole dish since I have to travel with it.

So melt some butter in the bottom of the pan (or layer it on the bottom of baking dish).

Layer the turnips and add some pressed garlic, a little bit of butter, a quick dash of cream and a quick dash of chicken stock. I know! So fat! So good. Its Thanksgiving!!

A layer of Gruyere (which is kind of like Swiss cheese, but better)

Keep layering turnips, garlic, cream, butter, stock, Gruyere, then put some cracked pepper on the top layer. No salt necessary, because Gruyere is pretty salty as is.

Then bake 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes of until bubbly.

Yum! A slightly healthier, sweeter, old family favorite will be posted tomorrow!

Out of My Comfort Zone

It's really easy to get in a rut. Day after day I run the same boring 4 or 5 mile loop. I use the same key ingredients in different meals over and over. I pick up the same things from the grocery store week after week. It's natural to gravitate toward what's comfortable, and by extension, what is easy.

But it's the hard things, the uncomfortable and new things, that can be the most rewarding if you're willing to try. This weekend I'm running Army 10 Miler. I'm nervous. It's out of my comfort zone right now. It's uncomfortable to try and run fast for that long. There's a big difference between running my fastest for 3 miles and running my fastest for 10 miles. But at the end, it will feel that much more rewarding to know I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

This Mandarin Salad I made last week was definitely out of my comfort zone. I'm just one of those people that prefers savory over sweet, and the idea of putting fruit in my salad makes me want to gag a little. But this Pampered Chef recipe was requested by someone else for a show, so I had to try it out before I presented it.

I'm SO glad I went out of my box and gave this a try. It was seriously yummy, easy, healthy, and I loved the flavors that would ordinarily NOT be my preference! It was a great combo of sweet and salty and definitely more filling than the average salad! It works well as a main course, but would be perfect to bring as a side dish to parties, with or without the shredded chicken!

Mandarin Pasta Salad

1 bag of baby spinach
1 package of farfalle (cooked and drained)
1 can (11 oz) of Mandarin Oranges
1 to 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 a cucumber
half a red onion
2 carrots
Sliced almonds

Dressing: About 1/3 cup rice vinegar or red wine vinegar, 2ish tbl soy sauce, juice from 1/2 orange (I used 2 clementines, its what I had), about a 1 inch piece of freshly grated ginger (no one will know if you use ground), 1 clove pressed or chopped garlic, 1/4 cup sesame oil, and 1/4 cup olive oil ... because I don't like vegetable oil.

This thing is kinda awesome, the measure, mix n'pour has the ingredients for different kinds of dressings right on the cup. You fill it up to the line, shake it, then seal and refrigerate for a later use! So I mixed all the dressing ingredients in here first.
Add cooked bowtie pasta with the bag of spinach and the chopped/shredded chicken breasts

Julienne some carrot sticks. I have a nifty julienne peeler but you can also use any vegetable peeler for a fast result. You just get thinner slices instead of the "matchstick" pieces you get from julienne-ing. (is that a word?)

Add the carrot on top of thinly sliced red onion, and chopped cucumber

Mix in the mandarin oranges (drained), dressing, and top with the sliced almonds! Simple, light, and delicious. *** vegetarian tip... instead of chicken you could totally toss some cooked and cooled quinoa in here. Bet that would be tasty.

Goodbye Tomatoes

Goodbye rip, red, juicy tomato sandwiches. Goodbye fresh salsa. Goodbye corn, goodbye zucchini! I'm sad to see summer foods go, but there are foods to love every season. I got excited when I saw all the butternut and spaghetti squashes out at Trader Joes. It reminded me that Fall is really in full swing now. Then suddenly it hit me, that means the fall racing season has begun as well. You know, that Army 10 miler I signed up forever ago? Which used to seem so so far away? It's in two weeks!

Around this time last year, I found out I was pregnant 2/3 through fall Marathon training. I swore that I would be back out this fall to run another. When I grappled with the decision to sign up this past Spring, my girlfriend Dorothy gave me great, simple advice... WHY? You have the rest of your life to run marathons. She was so right, and I'm so glad I wasn't trying to prove anything to myself this summer by squeezing in long runs after sleepless nights, or trading in valuable and rare family time on Saturdays.

I gave myself the summer off. But when those big old spaghetti squashes stared me down in the grocery store, I realized break-time is coming to an end. Anyone who has ever had a baby knows that the real gestation lasts much longer than 9 months. It takes a while to feel like your old, pre-baby self again. I'm excited to get out there this fall for 5ks (my first is this weekend!), 10ks, and the 10 miler. It makes me feel like some of the old Hungry Mom is back.

Goodbye Summer/Hello Fall Chicken

2 chicken breasts (recipe calls for skin-on, but I think its quicker this way, and makes me feel a little better about all the butter)
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
White wine (about a cup)
half stick butter :)
1/2 lemon (not pictured)
fresh rosemary
Freshly grated parm
Cherry, grape or Roma tomatoes (halve them if you use Roma)
Red onion
1 Spaghetti Squash

If you're making this you have to think ahead a little bit on the timing. You're going to want to roast at 400 degrees both the tomatoes (for 30 min) and the spag squash (for 45 min) first.

Spaghetti Squash goes cut sides down on a cookie sheet (or stone) with 1 cup water, little olive oil, and some balsamic. Oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

Toss the tomatoes and sliced red onions with olive oil, salt, pep, balsamic (no such thing as too much), and fresh rosemary. This part MAKES the dish. I wish I made 5 times this amount. Put it in the 400 degree oven with the squash for 30 minutes. Might want to check it half way through and give it a little stir.

While the squash and tomatoes are roasting, melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Add the sliced chicken and a sprig of rosemary.

Add half a squeezed lemon. It was so hard to take this picture.

And about a cup of wine? I did about a turn of the pan. This picture was a little easier to take. I guess I'm pretty good at multitasking while pouring wine :) When chicken is cooked through, remove it and let the sauce reduce/thicken a bit.

Tomatoes are done! They are SO. GOOD.

TGB was helping me by looking cute and staying quiet.

When the squash is done, let it cool and then scrape out the insides. If you do it in the right direction, then it comes out looking kind of like spaghetti.

I even took some and added tomato sauce to it to give to the boys as "pasta," but it didn't fool Superman. I hope you have better luck.

So add another tablespoon or three of butter, salt, a little rosemary, and some freshly grated parm and mix it up. This part is delicious enough to make and serve as a side dish!!!!!!

Top with the chicken, tomatoes, and pour the reduced wine sauce on top!

Are you running any fall races this year? Which ones?? Go read Mile Posts if you don't already for great great marathon and general race day tips!

Just a Spoonful of Sugar...

...helps the vegetables, go down! So, I don't know about your kids (or boyfriend, or whoever) but getting my little people to eat vegetables is a daily battle. Superman fights me tooth and nail on eating anything that is green. Batman is pretty open to the idea. And TGB will eventually be force fed them in pureed form :) I love babies, they can't put up a fight even if they want to.

I got a huge bunch of green beens 2 weeks ago from CSA. I knew they had been sitting in the fridge for a while getting older and tougher every day and I needed to use them pronto. I decided to try to make them into a Green Bean French Fry sort of thing. Superman is known to spit out regular green beans, followed by some intense crying and tongue-scraping, so I was curious if disguising would help the "medicine" go down. Since its all in the name, I served them up with a boisterous introduction as... tah dah!!!! Nugget Swords!! I mean really, what boy doesn't want to eat a Nugget Sword?

I perused the internet for recipes and decided that instead of deep frying, because really that defeats the entire purpose of serving the kids veggies, I'd go the baking route. However, these would be awesome deep-fried and served as an appetizer at a party.

Green Bean French Fries (you could do this with any veggie)

Green Beans, trimmed and blanched
1 egg whisked with 1/4 c milk
panko (I ended up combining panko and regular breadcrumbs)
2 tbl flour
salt
garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, any of those would work
Preheat oven to 375




First boil water and add green beans, cook for just 3 to 4 minutes (these poor green beans don't look too good, they were definitely one day from being thrown in the trash)

In that time get your coating station set up. Flour, Egg/milk, Panko/breadcrumbs/spices then baking sheet or stone.

Then drain your beans and immediately plunge in cold ice water (this is blanching).

Then coat in flour (I recommend using tongs to avoid clumpy breaded fingers)

Coat in egg

And coat in breadcrumbs!

Place them on your tray and throw into the oven for 20-25 min at 375

And tah dah!! Here they are. Nugget Swords in all their glory.

Now I don't feel so bad about serving up a minute in the microwave hot-dog for the fourth time in 2 days.

Kid approved!

TGB is a little bitter she couldn't try any. Nugget swords are for girls too!!

And then a few hours later when we finally had dinner they were tasty for big people too! I just squeezed some lemon on top and dunked them in the flank steak marinade (soy sauce, sherry, honey, pressed garlic, green onions... mmmmm good)

Yes thats my plate and not my husbands. Don't judge.