Recipe: Pumpkin Spaetzle

It's fall, which means my mind goes to all things pumpkin.  I love pumpkin.

Pumpkin Spaetzle, with pork chops and broccoli.  Mmmmm.

So I wanted to try pumpkin spaetzle.  And oh, was it good.  The kids loved it.

The procedure is the same as with the Boiled Slobbages and the Cheesy Spaetzle.

The recipe is as follows.

Pumpkin Spaetzle

2 eggs
1 c canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp nutmeg

1-2 Tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients except butter together well.  Let rest for about 10 minutes.  In a large pot, boil broth or water. Using a spaetzle maker or a collander, press the dough through holes into the boiling liquid. Boil for about 2-3 minutes, or until they all float, stirring occasionally. Remove from the boiling liquid and submerge in a bowl of cold water for about 30 seconds.  This keeps them from sticking. Melt  butter in a large frying pan.  Saute the spaetzle briefly in the pan.  Serve warm.

Lunch: 10.6.10

Snack today is an apple in the pumpkin container, along with a juice.

Lunch is a fruit cup, a couple pumpkin cranberry mini muffins, a ham sandwich (on new bread, close to this recipe - I'm not sold on it yet.  I will make a classic pain de mie again soon, rainbow or not..), and some pretzels.

Lunch: 10.5.10

Snack is half a kiwi, some of the "trail mix" with cinnamon toast crunch, pretzels, and raisins, and a few vanilla cookie bites in the yellow container, along with a juice, in my pumpkin container.

Lunch is some baked beans (from a can, leftover from dinner), apple slices, a turkey sandwich on a mini bagel (I'm between loaves of bread), some apple-cinnamon mini rice cakes, and a couple pumpkin cranberry mini muffins, packed in an Easy Lunchbox Container.

Don't miss your chance to enter my Funky Monkey Snacks giveaway!

Lunch: 10.4.10

October is here!  So, I pulled out my Halloween snack boxes (which I picked up at Michael's last year).

For snack, the Girl has a couple Pumpkin Cranberry Mini muffins and some raisins, along with a juice.

For lunch, she has a maple leaf shaped ham sandwich (on store bought bread - I need to whip up another loaf of pain de mie!), some snack mix that we made this weekend (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, raisins, and pretzels), half a kiwi, some apple slices, a string cheese, and a small piece of Chocolate Cake Pan Cake that we made this weekend (Super fun - click through the link and try it out!), all packed in our Easy Lunch Box container.

Don't miss your chance to enter my Funky Monkey Snack Giveaway!

This lunch has been shared on What's For Lunch at Our House.

Review & Giveaway: Funky Monkey Snacks

I recently received a sample box of Funky Monkey Snacks to try out.

Here's some information about them (courtesy Funky Monkey):

Funky Monkey Snacks are a line of freeze-dried fruit that are 100% natural, 100% real fruit, and 100% delicious – with three servings of fruit in each 1oz bag!  Our “fruit that crunches” provides the ultimate snack, fusing the great taste, smell, and nutritional goodness of fresh fruit with the crunch and convenience of conventional snacks.  Here are some additional Funky Monkey highlights:

•       Funky Monkey Snacks have no added colors, flavors, sugars, or preservatives

•       Our special, proprietary manufacturing process provides for a crunchier texture vs. conventional freeze-drying techniques

•       We use full slices and pieces (not dices) of delicious, fresh fruit

•       Funky Monkey is made in Brazil using tropical fruits at the peak of freshness

•       Our products are gluten-free and are certified Kosher

•       One of our 7 flavors, Purple Funk, also includes açai, a berry from the Amazon that is viewed as the newest superfood

I had the kids try out some of the flavors - favorites were the bananamon (banana cinnamon) and applemom (apple cinnamon), and I liked the JiveAlime (pineapple with lime) and the MangOJ (mango orange juice).  

I have to say, the texture took some getting used to. We are not used to our fruit crunchy. And the açai flavor on the Purple Funk was just plain weird. I can see getting the JiveAlime or the MangOJ again.  The kids weren't huge fans, sadly...

Still, maybe they will be a hit for your family.

The good people at Funky Monkey are offering a free sample pack (1 bag of each of their 7 flavors) as a giveaway (US residents only).  Fun AND free!  How can you go wrong with that?

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below letting me know which flavor you think you might like best.  Check out the Funky Monkey site so you can see all of their neat flavors available.  The winner will be chosen next Friday, October 8, at around 6 PM.  

Please remember, any comment without a way to contact you will be disqualified.  One entry per person, please.  If the winner doesn't get back to me within 48 hours of the announcement, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

Recipe: My Mom's Coffee Cake

The kids asked for coffee cake for breakfast, and my go-to recipe is my mother's.  It's highly adaptable.  I did a straight-forward cinnamon coffee cake with oat topping. 

And it was delicious.

It goes together best in a food processor, but you can mix it by hand or in a stand mixer.


My Mom's Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 c all purpose flour
1 c wheat flour
1/2 c butter
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1 c skim milk


Topping:
1 c rolled oats
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix dry ingredients together with butter until nicely crumbled.  Add milk and blend until smooth.  Pour into a greased 8"-9" square pan, 2-3 inches deep.

In the same bowl,  add topping ingredients, blending until it is crumbs.  Sprinkle evenly over batter.  Bake about 25-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variations:  Use your imagination!  Substitute orange juice for the milk, add a little orange zest, add nuts to the crumbs, add some berries or apples.. have fun and experiment.

Lunches: 10.1.10

I chaperoned a field trip with the Girl on October 1, and there was no time for snack, so here is what we each had for lunch:

She had a ham sandwich on rainbow pain de mie, a granola bar, a string cheese, half a kiwi, and some grapes.

I had a cheese sandwich on a mini blueberry bagel, some pretzels, grapes, and the last of the Funky Monkey snack - MangOJ flavor.