#american

Pumpkin Bread

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

I love Fall! It gets a bit cooler here in Southern California during the last few months of the year (specially at night!) and it’s the perfect time for everything pumpkin, apples, soups, stews, and chili!

Starting September, I start baking a little more and definitely crave something that is “warmer” than a Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips that we usually have – https://athomewiththeresa.com/2020/08/06/banana-bread-2/

So here is the recipe that I made to look like my favorite Starbucks Pumpkin Bread. I usually buy a slice or two when we are on the road and stop by Starbucks. I like it as the seeds on top gives it another layer of texture and the bread itself is moist and flavorful. And totally perfect with coffee!

As I was trying to figure the ingredients while eating one, I can definitely taste the cloves over any other spices. So, even though I give you a range to use half the amount, I always make it with the full 2 teaspoon of cloves.

This is the very reason I make my own food, because I can tailor it to how I like it. I also happen to like pepitas so I just covered the top of the batter with pumpkin seeds until I do not see the batter anymore. You can definitely use less, or omit it completely if you do not like it.

This recipe uses oil instead of butter as I always have enough oil in the pantry, but sometimes just a pat of butter in the fridge. It is also so that the pumpkin and the flavor of the spices shine through.

I hope you like this recipe as much as my family does. It makes 2 big loaves so that you have enough to share with those near and dear. Happy Fall my dears!!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 (15 oz) can pure pureed pumpkin
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 – 2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup whole Pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 big loaf pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine white sugar,

3. Brown sugar,

4. oil,

5. eggs,

6. pureed pumpkin,

7. and water.

8. Stir together until combined.

9. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour,

10. baking soda,

11. salt,

12. ground cloves (I like yto use the

13. pumpkin pie spice,

14. and ground nutmeg.

15. Stir together using a wire whisk to mix evenly.

16. Pour dry mixture into wet mixture and stir together. Stir just until everything is mixed together. Do not over mix.

17. Divide batter evenly into prepared loaf pans.

18. Sprinkle whole pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) over the top of batter. I like to use a lot – enough to cover the top completely.

19. Bake at 350F for about an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

20. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

21. Slice thickly and enjoy! 🍂🍁 🎃

Mockmill 100 Grain Mill

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

I had been making our sourdough bread weekly for over four years now and I was curious to see if grinding my own flour is worth it. I know for a fact that since the pandemic hit a couple of years ago, it was difficult to find specialty flours and it is very expensive if you ever found it.

For a while, I did have to use whatever I could find, when I could find it – store brand, bleached, all purpose flour, usually – and I learned that they are good enough for most of the things that I bake. Something good to know!

But as more items become readily available again, I want to try to get better ingredients for my family. A grain mill sounded like a great idea since I already had a place to order my organic grains in bulk – Azure Standard! Check them out online 👉https://www.azurestandard.com

Looking up the various types of flour mills online, I fell in love with the Komo Classic. It had this beautiful, wood cabinet casing and looked like it was easy enough to use. Even though it was $600, I placed it in the cart and started checking out.

But they were not available. No unit of whatever brand was available as they were all back ordered for several months. Looks like everyone was already doing what I was thinking of doing!

A few weeks later, I found a similar one in Amazon, a MockMill 100. Not as pretty as the KoMo but more practical AND available NOW! I purchased it before I could think of reasons not to. Its cheaper than the KoMo, about $375 with taxes and shipping.

It arrived a week later and I did run a variety of grains and beans through it to see how it handles it. Rice first to clean it out, then black beans, soybeans, garbanzo, wheat, millet, oats…it was really good! 😊

Reading up on this brand, I found out that there is another, more powerful one called MockMill 200. Debating to return this for the 200, I emailed the seller asking how much better the 200 is over this and they replied that the only difference is the speed of grinding. I can live with the speed of the 100 as I am not a commercial bakery. So I decided to just keep this unit and use it until I outgrow it.

I would likely use it more often for specialty flours, garbanzo, rice, beans than regular flour but it’s handy having it that I did buy wheat to mill at home.

Let me tell you, the taste of bread made with fresh milled flour is out of this world! You have to cool down the flour a bit after grinding as it gets quite warm.

I think even if I can get good quality flour, I might still grind my own every now and then.

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Sun Oven

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

I really did NOT need another kitchen gadget but this amazing lady I follow (Impulse to Legend on FB and instagram) started using a Sun Oven and posting the results on her page. It was nothing short of amazing.

I snapped one up right away! I definitely can see the many uses of this:

1. In the summer, it’s often too hot to use the oven. But the sun’s intensity during these months will make using the sun oven outside a brilliant idea.

2. Sunlight is abundant almost year round here in Southern California, a totally eco-friendly alternative to gas or electricity.

3. Sunlight is free! I can bake to my heart’s content without using precious resources. As long as you can cast a shadow on the ground, you can cook!

4. It is super portable, it folds up like a small suitcase and weighs just a bit over 20 pounds.

5. It is perfect for camping, no fuel required and no fire danger issues! A great plus specially in high fire danger areas like here in California.

6. Food won’t burn. I still do not understand how this works but yes, I left a pan of my bread rolls there for over 2 1/2 hours (not on purpose though, got busy and forgot about it) and it was just perfect.

7. Food won’t dry out. It cooks/bakes with moist heat, unlike the oven, but it is not wet like steam cooking. You can see moisture accumulate on the inside of the glass door when you cook. The chicken I baked was cooked through but moist and tender.

8. Emergency situations when power is out. A perfect excuse for me to get this item, like mentioned above, as long as there is sunlight, I can cook and bake.

9. Cooking/baking while on the beach anyone? I see people lugging grills and stoves and even a pizza oven once! I am not one of these people but you could totally bring this too! Me, I just take some drinks, fruits or chips, and sometimes sandwiches. I like to just chill on the blanket or body board at the beach.

I love this oven so much that I asked Sun Ovens to allow me to market these and they gave me a special link. These are affiliate links, where in I might earn a little commission when someone buys the oven using my link, without affecting your purchase price at all. It helps keep my blog going, and I truly appreciate any support.

Click here to purchase the oven and get a free oven cover with purchase(a $59 value!): https://www.sunoven.com/promotions/ref/bluedolphins_tere@yahoo.com

Click here to attend a free webinar that runs every Tuesday and Thursday evening. During the webinar, each participant will be emailed a link to a special offers page where they will be able to purchase an All American Sun Oven with $118 worth of free products! This includes a free oven cover and their latest cookbook: https://www.sunoven.com/brighter-way-webinar/ref/bluedolphins_tere@yahoo.com

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For my first recipe, I tried the 1 hour bread recipe I have on my website: https://athomewiththeresa.com/2020/07/03/1-hour-hamburger-buns/

I made it into 24 rolls, and placed 12 dough balls in 2 13×9 pans. I placed the pan in the Sun Oven, stacking the second pan on top. Of course accidents happen and it dropped straight down, flattening the rolls below. Oh well…..I guess flat bread is still bread.

It baked for less than an hour before it was golden brown and the fragrance of baking bread was wafting in the backyard. Time to get it out!

When I removed the pan, I realized that bread in the bottom pan was not browned so I adjusted the oven and left the second pan in there. I forgot about it and got it about 2 1/2 hours later. I’m happy to report that it browned and even though I left if too long, it did NOT burn.

Next was a whole chicken. Now, this I had to finish browning in the Ninja Grill as I started past 4 pm. I spatchcocked the chicken, rubbed it with salt, pepper, and chopped rosemary. Grabbed a lemon from the yard and sprinkled lemon juice over it before placing it in the preheated oven.

I left it for about an hour, but by then my backyard is no longer sunny, as a matter of fact, it is completely shaded by the house. I moved the oven to the front yard and left it for a few minutes but decided to finish it up in the Ninja Grill. It took about 20 minutes to brown the chicken nicely and cook it thoroughly.

Next, I found a couple of over ripe bananas on my counter so I decided to make Banana Bread! I used my recipe here: https://athomewiththeresa.com/2020/08/06/banana-bread-2/

I replaced the brown sugar with Splenda brown sugar, used sugar free chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Poured the batter into 2 greased loaf pans and into the preheated Sun Oven they went.

It was in the oven from 1:27pm to 2:19pm and it was done!!! Golden brown and smelling delicious!

It does look like it was baked in a regular oven but the bread is moist and very flavorful. Not dry at all.

Look at the slices below! They are absolutely beautiful!

So next, since it was still a bit sunny, I decided to cook this Spaghetti Squash that is in my panty.
I cut it in half lengthwise, removed the seeds using a spoon to scrape it away, placed it cut side down on a baking pan, and placed it in the oven.

I decided to leave it there until past dinner, hoping the residual heat will cook it through. I wasn’t mistaken. It cooked wonderfully!

See how it looks like spaghetti? The video below is to show you how tender it was.

I totally recommend this oven if you are like me and want to bake in the middle of summer! I will keep experimenting with recipes that I can bake in it, hoping to use it all year long.

Happy weekend everyone!

Electric Lunchbox #97: Pistachio Cake

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

I’m back after not posting for a long time. Have you tried a beautiful, green colored Pistachio Cake?

My coworker (Jonnielyn Rivera) shared this super easy recipe with me a few years ago and I just had to adapt it to the ELB! It did take some time because I sometimes ended up with a cake that is too dense or tasteless, because of the amount of pudding. After a few tries, I think I finally nailed it. 😊 Look at the crumb of this cake in the photo below! Light yet moist and flavorful! 😋

And so here is an easy to make yet delicious recipe to try if you have time. All you’ll need is a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a box of yellow cake mix, a little box of pistachio pudding mix, a bit of sour cream, an egg, some canola oil, and some water!

I hope you’ll try out and of course, I do hope that you’ll like it!

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny ELB cup, unless specified.*

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Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cake mix

3 tablespoons Pistachio Pudding Mix

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 egg

3 ELB cups water for the base

Procedure :

1. Spray the big or medium ELB bowl with nonstick spray.

2. In a bowl, place the yellow cake mix,

3. pudding mix,

4. sour cream,

5. water,

6. Oil,

7. and egg.

8. mix well until blended.

9. Pour into the prepared ELB bowl. Cover with foil.

10. Place bowl in the ELB base, pour 3 ELB cups of water in the base, cover and let steam until it shuts off, about 55 minutes.

11. Carefully open the ELB and check the cake for doneness by inserting a skewer in the middle. It should come out clean.

12. Cool completely on a wire rack.

13. Carefully unmold the cake and serve.

14. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (the Elon Musk one)

Theresa Pizarro1 Comment

Finally, I was able to write this article. I hope you all will like it!

Tesla. Elon Musk. Bitcoin…..Chocolate Chip Cookies???

A few weeks ago, while on one of my rare break times at work, I came across this article about a Chocolate Chip Cookie that allegedly made Elon Musk go back for seconds. Wait, what? Did I read that right?

So of course, I read the whole article. The baker’s boyfriend works at Space X, and his desk is near Elon Musk’s office. So when the cookies were seen, he asked the bodyguard to get some. And then more.

I just wanted to go home and try the recipe she shared after I was done reading the article. But of course, I had to finish work before leaving.

So, a few hours later, I was able to prepare it. Lucky for me, ingredients for chocolate chip cookies are always in my pantry. 😊

I doubled the recipe so that I could share, and made it in the Thermomix so that it came together really fast.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks

1. Place the butter in a bowl. You can use a stand mixer or a hand held one. I used the Thermomix to make life easier.

2. Add the brown sugar,

3. And the white sugar. Mix together over low speed for 3 minutes.

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Add the vanilla extract,

6. And the egg (eggs in the photo as I doubled the recipe).

7. Mix for about 15 seconds, low speed.

8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

9. Stir in the flour,

10. Baking soda,

11. And salt into the butter mixture.

12. Mix on low speed for 10-15 seconds, until just combined.

13. See the texture on the photo above.

14. Add in the chocolate chips, (love Trader Joe’s chocolate chips!)

15. And stir until incorporated.

16. Transfer dough into a container with a lid and refrigerate overnight.

17. Next day, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Preheat oven to 350F.

18. Drop 2 tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared sheets.

19. Leave 2 inches of space between the dough balls as these spread out a bit.

*You can also scoop the dough, place it on the sheets, touching is fine, and freeze them. When frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and bake as needed. See above photo.*

20. Bake in the oven for 11-13 minutes, or until edges are golden, but the middle is still soft.

21. Slide the parchment or silicone mats directly onto the counter and cool for a few minutes. When set, about 5 minutes, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Or enjoy cookies while they’re warm and gooey!

Electric Lunchbox # 96: Creamed Corn Cornbread

Theresa Pizarro1 Comment

Good morning everyone!

After posting the Jiffy Spoon bread recipe for the ELB, I got a few requests for a “from scratch” recipe as Jiffy is not readily available where they live. I had that problem once in a while too, so I am more than happy to accommodate that request.

The texture if this is not as soft as the spoon bread recipe, but it is close. I hope you try it both and decide which one you like better!

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny ELB cup, unless specified.*

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

1/2 cup cornmeal

3 tablespoons canola oil

3/4 cup canned creamed corn

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

3 ELB cups water for the base

Procedure:

1. Spray the big ELB bowl with nonstick spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, place sour cream,

2. Egg,

3. Cornmeal,

4. Canola oil,

4. Creamed corn,

5. Salt,

6. Baking powder, and sugar.

7. Stir everything together until just mixed.

8. Pour into prepared bowl and level the tops.

9. Cover with foil and set on the ELB base. Pour 3 ELB cups water in the base, cover, and let steam until it shuts off, about 1 hour.

10. Carefully open the ELB and check the bread for doneness by inserting a skewer in the middle. It should have little moist crumbs attached to it.

11. Cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Invert onto a serving plate and serve warm.

Electric Lunchbox #95: Spoon Bread made with Jiffy Mix

Theresa Pizarro2 Comments

Spoon bread…

I went to school in Virginia briefly when I was in high school. I was lucky enough to have cooking/baking class as my elective class of choice. The counselor asked me a few questions about interests/hobbies and asked me to choose my elective. Kitchen it is!

It was my favorite time of the day! I learned to make lots of food (sugar cookies, lasagna, manicotti, Welsh Cakes…) and we get to keep a portion to take home, or eat at lunch. I still have a few recipes I copied from that time in a blue notebook that I still make frequently.

One of the things we made was spoon bread. I didn’t quite understand it at that time, but yes, just as the name implies, it is a soft, moist quick bread that you’ll use a spoon to scoop up to eat. It is soft like pudding but with a little more structure that you can cut it.

In this recipe, I used a readily available cornbread mix to make life easier. And the amount of the ingredients are adjusted to fit the big ELB bowl.

Enjoy!

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny ELB cup, unless specified.*

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Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup canned creamed corn

1/2 cup canned sweet corn kernels, drained

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Jiffy Cornbread Mix

3 ELB cups water for the base

*Use the big bowl of the ELB!*

Procedure:

1. Spray the big ELB bowl with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a bowl, place melted butter,

3. creamed corn,

4. corn kernels,

5. sour cream,

6. egg,

7. sugar,

8. salt,

9. and Jiffy cornbread mix.

10. Mix everything together until well blended.

11. Pour into the prepared ELB bowl. Cover with foil.

12. place 3 ELB cups of water in the base. Place the bowl in the ELB base, cover and steam until it shuts off, about 1 hour.

13. Carefully open the ELB and check the bread for doneness by inserting a skewer in the middle. It is done when a few moist crumbs are sticking to the skewer instead of thick batter.

14. cool completely and unmold carefully. Slice and serve or use a spoon to scoop up individual portions.

15. Enjoy!

Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Theresa Pizarro3 Comments
Regular version

These make amazingly delicious cookies! I already had a staple recipe for chocolate chip cookies (The Original Toll House recipe of course!) but, like I mentioned before, I love to experiment. I am so glad I did, as this just might be my new favorite!

I made the dough twice, using half of the ingredients for each. One batch was made using sugar free chocolate chips, sugar and brown sugar substitute, sprouted spelt flour and added walnuts. The other half was all regular ingredients, without nuts.

Funny thing is, the sugar free version looked a lot prettier! Enjoy both!

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Sugar free version

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla paste

3 cups flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

Line your cookie sheets with silpat or parchment to make it easy to remove the cookies later.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars for around 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs and vanilla and continue beating for about 1 minute.

4. Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. When a dough forms, stir in chocolate chips.

6. Measure 1/4 cup dough and form into balls, pull them apart and place the halves next to each other, torn side up. Press together to adhere, then place on the cookie sheet, 12 dough balls per sheet. Or make smaller ones using a tablespoon of dough for each.

7. Bake 10 – 12 minutes, just until set and very lightly browned. Rotate cookie sheets, top to bottom and front to back, halfway through baking.

8. Cool on the cookie sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Or even just enough to not burn your tongue and enjoy! These are absolutely amazing warm when the chocolate chips are still gooey and soft! Yum!

8. Makes about 2 dozens.