Well since Thanksgiving was Monday, I'll probably make a pot of turkey soup. I froze the leftover bones, turkey and stock.

Robert and some friends are going fishing this afternoon into the evening. They'll be cold on the water, so I'll have a big pot of split pea soup ready for them when they get back.

They'll be ready for a couple of beers with big bowls of soup with pumpernickle croutons.

Nothing planned. I`m working Sat and Sunday, and Monday is our Federal election, which we`re working.

I`m going to make an Orzo pasta salad Sunday to take with us on Election day, and anything else I can think of to snack on.

You guys amaze me. Such good and dedicated cooks, my mouth is watering. Hope the fisherman bring home some fish to go with the pea soup. The weather here is nice but it is cool. I went to 5 year old GS's soccer game this morning. A freeze warning has been issued for tonight. I guess winter is on its way. DH is refurbishing our deck. Today he is staining it with solid stain. Looks good finally. This is the second go around with color choice. I am supposed to be out there helping. I will join him soon. This morning I have some beef minestrone soup cooking in the slow cooker. I made bacon and eggs for lunch. Does that count? I would love to make a dessert, but DH and I are trying to control our carbs which may or may not stop me. maybe some brownies; I can bring them over to my soccer player GS. He will enjoy them. Enjoy the weekend.

Apple salad sounds good! What do you put in yours? I make sort of a Waldorf version....apples, celery, pecans, pineapple tidbits and mix whipped cream with a little mayonnaise. I am probably not going to cook....unless my husband comes home. I can't decide what to cook....but if he isn't coming home tonight, I will probably eat a sandwich.

Marilyn C I use about 3 kinds unpeeled apples if I have them, celery, either golden raisins or grapes, sometimes nuts, sometimes not, marshmallows and some Miracle Whip. This is the way my Mother always made it and the kids like it that way. My Mother would use salted peanuts in hers and it was good.

I decided not to make pies, but am baking cup cakes and am cooking more beans and making some more cornbread! Will put this cornbread into the jumbo muffin pans, that have been greased. The cupcakes are in jumbo pans but have liners. Plan to give that food to the other girls to have for their suppers. I would have had 12 eggs so far today but one of the hens stepped on one and smashed it.

Sue

I like apple salad when it's made as the Waldorf Salad recipe from one of my cookbooks: apples, grapes, celery, walnuts, and sweetened whipped cream. That sounds really good to me right now, but I don't have all the ingredients on hand.

For dinner tonight I made curried chicken with apples, onion, peas, and brown rice. No, I am not tired of apples! :-)

Oh, Alisande....that sounds so good!

Marilyn_Sue------You are a regular cooking factory!!! Wish I could visit for samples!!!

I had a little spare time yesterday afternoon, plus one ripe banana, so I made pancakes. We have pancakes for breakfast every Monday and I was out of them in the freezer, so that spurred me on.... ;-) -Grainlady

G-F Banana Pancakes

1-1/4 c. almond flour

1/4 c. coconut flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 c. full fat coconut milk

1 ripe banana, mashed

3 lg. eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 T. raw honey - optional (I use coconut palm syrup - homemade version)

fat for frying

Sift together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Blend the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Bake on an oiled griddle using 2 T. of the batter per pancake. - I made 16 small pancakes.

[Grainlady Tip- In my experience, gluten-free pancakes are best made small because they can be quite tender and difficult to flip if they are too large. I use a 2-Tablespoon coffee measure for the batter per pancake. This size pancake also stores well in a tall square-round Tupperware container since these pancakes are destined for the freezer. So they don't stick together, I divide the pancakes with flexible cutting mats cut into squares - or rectangles - on my guillotine paper cutter (mats found at Wal-Mart - they come 3 colored mats per pack and are BPA-free). I use these to divide all kinds of foods stored in the freezer. They are easy to wash and reuse. ]

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Today I'm making a repeat of a recipe I baked Thursday. It was one of the three new recipes using pepitas I made this week (I try to make three new recipes each week). Hubby enjoyed it so much when we took it on a short trip with us Friday, he requested it to take to work with him on Monday.

Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies

(source: http://leelalicious.com/pumpkin-breakfast-cookies/)

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

These pumpkin flavored healthy cookies make a great seasonal grab-and-go breakfast. With hearty wholegrain oats, cranberries and pumpkin seeds

Yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients

• ¼ cup Spectrum® coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup honey [I used coconut palm syrup - homemade version]
• 1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• ⅔ cup dried cranberries [I used 1/3 c., and almost any kind of dried fruit will work)
• ⅔ cup pumpkin seeds
• ¼ cup ground flax
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet.
2. In a small bowl warm Spectrum® coconut oil and honey (either microwave, inside preheating oven or on the stove top).
3. In a large bowl combine both kinds of oats, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, ground flax, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add pumpkin puree, eggs and warmed coconut oil and honey. Stir until fully combined.
4. Drop about ¼ cup sized scoops of the mixture onto a cookie sheet and flatten (cookies won't spread while baking). Bake for about 15-20 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
5. Let cookies cool on baking sheet before moving to an airtight storage container.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 cookie Calories: 221 Fat: 10.8g Saturated fat: 5g Carbohydrates: 27.2g Sugar: 10.7g Sodium: 111.6mg Fiber: 3.9g Protein: 6.7g Cholesterol: 31mg

Going to a brunch later this morning -- I am making cucumber, hard-cooked egg, smoked salmon and cheese stacks. And afterwards I head back down here and finish up a roasted veggie stew in chicken broth for a get together late this afternoon.

Yesterday breakfast I had leftover take-out pizza from Friday night (Friday I was at work from 6:30 am to 7 pm, and cooking just wasn't on the agenda...) Last night, roast chicken for dinner.

I forgot to add.... Hubby and I made two large batches of hot cocoa mix (French Vanilla and Hazelnut), which he will also to take to work (our annual wintertime contribution to the break room). We have three more flavors to go, but ran out of some ingredients. -Grainlady

It looks like a lot of folks are cooking some extra things for the weekend. Our 3 daughter's came yesterday and picked up the foods I had fixed for them. All I kept was one cupcake for my husband and some of the apple salad. I like reading what everyone is fixing and doing.

Sue

Grainlady, the pumpkin breakfast cookies sound good (although I'd probably eat them later in the day, not being a morning sweet-tooth!)

I had some left over mashed potatoes I needed to use up so I made a Shepard's pie with some corn and ground beef I had in the freezer. My son loves it so he can now eat it for the next 3 days :) I also made a pan of brownies with some hot fudge I had left over from last weekends company where we had hot fudge sundaes for dessert. I knew I wasn't going to eat anymore sundaes and it was going to go to waste so I just threw it in my normal brownie recipe. It actually came out quite well and boy are they fudgey.

Remember corn flake breaded baked chicken? It's in the oven now.

I made a brunch; took croissants sliced in half, topped with sausage patties and scrambled eggs w/ cheese. Then pan fried, sliced pork roast for dinner, Chinese cabbage soup on the side, left over cheesecake for dessert.

Peanut butter cookies, roasted a turkey breast for work lunch sandwiches this week and roasted vegetable lasagna for dinner tonight.

apatton01, I had a sudden craving for turkey yesterday! unfortunately, I didn't have one to cook. lol! I made vegetarian chili instead. :)

I made a pot of "Cape May Chili". It's a moniker I gave this particular style of chili after eating chili made with lima beans at the annual Cape May (NJ) Lima Bean Festival.

It's a sweet-ish chili made with lima beans and stewed tomatoes. I add a little brown sugar to a "trinity" of onions, garlic and bell peppers, then layer a dash of aleppo pepper on top to have a little heat sneak up on the tongue.

Also, threw in some fresh corn kernels from end-of-the-season corn ;-)

Perfect Fall dish.

Because of a frost warning, I picked everything that remained in our garden, including peppers galore. I chopped up a bunch of them, and made a batch of gumbo . I think I didn't cook the roux long enough because it thickened up too much, so I added a glug of white wine which thinned it out and added a good note to the flavor.

Had some boneless thighs I had to cook up. I seared them off on both sides and put in a baking dish. Added some butter to the pan and sauteed a tub of mushrooms and bag of fresh spinach. Spooned all that over the chicken thighs. Sprinkled Parmesan cheese over everything and poured a small carton of whipping cream over the top. Baked at 350 for about 30 minutes. Came out very good!

Made another Potluck German Apple Cake for husband. He loves that cake!

Roasting a couple of turkey breasts for sandwiches and a pot of turkey noodle soup later in the week. Have never roasted just the breasts before.