I Found the Cumin!!!

     Remember when I said I have issues? Well, that applies to deadlines too. You see, Brooke doesn't really give me deadlines, but I usually tell her the date I plan to post something and then I post it a day or two after my self-imposed deadline. It's kind of like when you tell your significant other that an appointment is actually half and hour earlier than it really is so that he or she shows up on time.
     This was the problem last night - I was making something with pumpkin in it for the first time in my life, and I couldn't figure out why I had pumpkin pie spice. I have never, ever made a pumpkin pie. I chucked it because it was probably 10 years old, and then I proceeded to try to figure out why I had three containers of paprika(seriously?) and FOUR containers of black peppercorns. And I finally chucked the huge bag of jolly ranchers that fell all over the place whenever anyone opened the cabinet. Like I really need candy, especially candy that has been around as long as that has. I ended up spending hours making the pumpkin cookies and cleaning out every cabinet I could.
     Five trash bags and a day later, here I am to give our Laces readers two new fall recipes. (We swear we have more than recipes and me whining about my foot and ankle, but we hope you enjoy these while we work on the rest, LOL!)

     The first is another Weight Watchers Recipe that my family even liked. My son noticed there was no meat, so I gave him a little chicken on the side. It is very easy to make and you can substitute organic products for anything I used. For those counting points with the big WW, it makes 6 servings of "5" PointsPlus each.

Bulgur and Bean Chili

Ingredients:

  1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

  1 cup onion chopped

  2 medium poblano chile, chopped (I used one and it was fine.)

  2 Tbsp chile powder

  1 Tbsp minced garlic

  3 cups water

  28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes in tomato puree

  3/4 cup uncooked bulgur (I found it in the bulk foods aisle at Whole Foods)

  1 tsp salt

  1 cup yellow corn, fresh or canned 

  15 1/2 oz. canned black beans, rinsed and drained

  1/2 cup cilantro leaves, fresh, chopped

  1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

Instructions:

     Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper; saute until almost tender, about 5 minutes.

     Add chili powder, garlic and cumin; saute for about 30 seconds. (I skipped the cumin because I couldn't find it, but guess what happened when I cleaned the cupboard last night? Woohee, Cumin!!!)

     Add water, tomatoes and their puree, bulgur and salt; bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

     Stir in corn and beans; simmer, covered, over medium heat, until corn and bulgur are tender, about 5 minutes.

     Remove from heat and stir in cilantro (I just tried to use the cilantro as a garnish in an effort to spruce up my photography. It probably would have tasted better chopped and in the chile.); finish with a squeeze of lime juice. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.

MaryKay's Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

   A word of warning here - this is not necessarily a healthy or nutritious recipe, but it isn't that bad for you either. I just included it because it was the right time of year for it. For about three years, I shared a pipestem, a kind of private drive, with a beautiful woman named MaryKay. Halloween is her birthday, and she loves to make these pumpkin cookies. Just so you know that she is normally a very nutrtion conscious person, MaryKay's family doesn't eat red meat (I do) and they introduced my son to sprouts. She has a husband and three very healthy sons. They love these cookies like I do.

Feel free to try organic products and to decide what you think is the healthiest option for the margarine. MaryKay and I couldn't figure out which was the "in" product nutrition-wise at this point, margarine, butter, or even light butter. Heck, it's a cookie!

Yield: Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:
  1/2 cup margarine
  1 1/2 cup sugar
  1 cup Libby's solid pumpkin, canned
  1 egg
  1 tsp vanilla
  2 1/2 cups flour
  1 tsp baking soda
  1 tsp baking powder
  1 tsp cinnamon
  1/2 tsp nutmeg
   semi-sweet chocolate morsels if desired.

Instructions:
     Cream margarine and sugar in a large bowl.
     Add egg and vanilla, beat until fluffy.
     Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture alternating with pumpkin, stirring after each addition.
     Mix in chocolate chips if desired.
     Drop by teaspoon on lightly greased cookie sheet.
     Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes.

Enjoy!

PS: I have been told, by a loyal follower, that our comment function is not working. Until I figure out how to fix it, if you want to comment and you can't work with the comment function either, just send your comments to therunningbrookefund@gmail.com and Brooke or I will gladly figure out a way to post them for you.