Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Its officiually pumpkin season!! I think pumkin doesnt get all the credit it deserves! Its number 1 and 2 uses are carved and decoraed for Halloween, and pumpkin pie. Its bright color indicates that it is full of nutrients, including Vitamin A, E, K, fiber, beta carotene. Also, suprisingly to many, there are many ways to use pumkin in recipes. Pie is just one, bread, muffins, cake, pasta, rice, smooties, latte, pumkin butter and many more. Im thinking in the next month we will explore many recipes using canned pumpkin. Today, I am making pumkin bread with cranberries. The cake is loaded with nutrients, and fairly low in fat because the pumpkin puree contributes most of the moisture.
I doubled my recipe because I didnt want to waste a half of a can of pumpkin puree. So this recipe yields two loaves of bread. I gave one to a friend, but I certainly could have froze it as well. The results were really good.
preheat oven to 350
ingredients
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 salt
2 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 can 15 oz pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts(optional)

combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt in a mixing bowl, beat in a mixing bowl-egg, sugar, pumpkin puree, when done mixing, mix all together
fold in cranberries and walnuts
mix another minute until fruit and walnuts evenly mixed
pour in two 9 x 5 bake pans
put in prebaked oven for 50-60 minutes.
remove from oven and let cool for an hour
slice and serve, mmmm goooooood

Blackbean Brownies

Ok picture this-no school due to Roshashana, and six 11 and 12 year olds playing games on XBox3- at my house. They have completely wiped out my oreos, pretzels and sunchips, and they are still starving, but thats ok, because I have made them mystery brownies, I just havent told them that they are mystery brownies. Infact, they went over so phenomonally well, that I made another batch for my friends passover dinner tonight. OK, ready for the unveiling of the secret- I made them with black beans, infact the only ingredient in the brownie, besides the box mix, is a can of blackbeans with the bean juice as well. Sounds unappealing? I think so too, but shock of all shocks, the taste of beans cant be detected at all!! The brownies were so incredibly moist but not in that raw egg moist way, because obviously thier are no eggs, but in a yummy, gooey, chocolatey way. The brownie is awesome!! Not to mention incredibly healthy with the high in fiber and protein
here is the uncomplicated recipe

Box of brownie mix, doesnt matter which one, I got mine at Walgreens along with the other ingredient
1 can black beans 15.5 ounces

in blender or food processor, mix the brownie mix and the entire content of blackbeans until batter is smooth
pour into a 9X9 greased baking dish and bake according to box instruction.
when done baking let stand atleast an hour because the brownies will be soft due to all the moisture from the beans.
serve and watch the brownie disappearing act

Fruit Tart $ 6.53

This came purely out of an accident. we were trying to make a pizza crust using a Jiffy Corn Muffin mix and didnt realize that the mix was on the sweet side, so we quickly switched gears and decided to make a dessert. My first thought was Nutella and spread it on like frosting and then top it with nuts or dried fruit, yum. Then I remembered how much I love mini fruit tarts and did a bit of internet research and concluded the "custard" part is cream cheese mixed with sugar. Next we needed dried fruit, We spent about 5 dollars on fruit, but only used $2.00 in the recipe(the rest of the fruit we will eat) We did decide to go for the mandarin oranges, canned peaches, fruit coctail, dried cranberries, and dried apricots. Next time I make this tart, I am going to include pinapple. This dessert is loaded with vitamins A, C, D and antioxidents as well. Cranberries are considered one of the super foods.
Ingredients:
Jiffy corn muffin mix $1.99
1 egg .15
1/2 cup canned peaches .60
1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges .60
1/2 cup fruit coctail .60
1/4 cup dried cranberries .40
10 oz cream cheese $1,79
2 tsp granulated sugar ,20
2 tablespoons strawberry jam .20

Make corn muffin mix in a pie tin or a baking pan (9X6)
let cool
when completely cooled mix softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth and cream
with a spatula or spoon frost cake
decorate the cake with the fruit anywhich way you would like
heat jam in microwave or over stove, ad 2 tablespoons water
when warmed brush or drizzle over fruit tart

Brownies with hidden ingredient(Baked Beans)

I did it!! Ive been thinking about making this brownie for years, and I finally did it! OK, truth be told, I didnt make them from scratch, I used a box mix, but none the less, the brownies came out good. I pureed the beans to use in place of the oil, and then used the 2 eggs. So the brownies were loaded with protein, and fiber. I used baked beans and I did rinse off the sweet, gooey brown sugar sauce, because I did not think that flavor would be a good combo with the chocolate. The results were ok. Michael did say, they didnt taste like my regular brownies, but he did eat manage to eat two of them.
Here is the simple recipe:
1 box brownie mix
1 can(10 0z) baked beans
2 eggs

puree the beans in food processor or blender, add brownie mix and eggs
mix until smooth, pour batter into a greased bake pan
bake at 350 for 20 minutes
let cool and cut into squares