Tag: pumpkin

Thanksgiving Prep: GF Sides & Desserts

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
“Lasers”

This video is longer than I normally post, but we’re also going on an adventure through four different dishes that we’re making in preparation for Thursday. I thought it would be a good idea to do this one in advance, in case anyone wanted to use any of these recipes.

I’ll try to go in the same order as the video. I didn’t plan it out well, though. Which, I mean, that’s what everyone has come to expect from me.

Oh, really fast before I continue: If you like this blog and follow it for updates, please consider creating an account for WordPress.org–because this blog is moving! In efforts to expand this blog and the YouTube channel, I have purchased kwos-food.com and have been importing all of my posts to the blog there. There will be more about this on Thursday, but I wanted to let all of you know about the impending change. When you visit this URL (starting next week), you will be redirected to kwos-food.com to read the content there. I would love for you to join me there and continue supporting this blog. To do the things I want to do, it would be extremely cost-prohibitive to keep the WordPress.com site going.

Now! Onto the food!

Pumpkin Pie

I used the recipe from WholesomeYum for the filling. Mostly. I made my own pumpkin puree, though. Because it’s me and I love pumpkin. Not pumpkin spice; pumpkin. But I also made my own pumpkin spice blend. There are many different recipes available on the internet for it. It’s a lot of cinnamon, not as much ginger and nutmeg, then a little allspice and clove. Even though the pie crust was store-bought, so it’s only gluten-free and not low carb, I still chose a low-carb option for the filling. Same with the cranberry curd tart we’ll talk about in a few minutes.

Gluten-Free, Paleo Dressing

I’m used to cooking a Paleo/Primal style Thanksgiving dinner. In last week’s post about dressing a turkey, I made one type of stuffing that is made with ground meat (I think the recipe wanted pork; I used turkey. Lamb would have been better). This dressing (or stuffing, if you want to go that route) is made with a variety of veggies and some fruits. It cooks up pretty quickly and smells amazing. I’m sure it will also taste amazing.

Boozy Cranberry Sauce

Tori Avey is one of my favorite people to follow. She is a real person with a real life and has amazing recipes that favor a variety of diets, but specifically are kosher-friendly. She is Jewish, after all. Her recipe for boozy cranberry sauce came to my attention via Cameraman Ken and we decided to try her recipe instead of the one I do every year that is pucker-your-mouth tart. If we decide to use this recipe forever, I will definitely plan to make some sugar-free Cointreau or Triple Sec specifically to use in this recipe. I also need to make sugar-free Limoncello. But, that’s a story for another time–as well as another video!

Cranberry Curd Tart

One of my Facebook friends posted a link to a beautiful and vibrant red tart. I read the words “Cranberry Curd” and decided I needed to, at least, make that part. I was originally going to wait til after Thanksgiving to make the curd, but Cameraman Ken suggested that, since I had two pie crusts, I could just use both and make the tart, as well. By the time I got to this part in filming, though, I was out of spoons (or spell slots, whichever you identify with). I was having a difficult time recalling anything and my hands were starting to not work anymore. Cameraman Ken ended up doing the straining of the cranberry puree through a medium-mesh strainer, off-camera.

This entire 33:18 video took a total of 5 hours of prep and work to do. That’s also after we had to run an errand first thing in the morning. Long day was long.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like what you see here, please consider heading over to Patreon and supporting me there. I do have content for Patrons-only, starting at the $5 tier. Let me know if you decide to make any of these dishes for your Thanksgiving. Stay safe. Wear a mask; wash your hands; stay 2m apart! Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

Paleo/Keto Pumpkin Chili

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
All Hail CAThulhu!

When other people talk about how it’s “Pumpkin Spice” season, I’m just talking about pumpkins because I love pumpkins. I’m not even sure why. They just make me incredibly happy. Which is why I bought 3 sugar pumpkins a few weeks ago so I could make some of my favorite pumpkin treats! We’ve made, pumpkin purée, pumpkin shortbread, and now, pumpkin chili! I still have a pumpkin left and I plan on making pumpkin pie with that! Though, I also want to make pumpkin butter. Hmm. We’ll see. I’ll probably have plenty of purée left over from my pie to make some pumpkin butter.

I found this recipe back in, I want to say 2011 or 2012, when I first decided to do a Paleo diet and start powerlifting. I’ve made it many times over the years because it’s my favorite chili. This time, I made modifications to the recipe by omitting the sweet potato and adding bell pepper and jalapeños; I also omitted the fresh basil, oregano, and cilantro and, naturally, added hot sauce.

Normally, I do this recipe in the crock on low for 8 hours. This time, however, I’d had this idea that I’d fill the pumpkin shell with it, but that turned out to be a bad idea, so I just did it on the stovetop. It’s not all that long of a recipe to make–probably about 45 minutes. I would not walk away from your chili, though. It has a serious potential to burn onto the pot, and you do NOT want that! Stay vigilant!

Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I guarantee I will have at least two videos about Thanksgiving foods! They will be low-carb, gluten-free, and delicious! I’ll even have a video (on a Thrusday) about how to dress a turkey (using Cornish game hens because there’s only two of us and I have no need–or place to store–a 12+lb turkey). Patreons have some videos just for them already posted–and we may even do a special Thanksgiving Patron-only video for a from-scratch, gluten-free green bean casserole! If you’re not already a patron and you want to see these videos, the $5 is where you want to be! You’ll get exclusive content in addition to what you find here!

Regardless of what you choose, thank you for your support! We’ll see you next time!

Pumpkin Shortbread

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
I really like this shirt…

Remember when we made pumpkin bisque and made our own pumpkin purée for that? Well, I ended up with an extra 1-1/2 cups of purée that I need to figure out what to do with! So, I started with the pumpkin shortbread because, I love shortbread!

Almond flour is a good 1-to-1 substitute for a shortbread recipe. Of course, so is gluten-free all purpose flour. Once I’m not meticulously counting carbs and trying to stay under 20g of net carbs per day (something I’ve been failing, recently), I’ll probably go back to my standard flours. I’m still going to be super carb conscious because–and this is the bizarre part–of the three of us kids, I’m the one with the most health issues. My body just really doesn’t like me, so it’s making my life complicated. I’d like to lose another 5lbs. Maybe 10lbs. Between 5 and 10. We’ll call that 7lbs. I’d like to lose another 7lbs. That will put me snuggly between 140 and 145lbs, which is where I’d like to be. I’m not unhappy with my current 150lbs; I would just like to have a little more wiggle room on weight gains which happen with new medications and flares and New Symptoms(TM) that end up being new disorders. To continue on the health trend, though, Cameraman Ken and I have discussed transitioning to a Mediterranean style diet. I need to do oodles of research on that and it’s not likely I’ll give up my chaffles or fathead dough, but it would be nice to bake with something other than almond or coconut flours.

Regardless, these shortbread cookies are actually really good and got better after they completely cooled. The texture wasn’t as bad as what was shown in the video. Overall, this was an okay attempt for my first time making it. I don’t think I got enough moisture out of the purée, which meant I had to add more flour which is what contributed to the texture issue.

Still, do make sure to try it for yourself! Also, make sure to head over to Patreon and consider supporting me. The public blog posts there are the same as they are here; however, there is some Patron-only content and announcements that go to my Patrons first before releasing to the rest of the world!

Pumpkin Time!

Posted on by Th3D0ct0r
BEHOLD! MY PUMPKINS!

It’s pumpkin time!

No, not pumpkin spice. I mean, pumpkin spice is fine and dandy and if that’s your deal, you go! I prefer the Gingerbread Lattes to Pumpkin Spice, but I just love pumpkin! So, I bought 3 sugar pumpkins (the kind you use for pumpkin pies) to make various things. One of them got heat damaged from being next to one of my burners, so I decided to roast that right on up and make pumpkin puree! The pumpkin weighed about 2lbs and yielded ~2.5 cups of puree.

A note on the puree: If you decide to use a blender, you will need to cut the large chunks down. You will also need to gauge the water that you add. You don’t want to make it too liquidy, but you need enough liquid to keep the blades from seizing. Pumpkin is notorious for bulking up when you blend/puree it.

The recipe is from the Samhain book from Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials library. The entire series is a great resource for each of the Sabbats, honestly. It’s where I get a good number of my ideas for videos. I celebrate very differently from many of the traditions, but if you’re just starting out on your path, these books are a really good overview of everything. I especially use them for the Sabbats I don’t personally celebrate so I can help others celebrate those sabbats!

Samhain is one of my sabbats, if you hadn’t guessed. This entire month, I’ll be featuring recipes and crafts/rituals/etc for the sabbat. I may see if I can live-stream something on Samhain eve/Halloween for everyone, since… we have to be socially distant. Maybe I’ll host a Zoom event. Would that be of interest? I’ll post information, obviously, for the event! Video/audio is not required, unless you want to.

Anyway! Make sure you’re subscribed to the YouTube channel for the video updates and make sure you’re subscribed to the blog for other updates and while you’re subscribing, considering popping over to Patreon and subscribing there so you can be notified of special events and such (and, maybe even get early access to stuff)!

Blessed be!