Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

   What's fall without some pumpkiny goodness? Try my fiber filled whole wheat pumpkin/cream cheese muffins and savor the flavors of the seasons.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 T flaxmeal
3 tablespoons cane sugar
1/3 cup canola or sunflower oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree- CLICK HERE for DIY puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ Cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Icing
4 oz Organic Low Fat cream cheese (I used Trader Joe’s- $2.99 for 8 oz)
1 T Pure Vanilla Extract
3 T Honey
mix all ingredi ents together. If desired you can thin the icing with water or milk.

Directions

preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan with canola oil cooking spray and set aside. 

* In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except the nuts). In a second large bowl, combine wet ingredients. Add this mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

* Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan and set aside to let cool completely.
Once cooled spread icing and top with chopped nuts.

Free Bumper sticker

Want to express your feelings on the organic food movement? Get yourself one of these free bumper stickers from Annies
Theyre super cute and a great price!

	Be Green Bumper Sticker BE GREEN, Help the Earth Live is a campaign we started in 1989. It's not about any particular organization or corporation or trying to get anyone elected. Be Green simply lets people know that you’re an Earth advocate, and that you care about what happens to our wondrous, blue and green planet. Get your BE GREEN bumper (or skateboard or bike or notebook) sticker today!
	Recycle Sticker Annie's is happy to offer a "Recycle" sticker to help promote reduction of waste. Recycling is an easy way to help our environment. Why should you recycle? Here are Four Good Reasons: 1. Recycling conserves our valuable natural resources. 2. Recycling saves energy. 3. Recycling saves clean air and clean water. 4. Recycling saves landfill space.
	Stand for Peace Bumper Sticker STAND FOR PEACE lets people know that you are committed to creating a peaceful planet. It’s not about any particular organization or corporation or trying to get anyone elected. It’s just a simple way to express that you want peace on earth. Creating a peaceful planet begins with believing that it can happen. Within each of us lies the capacity to bring a little more love, a little more compassion, and a little more acceptance into the world. We are all interconnected. We all share the same home.
	Think Organic Decal THINK ORGANIC lets people know that you support the organic movement. It encourages others to buy organic products and to support local farmers whenever possible. Organic farmers keep alive a shrinking, but sacred way of life. They are committed to a sustainable future and need our support.

Heartland Hippie is not affiliated with Annies Homegrown. All sticker photos taken from Annies.com

Baked Apples

 
   Have you heard the news? Apples are an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C, and rich in antioxidants. They have been shown to lower cholesterol and reduce C-reactive proteins that contribute to heart disease. Even better? They're in season! 
   One of our favorite autumn family activities is walking down the road to our local orchard for apples and a good play session. We also have a few apple trees of our own that we frequent.
Nothing makes the house smell more fall-ish than a delicious baked apple. Here's our no-fail baked apple recipe.
Baked Apple
Ingredients:
1 Apple
1/2 T sweetener of choice (ie; organic brown Sugar, maple syrup, honey, molasses)
1/2 T Organic Butter
1/4t Cinnamon
1/4 C Apple Juice (Optional)* 
Directions:
1) Cut off some of the apple top (to keep from exploding) and bottom
(so it stands up straight) 
2) Use butter knife or peeler to "core" apple from top, creating a nice
pit to hold butter and sugar while it bakes. Be careful to stop 1/2"
from bottom of apple. 
3) Melt butter in microwave 
4) add sweetener to butter and stir
5) Fill apple core w/butter and sugar mix
6) Generously sprinkle Cinnamon over apple
7) (Optional) Pour a little apple juice into bottom of casserole dish*
8) Add apples to casserole dish and bake @325, ~45 minutes until skin is
falling off and soft all the way through
9) Stand next to oven in eager anticipation as smell fills entire house

*Step 7 I've done just once, it's amazing no matter what so don't go out
of your way to purchase apple juice. 
* Also important to note that the Environmental Working Group has tested and determined that apples are the dirtiest (most pesticide laden) of all fruits and vegetables, so when possible purchase organic.

Magazine Page Art

  I know. I've really been slacking on the blogging lately. I promise it's because I've been so busy cooking, creating, and playing outside. The good news is that means I've got lots of good stuff to give you all in the months to come.

  Right now I'm loving the pretty divider pages in my Woman's Day magazine. They are full of inspirational/and humorous quotes that are great for displaying around your home. Here are some photos of my free "art".

this one is sitting on my dinning buffet

this one is on a vintage tv tray hanging in my kitchen

this one is on my bedroom memo board

Next time, don't just toss your magazine-

Display something inspirational.

**All magazine pages featured are contents of Woman's Day magazine.
Heartland Hippie is not affiliated with Woman's Day.

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana

   We have been getting a lot of eggplant this year which I'm not a big fan of. Because of the fruits (yes, it's a fruit) powerful antioxidant properties, I have been making attempts to incorporate it into our meals. I can finally say that with my yummy eggplant parmigiana, it is not only tolerable but tasty!

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana 
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant. peeled, stem removed
1/2 Jar pasta sauce (I use my homemade garden tomato sauce)
1/2 Cup Panko bread crumbs
1 T basil
1 T flax
1 t salt
shredded or sliced mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 C shredded parmesan
1 egg
1/4 C milk


Directions:

eggplant- post roasting

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4" slices
3. in one bowl whisk egg and milk
4. in another bowl mix panko, basil, salt, and flax
5. dredge each piece of eggplant into the egg mixture then coat in the panko mixture
6. place eggplant on cookie sheet and bake 7 min on each side
7. when finished roasting change the oven temp to 350 degrees
8. In a greased glass baking dish coat the bottom with a little sauce
9. cover the bottom with a single layer of eggplant, followed by mozzarella
10. add another layer of eggplant, then mozzarella
11. cover in sauce
12. sprinkle with parmesan
13. Bake covered with foil 20 min then 20 min uncovered

Healthier Summer Squash Casserole

   It's that time of year again. Squash season. Last year I blanched and froze my squash. It turned out way to mushy/watery for my taste, so this year I decided to make and freeze some sort of prepared dish. I searched high and low for a good "healthy" squash casserole recipe on the web and came up with nothing, so I've created my own version and think that it's mighty tasty. I will definitely be freezing a bunch of these to enjoy throughout the year.
Healthier Squash Casserole
Ingredients:
2 med summer squash, sliced (you can do half zucchini as well)
1/4 C organic Butter softened
1/2 T Honey
1/2 C chopped white onion
1 egg
1/2 C plain nonfat organic yogurt
1/2 C organic shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 C whole wheat panko bread crumbs (you can use your imagination on this. crushed crackers or cereal would be fine too)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C flaxmeal
optional: 1/2 c crushed pecans, 1/2 c shredded carrots
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add squash and cook til tender (about 5 min). Drain well.
3. Place squash in mixing bowl and mash well
4. Add butter, onion, yogurt, egg, honey, salt & pepper, cheese, and if using, carrots & nuts to mixture.
5. Transfer mixture into a greased 1 quart casserole dish
6. mix bread crumbs and flax together then spread on top of mixture
7. bake 40 min @350 degrees

Pesto Presto

   I don't know about you, but I've got loads of Basil coming up and I couldn't be happier about it. The best way to facilitate a healthy long producing plant is to harvest regularly. During peak season I harvest about every other week (sometimes more) and make a huge batch of pesto.
   Since canning at room temp isn't a recommended storage method, I freeze "pesto cubes." Once frozen I pop them out of the tray and put into a freezer food storage bag. This holds a lot of pesto cubes, but doesn't take too much space. Enjoying garden pesto in the midst of a long winter gives you a taste of the spring that lies ahead. Here's my tried and true pesto recipe:

Pesto Presto
Ingredients
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Cups Basil
3T Pinenuts (due to cost, and nut allergy concerns, I omit and it's still delish. May sub walnuts)
Salt and Pepper
1/2 C EVOO
1/2 C Parmesean
Directions
Mix everything but the parmesean in blender until smooth. Add parmesean and mix in.

Pesto Ready to Freeze