Disclosure: I was asked to write this guest post at Nutrition Unscrambled; and as big fan of eggs and a member of the Egg Nutrition Center Health Professionals Advisory Panel, I was happy to oblige. I am compensated for being a Health Professional Advisor. Opinions are my own.

Don’t toss those egg yolks!

Despite all the positive press and ‘Eggs are Good For You’ headlines lately, it’s a little surprising for this dietitian that I still see recipes and references suggesting that the healthiest way to eat an egg is whites only – and to toss those bright yellow yolks. (more…)

And so the pumpkin/squash bender continues here at Teaspoon of Spice. A little sampler: Serena’s amazing Whole Pumpkin Cheddar Gratin. Butternut Squash Apple Soup paired with a fall apple salad. These addicting Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes from The Craving Chronicles (ok, so I swapped in some leftover mashed sweet potato but they were still amazing.)

Next up: pumpkin bread as in yeast bread – vs. the typical sweet and dessert-like pumpkin bread. The inspiration came from Poet In the Pantry’s inviting Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Walnut Swirl. Here’s my adaptation for those of us who don’t have bread machines (titled “double” for double the pumpkin goodness – mixed into the dough and the cinnamon sugar swirl.)

Double Pumpkin Swirl Bread

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Ingredients

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Dough:

• 1/2 cup lowfat milk, slightly warmed
• 1 package dry yeast
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour

Swirl:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

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Instructions

1. In large mixing bowl, add milk and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes.
2. Add 2/3 cup pumpkin, egg, butter and brown sugar. Mix well.
3. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add 2 cups white flour and mix together.
4. Add white whole wheat flour, mixing in 1/4 cup at a time.
5. To knead, either use the dough hook in stand-up mixer, or hand knead on a flour surface for 5 – 10 minutes. Roll into large ball
6. Grease a large bowl, add dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in dry, warm place for 1 hour.
7. To make swirl, mix together brown sugar, pumpkin and cinnamon, set aside.
8. Roll dough out on flour surface into 10×20 inch rectangle.
9. Spread cinnamon/pumpkin/sugar mixture evenly over the dough leaving 1/2-inch border around the edges.
10. Starting at short end, roll up dough tightly, pinch seams, form a loaf and place into into a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan.
11. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes in dry, warm place.
12. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped.
13. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Notes

Adapted from Poet in the Pantry’s Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Walnut Swirl

Spread bread with apple or pumpkin butter, jam or peanut butter…or enjoy as is!

My latest post on Food Network’s Healthy Eats blog is all I want to eat these days. These rolls are soft and satisfying – yet still healthy from whole grains, pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. I’m using them for every sandwich – or spread with butter for every afternoon cup of tea. Really.

And that’s because I made four whole batches – about 5 dozen rolls before I got them just right. So the kids have been eating them in lunchboxes and with peanut butter for breakfast.

And no one is complaining. At. All.

Head on over to Food Network Healthy Eats blog to get my recipe for No-Knead Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.

[Disclosure: This post was developed as part of my partnership with POM Wonderful, one of the sponsors of Blog Brûlée.]

The weather is (finally) cooling down and it’s time to get into hot cocoa, hot cider and hot buttered rum mode. (OK, admittedly, I’ve never had hot butter rum but it just sounds good – like butterbeer from Harry Potter books.)

This year, we were fortunate to have POM Wonderful back with us at Smugglers’ Notch as repeat Blog Brûlée sponsor and once again they did not disappoint. I even learned some new fun facts like:

• Each 8-ounce bottle of POM Wonderful contains the juice from two whole pomegranates (and nothing else.)
• Each 8-ounce bottle has a much potassium as a banana.
• POM Wonderful grows, handpicks and juices all its own pomegranates so they are truly a farm to table product.
• On average, POM Wonderful contains 3x the antioxidants of green tea.
• The icon bottle was designed to look like two pomegranates on top of each other!

As for sampling POM Wonderful, we somehow timed it right with serving a delicious sparkling POM Party Punch at the opening reception (with highs of 86 F that day – IN VERMONT!) But two days later, temps dropped by 30 degrees which was the perfect weather to enjoy this Warmed Spiced POM Cider.

Now, I’ve only ever had warmed apple cider a few times before but after sampling this pomegranate juice version, recipe lightbulbs were going off in my head. The original recipe uses only POM juice so for my version below I decided to do a true recipe mash-up and add some leftover apple cider I had in the fridge.

#sponsored Hot Pomegranate Apple Cider Drink via @pomwonderful #blogbrulee @tspbasil
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I also made this in the slow cooker – which is ironic because I don’t use my Crockpot all that often (I tend use it less for meals and more for Healthy Kitchen Hacks like making caramelized onions or overnight cooked oats.)

But this is the perfect way to keep your POM cider drink warm, especially when serving to a crowd. We’re having people over for a potluck dinner on Halloween before trick or treating and my slow cooker will be on warm with a ladle, mugs and a bowl of pomegranate arils for garnish beside it.

Hot Pomegranate Apple Cider Drink

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• Author: Deanna Segrave-Daly
• Yield: 12 (6 ounces) drinks

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Description

Add pomegranate juice to your hot apple cider for extra flavor and nutrients!

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Ingredients

• 48 ounces POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• 16 ounces apple cider
• 8 ounces water
• 3 cinnamon sticks (or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large navel orange, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup POM POM Fresh Pomegranate Arils

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Instructions

1. Add POM Wonderful juice, apple cider, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to a slow cooker. Cook on low heat for a few hours before serving (you can also do this on the stove.)
2. Before serving, mix in vanilla extract and add orange slices.
3. When serving, add a tablespoon of pomegranate arils to each cup.

Not a fan of hot juice drinks? No problem! After simmering the liquid for 30 minutes, cool it down in the refrigerator. Then before serving, mix in some sparkling water, pour into glasses and garnish pomegranate arils and orange slices.

Have you ever made/served hot cider before? 

My very favorite thing about being a part of The Recipe ReDux is meeting new food bloggers virtually from all over the country and the globe. One of our newer Recipe ReDux members, Mary of Brighton Your Health, is a dietitian currently living in southwest France and I immediately got immersed in her blog (there’s several interesting posts on comparing school lunch in France vs. U.S.)

But it was a very simple recipe called Soupe de Bonne Femme (or Good Old Girls’ Soup) that caught my eye – so so simple but Mary raved about the flavor (and the aroma) so I set about making it with some adaptations along the way. It really couldn’t be simpler but it definitely is hearty enough to serve as a meal and perfect to ward off the chill that is undeniably now in the air.

Potato Leek Soup with Smoked Cheese Toasts

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• Yield: 6 - 8 servings

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Ingredients

Soup:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts, sliced (about 2 cups)
• 4 large russet potatoes, sliced (with the skin)
• 4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Salt and pepper

Toasts:

• 1 small baguette
• 6 ounces smoked gouda or gruyere cheese

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Instructions

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add potatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes (add thyme, salt and pepper about halfway through cooking.)
2. While soup is cooking, slice baguette into 1-inch slices. Top with pieces of cheese and put under broiler until just toasted and cheese is melting (keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.)
3. To serve, place two slices of toast in each serving bowl and ladle soup on top. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.

And these cheese toasts are mighty tasty on their own:

Even though we are heading into the heart of spring, there are still chilly days hanging around, which, of course, are ideal soup days. And this mash-up recipe of French Onion Soup blending with Vegetable Barley Soup is one that I’ve made often over the past few months.

It’s a pretty simple recipe – the most laborious part of it is the cutting of the onions and caramelizing them. If you aren’t in a rush and don’t feel like keeping an eye on the sauteeing onions, use one of my favorite Healthy Kitchen Hacks: How To Caramelize Onions in Your Slow Cooker.

Now, French Onion soup traditionally uses a beef broth base, so to keep this recipe vegetarian but still get that meaty, umami flavor, I used a few splashes of soy sauce.

Vegetarian French Onion Barley Soup

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• Author: Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD
• Yield: 8 servings

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A yummy vegetarian soup recipe mash-up combining the flavors of French Onion and Vegetable Barley.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large red or sweet onions, skin removed and sliced thinly
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup uncooked pearled barley
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 slices of baguette
• 6 ounces shredded Swiss, Monterey Jack or Gruyere cheese

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Instructions

1. In a large dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn heat to medium, stir in the thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add broth, barley, wine, soy sauce, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Stir a few times, reduce to medium-low and cook another 30-35 minutes or until barley is cooked through.
3. While soup is simmering, place baguette slices on sheet pan. Top with cheese and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
4. To serve, place a piece of cheese bread in each bowl and spoon soup on top. Serve immediately.

In this version, I have the cheese toasts on the bottom of each soup bowl, but if you’d rather have that traditional yummy cheese topping melted on top of your bowl, make plain toast and add to the bottom of your bowl. Fill with soup and top with the cheese. Place under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes or until melted.

I’m thinking I’ll mix cooked mushrooms into the next batch I make for extra savory flavor – not to mention barley and mushrooms make a lovely pair.

What’s your favorite soup these days?

“What should I pack for lunch?”

For me, the answer was soup! And noodles. But it’s tricky to pack.

Then I thought of making a homemade version of those packaged cups of noodles.

Using a mason jar, I added:

• Ramen noodles from a package
• Homemade chicken broth
• Vegetables
• Spices
• Sesame seeds
• Squirt of Sriracha

…and let it set overnight in the fridge. At lunchtime, I simply added hot water like I used to do to those store-bought cups of instant noodles …when I worked in a real office, and had coworkers who did the same.

Isn’t that a great idea?

Except, I discovered that another smarter person already thought of it…two years ago. That would be the brilliant Kenji Alt-Lopez who posted his DIY Instant Noodles on his awesome site SeriousEats. Luckily, his version is quite a bit different from mine and uses some fancy ingredients I don’t usually have on hand. And my Noodle Soup in a Jar is all about the convenience – especially when I can prep four lunches at a time.

Here’s how I made my Noodle Soup in a Jar budget-friendly, quick and healthy…without mushy noodles:

• Dried ramen noodles (the inexpensive Maruchan-brand package is fine.) But ditch the sodium-bomb flavor pack that comes with the noodles.
• Frozen vegetables + whatever protein is on-hand: Cooked chicken, shrimp, tofu, even canned tuna was delish
• Boxed or homemade chicken broth – but only 1/2 cup to avoid mushy noodles – and potential spillage on the way to work/school.
• Simple spices – DON’T forget the toasted seasame seeds. They totally make the soup and add great nutrition.
• If you need a little more saltiness, pack some reduced-sodium soy sauce packets

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  A fresher lunch than instant noodles in a cup: Noodle Soup in a Jar via @TspCurry #TheRecipeReDux
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My kids’ school does allow glass mason jars – and some eco-conscious moms are packing lunches in jars. My kids loved these soups.

And the bonus: No pots to wash! This has come in very handy as I’m embarking on a little DIY kitchen remodel….more to come. (:

Noodle Soup in a Jar

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• Author: Serena Ball
• Yield: 4 jars

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Easy make-ahead ramen noodles in a jar is healthy, fresh and a super-filling lunch solution.

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Ingredients

• 1 (3 oz) package of ramen noodle soup
• 2 cups homemade or canned chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
• 4 squirts sriracha sauce
• 8 ounces tofu, cooked chicken, shrimp, or tuna

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Instructions

1. Divide the noodles from the package of ramen into four 1-pint jars; discard spice packet.
2. Divide chicken broth, mixed vegetables, garlic powder, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sriracha sauce and tofu/meat between 4 jars.
3. Seal jars with a lid and ring band. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
4. To serve, let jar come to room temperature for about 1 hour before serving. Add boiling hot water to the 12-ounce line. Seal jar and let set for about 3 minutes. Stir and enjoy!

What are your creative packed lunch ideas? Please share!If you need more inspiration, check out all of our ReDuxers ‘what to pack for lunch’ lunches below:

Free-form and rustic is the style with this simple pie crust for a no fuss, easy apple pie ~ by Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD

After spending a September weekend in Vermont with cooler temperatures, I came back ready to accept that fall was indeed here and it was time to embrace all things apples and maple.

Not that my arm needed much twisting.

Now, I love to bake – from bread to biscotti – but when it comes to making pie crust, well, let’s just say it’s my baking Achilles’ heel. I’ve never quite gotten it down, so for years I’ve typically resorted to buying pre-made pie crusts. Trader Joe’s Frozen Pie Crusts are my usual go-to.

But let’s be honest – pre-made tastes nothing like homemade and gosh darn it, I know my way around the kitchen.

It was time to man up and make an apple pie completely from scratch.

So, I got some inspiration from a few pie crust blog posts from King Arthur Flour, which was very helpful – not to mention, encouraging like with this quote: 

“Although instructions are neat and tidy, the first (and maybe every) pie crust you make won’t necessarily be. But don’t ever let that discourage you. Just undertake pie making as a new and exciting adventure.”

Of course, when I finally put my mind to the mantra “I will conquer pie crust” and did a few versions, I realized I was probably just being lazy all these years. And just like anything in the kitchen, the more times you make it, the better it will get through fine tuning.

Which was already true after just a few test runs of Operation Pie Crust Confidence.

Easy Rustic Maple Apple Pie

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• Author: Deanna Segrave-Daly

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Free-form and rustic is the style with this simple pie crust for a no fuss, easy apple pie

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Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons chilled buttermilk

For the filling:

• 4 medium apples, cored and sliced (peels on)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• Vanilla sugar or turbinado sugar

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Instructions

1. Combine all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and using your hands or a pastry cutter, mix together until flour resembles coarse sand and butter is size of small peas. Add buttermilk and quickly mix together with hands until dough barely holds together. Pat into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Roll out dough on parchment paper (placing piece of plastic wrap on top of dough for rolling, if desired), into a 12-inch circle. Place on baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes in fridge while you prepare filling.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

4. In another bowl, toss apples with lemon juice, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour and cinnamon.

5. Arrange filling in center of pastry circle to within 1½ inches of edges. Fold and pleat edges of dough up and over apples. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar.

6. Bake 35-40 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

And if you like this recipe, more “apples & baking” recipes you might enjoy:

Apple Brie & Bacon Focaccia

Spiced & Stacked Apple Bread

Apple Cornmeal Muffins

Apple Brie & Bacon Foccacia: October is here and what better time to share some apple love? One of the benefits of living where I do (outside Philadelphia) in the fall is that apples are locally abundant – even the farm 15 miles from us boast over 25 varieties. And while I love me some good old-fashioned apple pie or a bubbling apple crisp, I wanted to try a savory recipe for this month’s AppleLove BlogHop. I started with my favorite rosemary foccacia recipe, a bunch of Fujis and went from there.

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Apple, Brie & Bacon Foccacia

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• Yield: 12 pieces

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Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water, divided
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 – 2 cups all purpose white flour
• 4 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced (about 4 sprigs)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 slices applewood smoked bacon, uncooked
• 3 medium apples (I used Fuji), cored and sliced thinly
• 2 ounces Brie cheese
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary

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Instructions

1. In large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup warm water and sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add remaining water, whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, rosemary, olive oil and salt; mix until dough starts to form. Continue to add remaining flour and knead until dough is smooth (knead for 5 – 10 minutes.) Coat bowl with oil, place dough in bowl, cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour.
2. Punch down dough and roll into 14 X 10-inch rectangle. Position into an oiled, rimmed baking sheet, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove onto plate with paper towels. Pour out excess bacon fat, return skillet to stove and add apple slices. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spread apple slices over dough. Put dough in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Take out of oven and crumble bacon over apples. Then top with small pieces of cut Brie and snipped pieces from sprig of rosemary. Return to oven and cook another 7 – 10 minutes, until brie has melted and foccacia is golden brown. Cool slightly before cutting and serving.

Do you have a favorite apple dish?