Pretty Little Pumpkins

I made these pumpkins last Fall on a random whim/trip to Michael's. One of my best friends is planning to recreate them for her Fall-themed baby shower this November.

They were really easy to make…this is what I did...

What?

-Pumpkins (real ones or some different sized plastic ones from Michaels.)

-Spray paint in your chosen colors (Rustoleum is the best for the metallic colors)

-Glitter spray paint (if you want your pumpkins to really shine, ya know)

-Tubes of acrylic paint in your chosen colors

-Small paint brushes

-Craft jewels in different sizes/colors of your choice

-Hot glue gun

How?

-Set up outside and spray paint your pumpkins, allow them a few minutes to dry

-Take your acrylic paints and small paintbrushes, get creative…I did a bronze and black chevron pumpkin, a white and black Beetlejuice pumpkin, and painted the stems of a couple of the other pumpkins. There is no wrong way to paint a pumpkin in the world.

-After the acrylic paint is dry to the touch (only takes a few minutes) spray your pumpkins with glitter spray paint, or a clear gloss if you want. Do a light dust of glitter and see how you like it, build on from there..

-Bring your pumpkins inside and plug in your hot glue gun. Glue on your jewels any way you want. I did a big gold Cinderella pumpkin with clear jewels in all different sizes, in a random pattern. On my Beetlejuice pumpkin I did 2 sizes of black jewels, going down the center of each white stripe. 

-You're done! Display said pumpkin masterpieces and enjoy until they fall apart and rot and start to smell up the house, or if they are plastic, until its time for the Christmas tree to go up.

Easy Healthy Sweet Potato Pancakes

These pancakes are easy to make, they do involve boiling a sweet potato, but I swear that's the hardest part. They're healthy, dairy-free, and kid friendly, Baby Squash ate 4 for dinner tonight. They could also easily be made "vegan" by omitting or replacing the egg. This recipe made 25 mini "sand dollar" size pancakes for me & Squash to polish off together this week. They would also be great for a Fall themed breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon raw turbinado sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 sweet potato, cooked (can be boiled, or baked in oven or microwaved), peeled and mashed

Directions:

Prep sweet potato by washing, peeling and cutting into cubes. Boil water & cook sweet potato for about 15 minutes, until easily mashed with a fork. Strain out water & smash sweet potato until it has a "mashed potato" consistency...imagine that. I used a Cuisinart food processor for this step.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.

Add egg, almond milk, cinnamon and nutmeg, followed by the mashed sweet potato. Do not over mix; the batter should have small lumps.

When your pan or griddle is hot enough (test by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If water bounces and spatters off griddle, it's ready.) Lightly grease your pan/griddle/cooking vessel with a little butter or nonstick spray of your choice.

Scoop or pour batter into your onto griddle in whatever sizes or patterns you want. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

Serve warm with a drizzle of pure maple syrup. (optional! Baby Squash eats these plain and loves them!)

Adapted from This recipe

Healthy Rustic Strawberry Tart Redoux

Recipe - Serves 4 People

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces, divided
4 tablespoons ice water (or as much as it takes to turn into dough/moist texture)
2 cups sliced strawberries
3 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar

drizzle of raw honey
1/2 teaspoons corn starch
pinch of salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten

To prepare crust, put 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl; cut in 3 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or by hand, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons ice water; stir just until moist. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Place each dough portion between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; roll each dough portion, still covered, into an 8-inch circle. Chill in fridge for about 20 minutes (until the plastic wrap peels easily away from the dough).

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the berries, sugar, honey, corn starch & salt. Stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 350°. Uncover dough; place dough circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange half of the strawberries in a pinwheel pattern in one of the dough circles, leaving a 2-inch border. 

Repeat with the second dough circle and remaining berries.

Fold up the edges of the dough circles over the berries, crimping to seal. Lightly brush the pastry with the beaten egg white. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

I tried to make these with as many natural ingredients, and as light as possible. I made 3 of these tarts for dessert for a group of girls totaling a party of 6 & we ate them all! I think they were a hit.

I make these in the AM, & cover them with saran wrap on a cake plate to serve with whipped cream that evening. This recipe serves a party of 4. 

Adapted from this recipe & this recipe combined.

What Is This, A Blog For Ants?!

So I decided I wanted to have a place to put recipes. I have Pinterest & all that, but I find that, so often, I am changing recipes as I go along, adding this, substituting this for that, cooking an extra 10 minutes, blah blah you get the idea. I like to cook for my family, and Pinterest is a great resource for so many amazing recipes, but it was getting overwhelming trying to remember what I had changed about a recipe from the last time I made it & what I would like to try differently the next time I make it. So instead, I made a blog and called it Castle Castlestein. Isn't that what anyone would do in a predicament  such as this? Exactly. 

I've been a wife since 2011, and a mom since 2013. I live in Southern California with my family. We like it, it's cool. I also like cooking healthy stuff, with real food ingredients, with an outcome that doesn't taste gross. I don't know why this is so much to ask in the world. One of my pet peeves with Pinterest is that so many "easy" or "light" recipes contain some kind of Cream of Something Condensed Soup, huge globs of cream cheese rolled up inside a chicken with more cream cheese on top, or spaghetti noodles stuck inside a hot dog…if you have a Pinterest account, you get what I am talking about. I am all about cooking real food with real ingredients because "easy" does not have to mean "I dumped this out of a frozen package into a skillet and called it dinner". 

We like to eat pretty healthy around here at the Castle of Castlestein, but we are total foodie freaks that love to eat, so I hope that you like some of the recipes you find here and it gives everyone some good ideas for healthy meals for you and your family and friends.

I invent some of my own recipes, and I adapt and change a lot of recipes. I will link the original source to recipes that I find and change around a bit. I started this venture to keep track of my own stuff, but then I thought, why not make a blog that everyone can view and take ideas from, because its what makes the world go round and all..

Cheers friends.

Squash's Favorite Healthy Vegan Blueberry Muffins

My 1 1/2 year old, 'Baby Squash' is normally a great eater, but she really goes crazy for these blueberry muffins. They are super healthy, vegan & so easy to make.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups organic oat flour
1/4 cup raw organic turbinado sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond milk
4 tablespoons organic unsweetened applesauce
3/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 small package of organic blueberries (about a cup?..ish?)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake or muffin pan with liners.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the almond milk, applesauce, and vanilla extract.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the blueberries.

4. Using an ice-cream scoop, drop the batter into the muffin liners. Bake for 20 minutes.

5. When done, the muffin tops should be firm, let them cool for at least 15 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

That's it! So easy and so blueberry-y and healthy too.

Adapted from this recipe