Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

Lately, I've come across a bunch of recipes that call for pumpkin pie spice. It's not a crazy expensive spice to buy, although it's still cheaper to make because it's comprised muchly of cinnamon, which can be bought for very cheap. However, I've found that it's nice to have a recipe for this on hand for those times you find a recipe that calls for it and you don't have it. Not that things like that ever happen to me. Because I have a perfectly stocked pantry, especially if I'm making something in a time crunch. Yes, I am definitely always prepared at those times. But just in case you're not...

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Makes 6-7 tsp

Prep time: 1 minute

Cost: I really have no idea, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say $.05

4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

generous dash allspice (optional and I usually leave it out, but if you're an allspice lover, you'll want to throw some in)

Mix all ingredients together. 

Then use as directed in your recipes

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Pineapple-Orange-Carrot Smoothie

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

(Yeah, it was too cold to sit out on the deck sipping a cool drink this morning, but it made for the best picture.)

I don't know about you guys, but ever since Halloween we've been swimming in sweets. I'm actually not a huge candy eater (though I manage to steal a piece or two that I otherwise wouldn't), but candy isn't the only thing that's been hanging around. There's been pumpkin cake and pumpkin muffins and brownies and the best darn apple cake I have ever had It will be on this blog soon because if I'm going to be sweeted out this season, I want this cake to be part of it. I also want it to marry me; do you think Kip will be offended.

But wait, this post isn't about cake. Well, in a round about way, it is. It's what to do about after cake. About cake hangover. (Or candy hangover. Or chocolate hangover.)

As if cake hangover isn't bad enough, my toddler (who's surely had her own sweets hangover, despite my efforts that she not get too awfully much candy) woke up at 2:00 in the morning sniffling. She went right back to sleep so it wouldn't have been so bad. Except that I didn't. Around about dawn I dozed off to some extremely wonky dreams and then at 7:30 Kip left for his paramedic training and me and Emma zoned on the couch for a while watching Elmo (not an unusual thing to do for many, but I have a neurotic issue with letting my kids watch cartoons in the morning. I blame my own Saturday morning cartoon addiction.)

Still, at some point breakfast needed to come. I made this smoothie, which--besides being a burst of sunshine on a bleary-eyed day--is packed with Vitaman C and potassium (among many other good things). Carrots are still somewhat seasonal (I've still got a few hanging out, though I really should harvest them). And although tropical fruits aren't seasonal here, somewhere warmer oranges are coming into season as are pineapples grown in the Caribbean. So you'll most likely find those fruits a little cheaper right now. Win win and win again. I think I'll have another (anybody got that musical?).

Pineapple-Orange-Carrot Smoothie
adapted from Real Simple
Makes 2 cups
Cost: .50
(pineapple: .25 if gotten on sale: OJ: .10 from concentrate, banana: .07, carrot: .10)

Note: If you freeze at least some of your produce (I froze the pineapple and banana), you don't need ice for this and can use water. This works for me since my blender doesn't chop huge chunks of ice very well. If you don't think to freeze your fruit, add 1/4-1/2 C ice chunks.

3/4 C pineapple, cubed and frozen
1/2 banana, frozen
1/4 C diced carrot (1 small carrot)
1/2 C OJ (or 2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate and 6 Tbsp water)
more water/OJ as needed to loosen the smoothie into a drinkable consistency

Put first four ingredients in blender and blend till smooth. If you're blender is struggling, add a bit more water or OJ until you can get it blended smooth (still thick-ish, but drinkable).

As one final note: This smoothie isn't as completely smooth as my green ones. The carrots and even pineapple give it just a bit more body. Or teeny-tiny chunkiness. This might not go over with your minions. Mine said they liked it (except for Mark who was still asleep, but who probably wouldn't have liked it), but Elizabeth and Savannah didn't drink a lot (although, there were games to be played). Me and Emma didn't mind. I thought it was crazy awesome.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chocolate Pie with Latticed Cookie Crust

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family eats on less than $10/day.

Every Thanksgiving we have a pumpkin pie and a chocolate pie.

I found this pie from Petit Chef where it looked dream dream dreamy, though frankly I had my doubts about it. Besides sporting a latticed top, the crust called for all kinds of non-crusty ingredients like eggs, baking powder, lemon zest and vanilla. I came close to using my go-to crust and then I sort of put something together. If you're brighter than me, you may have already figured it out. Because this crust isn't just a crust; it's a cookie with crust-like properties. I figured me and my chocolate filling could totally make peace with that.

So I made it. I found it a little fussy. And then I realized that I'd made most of it with a toddler in one of my arm. So while it's still fussier than this also awesome and easier than pie chocolate pie, it's not really that fussy at all. Unless you have only one arm. (And your non-arm wiggles and tries to grab things and eat all the chocolate before you've put it in the pie and then smear it's chocolate-y stump all over you.) Yes, unless this is true of your non-arm, you may still find this not too fussy.

I liked it just as much as my easier than pie chocolate pie and probably a little more. If you really just want to eat dark chocolate with a bit of crust or if you're looking for something that will only take you 10 minutes to put together, go here. However, if you're in the mood for a little something different that is still fabulously chocolate-y, something that will make you crave it when it's gone (is that a good thing?), give this a whirl. When I make it for Thanksgiving I'm planning to try a little orange zest in place of part or all of the lemon to give it a bit of a chocolate orange feel.

One more change you might want to make: You may wish to 1 1/2 the chocolate filling. It'll fill the pan up better. Of course, it may take a little of the petit out of your chef if you know what I mean. What can I say? Fold up your skinny jeans.

And if that isn't repulsively American enough for you...

Just in case you happen to be someone who hasn't really met the metric system since the 6th grade (and you didn't get it then either), I converted it into cups for you.

Chocolate Latticed Pie
From Petit Chef
Makes 1 9-inch pie
Cost: $2.30
(flour: .20, sugar: .20, butter: .40, eggs: .30, lemon: .25, chocolate: .75, cream: .20)

Crust:

2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
10 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
zest from 1 lemon (I used a very small lemon and not even the whole one as I was worried about being overpowered with lemonliness)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Filling:


4-5 oz dark chocolate (that's about 2/3 C if using dark chocolate chips)
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
2 oz or 1/4 C cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For Crust:

In food processor, pulse flour, sugar and butter until butter in chunks. In separate bowl, mix egg, yolk, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add this to the food processor and process. It will be a little chunky and not quite come together.

Sometimes it's crumblier than this. Don't despair. Just use your hands to form it into a ball. 

Pour it out on counter (or in a Ziploc bag) and knead it once or twice till it comes together. Put it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Melt chocolate in microwave in 20 second intervals. Let cool somewhat. In the meantime beat egg and sugar unti light lemon-colored (this will take a minute or two.

dark

light

Add cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Then add chocolate and beat.

Roll out about half of dough. Put this in your pan. Add the filling.
Roll out the other half as if to make a normal pie crust and then cut it in strips. Lattice the strips. I'm a little stupid at this, so I'll leave you to internet tutorials. However, I noticed that Petit Chef just laid her top layer over her bottom layer (as opposed to weaving and it came out looking great). Fold down the edges and pinch them to neaten them.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads about 165-170.

PRINTABLE RECIPE