COPY CAT RECIPES & PUMPKIN FACTS

COPY CAT RECIPES & PUMPKIN FACTS            
               I have favorite recipes and ingredients that I use alot during the holidays.But the cost of the ingredients like sweetened can milk , Chex Mix ,Coffee syrup and cream soup just got way too expensive.They also have way to many preservatives and sodium so I use many ‘copy cat’ recipes that taste and work just as well as the major brands.They are always just a few steps away in my pantry instead of forever on the shopping list that I always forget to take with me.
Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk
I find Eagle Brand milk to be very expensive to buy, so I don’t always have it when I need it. This recipe has come in handy over the past 27 years because I always have the ingredients to make it. .
10 min | 10 min prep
1 can
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
1-2 tablespoon margarine (I use 1 T)
2 cups powdered milk
Combine all the ingredients.
Whip until thick.
Store in fridge until needed.

Homemade Bisquick Mix 
Try this and you’ll never buy the boxed Bisquick mix again!
50 min | 20 min prep
7 cups
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
Sift flour, baking powder and salt three times into a large bowl.
Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Store mixture in airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 months.
Use whenever your recipe calls for “Bisquick mix”.
Coffee Syrup
This syrup can be used in making a milk shake, milk nog, and other milk beverages where coffee flavor is desired.
I love the Autocrat Syrup in milk but the shipping cost is way more than I can afford so I use this.I do simmer it alittle longer if I want it thicker(Time does not include cooling the syrup.)
10 min | 5 min prep
3 cups flavored syrup
1 cup ground coffee
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
Boil the sugar and water together for about 5 minutes.
Pour over the ground coffee.
Let stand until cool; strain.
Refrigerate syrup in a sealed container.
**This syrup can be used in making a milk shake, milk nog, and other milk beverages where coffee flavor is desired.

Cinnamon Butter
I found this “clone” recipe at recipegoldmine.com. It is very similar to the cinnamon butter served at Texas Roadhouse restaurants . I love how easy this is to mix up and serve, probably with ingredients you already have on hand.
20 min | 10 min prep
1/2 cup
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 ounces granulated sugar
2 ounces brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Mix and beat all ingredients listed, together, until smooth.
Cover and refrigerate over night.
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
A easy accompaniment to anything you choose to dip.This is basic so add or subtract what you like.
2 min | 2 min prep
SERVES 4
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
whisk honey, soy sauce and mustard in a small bowl. Serve the pork with the honey-mustard sauce.

Teriyaki Sauce
 I use this sauce over steamed veggies and brown rice and it is delish! This can also be used for a stir fry or great with some chicken and plain ol’ egg noodles.
25 min | 10 min prep
2 cups
1/4 cup tamari soy sauce (soy sauce)
1 cup water
fresh grated ginger (about 1 tbsp or to your taste)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 minced garlic clove
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Combine 1 cup water, tamari, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold water and add to sauce.
Stir constantly to allow the sauce to thicken.
If the sauce is too thick add a little water or tamari to thin.

Creamed Soup Substitute
This cream soup substitute has less calories, fat and sodium than your canned ones from the store.
25 min | 10 min prep
9 cans of condensed soup
2 cups powdered milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup instant chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Combine all ingredients, mix well and store in an air-tight container.
To Prepare one can of substitute.
Stir together 1/3 cup dry mix and 1 1/4 cups water in a saucepan.
Cook and stir until thickened.
This will substitute for one can of condensed cream soup in your recipes.

Copy Cat Mocha Coffee
Prep Time: 5 Minutes Ready In: 5 Minutes
Servings: 80 
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered non-dairy coffee creamer
1 1/2 cups instant hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 cups instant coffee granules
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together the coffee creamer, hot chocolate mix, instant coffee, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
2. To make 1 cup, spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the mix into a coffee mug, and add 1 cup of boiling water. Stir until dissolved.

Alton Browns Awesome Hot Cocoa

Saw AB do this on Good Eats A rich and creamy cocoa. The dash of cayenne is just enough to enhance the flavor of the chocolate. You could use cinnamon instead of cayenne. The powdered sugar and cornstarch create a creamy thick and rich cocoa. I used warm milk instead of water, and I added jumbo marshmallows.

Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste or cinnamin
Hot water or warm milk; or combo of half each
Jumbo marshmallows
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly.
In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water (or milk)
Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water.
Stir to combine.
Add 3-4 jumbo marshmallows to each mug and spoon hot cocoa over a few times until marshmallows get melty! mmmmm
Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry.

PUMPKIN FACTS
Pumpkins are believed to have originated in North America. Seeds from related plants have been found in Mexico dating back to 7000 to 5500 B.C. References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon.” “Pepon” was changed by the French into “pompon.” The English changed “pompon” to “Pumpion.”
Native American Indians used pumpkin as a staple in their diets centuries before the pilgrims landed. They also dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. Indians would also roast long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and eat them. When white settlers arrived, they saw the pumpkins grown by the Indians and pumpkin soon became a staple in their diets.

As today, early settlers used them in a wide variety of recipes from desserts to stews and soups. The origin of pumpkin pie is thought to have occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and then filled it with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in the hot ashes of a dying fire.

Did you have any idea that there are so many different shapes, sizes and varieties of pumpkins?
Here’s the list of what we could find.
The Standard Orange Variety:
Grows between 2 to 5 pounds
Baby Bear (small, flattened shape; fine stem)
Baby Pam; Oz (hybrid, very smooth skin, immature yellow color)
Small Sugar or New England Pie (the standard pie type)
Spooktacular (hybrid; bright orange; ribbed)
Sugar Treat (hybrid; bright color)
Winter Luxury (old variety, good for cooking; unique netted skin)

Standard Orange:
Grows between 8 to 15 pounds
Autumn Gold (hybrid, yellow when immature)
Bushkin (hybrid)
Frosty (hybrid; smooth-textured skin)
Funny Face (hybrid)
Harvest Moon (hybrid)
Jack-o-Lantern
Spirit (hybrid, semi-bush)
Young’s Beauty

Standard Orange:
Grows between 15 to 25 pounds
Aspen (hybrid, deep orange, uniformly large)
Big Autumn (hybrid, yellow when mature)
Big Tom
Connecticut Field (the old standard)
Ghost Rider (dark orange; very dark green stem)
Happy Jack (uniform, dark orange)
Howden Field (the industry standard for the last 20 years)
Jackpot (hybrid; round)
Jumpin’ Jack (large, dark orange, heavy, tall)
Pankow’s Field (large, variable pumpkins with exceptionally large, long stems).

Rouge Vif d’Estampes (deep red-orange, flattened, heavily sutured. It was the prototype for Cinderella’s carriage pumpkin and is sometimes sold as “Cinderella” pumpkin.)

Types for canning and cooking:
Buckskin (hybrid)
Chelsey (hybrid)
Dickinson Field
Kentucky Field

Jumbo Pumpkins:
Growas between 50, 100 pounds to much larger:
Atlantic Giant (most true giants come from this variety)
Big Max
Big Moon
Mammoth Gold
Prizewinner

Cushaw Group
Green-Striped Cushaw
Sweet Potato
Tennessee
White Cushaw
Golden Cushaw

Naked-Seeded:
Trick or Treat (hybrid, 10 to 12 pounds, good for carving)
Tricky Jack (hybrid; small)
Triple Treat (thick flesh; 6 to 8 pounds; cooks, carves well)

Miniature Pumpkin:
Baby Boo (white)
Jack-Be-Little (standard orange miniature)
Jack-Be-Quick (taller, darker orange)
Munchkin (uniform, attractive orange)
Sweetie Pie (small, scalloped, medium orange)

DID YOU KNOW:

A pumpkin is really a squash?
It is! It’s a member of the Cucurbita family which includes squash and cucumbers.

That pumpkins are grown all over the world?
Six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins including Alaska! Antarctica is the only continent that they won’t grow in.

The “pumpkin capital” of the world is Morton, Illinois?
This self proclaimed pumpkin capital is where you’ll find the home of the Libby corporation’s pumpkin industry.

That the Irish brought this tradition of pumpkin carving to America?

The tradition originally started with the carving of turnips. When the Irish immigrated to the U.S., they found pumpkins a plenty and they were much easier to carve for their ancient holiday.

Fun Facts About The Pumpkin!

Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.

Pumpkin flowers are edible.

The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.

In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.

The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.

Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.

Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.

Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash.”

Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.

A number of facial and anti-wrinkle cremes include pumpkins.

Pumpkins have zero cholesterol, zero…

Pumpkins are low in salt, real low.

Pumpkins contain beta carotene which helps to reduce certain types of cancer and lowers the risk of heart Disease.Pumpkin seeds help to reduce the risk of prostrate cancer.

All Hallows Eve