Fall Harvest Moon Bake, by Diane

 

This was the main course meal for a recent Hunters Full Moon ceremony I went to and the food theme was fall harvest. I had my doubts about this recipe because there was no liquid added to the ingredients, so I switched the dried rice to cooked, added a splash of chicken broth, and reduced the heat. I also added spinach for a more complete meal, and when I cooked it the second time, I did it in a dutch oven to make this a one pot dinner, which I'll likely repeat again. This came out SO good I made it again the next week for dinners too! It is just a really good, healthy, and easy mix of the best fall flavors, and I'll definitely make this one again soon!

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken (I used rotisserie chicken as a short cut, the recipe calls for thighs)

EVOO

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp fresh diced sage

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 tbsp fresh diced rosemary leaves

1 package cooked wild rice in a pouch (don't heat this, just add to the pot as is from the package)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened or low sugar if possible)

2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Splash chicken broth

1/2 cup diced pecans

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken fully and set aside. When cool, shred or dice into bite size pieces.

2. While the chicken cooks, heat EVOO in a large pot on medium heat. Add in onions and brown. 

3. Add the butternut squash to the pot along with the herbs and salt, stir and cover. Uncover and stir for about 10-15 minutes until the squash softens. Add in rice and stir, cooking two more minutes then remove from heat.

4. Preheat the oven to 400. Place chicken, squash mixture, spinach, and cranberries in a casserole dish, mix well. Add a splash of chicken broth to the mix.

5. Top with pecans, cover with foil, and bake for 15 min or until everything is heated through.

Cinnamon Sugar Crusted Pumpkin Bread, by Diane

 

I made this recently as part of a Harvest Full Moon ceremony, and it was really good! I have never seen a pumpkin bread rise like this one did, and I even scooped out some of the batter to make muffins just in case! Clearly, that wasn't enough as evidenced by this photo. No matter, this recipe was really good and the cinnamon sugar crust was really nice! The flavors were really well balanced and it came out nice and moist. 

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Heaping 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg (I used dried bc I didn't have this on hand)

Heaping 1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 pinches ground cloves

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Plus: 1 tbsp each sugar and cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 and butter a 6 cup loaf pan.

2. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar until smooth. Add in baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves until the batter is well-combined. 

3. Add flour and stir until just mixed (batter will be lumpy). 

4. Pour into the loaf pan and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top. 

5. Bake 65-75 min until toothpick comes out clean from the top and center.