I have hit a change in my household this fall that has left me changing my ways. What is it you ask?
I am experiencing an empty house.
I’ve been used to the last couple of years cooking daily meals for my son and my hubby. This fall, that has changed for my son is spending long, long days at the university and comes home late in the evening and my hubby has been travelling every second week with his job. That leaves just me in the house for meals.
What is the problem with that is, I still grocery shop as if I am cooking for a crowd, so that leaves me with veggies going bad, cartons of milk about to expire and larger cuts of meat in the freezer not being used.
That is what happened to me on Tuesday when I discovered a carton of milk about to expire and what was I going to do with it. Solution?
I made pudding!
I actually made 3 different puddings until all the milk was used up.
Banana pudding.
Butterscotch pudding with salted caramel sauce on top.
Pumpkin pudding.
I love pudding and it is definitely a comfort food for me. In fact, I love to eat pudding when it is still hot, and then pouring some thick cold whipping cream over top.
That is pure YUM for me!
Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks, beaten
- Dash of salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp good vanilla
- 1/2 tsp Watkins banana extract
- 3 cups milk
- 2-3 bananas
- Gluten free graham cracker crumbs
Instructions
- Mix sugar and cornstarch into a saucepan.
- Add milk and salt, stirring really well and cook over low-medium heat until thickened.
- Add small amount (couple of Tbsp’s) of hot mixture to beaten eggs and stir well.
- Add another couple of Tbsp’s of hot mixture to eggs again and stir.
- You should now be able to add egg mixture slowly back to saucepan and continue stirring until pudding is thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and banana flavorings to pudding, stirring to combine.
- Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.
- Cover bowl with saran wrap to prevent skin from forming on pudding.
- Banana pudding parfaits.
- Add a couple of Tbsp’s of gluten free graham crumbs to bottom of bowl.
- Slice up a banana and put a handle of slices on top of graham crumbs.
- Now layer with banana pudding and then whipped whipping cream.
- Top whipped cream with a few more slices of bananas.
- Enjoy!
I also made butterscotch pudding and here is that recipe.
Butterscotch Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- Dash of salt
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt butter.
- Add the brown sugar and salt and stir until sugar is mixed in.
- Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup milk.
- Stir until smooth, no lumps.
- Whisk in eggs to milk mixture.
- Gradually pour the remaining milk into the brown sugar, whisking until smooth and then add cornstarch mixture as well.
- Return the saucepan to a medium heat, whisking until pudding comes to a boil.
- Turn heat to low, and continue cooking for about another minute.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla.
- Pour into a bowl and cover with saran wrap to prevent skin from forming on pudding.
- Butterscotch Pudding parfaits.
- Add a couple Tbsp’s of gluten free graham crumbs to bottom of bowl.
- Add butterscotch pudding and then top with whipped whipping cream.
- Add a good spoonful of salted caramel sauce over top.
- Enjoy!
The 3rd pudding I made was a pumpkin pudding. I found the recipe for pumpkin pudding on the blog Sugarcrafter.
I also had some cooked sugar pumpkin puree left over from Thanksgiving and thought this was a great way to use it up. I enjoyed this pudding a lot and will make it for a holiday again as a nice lighter alternative to a pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Pudding
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg.
- In another bowl, combine the pumpkin and spices.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cornstarch and sugar.
- Gradually whisk in the milk mixture, scraping the bottom and sides with a rubber spatula to break up the lumps.
- Bring to a boil and cook until mixture thickens.
- Stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the pudding and stir to combine.
- Place the saucepan over low heat until heated all through.
- Transfer to a bowl, and cover with saran wrap to prevent skin forming on pudding.
- Enjoy!
