I’m one of the 15 food and diet/health blogger invited to the Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof Weekend November 7 to 9. (You can learn more about it at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet, my food and diet blog.)

I’m very excited about it, especially the blogger cook off. To prepare, I’ve been checking out Quaker Oatmeal’s recipe website where I found a terrific meatloaf recipe . Ironically, my daughter Lucie seems to have outgrown her egg allergy. (If your child has egg allergies, check out these recipes for eggless meatloaf.)

My family loved this dish and my kids made a point to tell me it was an A++ with them.

(And if you’re wondering about the Burt and Ernie book, you can read about it at Don’t Forget the Oatmeal!)

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Oh my gawd, it’s the Monday before Thanksgiving and I still haven’t decided what I’m going to make! I’m in a bit of a panic, which is pretty lame considering that all I’m making is dessert. But there are so many pumpkin dessert choices out there, I don’t know which one to pick. (Maybe I should stop buying ALL the November cooking magazines – too much pressure)

But then I remember our dinner two years ago. We were over at the Waugh’s, where we’ll be this year as well. Everyone was so full from the appetizers, drinks, and dinner that people barely touched the three desserts I made.

So this year I’m not going to stress about it. Instead, I’ll do a couple of low key desserts. First, for the kids I’m going to make the Egg Free Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate Chips from AllRecipes.com. A friend made this at a recent playdate for Lucie, and they were delicious. Watch out though, because the recipe makes 8-10 dozen cookies – you may want to cut it in half.

Egg Free Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Makes 8-10 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups white sugar
2. 1 cup shortening (I’m going to use a no trans-fatts type of shortening from the health food store
3. 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5. 4 cups all-purpose flour
6. 2 teaspoons baking soda
7. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8. 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cream the sugar, shortening, pumpkin and vanilla together. Mix until light and well combined.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on a rack.

(Photo courtesy of Crystal W. at AllRecipes.com.)

Then for the pie, I will make either the traditonal pumpkin pie recipe from the Libby’s label or Kahlua Pumpkin Pie. I made the Kahlua version a couple of years ago and really liked it.

But if I was really inspired, I’d try making these desserts:

• Coffee Molasses Shoofly Pie at Epicurious.com
• Harvest Pie from Cooking Light
• Pumpkin-orange mascarpone pie from Sunset magazine
• Super Simple Pumpkin Tiramisu from Bon Appetit

My friend Emily made these Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies from Allrecipes.com for a playdate since she knows that Lucie is allergic to eggs. (Wasn’t that nice?!) They were delicious and moist – more like a muffin than a cookie. Also, chocolate chips go amazingly well with pumpkin.

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Yields: 48 servings

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups white sugar
2. 1 cup shortening
3. 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5. 4 cups all-purpose flour
6. 2 teaspoons baking soda
7. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8. 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cream the sugar, shortening, pumpkin and vanilla together. Mix until light and well combined.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on a rack.

Nutrition facts (per serving):Calories (kcal) 146 Protein 1.5g Cals from Protein 3% Total Fat 6.5g Cals from Fat 38% Carbohydrates 21.6g Cals from Carbohydrates 56% Fiber 1g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 75mg

Monster Mazes is an interactive type of Usborne book. For children ages five to seven, this book is full of intriguing mazes and maze-type puzzles, linked together by a story of Cat and Mouse’s daring exploits.

Another interactive book for Halloween is Spook’s Surprise for ages four to seven. Like all the books in Usborne’s Young Puzzle Adventure Series, this spooky story has picture puzzles threaded through it that involve readers in the action. Depending on your child’s reading level, this book can be shared or read alone.

Finally, Usborne has adapted two horror classics, Dracula and Frankenstein, for readers age nine and up.

Last month, Lucie went through allergy testing, and braved the prick test with minimal hysterics. The results weren’t too surprising. She’s very allergic to peanuts and eggs as well as all tree nuts. However, her soy allergy was surprising since she’s eaten edame and soy sauce covered foods many times without getting hives, her eyes puffing up, or throwing up (her usual three reactions). She’s had soy milk a few times, but didn’t care for it. (Nathan loves it.) Still, I think it prudent to avoid soy whenever possible.

Unfortunately, soy is in EVERYTHING these days. However, after consulting the FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis) website on soy, I see that soy oil isn’t usually a problem for people with sensitivity to soy. I’ve seen the same about soy lecithin as well, which is used as a preservative in many, many foods. So that’s a relief and makes my life a little easier.

Still the egg allergy, which I was hoping she was growing out of, is still present. Thus my search for eggless meatloaf. With all the ground deer and antelope we have in the freezer (Paul hunts) meatloaf is an easy way to use it up.

Firehouse Meatloaf
From the Rapid City Journal

Ingredients:

1. 3 pounds hamburger, not extra lean
2. 1 large can evaporated milk
3. 1 package (2 envelopes) dry onion soup mix
4. Tomato sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix together well with hands. Mixture will be sticky.
2. Pat into two round loaves. Wet hands and smooth surface of loaves.
3. Bake on broiler pan so grease drops below. (Water could be placed in lower pan to prevent smoking grease.)
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours.
5. A small can of tomato sauce can be poured over loaves before baking, if desired.

Polish Meatloaf
From the Polish American Journal

This recipe hails from World War II-era Poland when eggs were in very short supply. Today it may be a boon to weight- and cholesterol-watchers.

Ingredients:

1. 3/4 c. plain dry bread crumbs
2. 3/4 c. skim milk or water
3. 1 1/2 lb ground pork, veal or the pork-veal-beef meatloaf mixture available in many supermarkets
4. 1 to 2 grated onions
5. 1 medium sized peeled, grated, raw potato
6. Salt, pepper and marjoram to taste
7. 1 minced garlic clove or a dash of garlic powder (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix bread crumbs and skim milk or water.
2. Add ground meat, onions, and potato. (The grated potato replaces the egg as a binder.) Mix well by hand until thoroughly blended.
3. Season to taste with salt, pepper, a pinch of marjoram. Add garlic if desired. Mix well.
4. Shape into a loaf and place at the center of a cake pan greased with oil. (Polish meatloaf is not normally made in a loaf pan!)
5. Add 1 cup of water to pan and bake about 1 hour in preheated 350 degrees F oven.

Eggless Meatloaf
Ingredients:

1. 2 pounds ground beef (or 1 pound each ground turkey and ground beef)
2. 2-3/4 cups fresh bread cubes (about 3 slices)
3. 1/2 cup chopped onion
4. 2 tablespoons parsley or Morton’s Nature’s Seasoning spice blend
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon basil
7. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
8. 1/4 cup milk
9. 1 can vegetarian vegetable soup, mashed

Swiss cheese Topping:

1. Swiss cheese in cube or bar form
2. 1/4 cup ketchup
3. 2 tablespoon mustard
4. 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Mix together all meatloaf ingredients except cheese.
2. Shape into eight to 10 balls or a loaf. I used a loaf pan on my first try, but will try to make a freestanding loaf next time. I’m thinking of placing it on a small rack inside a pan, so the fat and grease can drip off during baking.
3. Cut a cube of Swiss cheese (about 3/4 inch square) for the meatballs, and press into the center of each one. If you’re making a loaf, cut a long 1 inch square “bar” of cheese approximately the length of the loaf to press into the center. (You can use several pieces of cheese to do this.) The idea is that when you cut into the meatball or loaf, there is melted Swiss cheese in the middle.
4. Bake loaves at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
5. Then, mix together topping ingredients and put over the top of loaves and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer.
6. Let loaf sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Note: Unbaked loaves freeze well.

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