What's red and green and just the best thing ever for a pre-Christmas crazy-ness meal? Don't pass up these quesadillas

The first major freeze of the year sent us racing to the garden to raid the bell pepper bushes of every last pepper down to the smallest babies that were just popping out. Now a huge bushel basket of peppers sits in wait to be chopped and frozen to carry us through the winter until garden time next spring.

All those peppers, both green and red, plus holiday leftovers netted us one of the best meals ever—a true delight for a busy night that saw me start to decorate the Christmas tree and wade right into the swirling current of December crazy-ness.

Fresh Ham and Pepper Quesadillas were ready in almost as much time as one could sing "Here Comes Santa Claus" and brought so much cheer that the Grinch just had to stay far away on this Christmas-prep night.

Into a hot skillet went a flour tortilla that had been spread with mustard and topped with Monterey Jack cheese. Atop that went the mixture of ham, green peppers, and green onions and another cheese layer, with a second mustard-spread tortilla on top. A quick browning in the skillet melted the cheese and stuck the layers together. Dinner—ready with a maximum of 15 minutes' work from the time I chopped the first pepper to the moment the quesadillas were sliced with a pizza cutter and placed on the dinner plate. Love it, love it, love it!

Fresh Ham & Pepper Quesadillas

1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

2 ounces sliced ham, cut in strips

1/4 cup green onions, minced

4 large flour tortillas

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

salsa, sour cream (optional)

Combine peppers, ham, and onions. Spread 2 tablespoons yellow mustard on two tortillas. Spread a thin layer of cheese over the mustard; sprinkle with ham mixture. Spread remaining cheese over the top and cover with a second tortilla. Spray a skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Place one quesadilla in the pan and cook until lightly browned. Flip the quesadilla gently and cook until the bottom is lightly browned. Repeat with the second quesadilla. Remove the quesadilla from the pan; cut and serve with your favorite salsa and/or sour cream. Makes four servings.

Crustless Harvest Pizza gives "pizza night" new, more healthy meaning

This was just the best of the best! With fall days winding down and cranberry Christmas days approaching, recipes with the word harvest in them soon will be relegated to next-year's fall wish list. But on this, the last day of November, I can't think of a better way to give autumn a proper sendoff than to tell you about this Crustless Harvest Pizza. When I first saw the recipe, I wasn't impressed. Hours later, after the dish it produced made a satisfying dinner, I was sorry I hadn't prepared it many, many times previously.

Healthy, colorful yellow squash and zucchini, sliced into 1-inch slices, form the "harvest" of veggies on top. The crust is formed from the solidification of ricotta cheese, egg, and Parmesan cheese surrounding it as the dish bakes. The addition of chopped red and green pepper and green onion, sauteed, made one of the most colorful food items I've ever seen.

Believe it or not, when this emerged from the oven and cooled, it sliced with a pizza cutter into nice little squares that were firm and delightful. It gave the term "pizza night" new meaning, as those who are on restricted eating plans can feel as though they can still enjoy a good pizza slice without harming their health. My recipe source, the Celebrating a Healthy Harvest cookbook, has yielded another winner. In fact, even though the recipe has a fall-sounding name, I can't imagine a dinner quicker and easier to rev one up for a winter evening of decorating the Christmas tree!

Crustless Harvest Pizza

1 medium zucchini, sliced in 1-inch slices

1 yellow squash, sliced in 1-inch slices

1/2 red pepper and 1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese

1 egg, slightly beaten (I used egg substitute)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In small, nonstick skillet saute red and green peppers and green onion until tender. Set aside. Combine ricotta, egg, Parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper, Spread mixture in a greased 8-by-8-inch baking pan (I used a glass pan). Spread mozzarella over ricotta. Lay squash slices over the top. Spread peppers and green-onion mixture over squash slices. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pizza firms up and is browned. Remove from oven and let pizza sit for 5 minutes before you cut it. Makes 8 squares.

As fall wanes, Pumpkin-Apple Butter recipe brings pumpkin season to a delightful close

The major thrust for pumpkin-recipe days are drawing to a close. Wednesday kicks off Christmas month, which means we'll be trading most things orange for reds and greens and the traditional foods of Christmas (plus menu items that can be prepared in a hurry during this frantic time.)

So to give my put-aside pumpkin puree one last hurrah before we switch gears, I had a great longing to make Pumpkin-Apple Butter. This recipe attracted me because I saw it could be stirred up in a hurry without the long and complicated cooking time that's often required of jellies, jams, and preserves. I was eager to try the pumpkin and apple combination. The Pumpkin-Apple Butter recipe from a long-ago Woman's Day magazine suggested this as a terrific gift idea since it could be poured into an attractive canister with a colorful ribbon and a note that says, "This is good on toast, waffles, English muffins, pancakes, and crackers, or use as you would apple butter." The recipe suggests that it can be refrigerated up to two weeks.

I was tickled that from start to finish this entire prep process required about 40 minutes, so it was way beyond easy—so easy that Hubby and I had it on our breakfast toast the very morning I stirred it up. And of course Hubby immediately claimed part of the leftover butter as an addition to one of his famous smoothies.

While dining on this exceptionally yummy topping I was immensely glad I had kept my Pumpkin-Apple Butter recipe all these years and glad I squeezed in this pumpkin delight while November rolled out its last days of a terrific, memorable fall.

Pumpkin-Apple Butter

3 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 2 15-ounce cans of canned pumpkin)

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg

Stir all ingredients in a heavy, medium saucepan until all ingredients are blended. Bring to a boil; stir often. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered. Stir often to prevent scorching and simmer for 30 minutes, or until mixture is very thick. Cool, spoon into containers, cover, and refrigerate. Makes 5 cups.

Is your week slightly upside down with busyness? This upside-down apple cake makes a great, quick Thanksgiving-week breakfast

We all know about pineapple upside-down cakes, but here's a new wrinkle—an apple upside-down cake. In my recipes that call for fresh apples was this little gem called Spiced Apple Cake that sounded just perfect for the Thanksgiving season. Although Spiced Apple Cake probably was designed to be a dessert, we ended up dining on it for breakfast for several mornings in the past few days. Looking for a great breakfast item to serve company who still might be in your house for the holidays? You can't beat this one.

One-and-a-half cups of peeled apple slices (any variety) go on the bottom of a nonstick pan that has had butter melted in it and sugar sprinkled over the apples. Then spray the sides with nonfat cooking spray. Trust me—this preparation is sufficient to guarantee that the cake will turn out of its pan without hassle—even in a pan that's not of the nonstick variety (the kind I had on hand to use, by the way). When the dessert emerged from the oven, I approached the removal of it with great trepidation, but I let it cool for about five minutes, ran a spatula around the edges, and used the spatula to dig underneath the cake a little to be sure all was loosened. Holding my breath I turned it over on a cake plate and voila! a perfect unfurling of a perfect cake, with all the apple topping in place!

Family Circle magazine of a few years back gets credit for this delightful recipe, which recommends serving it slightly warm with whipped cream. Fat-free whipped topping for us, of course, although without that on hand, we used Hubby's fat-free vanilla yogurt instead. Divine! Boy, were we sorry when this little upside-down dish was gone—good to the very last crumb.

Spiced Apple Cake

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (can use brown-sugar substitute)

1 1/2 cups peeled apple slices, any variety

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 eggs (or egg substitute)

2/3 cup milk (we use skim milk)

whipped cream, if desired (or fat-free whipped topping)

Place 3 tablespoons of the butter in a 9-inch round nonstick cake pan. Coat sides of pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place pan in oven while heating the oven to 325 degrees. When butter is melted, remove pan from oven. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Carefully fan apple slices, overlapping in pan. Sift flour, baking powder, cloves, allspice, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and remaining 1 cup sugar until sooth. Beat in eggs. Add half the flour mixture, then milk, then remaining flour. Beat until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake cake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a think knife around cake; invert onto a plate. Remove pan; replace any apple slices stuck to pan. Serve slightly warm with whipped cream, fat-free topping, or nonfat vanilla yogurt.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes—look no further if you're still digging around for a Thanksgiving sweet-potato recipe

In an earlier blog I mentioned the heretical act of subbing a new green-bean recipe for the time-honored Green Bean Casserole that's typical Thanksgiving fare. I really stepped across the line this year when I also subbed Glazed Sweet Potatoes for the traditional, pecan-topped sweet-potato "candy" that families have used for decades. I love that version—Sweet Potato Casserole that appears in my first cookbook, Way Back in the Country, and that was introduced in our family by my cousin, Jana. But I was itching to try a new sweet-potato recipe this year; we gave a high-five to the outcome.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes is simple enough—prepared with fresh sweet potatoes with a glaze of maple-flavored syrup (we used sugar-free syrup) mixed with brown sugar, butter, and spices. But oh, what a hit! I truly believe it was the star of my "drive-by" Thanksgiving dinner that we pulled together for our family time days ago. I even prepared it twice before Thanksgiving. I had some fresh sweet potatoes left over and decided to create it a second time.

Anyone who wants a sweet-potato dish on the Thanksgiving table but who doesn't want to go to the fuss (although a worthwhile fuss, I might add) of the traditional casserole would be smart to whip this one up quickly. Recipe courtesy Taste of Home magazine. Although he's complimentary of everything, Hubby deep-down likes his sweet potatoes rather basic, so with this dish he was enthralled, to say the least!

Happy Thanksgiving cooking! Today's the marathon day! Enjoy yourselves in your kitchen and relish in the foods of this great holiday.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

2 pound medium sweet potatoes or 2 cans (18-ounces each) sweet potatoes, drained

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup maple-flavored syrup (I used sugar-free)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used brown-sugar substitute and used only 1/8 cup)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

If using fresh sweet potatoes, place in a kettle, cover with water, and cook covered for 25-35 minutes or just until tender. Drain; cool slightly. Peel and cut into chunks. Place cooked or canned sweet potatoes in a 2-quart baking dish. In a small saucepan combine butter, syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon; cook and stir until mixture boils. Pour over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is heated through. Makes 8 servings.

Harvest Chili show-stopper on any Thanksgiving table or for family meals on this week of mega-food prep

Also left over from our earlier Oklahoma roadside stand visit: a large butternut squash as well as a pattypan squash. I knew these were just begging for some wonderful recipe to be included in, but I wasn't really familiar with cooking either. I've always been very "garden-variety" (no pun intended) where squash was concerned—yellow squash and zucchini were the extent of my repertoire. (At the roadside stand Hubby scooped these up because he thought these looked interesting.)

My Celebrating a Healthy Harvest handbook fortunately helped me out in a wonderful way. The recipe for Harvest Chili was a lifesaver. But peeling the extra-tough skin on the butternut squash was a challenge. The recipe didn't say to do so, but I heated up a large pot of boiling water and boiled the butternut until it softened up and peeling was easy.

Adding the fresh corn, fresh tomatoes, and green bell pepper made this a healthy as well as colorful combination—perfect for Thanksgiving week, especially since folks are trying to limit their food intake to make room for that extra amount of Thanksgiving Day dining in which they plan to indulge. Harvest Chili was so enjoyable, we dined on it for both lunch and dinner in the same day for many days.

Also, quick and easy describe this prep—a good idea since most of us are busy readying for Thursday's dinner. The ease of preparation of this Harvest Chili can halt the fast-food-to-go line temptation on this week of (food) weeks, so you can serve your family something nourishing while not sacrificing precious time in the kitchen. Or, thinking outside the box, Harvest Chili would be a show-stopper on any Thanksgiving table.

Harvest Chili

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 pounds butternut squash (or a combination of butternut and pattypan)

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)

2 cups fresh tomatoes (or 1 14-ounce can, undrained)

1 cup water (If you are using canned tomatoes, omit the water.)

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 large ears of corn, cooked and cut from the cob

1 small can green chilies or 1/2 cup fresh, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Peel and chop squash into 1/2-inch chunks. Heat oil in skillet and add squash, onion, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes and green pepper; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover; simmer for 15 minutes. Add corn, chilies, salt, and pepper; simmer covered for 5 minutes or until squash is tender. Uncover and increase heat to high. Cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced; serve.

Plethora of pumpkin seeds yields a crunchy, spicy mix with a variety of uses

All that wonderful pumpkin puree from our fall pumpkins now sits in neat little containers in my freezer as it waits to be called on for service. (And it will be, as Hubby and I LOVE anything pumpkin.) But what about the plethora of pumpkin seeds that were extracted at the same time the pumpkin pulp was processed?

"Be sure and don't throw them away," Hubby, who finds uses for anything--even the hairy skin on kiwi fruit, which he grinds and installs into smoothies--cautioned.

Right, be good stewards of all God gives us, I knew in my heart to be correct. Waste not, want not, I could hear my mother's voice in my head. But pumpkin seeds? I've never been a big fan of the beyond-bland way they taste when they are oven-roasted.

Then I derived a plan. "You be the super-sleuth," I entreated Hubby. "Why don't you do an Internet search and see if you can find some unusual way to prepare them?" If preserving the pumpkin seeds was vastly important to him, perhaps he could be the one to find a newfangled hint.

Good for Hubby, he did just that. Going online he found this recipe for Spiced Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, which turned the ordinary into the extraordinary. Just the simple addition of sugar substitute and spices made the pumpkin seeds positively yummy, not to mention what the aroma of this spicy mix being cooked did for the house.

These were great for snacking by themselves, for tossing on breakfast cereal, or, of course, for Hubby's favorite pastime--finding new ingredients to add into his smoothie potpourri.

Spiced Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds (the amount produced by the average-sized pumpkin)

1 tablespoon melted butter or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon granulated sugar, or more, to taste (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

Rinse seeds well; remove as much of the pumpkin pulp as possible. Some of the small pieces of pumpkin will adhere to the seeds, but they won't hurt the seeds at all and might even add more flavor. Pat dry with paper towels. Don't let them dry completely on the paper towels, because they might stick. Toss seeds with the butter, sugar, and spices. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coated seeds on a shallow baking sheet; you can line a baking sheet with nonstick foil to make cleanup easier. While you are baking them, turn seeds from time to time (about every 15 minutes) for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and crunchy.