Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Time for holiday baking!  I start early and freeze items, then prepare goodie boxes, bags, or baskets to share as the holiday gets closer.

My local bank sent out a seasonal card which included this recipe offering a wonderful combination of tastes.
It calls for making two large loaves, but I made four mini-loaves and 12 cup cakes with it.

 I plan to give them as thank you gifts to local service people and neighbors with some other bake goodies.


Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
3 cups of flour
1 Tab. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1-1/2 cups canola oil
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips, 6 oz.
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
cream cheese frosting, optional

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil..

Stir wet ingredients into dry until combined and moistened.  Fold in chips and nuts.  Pour batter 1/2 to 3/4 full into greased pans.  Bake 2 large loaves for 60 to 70 minutes.  For mini loaves, bake 40 to 50 minutes.

For cup cakes or muffins, bake 25-30 minutes.  Insert toothpick incenter to test if done; it should come out clean.  Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.  Serve with cream cheese frosting or frosting of choice.

May be cooled then frozen and stored.
Estimated cost: $5 or less

Lakeside Chicken

A neighbor shared this recipe back in the mid-70s. She called it "Lakeside Chicken."  I assumed she got it from someone in a nearby town named "Lakeside" or it was good dish to serve at a lakeside picnic!  


I continue to make this dish, especially when finding chicken parts on sale, and served it often when raising kids.  It's also good dish for a potluck lunch or dinner.


The way the rice becomes infused with the flavors of the onion and mushroom soup as it cooks in its own sauce is delightful.  It's an easy, one-dish meal that feeds many for little cost per serving.
I've halved the recipe for the two of us.

Lakeside Chicken
1 chicken cut up into parts, or about 6 - 8 pieces
1 - 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
1 envelope of onion soup mix
1 can mushroom soup
3 cups water
salt and pepper

Grease a 9x12 casserole dish.  Sprinkle rice on the bottom of dish.  Arrange chicken pieces over rice.  Combine and mix 1/2 of dry onion soup, mushroom soup with water.

Pour mixture over chicken and rice.  Sprinkle remaining soup mix over chicken. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Serves 6-8.

I've seen other versions of this dish using, cream of chicken or cream of celery soup and I'm sure they'd work well, too. To make it your own, experiment with canned soup of choice, then topping with cheese of choice near the end of baking.

Estimated cost: $4 - $5;  .70 cents per serving