Great Pumpkin Dessert

This recipe was from Quick Cooking magazine, which no longer exists. The only adaption I've made is to use less butter and walnuts, than the original. It's easy to make and freezes well too.

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 eggs 1 c. sugar
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice*
1 pkg yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines Moist Butter Recipe cake mix)
3/4 c. butter or margarine, melted (I use 1/2 c. most of the time)
1-1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I only use about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of chopped walnuts)
Vanilla ice cream or cool whip.

Instructions: In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Transfer to a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking pan. Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter. Top with the walnuts. Bake at 350º for 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream or cool whip. Yield: 12-16 servings.

*Make your own Pumpkin Spice Mix (from About.com)
1. Measure 2 teaspoons of cinnamon into a small bowl or cup
2. Add 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice or ground cloves
4. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
5. Stir to blend.
6. Makes 4 teaspoons of pumpkin spice

Crockpot Barley Vegetable Soup

I found this recipe online, of course, at fatfreevegan.com, but then I made a couple of changes, since I don't like green beans and it was featuring green beans. Here's the modified version.

Ingredients:
1 c. medium pearl barley
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 9-oz pkg baby carrots (I just used about 10-15 out of a larger bag I had)
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 tsp minced garlic
1 large or 2 med sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 16-oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp salt
5-1/2 - 6 c. water with 3-4 Tbsp of McKay's Chicken-Style seasoning (or 3 14-oz cans vegetable broth)
4 c. water
2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained

Place all ingredients except tomatoes in a 5-6 quart crockpot in the order given. Do not stir. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Stir soup and add tomatoes. Cover crockpot and cook 20-30 minutes longer until soup is hot.

Remove bay leaf before serving.

10-12 servings.