All things Pumpkin

Happy Fall! I love this time year! We went down to Grandpa's house and picked pumpkins on Monday. No, the above picture are not the ones we picked, sorry. The kids had a blast picking out their pumpkins and I was grateful we didn't have to pay for them. (I can't believe how expensive some pumpkins can be!) The temperatures are starting to drop, a little. Most significantly is in the morning. My 6:30am run is now done wearing pants instead of shorts. It's just harder to run that early when it's dark and cold. Yuck! The one downside to this time of year. But anyway, the last few months in my kitchen has been all about zucchini. Zucchini is very versatile, you can put it in anything and I think have. Breads, cakes, brownies, soups. casseroles. But I'm done with zucchini. It's October and that means it's pumpkin time. I love pumpkin in desserts.(except in pie, strange I know. I think it's the consistency) So of course, I wanted to post one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. This time it's for muffins. Last year it was for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, go here if you want that recipe. It's so yummy. I wish I could post one of those pretty pictures to go with the recipe but I haven't actually made them yet this year, besides, my pictures never look as good as they do on real cooking blogs anyway. So here it goes, hope you like them.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil (I replace half of that with applesauce)
1 cup canned pumpkin

Mix together then add:

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together until just blended then add

2 eggs (beaten)

Mix again, and then add 1 cup chocolate chips

Fill muffin pan 3/4 way up. Top with brown sugar and bake at 375 for 15-20 min. Enjoy!
I usually double this recipe.

*disclaimer: My recipes are not my own, they are just tried and true recipes I've acquired over the years that I know my family and friends enjoy. With that said I must thank my friend S.B. for this recipe =)

Recipes

I've been meaning to add some recipes to my blog for while, but I'm barely managing to post at all. I ENJOY cooking this time of year. Yummy homemade soups, fresh baked breads, pot roasts, turkey with all the trimmings, pumpkin cookies and muffins!! All those foods you've stayed away from in the summer because it's just too hot to cook anything! Makes me hungry just thinking about it. I just recently made a Southwest Chicken Chili, (my husband will debate with me that this is actually a chili, but I didn't make up the name, so you can call it what you want.) and these yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Yes, I did indulge, just trying not to go overboard. So anyway, here are the recipes, hope you enjoy them.

Southwest Chicken Chili (soup)

In a large pot add:

3 whole chicken breast (cooked)cut up into bite-size pieces

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves of garlic

Cook in 2 tsp of oil

Then add:

2 cans stewed tomatoes (if you want some kick, sub 1 can for diced tomatoes with chilies)

2/3 cup mild salsa

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt ( I don't use this)

1 can ranch style pinto beans

1 can bush baked beans ( I usually use chili beans instead, I bet black beans would be good)

Heat through and serve with sour cream, green onion, shredded cheese, diced avocado, chips. MMmm good.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 cups flour

2 cups oats

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Mix dry ingred together.

1 1/2 cup soften butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 16oz can Libby pumpkin or it's 15 oz I can't remember

a bag of chocolate chips, I prefer milk chocolate

Mix together wet ingred. then add dry to wet and mix all together, add chocolate chips and Bake at 350 for 10-15 min. It depends on the size of the cookie. I tend to make mine big so I bake for 12 min. This dough will be moist and sticky. Enjoy!

P.S. Liv heard this song and has been singing it ever since!

Running on Empty

I don't know what's wrong with me this week but the running hasn't gone well. It just don't understand how one day I can run 9 miles with no problem and then a few days later I struggle with 3. It's very frustrating. Hopefully our Sat. run will go better.

I've concocted this "super juice" that I've been trying to drink at least a few times a week. I have no idea if there are any benefits to it. I haven't felt any different. But if nothing more it's healthy and filling. I'll do this in place of breakfast or as a mid morning snack. So I take fresh squeezed orange juice from Grandpa's trees, 2 large hand fulls of fresh spinach, a half a banana, 2 tbl of flax seeds, some ice and put it in my Vita-Mix for about 30 sec. It's actually pretty good. I think my kids would have tried it if they didn't actually see me make it. My hubby is a good sport, he'll drink it. Maybe I could try pulling it off on St. Patrick's Day! Oh, I've made a mistake with the granola recipe, so if you copied it before today you'll need to make a slight adjustment. Sorry, I was going from memory and I should really know better than to do that!

Princess A 's b-day went well. It was very low-key. She had 2 friends spend the night and they had a great time. She got her 7th Webkinz! I'll post pics of them later. On Sunday, Liv sang in church. She sang with 2 other women. They each sang a verse. She did a great job!