Simple Simple Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

My boys love pumpkin!!! I woke up early Monday morning to make them  breakfast mostly featuring pumpkin. Here's one and I'll post the other tomorrow!

My husband love this pumpkin pie smoothie


Simple Simple Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
Serves 1
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree (or any squash you have handy)
1/2 cup coconut milk (any milk you want)
1/2 of a banana (frozen for a thicker cool smoothie)
1/4 cup frozen raspberries or any berry (i used this to make it sweeter omit if you want use the sweetener of your choosing)
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin  pie spices
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon flax seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon wheat germ (optional)
I didn't put any sweeteners in this. But you can put a tablespoon (or your taste) of any sweetener you choose. Maple syrup or brown sugar would be awesome in this!

Directions:
Add each ingredient to blenders in the order listed. Blend to your pleasing. Add more or less liquids if desired!

Hope you all enjoy!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Mommy's Mind is in the Gutter

I love Pinterest. We've done a lot of crafts I've found on there. One was homemade playdoh. It's so fun and easy! And the kids play with it for hours leaving me toooooooo clean for hours. At least peacefully! Anywho, while I was resting, my children were making  "croissants" with their playdoh (lil foodies). So they start showing me their masterpieces. All of the sudden I hear my daughter shriek, "Mommy Mommy, look what I made!!!"

It's supposed to be a tower. What did you think it was? Don't lie :) 

 How can I not document this. I love being a mom.

 Have a great day all!!!

Sweet Potato Oatmeal with Honey Toasted Walnuts

I love love sweet potatoes. You all may have noticed that from my some of my blogposts.
While checking out some healthy recipes out on www.Shape.com, I came across Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal from the Oh She Glows blog. It looked so delicious and beautiful I had to pin on Pinterest to try later.

Speaking of Pinterest- anyone else addicted to that site? I've tried so many crafts and decorating ideas from there. Not mention, the dinner I cooked last night were from pins I found there.

Anyway, back to the oatmeal. I changed a few things about this recipe to make to my own taste and it was great. It takes maybe 15 minutes to put together. However, I would use pecans over walnuts as pecans has a mellower flavor than the robust walnuts. It was still very good and not overly sweet. Perfect. If you don't like sweet potatoes, use canned pumpkin or pureed roasted pumpkin. Hope y'all try this :)


Sweet Potato Oatmeal 
Inspired by Oh She Glows
Serves 3-4 depending on your appetite!

Ingredients
1/3 cup regular oats
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/3-1/2 cup sweet potatoes (steamed in microwave or roasted)
1 tablespoon flax seeds (optional)

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

For toppings:
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon honey

Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

Wash and dry a sweet potato, then prick all over with a fork. Then microwave uncovered for five minutes. If it's not soft by then, microwave 1 minute, check; if it's not soft, microwave* a minute at a time until it's done. Allow to cool slightly, scoop out the flesh, mash in a bowl until smooth.

*Alternatively, you can roast on 350 F for about an hour. Preferably the night before, you want something quick in the morning!

You can toast the walnuts in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes on medium. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts and honey. If you don't want to toast, just mix in a small bowl!

In the meantime, in a medium sized pot, heat the oats and milk over medium heat until it comes to a low boil. Stir in the sweet potato and flax seeds (if using) . Heat over low-medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the salt, sugar, spices, and vanilla, then heat for about 4 minutes more, stirring frequently.  

Add topping and if you want, add a little honey or maple syrup on top.

ENJOY!!!

Easy Pumpkin Pie Muffins

It's officially Autumn!

Welcome to my home!

I am so excited about all the produce of the season! But, I must confess. I cheated. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I cheated. I had to! My husband is currently away as most military members are, so I had to make quick with what I had.

My friend Becca and I planned a baking day last week and we both agreed pumpkin would be the perfect thing to bake since it's the first week of Autumn! Between the two of us we have 5 children under 4, so we decided canned pumpkin was the way to go this time around! However, while shopping at my friendly commissary,  I found that there was NO canned pumpkin. All that was left was some canned pumpkin pie filling! So, I searched the commissary for some fresh pumpkin with the intent to roast, season and puree it myself. Guess what? No pumpkins!!! I was so upset, because here I am at 7:30pm with three hungry, tired, rowdy children and all I have is canned pumpkin pie filling! So I looked at the ingredients list to see if I can maybe alter a recipe a bit, and then I saw that there was a recipe for muffins I had in mind on the back label.  I love challenges, so I bought it. I checked out the website and everything seemed pretty easy so I went to bed.

So yesterday we were ready to bake, and I saw that I read all-purpose baking flour as all purpose flour! Shoot! After a brief panic session, I found a great pumpkin muffin recipe and altered it a bit. Boy, were these delicious!! And soooo easy. The girls loved helping, and my son loved eating them! So it wasn't much of a kitchen disaster after all. I love when there's a light at the end of the funnel. Get it? OK, no more jokes. On to the recipe!

The Pumpkinator

Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Pecan Crumble Topping

Adapted from American Food Recipes 

For the muffins:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup light brown sugar 

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cream

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin pie filling

For Pecan Crumble

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F and oil muffin tin or add cups. Makes 12 muffins

For pecan crumble, mix all ingredients except for pecans with your hands until you have a crumby texture. Stir in pecans then set aside. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until creamy with whisk or mixer. Add eggs and vanilla until combined. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk and cream until combined. Gently mix in pumpkin, and be sure to not over mix!

Evenly distribute muffin batter then add crumble. A batter and sprinkle fairies does the trick well!

Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are golden and toothpick comes clean when inserted in the middle. 

Happy Eating!

Kid Approved! 

These muffins were so moist with the perfect crunch from the topping! A must try for sure!

Enjoy!!