pumpkin, it's not just for autumn anymore

Have I got a pumpkin muffin for you! 

Not just an ordinary pumpkin muffin, but a healthy pumpkin muffin! 

{made mostly with whole wheat flour instead of white flour, sweetened with honey instead of white sugar} **oh yes, and a few chocolate chips thrown in for fun!

I have made this recipe twice...and twice has it been gobbled up by everyone in this house! 

We love the taste of the whole wheat and pumpkin together, and the chocolate chips just round it off nicely. Heck, I haven't even mentioned yet...the healthy benefits of eating pumpkin!! 

**Pumpkin is a powerhouse for Vitamin A, Potassium, Calcium, Iron, antioxidants, Beta Carotene and Fiber...not to mention the other vitamins: K, B, C, E. It's just all-kinds of good for you! 

Now... knowing all that...all the healthy stuff about pumpkin...

there's no reason NOT to make this recipe :)  

You will be healthier for it! 

Don't delay...buy yourself a can of pure pumpkin puree today! 

{I have not been paid by the national council for pumpkin farmers to say that......hee hee!}

WHOLE WHEAT AND HONEY PUMPKIN MUFFINS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 1 CUP PUMPKIN PUREE 

1/3 CUP VEGETABLE OIL OR CANOLA OIL 

2 EGGS 

1 CUP HONEY 

1 CUP WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR 

1/2 CUP WHITE FLOUR 

1 TSP. BAKING POWDER 

1/2 TSP. BAKING SODA 

1/2 TSP. SALT 

1 TSP. GROUND CINNAMON 

1/2 TSP. GROUND NUTMEG 

1/4 TSP. GROUND GINGER  

1/2 CUP SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS 

IN A BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER, PUMPKIN PUREE, OIL, EGGS AND HONEY. IN SEPARATE BOWL, MIX TOGETHER FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA, SALT, CINNAMON, NUTMEG AND GINGER. ADD PUMPKIN MIXTURE TO FLOUR MIXTURE AND MIX UNTIL JUST INCORPORATED. STIR IN CHOCOLATE CHIPS. FILL MUFFIN CUPS 3/4 FULL OF BATTER. BAKE IN 325 DEGREE OVEN FOR 25 MINUTES. 

 ENJOY!

freshly squeezed orange juice

happy weekend! 

just so you know...it takes a lot of muscle to squeeze 9 oranges

just sayin'

LOL!

egg cups

Well, just when I thought eggs couldn't get any yummier...I discovered egg cups! I found the recipe over at foothill home companion. Her blog is beautiful and always inspiring.

Seriously people...you are probably thinking..."ok lady, it's just an egg baked in the oven"...but I'm telling you, it's really delicious! The saltiness and smokiness from the ham and the taste of olive oil really bring the flavors of this simple dish alive! I ate 2 very easily and mmm'd and ahh'd the whole time!

This is just about the simplest thing you could do with eggs...you don't have to babysit them like you do standing over a frying pan. Just put it in the oven and walk away for 15 minutes. Here's what you do!

Coat a muffin pan with olive oil.

Place one slice, or half slice ham on bottom of each cup in muffin pan.

Crack one egg over each ham slice.

Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 15 to 20 minutes.

When done, yolk should be soft cooked and whites should be completely cooked.

Garnish with chopped chives.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

P.S. Check out the new addition to my blog called "food diary". Click the tab right under my header next to "home" and "the story behind the name". It is a pictorial diary of my journey with eating healthy meals. Healthy food is just so beautiful it can stand on it's own without any words or descriptions. I just started the journal today, so there is only one day worth of photos. I will still be creating sweet treats and pies for my blog, and I will still be sampling them. Sampling is the key! One or two cookies instead of 5 or 6!! I'm excited about this new addition to my blog, and I hope you'll check it out! I plan to post there daily.

sisters and breakfast casserole

This past weekend was filled with family! All of my sisters were at my house. H. from Florida, E. from New York and K. that resides locally. There wasn't nearly enough time to visit with my sister H. from Florida though. She's the one I rarely get to see. H. brought her little 2 year old daughter A. with her. She's a doll baby! So cute and sweet. Her voice is so tiny...her hair is down right Goldilocks!

She adds the word "honey" to the end of her sentences. For instance, 

"Can I have a cookie honey?" 

"Let's go play honey." 

It is the cutest thing ever. She is imitating what her grandparents and mom and dad say to her..probably at the end of every one of their sentences...

"come on honey" 

"eat your broccoli honey" 

"brush your teeth honey". 

In the 2 short days I had with her, she still hadn't warmed up to me 100%. She won't hug me...I hug her, but no hug in return. She is soooo shy. I ask her questions, she looks at me, but won't answer me. 

She does talk, and talk well she does. She talks to her mommy all the time and sometimes she says a few things to us, her aunts. She has taken very well to my boys, especially my youngest. 

Well, fortunately, the visiting isn't quite over just yet. H. has gone to spend a couple days with our parents who live a couple hours away from here. She and her daughter will be back here tomorrow evening and then stay on for one more day. I am so grateful for the extra time to spend with her.

H. dazzled us with her great cooking skills while she was here..including breakfast on Monday morning. She easily whipped up a fantastic breakfast casserole with whatever I had on hand in the refrigerator. It was a complete surprise to me as I had slept in until 8:30 am. When I came downstairs that morning, I was pleasantly greeted with the aroma of savory cooking coming from the kitchen. 

 

Not to mention the smell of Starbucks Pikes Place Blend steeping in the French coffee press. Okay, I can get used to this! I never have anyone cooking for me or making my coffee. Pure heaven I tell ya! H. was in charge of the breakfast casserole, but E. was trying to take some credit too! They were competing about who decided on which great ingredients had made it's way into the casserole. Well, one thing is for sure, E. got all the credit for the French press coffee, as H. hasn't a clue how to operate one.

I want to share with you the recipe for H's breakfast casserole. The beautiful thing about it is, you can add whatever you have in your fridge too. Be creative and use up your leftovers.

H's Breakfast Casserole

Using a 9 x 11 baking dish, break four pieces of bread, into chunks, onto the bottom of baking dish.

Beat 8 farm fresh eggs.

Pour eggs over bread.

Over top of the bread, sprinkle the following:

crumbled pieces of bacon
chopped red pepper

chopped onion

chopped tomato

torn pieces of fresh spinach leaves

shredded cheddar cheese

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes

or until egg is set.

Enjoy!

collecting eggs

We love collecting eggs from our chicken coop. It is so rewarding!

I especially love the colors.

They are so beautiful.

Each egg is unique with it's speckling, spots, shapes and size.

For the most part, the eggs are completely normal. But...on occasion, we find an egg that is oblong and narrow. Sometimes we even find a very tiny egg that's about the size of a large marble. It's so interesting!

I thought I'd show you what's on the inside of these odd shaped eggs...I know you're curious!

Here is the inside of one of the normal shaped and sized eggs.

You are probably wondering if we eat the odd shaped eggs. Well, sometimes we do, but more than not, they tend to get left in the carton and passed over when we are cooking or baking. If I am going to use them, I usually break them open into a small bowl to check them first. If they look like normal, I just go ahead and use them.

I have to say that I have greatly enjoyed being a mamma to these chickens. They are the easiest animals to care for and they are always entertaining.

It's so interesting to watch the pecking order, and who is the bossy one. They fight over food. Once they get their piece of bread or melon (special treat), they take it in their beak and run away to eat by themselves. When we have younger chickens that are ready to be introduced to the flock, they get chased away from the food every time! It's quite sad, but it is what it is. It's the pecking order and it is completely natural. Of course I try to scold the older chickens when they do this...as if they are listening or care one little bit...cause they don't! hahaha!

100 documentaries in 2012

Taking a break from my baking posts...here's something I'd like to share with you. We've  been just a bit addicted to documentaries in this house for the past couple of weeks. I've always liked documentaries, but haven't really sought them out. Well, now we're on a roll.

I'm seeking, watching, and enjoying various documentaries... and not planning on stopping any time soon! You never know what you are going to learn. Sometimes documentaries leave me feeling just a bit smarter than the day before. For me, the best source for documentaries is Netflix.

Oh ya....about the 110 documentaries in 2012 thing...it was just an idea I just blurted out...we should watch 100 documentaries in 2012...my husband said...okay...and I then said...okay...and there you have it.

Here's what we've watched so far,and my own opinion of each:

#1  Ride the Divide  http://www.ridethedividemovie.com/about/
the Great Divide Route is a mountain bike route, 2700 miles along the Continental Divide from Canada to New Mexico, USA of which 90% of the route is on unpaved roads ...beautiful scenery, peaceful, extreme endurance, it held my interest til the end, I found myself caring about and routing for participants.

#2   Between the Folds  http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/
absolutely stunning and mind blowing origami designs...like nothing I ever knew existed!!!... beautiful and mesmerizing art mixed with geometry....very enlightening!

#3   Cycle South  http://paracinema.net/2011/07/cycles-south-1971/
Well, what should I say about this one?! It's rather "groovy" and a little bit "far out"! Filmed in 1971, nothing is politically correct in this one. Nothing majorly insulting...just basically some free love and happiness and female stereo type nonsense. It was really quite humorous! This film was about 3 young men taking  a motorcycle trip as far south as Panama. Some things were staged and were just silly and hokey. We took a chance on this one, got a lot of laughs out of it, but....not really the kind of documentary I'm looking for. Having said that, I was entertained and found myself shaking my head and my jaw dropping open at times. Enough said. LOL! I mean, I'm not sorry I watched it...it was just....well, groovy, outdated and odd.

#4  Sweetgrass  http://sweetgrassthemovie.com/
Montana sheep herders at work, really enjoyed this, scenery was beautiful, very few words throughout film, peaceful, interesting, some foul language at times from the cowboys when they are having a tough time getting sheep to cooperate!!! other than the choice words at times...very good film, held my interest to the end...yes I would reccomend...but not for children's ears!!!

So, do you like documentaries???
Do you have any you would like to recommend???

The bestest, hardest, crunchiest oatmealy, coconuty, dried cranberriest, M &M-y, chocolate chippy, almondyish cookie perfect for dunking in coffee and tea ever!

Okay!

Will you kill me if I suggest a recipe that tastes fantastic but turns hard as heck the next day?!

Seriously people!

This is a really good, tasty, scrumptious, addicting cookie that I just love!

I'm not gonna lie...one day later and these things get harder than woodpecker's lips!

But you know what?

I don't care!

It's worth losing a filling or two!

Ok, all kidding aside...yes these cookies get hard and crunchy. Are they still edible...yes! Is the combination of chocolate, coconut, oats and cranberries awesome...yes! Should you make these anyhow...yes! Should you put on a pot of coffee or tea...yes!

Here's the recipe...you're gonna love it! Come on, just try it..you'll see.

Hey, every single one of these cookies were gobbled up by both my kids, my husband and me...with no complaints. Well, except one...my youngest thinks the dried cranberries are raisins and he hates raisins...which, dried cranberries, raisins...not much difference there. Ok, fine!

By the way, I used coconut flavored M&m's because that's what I had on hand.

You can use plain M&M's or whatever flavor you have on hand! There are some really great options out there these days when it comes to M&M's.

Here's the recipe. I hope you give it a try!

THE HARDEST CRUNCHIEST OATMEAL -FILLED WITH GOODNESS- COOKIE EVER

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups old fashioned oats, uncooked

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup M&M's

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl, mix oats, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Stir flour mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in remaining goodness of M&M's, chocolate chips, chopped almonds, dried cranberries and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoon or cookie scoop onto greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for approx. 13 minutes.

Enjoy!

A dusting of snow

Well, we finally got a teeny, tiny bit of snow.

Just enough for my youngest son to make a teeny, tiny little snowman.

:)