fall = pumpkin raisin muffins

Fall is teasing those of us in South Florida this week. There are commercials everywhere advertising wonderful things like pumpkin spice lattes, piles of brightly colored leaves, and lovely things like boots, hats and scarves. With the high temps. reaching 84 degrees now, lows in the mid-70's, and humidity of only 53% today, it's finally starting to feel cool and "crisp".

Yes, fall is coming.....slowly.

If there was ever a recipe that could take me to another time and place, it's this one. My wonderful mom started making these when I was in high school, and this recipe has become a go-to recipe when I want to feel the comforts of home and the wonders of fall.

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. raisins
1/4 c. melted butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin pan.
Let raisins soak in milk for 15 minutes in a large bowl.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
Add the remaining wet ingredients to milk and raisins.
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. (Batter should be lumpy.)
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 min.
Optional: Top with sliced almonds, oatmeal, or sprinkle with sugar.

Here are some other pumpkin combinations I've tried:
cranberry, blueberry, chocolate chip, banana
(Raisins always win though...)


And now I leave you with a little puppy love:

stitch rock: my first craft show

For the past 5 months I have been cutting, sewing, gluing, cutting, sewing, gluing...preparing myself for Stitch Rock - a local indie craft fair. Well today was finally the day that I have been spending countless hours sitting in front of my sewing table for. I have to say, it was quite the experience. As people walked by my table murmering, "Cute!" and "What a good idea!" it made those hours worth while. While I can't say I'm going to jump on the next vendor application for our next craft fair, I really enjoyed the experience. (And the extra cash.....cha ching!) But for now, I will thoroughly enjoy the extra time not crafting will give me to focus on my photog business (more on that later) and spending time with my sweet family.

Here are a few snapshots (blurry at best) of my table and lovely offerings:

In other happenings, I have finally settled on a new logo for my photography business. Check it:

Swanky, huh? While you're at it, hop on over to my facebook page and click on that lovely "like" button. :)

banana baking frenzy

What a perfect day...
Thunderstorms in the afternoon, friends to enjoy dinner with, and a bunch of bananas at their ripest and mushiest just asking to be used in some delicious recipe. So on today's list of banana baking goodies were peanut butter and banana dog treats, whole wheat banana nut bread, and peanut butter protein bars. Since I've already shared a recipe for puppy treats, and banana nut bread is pretty self-explanatory, I thought I would share the recipe for these perfect protein bars.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars (adapted from SparkRecipes)

Ingredients
Dry:
1 1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. dried fruit (I used a mixture of raisins and Craisins)
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. chopped almonds

Optional:
3 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (I used chocolate since that's what my manly man likes after a workout)
2 tbsp. flax seed (I used milled flax seed, but the whole seed would work here as well)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

 
Wet:
1 ripe mashed banana
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1 tsp. vanilla 

Directions:
- Combine all DRY ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mash ripe banana and add all wet ingredients.
-Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix well.
- Spread mixture into 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish lined with wax paper. Press until flat.

- Place dish in freezer for a few hours, until firm. Remove from dish and carefully cut into squares or logs.

-  For convenient snacking, wrap bars individually in plastic wrap.

- Keep bars stored in refrigerator or freezer for up to a month. They soften super fast at room temperature.


My thoughts:
If I were to make these bars again there are some definite changes I would make. The first thing I would do is cut back on the sugar. Shoooooweeee. I wanted to follow the recipe the first time because I haven't had the best of luck making any type of bars before.....granola bars, protein bars, etc. I would probably substitute raw honey for the maple syrup, and maybe add some extra dried fruit in place of the chocolate chips. I would also use rolled oats instead of the quick oats I had on hand. 
One downside to these yummy healthy treats is that they're pretty sticky as they start to warm up to room temperature. So they're definitely not a grab and jump in the car kind of snack. 

Hope you try them! They really are worth it. :)

guilt-free chocolate chip cookies

For the past few days I have had a serious hankerin' for some rich and gooey chocolate chip cookies. So I tried...and tried....and tried to ignore it. I mean, I only wanted one, so why would I make 2 dozen? That, my friends, is dangerous when I am the only one in my house who actually eats these delicious baked goodies. (Sad, I know...)

To ease my guilty conscience, I set out to make the "healthiest" batch of chewy chocolate chip cookie goodness. With a little help from Betty Crocker, this is what I came up with:


Guilt-free Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened (I use Smart Balance Omega-3 buttery sticks)
**Check the consistency of your dough when everything is mixed together. I wanted my cookies extra chewy, so I added about 1/4 cup of melted butter at the end.**
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. wheat germ
- 2 tbsp. flax seed
- 2 cups 60% caco bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, wheat germ and flax seed (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 8-11 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

4. Grab a glass of milk (preferably from your local creamery if you are ever so lucky to have one by you) and enjoy!

Here's a peek at my finished vanilla. I'd like it to be darker, so next time I think I'll add an extra vanilla bean to the recipe.

from generation to generation

About a month ago as I was driving home from work, I started thinking about all of the mouthwatering goodies my Grandma made when my sister and I were growing up. I have fond memories of barely being able to look over the counter top as my Grandma was rolling out her homemade pie crust and trying to contain my excitement when she gave my sister and I the extra dough so that we could make our own miniature versions of the pie she was creating. I remember coming to visit and there ALWAYS being a fresh bakes pie on the counter.....chocolate meringue, apple, cherry, you name it.

Dinners at Grandma's were a must. She always made sure we were fed, even if we popped in unannounced. One of my FAVORITE dishes she made was slippery pot pie. (My mouth is seriously watering just thinking about slippery pot pie.) Every time we went to visit, I secretly hoped there was a pot of this yummy goodness on the stove. More often than not, there was. :)

Needless to say, with all of the times I watched my Grandma whip up this delicious meal, I didn't have a clue as to how to actually make it myself. So when I visited PA a few weeks ago, my sister and I decided to see if our Grandma would pass on the recipe (which she said she never uses) to us. 

So, my friends, I leave you with one of the most treasured cooking experiences I've had. 
I hope you try these recipes for yourself. You truly won't be sorry.

Slippery Pot Pie

Broth
- 1 lb beef cubes, cook until brown
- Add about 1 qt water to get a broth
- Dice 1 (peeled) potato and put in broth
- Cook about 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender

Dough

- 2 ½ to 3 cups of flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 T shortening (heaping spoonfuls)
- With hands, work shortening until the dough crumbles to pea size
- Add a little cold water at a time, work in as you go, until you reach the consistency of pie dough
- Flour rolling surface
- Take a piece of dough, roll into a ball, and rollout as thin as possible (the thinner the better)
- Cut into rectangles
- Wait until broth is boiling to put in the squares – one piece at a time
- Cook until thickened

 Hands are best! It gets a little sticky, but as you add water the consistency gets just right.

The thinner your dough, the better. It'll thicken as it cooks. I got a serious arm workout rolling this dough out! When you finish rolling and cutting your squares, place them one by one into your pot.

Tadaaa! (Thanks for taking notes, Sarah!)

Now......while your pot pie is cooking on the stove, we'll move on to Creamed Lettuce. There is truly nothing like it.

Creamed Lettuce
- chop 1 head of lettuce
- chop 1 onion
- 2 T Miracle Whip
- ¼ c milk
- Almost 1/3 c sugar
- Combine Miracle Whip, milk and sugar together to make dressing
- Add vinegar to taste

Enjoy!

project: transformation

During Sunday's de-clutter fiasco, I realized that I could probably count the amount of times we've actually used the spices in our spice rack on all of my fingers and toes. We've been married for almost 4 years now, so obviously this thing was more of a waste of space than anything useful. (Except a place to throw papers on.)

So I emptied all of the jars, cleaned them, and put on my crafty thinking cap. (No I don't actually own a thinking cap, but now that I think about it....)

Here's what I came up with:

I have no clue if or how I will ever use this, but I love how it turned out. Anyone need a bead or button organizer?
If only I could get this to Chicago.....I bet my sister-in-law would be able to put it to good use! :)

project: de-clutter

Walk into my house on a typical day and you'll see a house that is lived in. You'll see clothes hanging over chairs, bags set down on whatever piece of furniture is closest when walking in the room. You'll see piles of papers, dust bunnies in the corners, and quite possibly the tallest mountain of laundry in the state of Florida.


You'll see a home.

Even so, every once in a while I get in a down and dirty cleaning mood. I'm talking de-clutter, de-mess, de-dustbunny (well....that's about every 2 days in my house with my goldie locks puppies) my house.
So...last night I pushed up my sleeves and headed straight for the kitchen. I'm not brave enough to post before photos of my mess of a kitchen, but I'll gladly share the after:

I love this paper organizer I found at Marshall's today. It's the perfect solution for those papers that just don't have a place.

No clutter!!! :)

Ahh....so refreshing.
Now, let's just hope it stays that way. :)

peanut butter puppy love

I think I can freely say that our dogs are like our kids at this point in our lives. (Don't judge me non-dog lovers.) I was the one who would scoff at people who treated their dogs like kids....and well, the tables have turned. Now, before you start viewing me as someone who dresses up their pets and gives them royal treatment, let me tell you that that is certainly not the case. We just....well, we love them like they're a part of our family. I mean really, how could you NOT love these two?

 With that said, we love to give them treats that don't have a ton of yucky fillers in them. So last night I was searching the web for a quick and easy dog treat recipe when I came across one for peanut butter treats. I know Phoebe and Juno started salivating as soon as I typed the words peanut butter in the search engine, so I knew I couldn't go wrong. I made some changes and altered the recipe some, so I thought I would share. By the way, they love them, and they were super easy to make!

Peanut Butter Puppy Treats

- 2 cups peanut butter (We love Skippy Natural)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed (for a shiny coat)
- 1/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl (because this recipe makes a LOT of treats) mix all of your dry ingredients. In a small bowl mix together milk and peanut butter. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture. You can use a wooden spoon, but I found a heavy duty hand mixer or stand mixer works best. Feel free to add a little more milk if your recipe if it seems to dry. Roll out your dough to about 1/4 in. thickness. You can use a cute little cookie cutter, or simply cut the dough into bars. (Your preference.) Place treats on baking sheet. Since the dough won't rise, I like to fit as many treats on a sheet as I can. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until thoroughly dried.

Feel free to 1/2 the recipe if you need to. This batch was well over 200 treats! (That's a really big bowl...)

And an update on my vanilla....Only 4 more weeks to go!

vanilla goodness.

2 posts in 2 days? Watch out blog-world. Actually, this post is coming sooner than expected. 1. My vanilla beans came in the mail today! 2. I am really looking for any excuse to use my new camera. (drool...)

If you're like me, you dread running out of vanilla extract. I haaate spending $7 on those teeeeny bottles. So when I came across a blog that had instructions for making your own vanilla extract, I felt like the heavens parted, and knew I had to try it!

After hunting through the spice aisles at Wal-Mart, Publix, and even Publix Greenwise, I decided to venture into Whole Foods where I finally found whole vanilla beans for a whopping $13.00.
For two.

Amazon to the rescue! The instructions call for 3 vanilla beans per cup of alcohol, and I was somehow able to find 7 beans for 6 bucks. (Including shipping!) The downside to this homemade vanilla extravaganza? It takes 2 months for the vanilla to be ready. Looks like I'll have to settle for store-bought for the next few batches of cookies or muffins.

Take a peek at the process. It was really easy to make, and aside from waiting a week for my vanilla beans to arrive, it only took me about 15 min. to make. (Leaving time for pictures, of course.)

spring? oh, spring?

Living in South Florida, I've come to realize that there are two seasons: hot and hotter. We usually get 3-4 weeks in January where the weather drops to *gasp* 45 degrees during the day, and somewhere in the high 30's at night. Now don't get me wrong, I love wearing sundresses and flip-flops 95% of the year. But there's just one thing that's missing....SPRING. While the northern states are finally finished shoveling themselves out of their driveways, they are beginning to see signs of spring. Flowers budding. Sun shining. Trees blooming. Not here...

Today it was 90 degrees. Ninety.....

So...I decided to fake a little spring today. Thanks to a link on a friend's blog, I was able to make this spring-tacular wreath. Take a peek here if you're interested in making one of your own. Just a hint, make sure you buy moss sheets, which I discovered after I bought the wrong stuff. I love the result. It's so fresh and simple.

Also, the puppies say hello blog world! :)

breakfast for dinner

We've all been there....
Staring at the refrigerator...waiting....waiting....waiting. As if we really think some delicious dish will appear if we keep staring.

My go-to "meal" when this happens is usually cereal. And believe me, I've gone through 1-2 boxes in a week when I find myself in a food rut.

Tonight, however, since I already had my bowl of cereal for a mid-afternoon snack, I decided to go for a quick upgrade to Aunt Jemima's instant pancakes. The result was scrumptious.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pumpkin Pancakes
1 cup Aunt Jemima's whole wheat pancake mix
1 cup skim milk
1 egg
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tbsp. sliced almonds (for garnish)
drizzle of raw honey for topping

1. Mix all ingredients. Allow 2-3 minutes for batter to thicken.
2. Pour batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. Flip twice.
3. When pancakes are done, top with sliced almonds, and drizzle with honey.

sunday project: whole wheat blueberry scones

Step into my local Spanish market, and what will you encounter? Vibrant colored fresh fruits and veggies. Maneuvering through small crowded aisles. The feeling that you have stepped right into another country. Spanish music blaring through the speakers. The thrill I get from setting my heaping basket of produce on the counter and hearing the clerk say, "$12.77" for what surely would cost well over that amount at a traditional grocery store, makes me appreciate this local gem even more.

On the list of yummies from the market yesterday was organic blueberries. (For just $1.50, I might add...) I couldn't wait to pop some of those bad boys in my mouth for a sweet snack, so they were the first to be washed. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I tried them and they made my face turn Quasimodo from the sourness of them.

Solution? Bake with them, of course!

As I was perusing through the blog-o-sphere this wonderful Sunday morning, I stumbled across a perfect recipe for whole wheat blueberry scones. I don't know why, but I've always been intimidated to try making scones. They have always seemed so.....sophisticated. Either way, I decided to cross my fingers and hope for the best! Thankfully they were rather easy, and just as tasty!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones (adapted from this recipe)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup skim milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons yogurt (I used french vanilla)
1 teaspoon high-quality vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup rolled oats

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. You don't want any of this goodness being left behind. :)
 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

 

3. Cut butter into your flour mixture using your fingers or two knives. (I found that your fingers work best! Give yourself a little workout.)
4.  In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, yogurt, and the vanilla extract.

5. Add the liquid mixture to the flour-butter mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the blueberries.

6. Spread the oats over your work surface. (Reserve 1/4 cup of oats.)

7. Place your dough on top of the oats, forming a disk shape. Pat the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness.

8. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of oats onto the top of the disk.

9. Grease a large knife with cooking spray. Cut the dough disk into 8 wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

10. Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes, or until they are light golden brown. Serve warm.

 See? Piece of cake! Or um.....scone. :)