Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I've lost my blog ambition. Yup, it's true.  At first I thought it was because I've been so busy transitioning from summer to working my buns off but the more I think about it the more I realize that I'm running low on motivation in the kitchen.  I've written over 230 posts since I started this blog and I'm finally starting to repeat my recipes on a regular basis. I hope that this Fall weather will inspire me to try out some new recipes.  For those of you who check my blog regularly, I'm sorry. I'm a jerk.

Today I went on a long walk with my pup and took some Fall inspired pictures.  When I got home I was in the mood for pumpkin spice muffins. According to my husband who just returned home after a day of harvesting beans, "it smells like Fall in here!".  Mission accomplished. These muffins will be great for a quick breakfast or a snack at work.  I made a maple cream cheese spread to go on top. I dislike cream cheese icing imensely but I'm sure it's tasty...
*The below recipe was adapted from here

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I tossed the rest in the freezer for later)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I'm wondering if you just add 1/4 cup more of the puree you could omit the oil)
1 tsp vanilla

Method
In large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree oil and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Spoon into greased muffin cups. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Maple Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 container of light cream cheese
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Using an electric mixer cream together all ingredients. Store in fridge until you want to spread it on your muffin (that's what she said).

Coconut Oil

A few years ago my [then] hairdresser sat me under a hairdryer with foils in my hair to speed on the lightening process.  This was common practice for her but usually I only sat there for about 15 minutes.  This particular day she had me sit there for close to 40 minutes.  I was confused but decided to wait patiently for her to come retrieve me from the back of the salon since she was giving someone else a hair cut at the front.  While she blewdry (blow dry? blow dryed?..pfff...) my hair I noticed a ton of breakage falling all over the black smock I was wearing.  I thought I was being a little crazy so I decided not to say anything, quickly paid and headed home.  The next morning after my shower while I worked my round brush through my hair while I was blow drying I noticed that my hair was breaking again, about 3 inches from the root. Shit.  My hairdresser had burnt my hair so badly that my hair continued to break for the week following my highlight appointment.  I ended up having a slight mullet since I (thankfully!) only get half head highlights done. Since then I've been working at getting my hair back to its' old healthy self and growing out all of these "layers".  Needless to say I don't go to her anymore (even though I love the colour and cut she used to do!) That happened 3 years ago and my hair is still quite damaged. I use leave in conditioner daily, coat my hair with a heat protector every time of straighten and blow dry it, and use a comb instead of a brush.  Thanks to Pinterest I recently stumbled across a web page talking about the benefits of coconut oil including its ability to restore damaged hair. Cha-ching! Check it out the article here. I ran out to the Bulk Barn and scored a jar for about 7 buckaroos.  I've only used it on my hair once so far but I noticed a slight difference but where I've seen the biggest impact is on my skin.  Since I was young I've had little bumps on my upper arms. I've visited the doctor and was given a prescription for it, which didn't help at all.  I've been using the coconut oil on my arms daily for the last 2 weeks and have seen a huge improvement.  While I've never cooked with coconut oil, I intend on trying it out in the future. It is a saturated oil which is a little bit of a deterrent for me, but I've done some more research and have decided the next time I bake will substitute butter or vegetable oil for coconut oil.  It has an incredible sweet coconut smell so I can imagine that it would only enhance the flavour of a baked good. I will keep you posted.  As for the hair and skin benefits I suggest you hit up bulk barn and grab a jar for yourself.

Sunday Morning Oatmeal Muffins

I'm back to work after a whirlwind of a summer and I'm extremely happy about it.  I work with incredible people, I have great students and I adore my job. I'm very good at finding balance during the school year and manage my time well for the most part.  This summer was a difficult one for me because I felt as though I wasn't able to find any balance. Don't get me wrong, I had some wildly fun evenings with some of my best friends, romantic dinners with my husband and celebrated some very special people, but I felt completely disconnect to my life at 'home'. A life that we have worked so hard to create over the last 5 years. I missed normalcy this summer.

This weekend has been pure awesomeness (that's a word, right?!).  We sat for hours in our PJ's drinking coffee and chatting about our wish list of things we'd like to accomplish in our new home, completed tasks on our to-do lists, soaked in the tub, dressed up and went out for dinner, walked the dog, relaxed, and it isn't even over yet.  Everything we've done this weekend has been on our terms. It feels as though we've finally restored the balance. This morning I was even able to bake oatmeal muffins for breakfast.  A perfect compliment to a giant mug (or 2...or 3...) of yummy coffee.

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or apple sauce - I didn't have any on hand - dammit!)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

 

Method

Let the oats soak in the milk for 15 minutes. Add egg, oil, brown sugar and chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon. Slowly add flour, baking powder and salt. Spoon into a greased muffin tin and fill 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.    

Caramel Apple Dip

This weekend we had my beautiful Mother, Brother, Sister in-law and Nephew all here for a Birthday celebration for Mama.  We ended up being so stuffed from dinner that we couldn't even eat the gluten free dessert I had on hand.  Thankfully we had some of Eric's family here the following day and was able to serve it to them (although we still have a ton leftover in the fridge!). Mmmm, apples covered in sugary goodness. Yes please.

Makes enough for crowd!!

Ingredients
2 containers of light cream cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 squeeze bottle of caramel sauce
3/4 cup skor crumbs (bulk barn)

Method
Mix cream cheese and brown sugar together with a stand mixer (or electric mixer) for at least 3 minutes. Spread mixture in a shallow(ish) dish.  Pour caramel sauce over top and sprinkle with skor crumbs.  Serve with sliced apples.