It’s always a good time for pumpkin muffins

I’ve been on a muffin kick lately. It’s been cold and wintery, (it’s actually snowing today, boo) and a nice warm muffin and a cup of hot coffee is just what I need to get the day started. Over the course of several trials, I have perfected these pumpkin muffins, and I’d like to share them with you. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup quick oats

1 cup white or brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder 

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin 

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients. Whisk in wet ingredients. Spoon into greased (with cooking spray) muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Perfected from Cookie Madness https://www.cookiemadness.net/2009/12/jumbo-pumpkin-streusel-muffins/

Tidying is magical

Last month, I confessed something to my mom: part of me wouldn't be sad if our house burned down and all of my stuff was gone. She told me that she used to have the same secret. Then she moved and left behind 90% of her stuff, only that's not how she thought of it. She focused on the 10% of her stuff that she decided to take with her. I was sold. 

As soon as I got home, I ordered The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up on Amazon. Even with a one year old, I finished reading it in two days. It was the first book I've stayed up late to finish in years. It was exactly what I needed. 

The gist of it is that you go through everything you own, one category at a time, and only keep the things that make you happy. And don't keep anything just because you feel like you should, either because you haven't used it or because someone gave it to you. And then find a home for all the things you're keeping. 

So far, I've gone through all of my clothes, all of my books, all of my bedding, all of my holiday decorations, and most of my paperwork. I donated 5 bags of clothes to a women's shelter. I donated 5 boxes of books to the library. I donated 4 bags of bedding and 3 boxes of holiday decorations. 

I've also learned things. Like how good it feels to let things go that no longer make me happy. And how relaxing it is to not be surrounded by so much clutter. And that there are so many categories left to go! 

Happy tidying!

Pizza, pizza

Pizza is one of my go-to meals. It's quick and easy to throw together with ingredients I almost always have. Except when I don't. Tonight, I'd already decided that we were having pizza when I realized I didn't have yeast. This yeast-free pizza dough from House of Yumm saved me. I thought the dough turned out a little more biscuit-y than pizza-y, not that there's anything wrong with that. Hubby thought it was delish. It made a pretty pepperoni pizza, right? 

And I love that the dough doesn't have to be pre-cooked, you just layer the toppings on the raw dough (sauce, cheese, pepperoni, cheese, pepperoni, cheese... in case you were wondering).

And half the recipe made a perfect sized pizza for the two of us. 

And I realize that if I'm going to share food pictures on the Internet, I should probably invest in a shiny new baking sheet. Probably.

Magical Blackberry Turnovers

I used to think I didn't like cooked fruit. Or maybe I somehow knew that it was safer for me to not like cooked fruit. And then someone gave me a dutch apple pie and it was super tasty. And then my honey made strawberry tarts with leftover phyllo dough (probably the only time I'll use the words 'leftover phyllo dough') and they were super tasty, too. So it turns out, I do like cooked fruit. That's a wonderful and dangerous thing to know, and also how I ended up making these magical blackberry turnovers.

Like, they're literally magical. You make the dough in a food processor and somehow it turns into these beautiful flaky layers in the oven. I will definitely be making more of these, and more variations, at harvest time.

Ingredients
6 oz cold butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup flour
a pinch of salt
1 cup fresh blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour

Directions
Blend first four ingredients in food processor until well mixed. Smoosh together into a ball, then roll on a floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into rectangles.
Lightly smash blackberries, sugar, and 2 tbsp flour until incorporated. Add more  sugar if you want sweeter turnovers, or less if you want to really capture the essence of the berries. Spoon berry mixture onto half of each dough rectangle, then fold dough over itself and pinch down the edges to seal in the berry goodness. 
Bake (on parchment paper so they won't stick) at 375° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Admire and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Back when I had more free time (i.e. no Baby), I used to get all fancy about potlucks. Nowadays, I consider it a win to leave the house wearing pants. But I still go to kind of a lot of potlucks. 

When Hubby and I went to the super secret preppers' club meeting, it was a potluck. When Baby and I go to the old biddy book club, it's a potluck. Community events are pretty much all potlucks. 

So I decided I need to have a go-to recipe for potlucks that's easy, yummy, and made with ingredients I usually have in the house. These peanut butter cookies are perfect. Except they came out kind of messy because I rolled them into balls with one hand because I was holding Baby with the other. Yay multitasking!

Ingredients 

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup peanut butter 

1 stick butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

How-to:

Beat brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter in a stand mixer until combined. Add vanilla and egg and beat again. Add flour and baking soda and beat again. 

Roll dough into meatball-sized balls and spread out on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Use a fork to smoosh an X into each cookie. This is crucial, otherwise no one will know they're peanut butter cookies. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. They're done when they're puffy and just a little squishy. You'll probably have to eat one to make sure they're done. Just try to wait long enough so that you don't burn the inside of your mouth like I may or may not have. 

Happy potlucking!

Homemade Applesauce

Can we get personal for a minute? My baby isn't a big pooper. He never has been. But since we've started dabbling with food, he's down to pooping about once every four days. Thankfully, this is still considered normal for babies, but I think he'd be more... comfortable if it was happening just a little more often. I asked some fellow mamas for ideas, and one of their recommendations was applesauce. We try to always have apples at home, so I decided to try whipping up some homemade applesauce. 

Making applesauce is pretty much the easiest thing ever, once you've peeled and cored your apples. Simmer (covered) on the stove with a little water for about 30 minutes or until they're nice and squishy, then blend until you're happy with the consistency. 

Looks good, right?

I probably would've thrown in a little cinnamon or apple pie spice if I wasn't making it for the baby. 

The 5 Fuji apples and 1/2 cup of water I used made almost 2 cups of applesauce, which is more than enough for one non-poopy baby. Look for recipes for using extra applesauce in the future, and in the meantime, enjoy!

Teething Troubles

My little Nugget is currently working on his first two top teeth and is quite put out by the whole experience.

According to this meta-analysis of teething studies, Nugget is going to be a total smarty-pants. Maybe. The authors quote an old wives' tale about a baby's first tooth's "precocious eruption as a sign of great intelligence" and my little guy popped his first tooth at the ripe old age of 3 months and 3 weeks. I guess that would make up for all those times he's chomped down while breastfeeding. Maybe.

I have to say, I'm so glad we live now and not 100 years ago, when doctors would cut an X into a baby's gums to help get teeth through. Or before that when leeches were put on the gums and just generally used for treating everything. Yay for modern science!

Although there's still a lot of disagreement about teething.

Some studies say that teething can cause "general irritability, disturbed sleep, gum inflammation, drooling, loss of appetite, diarrhea, circumoral rash, intra-oral ulcers, an increase in body temperature, increased biting, gum-rubbing, sucking, wakefulness, and ear-rubbing" while other studies disagree. Nugget is experiencing 7 of those 14 symptoms, so I'm going to go with yes.

What is teething? Supposedly, it's the "4 days before, the day of, and 3 days after emergence of the tooth," however they follow that up that symptoms "cannot predict the emergence of tooth" in literally the same sentence. So Nugget might have another 6 days of waking up cranky at 6am. Or he might not. Super.

When it comes to treating teething pain, the only recommendation that doesn't come with risks is applying pressure to the gums... except the authors warn that gel-filled teething toys could explode toxic goo all over your baby.

And molars are supposed to be even worse.