Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

Oh gosh....what more can be said for a warm bowl of pumpkin spice oatmeal. My house is frigid in the mornings, just the way I like it. It makes curling up on the couch with my journal, Bible, coffee and oatmeal (or other warm breakfast variety) that much better. Here's a simple recipe for your Friday morning -- enjoy :) 

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

1 cup old fashioned oats*

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup pumpkin purée

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

A splash of almond milk (or any kind of milk)

1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark, either work perfectly)

*note: the oatmeal I buy calls for 1 cup of oats to make two servings of oatmeal. Check the back of your oatmeal container for proper measurements of water to oats. Cook enough for two servings. 

Cook oats in water as directed on it's packaging. I always salt the water first with a bit of salt. 

Whisk together remaining ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Once oatmeal is cooked, stir in the pumpkin mixture and combine well. 

Finish off with any toppings you like! I love shredded coconut and sliced banana, and I always end up splashing in some almond milk as well for extra creaminess. 

Pumpkin Cacao Muffins + A Giveaway!

Yesterday was the first day of fall and I wasn't going to get excited or anything until I walked outside and there.was.a.BREEZE. A real, cool, dare I say chilly breeze. Can we just ignore the middle part of the day that lapsed back into summer? Because the evening was cool and perfect as well and let's be honest, breezes are a clear sign of fall. And fall = pumpkins. And pumpkin = all the baking things. 

Now, you may be wondering....can this girl spell? Doesn't she know it's cocOA, not cocAO powder? Well, you'd be right, except that cacao is actually chocolate in it's raw, unprocessed form. It's basically the same thing as unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder but with a TON more nutritional value. Filled with magnesium, fiber, calcium, and loaded with antioxidants.  It's classified as a super food. Just tell yourself: I'm eating a superfood muffin this morning. 

Now don't you feel better about the day already? 

Not that you had to convince yourself that pumpkin and chocolate were a good idea. 

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients: 

Dry

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

¾ cup organic cane sugar

2 tablespoons cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

pinch of nutmeg

Wet

2 eggs

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin purée

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 f 

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. 

In a stand mixer* with the flat beater attachment, add eggs, coconut oil and

vanilla and mix on medium speed until completely combined. Turn mixer off and add

pumpkin purée. Turn back on to medium and blend until smooth. 

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time. Use a rubber spatula to push

down any ingredients that lifted on the sides of the bowl. Mix on low speed until smooth. 

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and using a 1/3 measuring cup fill the tins with batter.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done!

*you can also use a hand mixer or whisk if you don't have a stand mixer. 

***

In the spirit of loving food I am teaming up with some lovely ladies and giving away 2 cookbooks and a copy of a recent favorite book, Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenrieder. I'll admit, I'm drooling over these two cookbooks myself. They have the most beautiful stories to accompany their show stopping recipes!

Oh Simple Thoughts / Gather Around Our Table / 23 Magnolia Street / Life with the Casterlines / Elah Tree / Sew My Soul / With Flowers in my Hair / Seasons with the Strattons / Wetherills Say I Do / Tiny Painter / Newly Nabors / Butcher's Niche 

The winner will be announced this Friday so stay tuned and play fair! All entries will be verified. Have fun!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Banana Oat Muffins // Gluten Free

My kitchen floor is a powdery disaster. My feet pick up a mix of flour and carrot shavings that fell off the counter last night as I was making dinner (a serious pet peeve of my husbands....) and the goo-crust from homemade dough is about caked onto the countertops so thick (that stuff should seriously be considered for a super glue replacement) that I dread scrubbing it off with my homemade-non-toxic-vinegar-all-purpose-spray. 

But when your child wakes up at 5 in the morning, you lay back in bed hoping to drift off into slumber at approximately 5:40 and cannot for the life of you get cranberries and oranges off the brain, you get up out of bed, brew a pot of coffee (decaf, but it makes me feel better) and get to baking scones. Naturally, like all mom's would do when faced with the opportunity for more sleep. (......)

The scones aren't quite ready to share on the blog yet, BUT these muffins are. Yet another reason for flour-y floors. I wont tell you how many baggies of baked goods I have lying around because of my need to get food out of my head and into the oven. For my first attempt at developing a baked treat from scratch, I'm pretty impressed. I know it's no french pastry but it's simple and got the approval of many a friend who I may have forced to try while I waited anxiously for their approval. 

Yields 12 muffins

Dry ingredients:

2 cups gluten free oat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ cup melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 f

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer on low speed, mash two bananas and sugar until completely smooth with very few banana chunks. Add eggs, one at a time and vanilla, followed by the coconut oil. You may need to increase the speed of the mixer for the oil to completely combine with the other ingredients. Slowly pour in the dry ingredients little by little, pushing down the sides when needed. Slice the other banana lengthwise then horizontally to create smaller pieces and gently fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Line or lightly grease a muffin pan and using a 1/3 measuring cup, fill the tins with batter. Sprinkle a couple oats on top if you like. 

Don't forget to lick the bowl. It's the most important step. 

Bake those puppies for 20 minutes....and prepare for your kitchen to smell p-h-e-n-o-m-e-n-a-l. (Your taste buds will be happy too.)

For more, follow me over on bloglovin' 

Homemade Cinnamon Latte // Diary Free

You know when you hit a slump in the middle of the day and just need a little somethin' somethin' to get you through until your husband walks in the door and can hold the screaming (playfully....or is it angrily?) baby? You know?

Anyways, I'll admit I've had one or two or three of those days and just needed a little mental break from the day. A little recharge, or re-start as we call it in our home. I don't do much caffeine for my own health and battle with anxiety as well as to not pass it on to Reaghan. But on these particular days sometimes you need something a little stronger than herbal coffee. Amen? 

This makes a single serving of coffee, so adjust the proportions according to how many cups of coffee you would like. 

What you need
1 scoop regular coffee (whatever you use, right now we're trying out some herbal coffee)
1 scoop espresso
Cinnamon
Almond milk (or milk of your choice)
Milk frother
1 tablespoon sugar

How to:

1. Brew coffee as usual. Add a few dashes of cinnamon in the grounds and swirl it around to combine before you start your brew.
2. Pour almond milk in a mug until a third of the way full. Add a couple dashes of cinnamon as well.
3. Heat milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. 
4. Add sugar and use frother to mix and foam up the milk. 
5. Once the coffee is done, pour it slowly into your mug. Top with more cinnamon, find a cozy place to rest in your home, and enjoy. 

Happy Friday!

"Homemade Cinnamon Latte // Dairy Free" 

is part of a blog relaunch series entitled "31 Days of Responding to Him" 

Follow along here

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

If you live anywhere near Denton you have been to Old West Cafe. If you haven't then you are seriously missing out. It's a hole in the wall cowboy breakfast joint. Amazing. Buttery. Hash browns and pancakes twice the size of my head. That's all the explanation needed.

It's become somewhat of a tradition for Jordan and I to have pancakes on Saturday mornings. I love making something special that slows the morning down a bit. A few weeks ago we took this tradition to Old West and ordered their lemon blueberry pancakes. Naturally, I wanted to recreate the experience at home and this was the result. I hope you can enjoy these on your own slow Saturday morning. 

Serves: 8 medium sized pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup milk 

Juice from 3 lemons (or 3 tablespoons lemon juice)

Zest of one lemon 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted 

Whisk together all the dry ingredients. 

Use a zester or fine cheese grater to zest your lemon. Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together. Create a well in the dry ingredients with your fist. Pour the wet in and whisk until smooth, but don't over whisk! 

Stir in a large handful of blueberries. Let the batter sit for a few minutes before cooking to thicken up. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop batter onto a griddle, set at about 200f, or medium heat if you're using the stove. Flatten out the batter with the base of the measuring cup to make sure it cooks evenly. When the pancakes start to show bubbles on the top and are dry on the edges, flip em. Cook An additional 4 minutes on the other side or until golden brown. 

This recipe was adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe. 

“Lemon Blueberry Pancakes” is part of a blog relaunch series entitled 
"31 Days of Responding to Him"  Follow along here