Recipe Vault: Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Streusel

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie." ~Jim Davis

Autumn is in full swing here in Upstate New York. Which means, the colors are vibrant, the air is crisp, and my family is baking Pumpkin Apple Muffins! Last weekend, my Mom and I baked the first batch, and it was pretty much gone in 36 hours! Pumpkin Apple Muffins are a tradition in my family as soon as Autumn gets it's foot in the door, we all LOVE them, we even have them on Thanksgiving. They are moist, flavorful and comforting. I'm hard pressed to find something more comforting and delicious than a fresh Pumpkin Apple muffin, still warm from the over. Mmmm! I'm drooling just thinking about it! But OK OK, enough with the chit chat, let's get to the good stuff, the recipe!

For Pumpkin Apple Muffins you will need....

2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 Cup Solid Packed Pumpkin ( Be careful not to use Pumpkin Pie Filling!)
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Peeled Chopped Apples ( We use fresh Macs or Granny Smith Apples)

In a medium bowl, combine the first five ingredients and set aside

. In a large bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Next, add the dry ingrediants into the wet ingredient bowl by sifting the dry ingredients into the large bowl (don't take shortcuts! It's worth the extra 30 seconds), stir until just moistened.

Next, fold in chopped apples (we chop them into about 1/4-1/2" cubes). Be sure not to over stir! Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. We like to use an ice cream scoop for this. Now your ready to set the muffins aside and make the streusel topping! Yum!

For the Cinnamon Sugar Streusel Topping you will need...

1/4 Cups Sugar
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and mix together well. Cut in the 4 tablespoons of butter, until the mixture is crumbly. Once the crumbly texture is achieved your ready to sprinkle over the tops of each muffin. Bake in a 350 degree over for 35-40 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean :)

NOTE: For more figure friendly muffins, skip the streusel, I do this from time to time, equally as delicious just a little less decadent!

Finally, let the muffins cool a bit before taking them out and putting them on a cooling rack, otherwise they might fall apart, and we don't want that! Enjoy with your coffee for breakfast, a mid-day snack, or as a yummy dessert! You might find you need to make a couple batches to share with your friends, because these babies don't last long!

Enjoy all! Happy Baking!

"French Onion Soup" Omelette with Turkey Sausage, YUMMY!

Tonight I was struggling to think of something to make for dinner that "sounded" good. Ever have those days? Where none of your meal options are particularly appealing? Hate those!

Anyway, I decided I want French Onion Soup, but had no desire to go back out to get some. So, I decided to get a little creative!

A "French Onion Soup" Omelette is what I came up with, and let me tell you, I think I just discovered the most delish omelette ever, and it was healthy too! Here's what I did...

First, I saute'd some thinly sliced Vidalia onions in a non-stick skillet with some butter flavored Pam, thyme, garlic powder and a little bit of salt, until they were a deep caramel color. Taste a couple as they go to see if you'd like to add more thyme/garlic/salt etc. Once that was where I wanted it to be, I sliced and chopped some turkey breakfast sausage and added it in with the onions to brown up. While that was going, I shredded 1oz of Jarlsberg Lite Swiss Cheese and scrambled 2 eggs with a dash of salt/pepper/garlic powder and a tiny bit of Fat Free Half & Half. When the sausage and onion mixture was ready, I got to work making my omelette! We've all made omelettes so I will spare you the details on that.

I can't tell you JUST how delish it really was! It really had the flavor of French Onion Soup, the thyme and garlic are really important I think. In hindsight I would have probably added a teeny bit more thyme and actually would have saute'd even more onions. If you love giving your eggs a bit of a twist I bet you'd love this omelette! I'm even thinking about cooking up a bunch of the yummy "French Onions" and keeping in my fridge to be able to make this process a little more speedy :)

Bon Appetit!

Recipe Vault: Mmmm Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad is one of my favorite side dishes to make in the summer! It's bright, crunchy, cool and refreshing. Umm, not to mention, YUMMY! I've even managed to trim down the recipe to something that is healthy and almost guilt-free and in my opinion, it is actually even more scrumptious than before! This recipe is my go-to for BBQ's and Summer Parties, everyone is always raving about it, and for good reason! You can vary this recipe also by making a Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad which is equally as delish! I hope you love this recipe as much as I do :)

Broccoli Salad

2 Large heads of raw Broccoli ( or 1 large head of Broccoli & 1 Large Head of Cauliflower)

1/2 C. Shredded Carrots ( I like to shred my own with a peeler for thinner ribbons)

1/2 C. Red Onion Finely Chopped

1/2-3/4 C. Craisins (I go heavy on the Craisins because I love the flavor they add!)

8 pieces of Crisply Cooked Turkey Bacon Chopped

Dressing:

1 C. Light Mayo (I prefer Hellmans)

1 1/2 TBSP White Sugar

2 TBSP White Vinegar

Cut up Broccoli (and Cauliflower), leaving only a small stem on the florets. I then break apart the florets by hand, making small bite sized pieces (smaller is better in my opinion) and place in large bowl. Add Carrots, Red Onion and Craisins to the Broccoli bowl and give a quick toss. In a separate bowl whisk together the mayo, sugar and Vinegar. Once the dressing is mixed, add to the Broccoli mixture and stir well (this might take a bit of stirring to get a  nice even coating on everything). Once the dressing is nicely incorporated you can add the Turkey Bacon. Make sure to cook the Bacon before chopping it, it makes for a much better consistency. Fold in the Turkey Bacon until it is evenly distributed, cover with tin foil and stick it in the fridge for a few hours. This salad gets better the longer it sits in the fridge! Make sure to give the salad a toss or two right before serving it. You can easily half this recipe, or double it etc! Make enough for left overs, you'll be wishing you did the following day :)

Enjoy!

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss...

I'm back! Did you miss me? I know I've been a very bad blogger, but I promise I've been absent from blogland for good reason :) I might as well give you a quick rundown of what I've been up to for the past couple weeks...

Well, a couple weeks ago I started feverishly working on new seasonal items, Halloween items specifically. And, at the urging of my buddy over at Ponder & Stitch, I've decided to bring in oxidized sterling silver pieces as well, offering the bright silver and oxidized silver in my shop I think will be great for business and give my customers even more choices. I took a brief break from my jewelry making marathon to attend a Coldplay concert, which was incredibly fun and inspiring! I used to have a line of music inspired jewelry but got rid of it after a while. After going to such an incredible show, my urge to create some jewelry from some of the music and lyrics that inspire me is bubbling over! Right now I'm just trying to decide the best approach...

After my play date with Coldplay, it was right back to work. I'm proud to say I have somewhere about 40 new pieces! Not ALL of them are completed but it's getting close! I have some things I've sent off to the caster and am patiently awaiting their return to me :) All of my new Halloween items are finished though! Woohoo! I've become quite well know around Etsy for my Halloween pieces, so I certainly felt the pressure to deliver some great new stuff for this year! I'm spending the next couple days listing everything I can.

Aside from making jewelry, I've also been making and consuming lots of Broccoli Salad! No worries, photos and recipe for that coming very soon :) I'm not sure what it is but I've been really into cooking and baking lately. Right now I have a hankering to make some Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Cookies, both of which will have to wait for now, but I've been obsessing about them for some time! Anyone know of a great fat substitute/alternative for butter/oil for baking? I'm a novice baker, so any tips are welcomed!

Anyway, here's a sneak peak of the new seasonal and oxidized stuff, it's not up on Etsy yet so you are the first to see it! Hope you love it, I'll be working hard to list everything asap :)

It's good to be back, so sorry for my very long hiatus!