{From the Kitchen} Healthy Walnut Raisin Pumpkin Bread

I know it's not fall yet but that doesn't mean I can't make something with pumpkin in it, right?! OK, good...because I did. I've had two cans of pumpkin sitting in my pantry for awhile and I decided I wanted to try and make some type of pumpkin bread. 

I ended up making a healthy version of a pumpkin bread with added raisins and walnuts.
It turned out really moist and good! I would say that you could add some pumpkin pie spice to kick up the pumpkin flavor if you wanted. I'm going to try that next time I bake these.
This recipe used all pantry staples, too!

HEALTHY WALNUT RAISIN PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup pumpkin puree
Raisins
Walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a bread pan with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla.
Add in the pumpkin and whisk until evenly combined.
Add in all of the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Add in raisins and walnuts and stir until evenly combined. (I just added in as much as I wanted, up to your preference. You can also leave these out for just a plain pumpkin bread.)
Pour batter into the bread pan and bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Adapted slightly from Simple Green Moms

Do you reserve pumpkin for fall? Or can you eat it any time of the year?

The Simplest {Peeps} Easter Cupcakes

Warning: These are pre-blog pictures which means real life pictures I took just for my own memories. Try to ignore the bottles of  fish oil and dirty glasses in the background.

I ran across this great idea to make Easter cupcakes using Peeps over at The Frugal Girls.
And you know of course, I never have exactly everything I need make something I see online...so we improvise. This is the quick and simple way to make these:

Ingredients
One box of cake mix
One tub of frosting
Cupcake liners
Toothpicks
Peeps Marshmallows
Small plastic ziplock baggie
Green food coloring

• Purchase boxed cake mix of your choice (I chose chocolate because....dirt...duh.) and bake as directed in muffin tins. I used some spring muffin tin liners but you can't even see the design. But that is okay because once again....dirt. :-)
• While muffins are baking, empty your tub of frosting into a bowl. Time to make the grass green. Add a few drops of green food coloring at a time, mix into the frosting and repeat until you have your desired color.
• Once cupcakes have cooled, it's time to make the grass. If you are lucky and have a piping bag and tips, you can use the grass tip for quick and easy grass. Mine took a wee little bit longer to make. Put your green frosting into a ziplock baggie. Cut the tip of one of the corners off. You can try 'piping' the frosting out and pull up to create grass but it was a little difficult. I ended up just making a 'pile' of grass like you see below. Play around with it, it's cute any way you look at it.
• Now you can take your Peeps (I grabbed both bunnies and chicks) and insert toothpicks halfway into the bottom of them. Stick the Peeps right into the center of the cupcakes.

Other fun twists on the Peeps Easter cupcakes:

• Color coordinate your cupcakes with matching peeps and frosting/sprinkles like Jen at CincyShoppers does.
• Add a few chocolate Easter eggs to your finished cupcakes just like MommySavers did.
• Or just bake the mix as a cake and surround your cake in Peeps like Karrie at Happy Money Saving did. Top with pastel M&Ms...adorable!

Are you a fan of peeps when they come out for Easter? 
Make any fun crafts or desserts with them?

From the Kitchen: Pancakes from Scratch

I love when I'm putting my son to bed and he tells me as I walk away..."see you in da mornin' and don't forget to make panpakes!!"
I was looking for a 'from scratch' recipe for pancakes and found this one on food.com.
It's a simple, basic recipe and I always have the ingredients needed on hand. From this recipe you can alter it however you like. I've noted below how I've tweaked this recipe for the blueberry pancakes I made over the weekend. I've also made banana, banana and walnut, I've added apples/applesauce, peanut butter etc. Although I'm guilty of still buying boxed waffles from time to time as I do not have a waffle maker, I never buy boxed mix or frozen pancakes anymore. This saves money, it tastes better and is a healthier option. It's perfect! 

Blueberry Pancakes 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use 1 cup unbleached, white flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
2 tablespoons sugar (I substitute with brown sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus more for cooking. I prefer canola oil.)
cinnamon (I just add a few shakes to the batter. You can omit if you prefer.)
blueberries (frozen or fresh) (You can omit or replace if you prefer.)

In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk. Add the two eggs, vanilla and oil, whisking until mixed but still a bit lumpy. Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a pan on medium. Once heated, use 1/4 cup scoop and add pancake mix to pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top. When pancakes start to bubble and are golden brown on the bottom, flip and continue cooking until both sides are golden brown. The oil will create a nice, crisp ring on the edge of the pancake. You will want to make sure to add more oil in the pan as it gets cooked away with the pancakes.
Serve with butter, pure maple syrup, additional fruit on top, etc. 

Original Source: food.com


See how easy it is to adjust according to your preference or what you have on hand?! What's your favorite way to make pancakes? Let me know if you give making pancakes from scratch a shot!

From the Kitchen: Three-Bean Chili

Ohhh it's Friday! I always love to see Friday.  

I was flipping through my Rachael Ray magazine the other night and found a recipe for Three-Bean Chili.
I typically make a basic chili with kidney beans but this recipe called for black beans, chickpeas and pinto beans. Yum!  I was a little worried about the husband and kiddos liking this take on chili but they loved it!

I haven't made a recipe from a magazine in a while because sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed by the ingredient list. But this one was simple with basic ingredients but a nice twist on a classic, hearty recipe.

Rachel Ray's Three Bean Chili

2 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola oil)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small jalapeno, minced (I omitted this)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed
1 15oz can pinto beans, rinsed
Sour cream, cilantro, shredded cheese, green onions for topping
Optional: 1 1b ground beef, cooked

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium. Add the bell pepper, onion, jalapeno and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chili powder and cumin. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium.(Add the ground beef here if you want to add meat to your chili.) Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chili thickens, 20 to 25 minutes; season. (I added Wondru/flour to help thicken the chili a bit.)

Original Source: Rachael Ray Mag

It's the perfect season for chili so let me know if you give this a try! I'd love to know what you think or if you made your own tweaks to the recipe.