Happy Halloween!

From our scary monster.

Hope it was safe,

filled with fun,

and lots of candy :)

Bring on Thanksgiving

{entering The Paper Mama Photo Challenge here}

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

With our recent excursions to the local pumpkin patch and farm,

I couldn't help but notice the amazing bell peppers that are now in season!

They are perfect!

crunchy, sweet and full of vitamins and minerals!

And, not to mention, cheap :)

During our last trip to the farm I decided to pick some up for stuffed peppers.

Here's my recipe for  quinoa stuffed vegetarian stuffed peppers...definitely not the ground beef and tomato sauce norm.

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers

1 1/2 cups quinoa

3 cups water {or veggie broth}

2 Tbs olive oil

1 small onion

3 cloves of garlic

10 small mushrooms

1/2 cup pesto

salt and pepper to taste

4 thin slices of mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Combine quinoa and water {or veggie broth}in a rice cooker, or on stove top. Set aside.

2. Slice off the bell pepper tops and scrape out the seeds. Chop up the bell pepper around the stem and place in a pan along with olive oil, onion, garlic and mushrooms.

3. Saute until tender and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add in cooked quinoa and pesto. Mix until combined.

5. Spoon quinoa mixture into bell peppers.

6. Place the peppers in an oven safe dish and top each with a thin slice of mozzarella cheese.

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes and top with a dollop of pesto!



Super easy, delicious and healthy.

Doesn't get much better than that!

Pumpkin, Oatmeal & Dark Chocolate Mini Muffins {hello harvest-ish recipes!}

I DIE for pumpkin.
Like, literally.
Remember a few years ago when there was that pumpkin shortage and you couldn't find canned pumpkin in any store?!
Humor me here, even if you don't remember.
Basically, I cried until spring because I didn't get my fill of pumpkin-y deliciousness.

But, I digress, because this year, there is NO pumpkin shortage in these parts, and I  plan to take full advantage of it!

Here's a super easy and relatively healthy recipe for some festive harvest pumpkin muffins!

Gather up the ingredients

{unfortunately, there really is more than one ingredient...disappointing, I know}

Mix the pumpkin, applesauce, milk, egg and egg white

 

Technically, you should sift the dry ingredients together and then slowly add them to the wet, but I'm a bit of a lazy baker, so I just add it all in at once...hey, they turned out fine :)

 

See, looks normal, right?

Toss in the last ingredient, chocolate chips, and mix them in

I love these harvest-y muffin cups and thought they would be perfect for this recipe.

So I lined the muffin tins and filled 'em on up!

Bake at 375 for approximately 14 minutes and they're done!

Ta Da!

How adorable are these?

I love that they're not overly sweet.

They could easily serve as a breakfast muffin, quick snack, or a little treat!

They get eaten up pretty quick around here.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons applesauce {or vegetable oil}
one large egg
one large egg white
1/4 cup milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line muffin tin baking cups, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place pumpkin, applesauce, milk, egg and egg white to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Fill baking cups evenly and bake for 12-14 minutes {remember, these are mini muffins, but I'd say it would be closer to 20 minutes for a full size muffin}

And that's it!
This recipe gave me 40 mini muffins - which totally means there was enough to share :)


{recipe adapted via}

I'm Back!

I'm alive!

Who knew?

In  case you didn't notice

{though I'm secretly hoping you did}

I basically fell off the face of the planet for about a month.

Apparently, I needed a break.

I started back to work as a toddler preschool teacher after having the summer off,

and in between finding my balance of work, home, wife, mommy, crafter and blogger; blogger fell off the deep end.

The first few days I didn't write a post I can't even describe the amount of guilt I was feeling. Regardless of my lack of inspiration and time, I still felt a need to write...something!

As the days went on, my guilt slowly disappeared {hence the reason there hasn't been a post since} and quickly turned into enjoyment.

I can honestly say it was a great break. I spent quality time with my family, didn't feel pressure to constantly check my phone for new emails, or address my blog. My mind felt less....busy.

I'm so thankful I took a few weeks to give myself some time off, because now, I have this renewed excitement and I feel full of inspiration!

I guess that sometimes all you need is a little break!

Here's a peek at what we've been up to:

Potty training boot camp

Visits to our local farm

Crafting custom orders

Practicing our 'moustache lip'

And bubble beard...

Had a great day at the train park

And, checked out an art festival that had some a-ma-zing sidewalk chalk

Whew!

I appreciate that you stuck around and waited for me...

look forward to lots of fall inspired recipes and crafts, super great handmade shops, fun tips on living green and, of course, some super adorable pictures of my little man in between.