Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pumpkin Almond Chip Muffins

Hello! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Ours has been good…but a little rough. Peanut got sick to her tummy Friday night and didn’t feel all that great during the day on Saturday. By Saturday evening, she was crashing hard core:

 

Today, she is feeling much much better (yayyy!). We started today off by taking Frank for a walk and then we went for a run. We also hosted a “sprinkle” for my friend Marissa who is due with her second baby soon. It seems like just yesterday we were having her first shower. A bundle of us got together for another potluck brunch. I made coffee, muffins & cookies. Thank you all for your amazing muffin suggestions. I ended up making Biz’s Chobani blueberry muffins in mini form without the topping:

Kaylin is a big fan:

I also played around with a few recipes and made a mini gluten free, dairy free almond meal pumpkin chocolate chip muffin:

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 2 1/2 cups almond meal (I used TJs brand)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Wet:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (could use applesauce too)
• 2 large eggs (or 2 flax eggs)
• 1/3 cup agave (could use honey or pure maple syrup too)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate chips (DF GF)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Either spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or put muffin wrappers in place

Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another. Mix together until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for ~15 minutes.

    These turned out really yummy!

And I made chocolate chip cookies:

      

Now, Kay is napping and I’m thinking about doing the same. Hoping to hit up the pool later. What are you up to?

What’s Cooking (Two Chicken Recipes)

Happy (almost) Friday!! I took this morning off of work to get 2 of my to-dos done: 1. a long run (I did 9.6 miles) and 2. clean the house. Now, its back to work and then food shopping with the peanut. What are you up to?

This summer has been full of this in Charleston…downpours:

It is getting old fast. I’m hoping the weekend is filled with sunshine. Due to the rain, I’ve been making dishes that I traditionally make in the winter. Earlier this week, I made spaghetti squash topped with chicken, artichoke bottoms & pesto sauce: 

And last night, a healthier baked chicken parmesan was on the menu.

 

Quick question- what is your favorite muffin recipe? I have to make a few for a baby shower this week. Please send links :)

Kaylin’s Birthday Party (With Recipes)

Ok…so better late than never on this one. We had some camera issues and a lot of our pictures came out super dark. I managed to correct a handful of them and wanted to share a few of the pictures from Kaylin’s second birthday.

Before heading into the aquarium, we had a picnic lunch outside. I wanted all of the food to be easy to transfer to the picnic site, so I put together fruit kabobs: 

 Pasta salad:

 Watermelon salsa and tortilla chips (this salsa is AMAZING):

   

We also picked up two boxes of Jersey Mike’s subs. I loved the way they boxed them up- easy to grab and eat!

and for dessert I made pineapple cupcakes with blueberry frosting (based on this idea):

and cookies (un-pictured).

When we had the food all packed up, we got the birthday girl ready to go:

This years party was much more low-key than last years. We had a blast:

 

 

 

 

Taylor’s Vegan Three Bean Chili

When I was in the last mile or two of my first half marathon, I started to struggle a bit. I don’t listen to music (normally) when I run, so I decided to try and make conversation with some of the other runners. While most weren’t really up for a chat, I did find one super sweet girl that helped me push to the finish line, Taylor. Since that time, Taylor has continued to inspire me. We trashed our wedding dresses together for a good cause:

I have also joined other bloggers in Taylor’s Fit Women’s Weekly Blogger Challenge. The challenge involves not only completing Taylor’s amazing workouts, but also cooking up her tasty meals. This week, I made her vegan three bean chili. Its spicy, its sweet, its perfect. Kaylin loves it too!!

Here is Taylor’s complete recipe. I omitted the eggplant (because Josh isn’t a fan):

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup eggplant, cubed (optional)
• 1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp BBQ sauce (all natural)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp flour (or corn starch)

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pot heat up olive oil on medium-high. Add in onion, garlic, and peppers and sauté until fragrant and onions are translucent.
2. Add in everything else (EXCEPT flour), stir and bring to a low boil.
3. Reduce heat to med-low and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. If you need to thicken it up, add in flour.
5. Serve it up

mmmmmm. So so good!

What have you been cooking? Outside of chili, I recently made shrimp and roasted vegetables, an egg bake, and lasagna rolls:

Almond Butter Bars

Sorry I have been MIA. Work has been out of control busy this week. I promise to share pictures from Kaylin’s birthday party soon. We had a blast at the aquarium. For now, how about some almond butter deliciousness?

Ingredients:

• 1.5 overripe bananas
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Mash up the bananas and then mix in brown sugar, almond butter, egg, and vanilla. Once well combined, mix in oats, flour, and baking soda. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper. Spread batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Batter:

Finished product: 

 

In other exciting news, Kaylin had her “first kiss” this week with her friend Ryan.

Any exciting weekend plans? Other than teaching step, not much planned over here…which sounds awesome!

6 Years

6 years married, 10 years together. Just perfect. I’ve done lots of wedding picture recaps, so if you’d like to check out lots of wedding pictures, look here or here or here. Happy Anniversary Joshers. Love you more than words: