Pumpkin!

Yesterday I decided to bust out another can of pumpkin and try some new recipes!

After making my pumpkin bread, a few people asked if I had ever made a pumpkin loaf [or pumpkin roll]... and since I had no idea what they were talking about I started investigating. Soon after Caitlin posted about making one on her blog. She said she followed a recipe online, so I clicked the link and made the same one.

The recipe is HERE.

It is delicious! Extremely moist, perfect sweetness, and perfect pumpkin-y taste! :)

Next up was pumpkin pancakes!!

1 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 C pumpkin [not pumpkin pie mix]
1 egg
1 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS vinegar

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. In a separate bowl mix: milk, pumpkin, egg, oil, and vinegar. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
2. Heat a lightly oiled skillet [you can use a griddle, I just don't have one] over medium heat.
3. Use approximately 1/4 cup batter per pancake.

The recipe made about 9 pancakes about the size of the one in the picture, which was plenty for Brent and me! :) Brent commented that they were better than any box mix recipe I had ever used. He may be biased, but the recipe is still definitely worth trying!

I love the fall <3

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Second try at making homemade bread.

Second success! :)

I follow a TON of food/healthy living blogs and recently they have all been posting about PUMPKIN. And it is obviously very fitting with the fall weather we have been experiencing and even the leaves are beginning to change. This inspired me to try some new recipes... involving pumpkin!

I'm not familiar with pumpkin, I have never baked with it before and to be completely honest I didn't used to be a giant fan of pumpkin pie, I think that might be changing this year... so I was a bit skeptical.

I went out and bought some canned pumpkin - finally! There was apparently a huge shortage which caused a bit of delay and found a fun magazine with lots of fall themed recipes.

I picked this recipe because I thought it was an interesting way to integrate pumpkin and chocolate! It was instantly a success. Extremely moist (I hate that word...), with the perfect sweetness. Brent seriously LOVES it, and so do all of his co-workers. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Bread
1/2 C butter, softened
1 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 C canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 C miniature chocolate chips
1/4 C chopped walnuts (optional - I did not use these)

Glaze
1/2 C powdered sugar
3 tsp milk

1. Heat oven to 350*. Grease bottom only of 9x5 inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, mix: butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and pumpkin with wire whisk. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours.
4. In small bowl, stir powdered sugar and milk until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over loaf. Let glaze set up before slicing, about 30 minutes.

Baking notes: My loaf pan was only 8.5x4.75, so it was a bit thicker and took around 80 minutes to fully cook.

Chai Tea Cupcakes

This has, by far, been my greatest "new recipe" success since I started experimenting in the kitchen. These cupcakes turned out sooooo delicious, and moist, and perfect that the entire batch was devoured in less than 12 hours (seriously!) :)


Brent and I are both chai tea fanatics. Anytime we go to a coffee shop, this is exactly what we order. Obviously this can get expensive so it is a rare treat, until recently. I started experimenting with spices and combinations and have found a way to make it at home! I daresay it is even better than the $4 version we normally buy. However, this also left a few chai tea bags laying around begging to be used, so I decided to experiment again.

1/2 cup sugar
2 oz. butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1-2 chai tea bags, depending on how strong you want the chai flavor.

1. Heat oven to 350*. Place liners in cupcake pan or spray with oil.
2. Heat up milk on stove, remove. Place tea bags into milk at steep for 5-10 minutes.
3. Cream butter and sugar together. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix in tea mixture.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, gloves, ginger, cardamom, and salt together. Mix dry and wet ingredients.
5. Divide batter into cupcake tray.
6. Bake 15-18 minutes.
6. Allow to cool. Frost with buttercream frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon.

They were seriously A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. If you love chai tea, they are definitely worth your time to make.


Kenji says hello from his favorite perch in the kitchen. He loves watching me cook and bake, secretly hoping I drop some delicious noms on the floor for him :)

Banana Bread

I did it! My first venture into making my own bread was a HUGE success!













I have always wanted to make my own bread, so when I saw this recipe on Megan's Blog, I decided to give it a shot.

The recipe was very simple, easy to follow, and the result was absolutely delicious!

-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 cup whole wheat flour
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 1/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 egg
-3 really ripe bananas
-1/3 cup apple sauce

Mix all these ingredients in a large bowl, pour into a greased 8 X 4 inch loaf pan, then pop into a 350 oven for about 50 minutes! I like to toast slices and top them with butter.

I had a few plain slices, a few with butter, and my personal favorite: heated with honey and chocolate chips. mouth watering! :)

My next quest is to find a good recipe for cinnamon bread... yum!

Pork Tenderloin with a Blueberry Rub

I know what you're thinking... blueberries on pork?! But I promise you, it was delicious!


I started with about a 1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin. I coated it with whole grain country dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. I put it on a broiler pan and placed it under the broiler for about 18 minutes, flipping the meat every 3-4 minutes.

For the sauce I used 1 cup blueberry preserves, chipotle powder, orange juice, country dijon mustard, salt and pepper. I don't have an exact recipe for this because I just kind of added as I needed to make it thicker and seasoned to my taste.

For a side I made some long grain wild rice.

I cannot say that I am entirely new to cooking, but I am new to experimenting. I grew up in a household that didn't even use salt to season (because of health issues), so spices and herbs are completely foreign to me so I am having a great time testing them and exploring new recipes!