Who doesn't love the taste of Fall, if you don't well too bad because that's what my post is all about! Pumpkin flavor is everywhere, it started last year with pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin donuts, and pretty much pumpkin everything! So we thought we would jump on the bandwagon and make pumpkin cookies, they were okay but not the greatest. A few weeks ago I noticed we still had an unopened can of pumpkin puree sitting in the cabinet and I kept thinking, "How can I one up that cookie recipe!"

Last year I had pumpkin pancakes at an adorable country restaurant and have been dreaming of them ever since. So, I thought why not make some myself...with the help of my hubby! The recipe was a winner, which made me feel much better about baking more with pumpkin puree, I just couldn't leave that bad cookie recipe hanging over me and haunting my pumpkin dreams!

Easy Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

The pancakes only called for 3/4 cups of canned pumpkin, so what was I to do with the rest of the can? Cupcakes first came to mind, but I'm pretty cupcake'd out at the moment. Then I thought, "How amazing would a pumpkin spice muffin be in the morning with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee!" NAILED IT!! OH and do I mean, I nailed it! 

Best Pumpkin Muffin Recipe EVER!

Note the actual pumpkin in the photo is not what I used....just for looks! I knew the true test would be how well my daughters liked them, and when they said they loved them...well now Mama knows what she'll be making more of! 

It's a pretty simple recipe, however I did notice that in the ingredients it only called for baking powder and in the directions it mentioned the powder as well as baking soda. What was I to do? So I read the comments to see if it was noted and one reader mentioned that she used 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda....sometimes it's the smallest ingredient that can throw off your recipe! 

The recipe also called for pumpkin spice, which is noted in the comment section is a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Well, mama didn't have all of those ingredients so she improvised and just added an extra teaspoon of cinnamon to the recipe, the other teaspoon of cinnamon is for sprinkling on top. Check out Smitten Kitchen, adorable blog name, for this recipe and many others. Right now she is featuring a homemade pizza...dough and all!

What recipes have you tried this Fall? What have you been dreaming of tasting, but haven't had the chance to try yet? 

Where Have I Been?!

Things have been a little quiet on my blog again, sorry for leaving you hanging....if anyone is still out there reading!

I have some really awesome news to share with you, I have been interning for a new blog....told you it was awesome! I am helping them out with social media, emails, and tweaking their posts. It has been a little over a month now since I started and things couldn't be better! Oh, so I guess I should share with you who they are, well they are the ladies of East Coast Creative, and would you believe they also have a TV show called Knock it Off! Check out their blog post where they mentioned me!

Here they are: Monica (left) & Jess (right)

They are super cool, easy going (but hard working), inspiring women who are taking over the DIY world! Would you believe Monica has four kids and Jess has three, I told you they are hard working! So if you need some inspiration, if you're feeling stuck and need a little push, let their story, their blog, and their TV show inspire you!  

Yep I just used three exclamation points in that paragraph, I'm not excited or anything. 

PS: I'm still writing over at All Women Stalk as well...in case you were wondering. 

Breaking Out of My Cooking Shell!

I'm usually not too adventurous when it comes to cooking and baking. Okay, so I did make those amazing peppermint sandwich cookies around Christmas time, but since then I really haven't made anything new. When it comes to dinner I usually just make the same thing, chicken or pork and two sides....how boring right! So, I still made chicken and two sides, but I decided to spice it up with a Campbell's soup recipe; Asian Chicken and Rice Bake. The recipe includes Campbell's golden mushroom soup, soy sauce, honey, garlic, cider vinegar, and paprika. The recipe says to pour the uncooked rice in the dish with the chicken, however there are comments on Campbell's recipe site that noted to cook the rice on the stove top instead. It turned out pretty good but it tasted a little bland, which I was surprised about since the recipe included so many great flavors. I usually make broccoli with dinner, but I have a new favorite vegetable thanks to my Florida bestie Casie who introduced me to Edamame! What are some of your favorite chicken recipes, would love to try something new?

I also tried a new cookie recipe tonight for my women's group picnic meeting. I wanted to bake something really fun, but I didn't get around to making the cookies until tonight and needed something quick. Luckily I found a three ingredient recipe that didn't include any butter, flour, or egg...just what I was looking for! I present to you Banana Oatmeal Cookies...the two main ingredients of course are oats and bananas, and the third being anything extra you have in your pantry; chocolate chips, walnuts, or Hershey's Heath Toffee bits!

I tried to up the recipe with a 1/2 cup more oats than it called for and three instead of two bananas, but I think the third banana may have been too much. No one mentioned anything about them at the picnic like they had the peppermint cookies at the Christmas party, so I'm pretty sure they weren't a crowd favorite! Better lucky next time. Do you have any quick cookie recipes up your sleeve?