Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Now that it's finally starting to feel like fall, I whipped up a batch of yummy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  They're loosely based on this recipe for Taste of Home's Country Pumpkin Muffins that I found a year or two ago on Allrecipes.com but I've changed them up more than a couple of times to fit our family's tastes (ahem, my tastes).  I love these muffins because they seem to have a better texture than most.  I've found that some pumpkin baked goods have a weird, almost gummy feel that is missing in these.  Originally, I'd sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top to trick the kids ("Look!  It's chocolate!") but this time, I incorporated a cup of chocolate chips into the batter and I'm happier with them this way.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 15 oz. can of canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl beat together sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, pumpkin and water.  Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt) to the pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Scoop into baking cup lined muffin tins.  Bake about 15 minutes at 400 F.  I usually get about 2 dozen muffins.

Quinoa Black Bean Patties

I made these tonight for the family and they were a hit.  Well, two of the three kids liked them and the third didn't pitch a fit so I call that success.  We ate these with hummus and I think it was a good pairing since Nick pointed out that they taste a lot like falafel.  I based the recipe on this one from AllRecipes.com but ended up making quite a few changes based on reviewer comments (and what I had on hand) so I thought that I'd post my modified recipe here.

Quinoa Black Bean Patties

 Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained.
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1/8 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tbsp. salsa
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Pour rinsed and drained black beans into a mixing bowl.  Mash them until they form a paste, leaving some black beans whole.

Add quinoa, oats, carrots, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salsa and egg.  Mix together and form into patties.  

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a skillet and, once hot, add patties.  Cook for a few minutes on each side or until each side is lightly browned (like a hash brown!).  This made about 7 medium-sized patties.

POP-ular

I've wanted some great ice pop molds for a long time and I finally bought some!  About a year ago, I was going to pick some up and a certain little boy protested because the store only had pink ice pops.  It offended his dignity.

Anyhow, I found some blue Tovolo star pops at TJ Maxx last week and liked them so much that I went back and bought the orange rocket pops yesterday.  This is going to be a summer tradition for us . . . and probably fall and spring too since it always seems so warm around here.  DH and I were laughing about the ice pop phenomenon . . . it seems like anything I freeze magically gets eaten.  

So far, I've tried Jessica Seinfeld's Frozen Yogurt Pops from her "Deceptively Delicious" book (homerun) and Naked Juice's Green Machine (awesome).  The next request is for frozen lemonade.  What are your favorite recipes?

P.S. This post is 100% my opinion.  I am not sponsored by Tovolo or Jessica Seinfeld or Naked Juice either for that matter - I'm just sharing things that I love.  Although, Tovolo, if you're reading this I'd really like to try your new bug pops.  My very own little bug would look darling with them ;)