Feeling Fallish While Blogging Secret Ingredients

Written by on in Breakfast, Lunch, The Lazy Chef, Tidbits and Treats

Dear Blogosphere,

I’ve been a lurker for a few weeks now, constantly reading over Jenn’s shoulder – or, more literally, reading over her face – about your fun new foods and recipes. But I think I’ve been sipped in silence long enough. It’s time to make my debut!

XOXO,

Frankie Stein

Boo! Ok, I couldn’t resist! Isn’t Frankie just adorable? I found him in the Halloween section at Target for $3.99 and knew he was coming home with me. He loves his Coffee Cocoa just as much as I do – just look at that whipped cream hat!

Frankie put me in such a fallish mood today, especially combined with the ever-growing piles of leaves and the crisp autumn air. And this mood was really represented by much of the food I cooked, baked, and ate!

For breakfast this morning, I made the best bowl of pumpkin oatmeal to date. There were a few key differences from the last time I made it that really solidified it for me.

Like the backdrop?

First of all, I made sure to add the 1/2 cup pumpkin near the end of the cooking time, so that it still heated up but didn’t overpower the oat texture. Then, I added 1 tsp. maple syrup and 1 tbsp. almond butter directly into the pot to sweeten it up and give it more flavor. And finally, I topped the whole bowl with a good amount of cinnamon. The end result was enough sweetness to keep my craving satisfied, and a hint of almond butter with every bite. It made a voluminous bowl, too, so it took longer to eat and left me much more satiated. I wasn’t remotely hungry again for at least 4 hours. That’s a GREAT thing on a day filled with classes!

After breakfast, I had another 1.5 hours before class, so I decided to use up the rest of my can of pumpkin and bake something! I did a quick recipe search and based my own recipe off of the one I found here. I made a couple of substitutions and I also used less oil and sugar, but the bread still turned out great, in my humble opinion. I decided that keeping the oil really makes a positive difference in the texture of my bread, and will definitely be using it more often.

MAPLE-RAISIN PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients (makes 12 slices):

  • 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 liquid egg whites
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Cinnamon, to taste
  • 1 tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup raisins

~*~

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350* and grease a loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls (minus the cinnamon, maple syrup and raisins) and then combine them all together. When batter is smooth, top with raisins and mix until they are evenly distributed.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and evenly distribute maple syrup and cinnamon over the top of the batter to ensure that you’ll get a taste with every bite!

Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes (depending on the oven), or until you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.

Remove from the loaf pan and allow to cool on a plate before slicing.

I tried a slice for myself and really enjoyed it! It has a much better texture than other breads I’ve made – leaning more toward the “something-you’d-find-in-a-bakery” side of the spectrum than “something-Jenn-experimented-with-and-failed-miserably” side 😉 This feat in and of itself is impressive, haha!

But perhaps the best part was that I gave Bobby a blind taste test and even HE liked it! I made him try it with his eyes closed because he doesn’t normally eat pumpkin or raisins and I knew if he saw the slice he would have a predisposed bias to think it wasn’t good. So he took a bite, eyes closed, and said he thought it was “tasty” :mrgreen: And when I told him what it was, he said that while he could definitely taste the raisins, the pumpkin wasn’t as pronounced. So good news if you’re not a huge fan of pumpkin 😉 Let me know if you try it!

Nutrition Information (1 slice):

  • 140 calories
  • 5g fat
  • 22g carbohydrates
  • 2g fiber
  • 3g protein

~*~

BLOGGING SECRET INGREDIENTS

When I got back from class, I was definitely ready for lunch!! I decided to incorporate both this week’s BSI and last week’s BSI because I had some extra polenta left over. I’m not sure if this is technically considered an official entry – I’ll let you be the judge, Shannon! – because it’s not really a “recipe,” but it was fun nonetheless! Basically, I heated up a microwaveable bowl of lentil soup…

And then heated up some chopped up polenta as “croutons”…

And then I combined them both together in my Birdie Bowl. I swear I heard the birds singing the soup’s praises 😉 It was really hearty and filling!

So even though I didn’t make a lentil dish myself, I suppose my contribution to this week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient contest is my recommendation to try lentil soup from Progresso! It’s great!

EXTRA EXCITEMENT

Sarah from Our Kitchen Adventures posted a really interesting article in the comments section of my last post. It’s a list of the 5 Healthiest Habits on Earth. Tips range from eating more whole foods to practicing portion control, and the article goes into a lot of detail, some of which I had never heard about before. I love it when there is new information to be consumed 😉 Check it out – and thanks, Sarah!!

And finally, I’d like to give a little plug for a recent blog post over at Start Cooking. The topic is Do-It-Yourself Pizza, and if you scroll down far enough you might a picture that looks familiar…

Thanks to Jessica for including my Humbecue Tortilla Pizza recipe!

I can’t believe it’s almost Friday already! And for those of you who are reading this on Friday…HAPPY FRIDAY!! What are your plans for this weekend? I feel like just yesterday I was asking the same question for last weekend! My my, how does time fly?

“See” ya later! :mrgreen:

46 Comments

  1. What a great post! I LOVE the Halloween-themed mug (and oats! And pumpkin bread!).

    Plans for the weekend: flying to Knoxville in the AM (flight is at 6:30- yikes!!) because hubby is in a friend’s wedding.

  7. wow, what a great post Jenn! That mug is crazy, haha. that bread looks AWESOME! my dad used to make an amazing pumpkin loaf but i haven’t had it in years. this looks like it could give it a run for its money though!

    plans for this weekend are NOT as exciting as last weekend, basically they include me and the library. woohoo.

  12. Frankie Stein is TOO CUTE!!! 😀

    Pumpkin oatmeal + Maple-Raisin-Pumpkin Bread + Dinner incorporating this week’s and last week’s CSI ingredients (you overachiever you, haha 😉 ) = HOLY YUM!!

    Great links!! Thanks, as always!!

    Weekend plans = Whole Foods, personal training, dance practices….

  13. I am going to my niece’s dance recital this weekend.

    You’re so funny with your mug. You make me chuckle.

    You also make me hungry. The pumpkin bread looks great!

  14. Frankie is beyond adorable!

    Yummy pumpkin bread recipe!

    Very creative and delicious idea to add polenta and lentil soup together!

  15. haha- that mug is awesome and I loved the backdrop. I actually said outloud- how cute pumkpin oatmeal with pumpkins in the background and then saw your comment about the backdrop haha. The bread looks awesome! Josh isn’t a big fan of pumpkin so maybe I will give this a try!

  17. ooh, i love the fall-themed picture!! and frankie stein 🙂 haha

    holy geez so many delish dishes in one post!!!! i don’t even know what to say 🙂 i’ve never had lentil soup, so it works for me!!

  18. That mug is SOO cute!! I want one!
    I’m loving all the pumpkin items too..I made some pumpkin bread this past weekend 🙂

    THat pizza looks delicious as well!!

  21. Finally, someone who loves holiday-themed items as much as I do! I love your new coffee mug Jenn!

    That pumpkin bread looks amazing, I may just try that this weekend, I’ve got to bake more goodies for a rugby game…the boy is expecting some delicious goods! haha

    Have a great Friday! 🙂

  23. Well hi Frankie! Aren’t you glad you found a friend at Target? Yay!
    I definitely loved the backdrop. 🙂 Cute pumpkins!
    I say the Progresso TOTALLY counts. You’ll see why I say that when I post my recipe. Ha!
    This weekend I’m working, cleaning, and celebrating our Little’s birthday. And Sunday is devoted to my spouse. Yay!
    Have a great Friday friend!

  24. haha, that mug is adorable!

    And that soup? SUCH a good idea. I put rice in soup- why not taters?

    This weekend Im not doing much of anything. I have to build up my strength. Next weekend will be apic: Friday is a good friend’s birthday which means bar hopping and then saturday is my birthday party! woohoo!

    Kelly Turner
    http://www.groundedfitness.com

  25. Love that mug. I’m actually kinda jealous.

    I totally know what you mean about pumpkin oatmeal being super-filling. I usually have it on Sundays, so I eat breakfast at 10 and don’t get hungry til at least 3! It’s so delicious.
    That Maple Pumpkin Bread looks tempting as well. I still need to make your banana bread though…too many recipes, too little time!!

  26. Thanks for the tip with my dress.. :] Ooh, silver would look good.. what about gold? I already have some strappy gold heels, so that way I don’t have to go buy some.. (i’m so cheap)

  27. I am totally making that bread tomorrow, but vegan style! I have a huge jar of pumpkin that needs to get used up.

    Thanks for the recipe, it looks DELISH!

  29. I love that mug, he is so cute…I must go to Target:)

    That bread looks amazing and I may try to make it this weekend!!

  31. haha hilarious…. you couldn’t resist taking him home, ay? guess frankie got lucky haha.

    the link to the best habits doesn’t work, would you mind reposting or emailing it to yours truly?

    plans this weekend: fun wedding tomorrow! cousins night tonight… fun times with the fianz!

  35. frankie is one handsome hunkadory!! nice to meet you 😀

    your pumpkin bread looks INcredible. really. i’m SO glad i bought a can of pumpkin today 😉

  36. Wow, your blog posts are SO interesting!! 😀

    Hehehe, I was your frankie cup … so adorable!

    OMGAAAaa … I <3 that pumpkin bread of yours … Looks so good!!! Eh, I think a baking bug just bit me 😉

  37. Oh btw, I forgot to mention, do you think I can bake the bread into a muffin without drying it out?? Do I need to adjust the baking time if I do so?! Thanks for your help 😀

  39. Way to go with the delicious-looking, healthy pumpkin bread! Yum! Frankie is ADORABLE!

  40. Everyone ~ I’m glad you liked the mug and the recipe!! As always, let me know if you try it out because I love hearing what people think 🙂 Thanks for all the feedback!

    Celia ~ To answer your question, I definitely think this bread could be made into muffins! I would assume that the baking time would be shorter since the batter would be broken up into different compartments. I’d say check them after 15-20 minutes and see how it’s goin’ and then continue checking them every 5 minutes until you can stick a toothpick in one and have it come out clean. Sorry I can’t be more precise – but definitely let me know if you try it!

  45. […] but didn’t taste quite like I hoped it would.  I was inspired by one of the recipes on Eating Bender’s blog.  It was definitely yummy, but it didn’t scream “autumn” like I hoped it […]

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