Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is a happy accident.  I wanted to make cookies and just started playing with a recipe that went into a different direction and now I have muffins and they taste good, toddler approved too. This recipe is very much a happy accident because I will be working a women's conference all weekend at my church which means no time for breakfast and I'll have to bring my own food. They will be serving lunch at this conference, but I can't eat it of course, and I'll be having rehearsal during part of the lunch hour. So these muffins are just what I needed for a grab and go breakfast or snack. I hope you enjoys these muffins.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
3 cups Pamela's Pancake Mix (or your favorite flour blend)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree (I used pumpkin I processed myself so you might need to add some water)
1 stick butter or butter substitute
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Cream together butter, sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla. Add pancake mix, pumpkin pie spice, salt, cocoa, and beat until well combined. Line muffin tin with paper liners and fill each liner 3/4 of the way full. I used a mini ice cream scoop and it took about 2 scoops of batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the fullest muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before eating. Makes 12-16 muffins.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

 

The weather is getting warmer, but I still love a good soup. I like nice creamy soups that are great to eat with a slice of bread, or being sipped from a large mug. However, the issue with creamy soups is that they are often made with cream and other dairy products. Considering that I don't eat dairy and can't even handle coconut I had to find another way to cream my soups. 

I've tried dairy free milks like soy and hemp, but they just didn't add the right amount of creamy taste and texture. I've added Earth Balance spreads and that helped with taste, but not texture. I saw a cooking show on TV talk about celery root, also known as celeriac, and that is when I got an idea. I've never used one before but it looked interesting. Celery root is full of vitamin K, fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. So I thought I would try it and in a soup. So I came up with this recipe. It is so simple and tasty, my husband couldn't get enough of this soup, which is a good thing since he ate it every day for lunch. It is amazing how a root vegetable can add so much creamy flavor and texture. I plan to try this vegetable is other cream soups in the future, and I'll post my findings here.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash peeled and chopped into large pieces
1 celery root peeled and chopped into large pieces
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp celery seeds
2 Tbs butter
Water or stock
Salt and pepper to taste


Spray the inside of the crock pot with non-stick spray. Add the chopped vegetables, garlic, curry, clove, celery seeds, salt and pepper to the pot. Add water or stock to the crock pot. Pour the water till it is about an inch below the top of the vegetables. Tuck in the bay leaves into the pot and add the butter or Earth Balance vegan butter to the top of the vegetables. Set crock pot for 4-6 hours or 6-8 hours. Once vegetables are cooked, take a potato masher and mash the vegetables. Remove bay leaves and puree the soup in a blender with the lid cracked until smooth - hot soups will blow the lid off the blender if not cracked open. Pour into a pot or a into individual bowls.  Serves 6-10, depending on the size of the squash.