Kinda Hungry Kid: Pumpkin Apple Muffins

It's getting closer and closer to Halloween! In fact yesterday I took Kai to the Children's Museum's Haunted House. The "lights on" version was open until 9pm yesterday and being the foolish mom that I am, I also thought the museum was open late too. Oops! BUT she got some candy corn (yuck!) in the exhibit that I told her she could eat after dinner, so the disappointment of not sticking around and playing in the rest of the museum was over shadowed by the need to eat dinner ASAP. lol!

We headed out to one of my favorites, Moe's where I got the usual Rupert, rice, 2 scoops of black beans, onions, peppers, pico, corn salsa, lettuce, cucumber, AND I added diced jalapenos this time, then I topped it all off with some "Who Is Kaiser salsa". Kai got the kids quesadilla meal and when they asked her what kind of cookie she wanted she told them, "No cookie, I've got candy corn for dessert!" That girl was focused on her candy!! I got her a chocolate chip cookie and after we had all finsihed eating we split it three ways... I was looking for something to cool my mouth. The last bite I took had a bit ol' jalapeno in it and my mouth was on FIRE! lol!

Anyway, where I started with all this, is that it's about time for all the fun Halloween themed meals! We started breakfast off this morning with a bowl of cereal...

I stirred a spoonful of pumpkin puree into the milk/Fiber One to turn it orange and then added raisins to make the pumpkin face (Kai LOVES Fiber One, even though the Hub's has tried to convince her it's an "Old Person's Food") . It's not going to win any awards but it was cute. Sadly Kai did not like it. She's used to picking her breakfast and while I thought surprising her would be fun, what she really wanted was a jelly sandwich and ice cream. I went ahead and gave her a PB&J sandwich but said no to the ice cream. I know giving in may seem like it's spoiling, but our routine's always been that I ask her what she wants for breakfast (there's often some negotiating - ie NO ice cream). I pretty much threw a wrench in that this morning by taking her out of the decision making process.

What she has been picking lately is oatmeal!

Oatmeal with Frozen Berries

Mine: oatmeal topped with PB, Pumpkin & raisins
Kai's: Oatmeal topped with Carob, butterscotch chips & raisins.

Besides upsetting the Breakfast Routine I've been getting involved more with Kai's class. On Monday I Subbed for the Assistant Teacher and man, was that fun! She has the best class! Then on Tuesday they were going to an Orchard/Pumpkin Patch so I was going to help with that too...Until the Orchard called and canceled due to Rain & Lightening. So instead of having a fun day out I came home and took a phone call that the Waterproofers were ahead of schedule and could come a day early!

We removed the drywall & pulled/covered everything.

They Jackhammered a trench around the foundation.

It was loud but not as loud as I expected. And it wasn't even close to as messy as I had expected. The guys working on it are really nice and had it all cleaned up before they left. Today they're putting in the pipe and running the downspouts out away from the house. When they're done the trench will be covered and the spouts will all run out to the yard, and we'll be a whole lot poorer. lol!

And just because I didn't go to the Orchard doesn't mean my packed lunch went to waste...

Left over Apple Crisp (I used up a bunch of apples because I had planned to buy a brand new bag), Cous-cous cooked with Broccoli and Okra, and carrots with broccoli.

I didn't take pictures of it but to make the apple crisp I put a bunch of sliced Granny Smith apples in an 8x8 dish and topped it with a mix of Oatmeal, Cinnamon, Ground Flax Seed, and Agave Nectar. I just added ingredients until it looked good - no measuring required. Then I baked it at 350 until dinner was over (maybe 30-40 minutes). The nice thing about a crisp is that nothing HAS to be baked in it so it's more a matter of making it warm than cooking... In my Opinion. :)

Finally we get to the Muffins. I wanted to make muffins last night for today's lunch but didn't get my act together. Then I decided to make them for breakfast but we had the whole cereal melt down and I made her the sandwich without thinking that I had muffins in the oven. I told her she could have one in the car but we forgot. AND I forgot to put one in her lunch. It was an all round Failure of a morning...STILL the muffins themselves did taste good! :)

PUMPKIN APPLE MUFFINS
makes 6-7

1/2 C Rolled Oats
2 T Ground Flax Seed
2 T Chia Seed
1 packet Truvia (or sweetener of choice, or omit)
1/4 C Pumpkin Puree
2 T Apple Sauce
2 T Peanut Butter (I use all natural - no added sugar or oils)

ADD INS: 1 chopped Granny Smith Apple, Handful of Raisins

Preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 350.

Stir everything but the add ins: