Pumpkin Cravings

So fall always brings pumpkin cravings for me. Sure we are only in the middle of September, but with all the fall and Halloween pins I've seen lately the cravings have hit early! Or I could always blame it on being pregnant. In order to combat the pumpkin cravings, I decided to do some baking. My decisions were made mainly sure to what I had around the house that needed to be used. I did make a grocery run for pumpkin puree, mini marshmallows, and pumpkin puree spice. I have to admit I cruised the aisles for a well looking for the pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Rice Crispies

I got this recipe from TahiniToo and followed it pretty much to a T. I didn't use Vegan options, as they weren't readily available around the house. I was used to buying the marshmallow whip stuff, so it was kinda fun to actually melt my own. I must say that I like the little pumpkin spice these have, but I think I like the classic rice crispies better. That may due to the lack of marshmallow-y goodness, I think I should have added some more. Or maybe the marshmallow whip stuff stuff adds more creaminess than melting your own mini-marshmallows? Overall, I imagine they will get eaten one way or another!

Pumpkin Muffins

Do I even need to say more? I mean who doesn't love pumpkin inn muffin form? I had some oats laying around and since I had already used 1/4 of the pumpkin I combined two recipes for these. I used the Clean Eating Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffin recipe from The Stuffed Flaming and the Pumpkin Muffin recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Why try? I am a rebel! Plus I was running out of cabinet room and the almost-gone oats were taking up WAY too much room. These turned out absolutely fantastic!! I'm taking them to my parents this weekend and imagine they will be gobbled up in no time at all. I guess a little innovation in the kitchen is a good thing!

So here is what I did...

Ingrediants

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 can pumpkin pie puree (15 ounce can)* 
• 1/4 cup applesauce**
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice 
• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Spray pan or put liners in muffin cups
3. Whisk together pumpkin, applesauce, oats, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth
4. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined
5. Divide batter among muffin cups (I filled about  3/4 way full but could have done more as they don't rise much)
6. Bake until puffed and golden 25 to 30 minutes
7. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl, sprinkle on tops of warm muffins
8. Cool in pan for five minutes
9. Enjoy!

*From the 15 ounce can I had 1/4 cup missing from the rice crispies I made earlier

**Since I didn't have a whole can of pumpkin puree, I decided to add the applesauce. Don't know how they would turn out with a full can AND applesauce.

Gender Reveal Ideas

I know that I promised Baby DIY in the near future, but it seems that will be put off a little longer than expected. My amazing hubby has been working up in Indiana on a roof during the weekends, so my crafting weekend times has been spent traveling with him. So while waiting for some fun tutorials and other updates, I thought I would post about my latest obsession... gender reveals!

We have decided to find out the sex of the baby. We figure it is our first baby, and we have no idea what to expect in the next few months, at least we can know one thing! Besides, it will be a surprise whether we find out in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. Plus I am still debating over a little girls name... the boys has been firmly set. I will be going to the doctor the morning of September 23rd for my first normal ultra sound. We should be able to find out the sex of the baby.

I've already decided that I'll be taking the day off, and am trying to convince hubby we should go look at Babys'R'Us for registry type stuff. I already have a registry started, but I have been trying to think of ways to get hubby more involved. I think browsing the aisles of baby wonders and picking things together will bring us closer. Considering we will BOTH be using the stuff, why should I pick out things that I want without considering hubby's preferences?

I thought we could also take some time that day to take a picture for a Gender Reveal on Facebook. Hubby doesn't have a FB so the only one who might spill the beans on there before me is my mother. To avoid any of that, I figured we would take a quick snapshot the day of and post it that evening! So some of the ideas that I've found on Pinterest that I'm a big fan of are:

Ribbon/Scarf 

I absolutely adore the idea of a picture with a ribbon/scarf representing the sex of the baby. I think this would be a fantastic new profile picture for my FB page. However, I don't think I would like it as a new cover photo.

Balloons

Balloons are incredibly popular for gender reveals. Below are a few of my favorites. The helium balloons coming out of a box and the large one with the baby's name would be fantastic for a profile pic. The floor shot with balloons surrounding the couple and the time lapse balloon release photo would be a super cute new cover photo. Odd how the majority of the balloon pics I like are girls...

Confetti

Something that would be incredibly fun for hubby and I to do is some kind of Confetti/Silly string show down. That would really require a third person to be taking the pictures though. Although we might be able to figure it out with enough effort...

Sign

An incredibly simple final idea is to simply have some type of sign stating the gender/name of the baby.

So those are the ideas I have at the moment. In a little over two weeks I'll make sure to post about what I decided to go with. On a side note, my mother is convinced that I am having a little girl. We will see soon enough!