Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you follow me on Snapchat (karambeam), you saw me post pics of some muffins the other day. Yes, they were pumpkin.  Yes, I know it's still July, but I am just so ready for Fall!  I've tried tons of recipes for pumpkin muffins (made a different recipe this week for them actually), but this recipe is a winner!  And it's healthier too.  Notice I didn't say healthy, because its still a muffin with chocolate in it, but you get the point.

Healthier Pumpkin Muffins

adapted from Making Thyme for Health

Ingredients

2 & 1/4 cups old fashioned oats

1 can pumpkin

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp almond butter (I was running out and didn't have 4 tbsps)

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (I threw in some pumpkin pie spice too)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 count muffin pan.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor (or vitamix, ninja, blender, etc) until smooth.  Add chocolate chips.

Pour into muffin pan and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Done & delicious!

Let Him Eat..

No, not cake.. it's not his first birthday yet. This past week we started Rhett on some solid food.  And by solid, I mean homemade pureed food that he has hardly touched.  I made sweet potatoes, carrots, and apple sauce and little guy doesn't seem to get it yet.  Not sure if it's normal, but he just kind of plays with the food in his mouth or even spits it out. Spitting is his newest trick, and he loves to do it.

The best part about trying food for Rhett is that Bear is waiting to catch morsels that fall on the floor. That boy LOVES his Bear dog! It's pretty distracting though when we are trying to get him to eat and he can't focus because Bear is so close.

oh hey bff Bear

The one thing he has really taken to are those teething wafers.  Brian thinks it is because he can feed himself.  I'm not brave enough to let him feed himself carrots or sweet potatoes.  He flings that spoon and before you know it, I have carrot covered cabinets.  No, thank you..

Hopefully, he starts to enjoy eating real food better.  I'm also trying to give him little morsels of my food if it is soft enough.  He actually swallowed more food than ever when I was giving him some bread off my sandwich yesterday.  Perhaps, he's just not into typical baby food.

Workout Wednesday

And it's Wednesday already!  Didn't catch Meal Planning Monday? Oh yes, it's because I didn't post it yet.. oops.. Still working on getting better about posting regularly.  And I did meal plan btw, just didn't post anything yet.  Ok on to workouts.

Monday, I had a pretty clingy child so working out didn't happen..

literally clinging to me if I put him down...

Tuesday, I did the 21 day fix 10 minute abs with my brother's girlfriend as well as some yoga before Rhett wanted to be held.

Wednesday, guess who made it to the gym? This girl! I warmed up with 15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical arc trainer and then did some lat pulls, triceps, and legs.

15 minutes cardio
Superset lat pull downs & tricep pushdowns on cables (3 sets of 10-12)
Superset leg press & leg extension machines (3 sets of 10)
Superset barbell close grip upright rows with squats with barbell on shoulders (3 sets of 12- you can do it!)
Finish with butt bridges and stretching

My routine was a little off this week, but I should be able to hit the gym tomorrow and Friday to make up for it.

Also, on an unrelated note, I'm sure you have heard about the Nordstrom sale by now.  It is all over bloggyland with everyone's picks for Fall (my favorite season!! can't wait).  I just wanted to let everyone know that my live in leggings are on sale!  I really do live in these leggings in the winter/fall.  Not only that, they were part of my go to outfit while pregnant and fantastic for post-partum too.  I might have ordered myself another pair (since I wear them so much), and wanted to let you all know about them as well.  Normally priced at $52, they are on sale for $33.90.  Snatch them up!  This is the cheapest they will go on sale!

Workout Wednesday (what I really did)

Accountability at its finest.  I'll be updating the blog with what I really did as far as working out this week.  I have been super excited about getting in a new workout routine now that I'm home so this little weekly post will keep me accountable to actually using my gym membership. 

Typically, I try to workout with my friend Steph (my pregnancy workout partner if you remember her) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:30 am.  It's pretty ambitious, but why not?  It's great to workout with a partner as they push you to do one last set or go for one more minute.  This week, Steph was out of town so my routine has been off a bit, but that's how life is.

I ran/walked on Monday with Rhett and Bear for about forty minutes in the sweltering heat.  Ok it was in the morning at 9 am, but it was still HOT! 

Tuesday I hit the gym on my own for a quick workout routine.  Steph and I always do a bit of cardio to get our heart rate up and then hit the weights.  I did about 15 minutes on the elliptical/arc trainer to warm up and then moved to the rowing machine.  If you've never done the rowing machine, you should try it!  It's a good all over workout for legs, arms, back.  It's great!  It was one of the things that my OB did not recommend while pregnant so it's been a while since I've done it.  After that I did a quick routine of deadlifts, curls, and good mornings before stretching out and collecting Rhett from childcare.

Tuesday's workout:

15 minutes cardio

5 minutes rowing machine (no stopping)

3 sets of 10-12 reps of bicep curls with barbell, deadlifts, and good mornings (I used a 30lb straight barbell but use what you are comfortable with)

And since this post is all about accountability, I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but not my pre-pregnancy shape.  My goal is to get back my muscles that I had before having Rhett by 9 months. 

Thursday, I am going walking with a friend and Friday, I'll be working out at the gym again.  Leave me a comment if you are working out this week too!  Happy Wednesday, friends

shameless workout selfie to document where I'm starting at

Weekend Snapshots

This weekend my sister and brother in law came to visit us!  We didn't plan too much with the weather being so hot, but still managed to hit the pool, the mall, and chow down on some Mexican food and Andy's custard.

 

playing Foosball with the cousins

we were all tuckered out after swimming

these two are so sweet to Rhett even if he is "biting" them

On Sunday our cousins had to leave early so we visited our friend's church to hear him preach.  He did an excellent job speaking about our identity in Christ.  After that we went to the country club for brunch and let me tell you it was delicious! This kid is grabbing at everything!  He might have managed to throw 4 spoons on the ground.. Ooops..  I just ordered his high chair and we are going to start some solid food this week!

Elissa got to hold Rhett while Viv was distracted.
It was a rare moment that needed documenting :)

Meal Planning Monday #1

Since I am staying at home now, I am meal planning and cooking for our family to save money.  I actually really enjoy cooking, but it seemed like I was always missing ingredients and running to the store after work which meant we would eat around 9 pm..  So I've been planning our meals out for the week on Saturday or Sunday and getting the groceries on those days or Monday morning after my workout.  I do give myself grace to switch these recipes around during the week if we have unexpected visitors or things come up where we need to eat leftovers instead.

I've decided to share what we are actually eating this week.  I'm sure, like me, you have tons of recipes on your Pinterest boards, but have you tried them?  I'm going to actually try some and will give updates on whether they are a winner, winner, chicken dinner or a Pinterest fail at this house. Thanks for following along on this journey!

MondayPizza Quinoa Casseroleadapted from Gimme Some Oven

I've actually tried this recipe before and adapted it to fit our needs.  These are the cutest little pizza ramekins, but with a needy baby, I don't have time for ramekins.  I just used a large casserole dish instead and it worked out perfectly.

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups chicken broth

28 ounces pizza sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

2 cups mozzarella

1 pkg turkey pepperonis

1 can sliced olives

1 bell pepper

Italian seasoning

garlic salt

Directions

Cook quinoa in the chicken broth according to package directions.  Stir in 1/2 cup pizza sauce after it is done cooking to prevent sticking along with some Italian seasoning and garlic salt for flavor.

Grease an 8x8 pyrex pan or a large corning-ware pan and pour some pizza sauce over the bottom.

Layer quinoa, mozzarella, pepperonis, bell pepper, and sauce then repeat ending with cheese on top.

Sprinkle diced olives on top of the cheese and cover with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the dish is heated through.  You can remove the foil and let the top brown a bit after the 20 minutes.

TuesdayBBQ Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillasadapted from Pioneer Woman

I'm keeping it really simple today :)  I adapted this recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  Her recipe is fantastic, but I don't have that much time to cook dinner so these modifications speed up the dinner process.

Ingredients

flour tortillas

2 cups colby jack cheese

Tyson grilled and ready chicken fajita strips

pineapple tidbits

1 fresh jalepeno

bbq sauce

butter

Directions

Cook the Tyson grilled and ready strips (whole bag if you are making food for more than 2-3 people, half if less than that).  Once they are heated through, add some bbq sauce to coat.

Carefully cut the jalapeno and de-seed it.  I use a glove since I will be touching my baby later and do not want the heat of the jalapeno to get on him.

Once cut, I put the jalapenos, pineapples, and chicken in bowls next to my griddle so I can assemble the quesadillas while one is cooking.

Coat the outside of your tortilla in butter and place on pan.  Layer cheese, chicken, pineapple and jalapenos. Finish off with more cheese and another tortilla with butter on the outside.  Cook until heated through and repeat.

Wednesday leftovers! 

Thursday Lemon Orzo Shrimpadapted from Damn Delicious

Let me just start off saying I love pretty much everything that this woman cooks!  We have several of her recipes in our normal rotation.  I do tend to adapt though so this is my version of her recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb small salad shrimp (peeled and de-veined)

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

onion flakes (my husband doesn't like real onions)

minced garlic

8 oz orzo

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 bag of frozen peas

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

Sprinkle shrimp with salt & pepper and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt butter and saute onion flakes and minced garlic. Stir in the dry orzo to brown the pasta a little bit (about 1-2 minutes).

Stir in chicken broth and 1/2 cup water.  Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked.

Add the shrimp, peas, and lemon juice, stirring often until the shrimp are cooked.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of the dish and let it cook on low until melted.

Friday

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

I've blogged about this recipe before and it's still in rotation at the Beam house.  It's one of my mother in law's recipes and we love it!

Ingredients

rotisserie chicken

2 boxes wild rice (Uncle Ben's or Rice-a-roni)

8 oz colby jack cheese

can of cream of chicken soup

8 oz sour cream

8 oz can of sliced water chestnuts (diced)

onion flakes

3 stalks of celery finely minced

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

Directions

Prepare rice as directed on box.

While rice is cooking, tear off rotisserie chicken and dice it up.  You can use as much chicken as you like, but I usually use a half of a rotisserie chicken.

Chop celery and water chestnuts and saute them in the butter with the onion flakes.

Once rice has cooked, mix it in with the chopped chicken and sauteed veggies.  Next add cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk, and most of the cheese.  Save a little for the topping..

Grease a 9x13 pyrex pan and spread mixture inside.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cover with foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes then remove the cover and bake for another 10- 15 minutes.

That's what's cooking at the Beam house this week!  Let me know if you make any of the recipes or have any questions about them.  

Changes

Wow it has been forever and a day since I've updated this little blog.  A lot has been going on in the Beam household.  I have a 5 month old who rolls and sits up like a big boy, but has no desire to crawl yet and also refuses to take a bottle.  He is happy as a clam with mom, but not so happy if mom is not around.  So due to these factors, I have quit my job that I have been at for the past 6 years.  It's a bittersweet decision, but I know it is the best option for Rhett.

So now I'm a stay at home mom!  I'll be trying to figure out a new routine and finding my new normal.  I'm excited to get back to the gym and to get my house whipped into shape.  Meal planning is now going to become the normal as is updating the blog with DIY projects, baby updates, and other random goings on.  Thanks for following along!

my happy little bear