Hey November. Long time no see. We want to take this time to apologize to days 1-25 and 27-30, because we all know that 26 is the magic number this month. So let’s get to it, team. Oven schedules, prep work for the prep work, and turkey research is officially a GO!

So, you guys, I am assuming, have been to the mall in your area. I am sure that you have a forbidden treat that you love to get at the mall – pretzel, hot dog, frappuccino, you name it – and maybe every other time you go you actually let yourself get it? For me, it is a Surf City Squeeze peanut butter banana smoothie. I had them growing up in Ann Arbor (what what!) along with froyo with DIY toppings before it was cool (am I right, Erin?) I just love them – so cold, so peanuty, they’re the perfect “Please feed me so I can continue looking at clothes” food.

I hate shopping, so any way to get myself excited about shopping and getting what I need is good for me. But last time I went to the mall I realized that I don’t have to wait for the next mall trip to have this delicious smoothie!

I added blueberries to this one because I could, but you don’t have to if you want to keep it simple – banana and peanut butter is just as delicious. Here is the recipe. This is a perfect snack if you’re pretty hungry but don’t want to eat a full meal – aka if you’re at the mall, or if you want to do some exercise in about an hour, for example.

Enjoy my fave smoothie ASAP – if you make an extra for me, I’ll even go to the mall with you!

This was one of my fave recipes I’ve made to date, originally posted in the fall of 2013 – I love muffins and I love pumpkin. I hope to make these soon (but probably not likely without a kitchen!) and I hope you’ll enjoy this throwback as much as I do.

******

Remember that pumpkin puree we made last week? Well, we promised you uses for it, and here we are, with delicious pumpkin muffins to prove it.

This pumpkin muffins were a synch to put together, and although we made them mini-size (we had a pan misunderstanding) you could definitely make them regular sized for a delicious breakfast treat, or after-dinner snack (with a cup of hot cider!)

Pumpkin Muffins (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Oven Temperature: 350

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fresh pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable or coconut oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
4. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in the flour bowl.
5. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes.
5. Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Look how tiny they are! You could have several – I’ve been eating two for breakfast! Double the fun. Or just, you know, make ’em regular sized and have two anyways.

Enjoy! Tell us what your favorite fall breakfast treat is – a warm bowl of oatmeal? Pumpkin pancakes? Bran muffins?

In case you didn’t see on Instagram this week…Jeff and I are finally, finally moving! Into a house! With a backyard! And a garage!Homeownership is a big step and we’re excited to dive into this one head first. We’ve been looking for a place for a few years, and we’re glad we found a place that feels right. So, we’re packing up all our stuff and getting ready to leave Mansfield, where lived since 2008.

Back then, we barely had money to buy couches, and the first event we hosted at our house was our annual Yankee Swap Christmas Party that we hosted sans anything to sit on – guests sat on the floor. We’ve hosted pizza nights, Christmas parties, birthdays, movie nights, dinner parties…and everything in between. We’ve suffered through seven summers without air conditioning. I’ve done yoga on the strip of floor between the door and the bookshelf just as long, and worked in the tiniest kitchen developing recipes with Corelyn since 2009.

We are so excited to upgrade to a bigger space, but I would be lying if I said I am not sad about leaving this place I’ve called home for so long. It was our first apartment together and the one where Jeff and I called home through our engagement and first year of our marriage. Here are just a smattering of photos of our friends at events through the years – pizza nights, Easter brunches, Christmas parties, birthdays, you name it, it’s all been done here.

I love these action shots – rather than anything posed and perfect – because they show us and our friends in the moment – laughing, enjoying, eating, happy. Jeff is most likely behind the camera in all of them, and for that we are all grateful.

This last one is a selfie of Cor and I before selfies were cool. Before we had iPhones. It’s circa 2009, and we put it up on the blog because we didn’t care about photos or post-production editing, or really anyone looking at the blog. We just cared about building our friendship, our wheelhouses, and maybe having a little fun along the way.

Moving is really exciting and I cannot wait to have a kitchen that I can use in a larger capacity. Here are a photo of it as it stands – we are going to do some reno, so I’ll be posting along the way so you can see what we’re up to!

SO anyways, all of this is to say: I might be quiet over here for a bit, you guys. I’ll try to keep you updated but the new house needs a new kitchen, and so while we’re figuring out how to get that completed before Thanksgiving (heaven help us!) I won’t have a space to develop recipes for you. I will be active on Instagram (girl’s gotta eat!) and I’ll try to keep you up-to-date on what we’re doing in the kitchen – I can’t wait for the reno to start (and finish!) so that my dream kitchen that can fit more than two people will finally be realized.

Thanks for getting it. Now, I’m going to go finish packing up – we’re moving tomorrow – happy Friday!

Since it’s not quite fall temperatures yet in Los Angeles we have been avoiding long bouts in the kitchen and have been eating lighter meals.  We’re huge fans of Rick Bayless not only for his yoga skills, but also for his amazing Mexican recipes.  This twist on a classic Caesar salad is now in our weekly rotation and it comes from Rick’s Mexican Everyday cookbook.  Our only complaint is that the recipes are written as paragraphs of text, which is not always the easiest to follow, but it’s still a great cookbook.

Everything comes together quickly and the only element that needs to be cooked is the onion and chicken which can be done easily on the stove. You can control the level of spice by seeding the jalapeno. To keep your chicken juicy, cook the breasts whole and cube after they are cooked.  

Ingredients:

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 large jalapeno, stemmed and halved
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Rest of Salad:
4 chicken breasts (approximately 1 1/4 pounds)
1 medium white onion
2 avocados
2 romaine hearts, cut in 1/2 inch ribbons
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese or Mexican queso

Directions:
1. Heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat, cut onion into 1/2 inch slices, toss with salt, then brown onion.
2. Add oil, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro, black pepper, and salt to food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Coat chicken breasts with 1/3 of dressing mixture and cook on medium heat.  Set aside chicken to cool when done cooking.
4. Place cooked onion in a bowl and add avocado flesh and 1/3 of the dressing. Mash all together until consistency of guacamole.
5. Toss romaine with remaining 1/3 of dressing in large bowl, then distribute into four servings.
6. Cube cooked chicken and distribute chicken and guacamole mixture among the four servings, then top with cheese of choice.

What are your go-to stovetop recipes? It’s still in the 80s here, and we’re craving new recipes, as always!