4 Oct 2018

DIY to Build Community

by | posted in: Uncategorized | 2

Some times it is really easy to build community over food and pretty things.

Some times you need a project.  My friends over at A Hosting Home built a barn door for our Master bedroom and I will be doing another post on that soon to show it off – in love is a short statement!

But, my mister may be talented in many things, but when it comes to an “expert” home project, he’d rather bring some one in.

So I mentioned it to my friend Ivey yesterday and her and her expert husband in the home projects department – came over today.  How fast!  And we had fun, they worked, and had another mini food styling shoot with the new Best of Augusta magazine.  I saw my first photo in an ad in the magazine – here’s to more, right?

And we had pumpkin muffins.  And I painted.  Always paint, right?  And that is a great way to build community: projects, food, coffee, and pretty things.  All while wearing yoga pants and I hadn’t even showered after exercising.  It was ok.

And I’m ready to giveaway this Bible – perfect for the girl in grade school in your life.  Ok, I say girl because it is yellow and sparkly on the cover.  But, I mean, whatever.

Tommy Nelson sends some great things my way.  This is the International Children’s Bible edition.  Topics that kids may want to know more about are bolded within the text.  Beautiful full color illustrations portray different Bible stories.  It would be a great hardcover, durable Bible for your little girl.

How to win: just leave a DIY project you are working on – or would be a dream to work on. 

And if you are curious, my mister loves the pumpkin muffins at Panera.  These muffins are a copycat recipe.

This post was sponsored by Tommy Nelson.  All opinions are my own.

5 Oct 2015

The Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: The Charming South Kitchen | 1

Scratch Biscuits

Its a new week of planning bento lunches for my preschooler, using leftover taco meat for most of our meals, eating healthy for me, and saving up some calories for our 4th anniversary dinner at Antico pizza followed by some gelato.  Celebration time!

Pizza Taco Rolls

Blanco Enchiladas

Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls

Tater Tot Taco Bake

Almond Carrot Muffins

And more than likely some other things as we get closer to the weekend

That jam on those biscuits at the top is some peach bourbon vanilla jam from my friend Holly & Flora.

Speaking of packing my son’s lunches.  This is a first for us.  I like the idea of packing healthy lunches for him for preschool with just a touch of sweetness.  And I don’t always have time to bake or throw something together from scratch.  The Tastykake Mini Cakes are great for this purpose.  They fit in the bento boxes and they are just the perfect size for a touch of chocolate and peanut butter.  What kid doesn’t like a tough of chocolate in their lunchbox?  Thankful for Tastykake and Influenster for sending me some!  (All opinions are my own.)

 

7 Sep 2015

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen | 1

Chocolate chip cookies

Hooray for a Monday off (well, I really don’t work, so not much change here) and the unofficial start of fall.  I’ve got some eating healthy to do this week.  My mister has some stuff going on with work so the littles and I will be eating our meals by ourselves for a few days at night.

I have some leftovers to send with the mister for lunches: beef stew, triple b mac and cheese, cream of celery soup (recipe coming soon), and vegetarian baked ziti.  And this week I’ll be making:

Spaghetti Casserole

Lots of green smoothies

Lots of salads

The boys faves: chicken nuggets, fish nuggets, veggies, fruit, sandwich meat, pbj, etc.

Making these muffins (it is one of our rotations for breakfast along with oats, yogurt and granola and fruit, and cinnamon toast)

 

 

17 Nov 2014

This Week in the Charming South Kitchen

by | posted in: food, The Charming South Kitchen | 2

Train cupcakes

Sorry for the absence all week.  Last week was the toughest week of parenting to date.  And I know there will be more.

But, when life is tough I’ve come to not turn to blogging.  I really did find solace in the Word last week and journaling some prayers for mommas this morning.

But, I also didn’t turn to cooking, either. When I’m trying to eat healthy, I don’t always want to cook.  So, poor husband didn’t have a lot to eat last week.  One of my comforting things to do is to bake – well, that means I eat it – which won’t go well for me when I’m struggling because then I will eat all the cookies.  NOT GOOD. But delicious.

So, this week, here we go again!

This leftover soup tonight with some homemade hummus.

Chicken Korma – finally, if I can find Paneer without haven’t to go to every grocery store in Atlanta.

Turkey enchiladas.  I didn’t get to make them for my friend who visited this past weekend, so since I have all the ingredients I will make them for us this week – and my boys like them.

Dark Chocolate Cranberry Orange muffins for our end of the semester Bible study brunch.

A strawberry elmo cake for a neighbors birthday party.

What are you cooking this week?

 

5 Nov 2014

Pumpkin Oats White Chocolate Chip Muffins

by | posted in: chocolate, food, The Charming South Kitchen | 0

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin overload – right?  Pumpkins are everywhere, even now that Halloween is past and we are moving headlong into the Thanksgiving season.

Do you know what my favorite Thanksgiving commercials are – ever – the Publix pilgrim little figurines – that get so full from all the Publix food that was served on Thanksgiving that their outfits tend to pop buttons.  So fun.  Growing up in Lakeland, FL – the home of Publix – I saw my share of Publix commercials – and am so glad to be living again with a Publix on every corner.

Anyway, back to pumpkins.  As a Mom, sometimes I stress about my kids’ nutrition.  I mean my older son could down all the fruit he could ever eat if I let him.  My younger son loves those little pouches that are fruit-filled.  We have instituted a donut morning one day every week, and I usually bake something sweet, and we eat out just to make life easier.  So, I’m not the healthiest Mom out there – but that isn’t the end all either. They love their fruits and veggies so that is great!  And neither of them really dig french fries – so that’s a plus!

These muffins – both of them are gobbling up.  I feel good about giving them one because there is no added fat in it from butter or oil – so that makes them healthier, right?  And, they are very yummy!  You can change up the add-ins for the muffins, and this time I had a small amount of white chocolate chips left – they are a very nice addition.

Print
Pumpkin Oats White Chocolate Chip Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffins
Cuisine: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
A healthy hearty filling pumpkin muffin with a touch of sweetness
Ingredients
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1¼ cup Pumpkin Pie Mix in a can
  • 1 egg
  • 1 T applesauce
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp cinnamon
  • ⅓ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients together.
  2. Spray muffin tin (makes 12 muffins) and set oven on 375
  3. Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full with muffin batter.
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done, don't overbake
 

15 Aug 2014

Pumpkin Butter Whole Wheat Millet Muffins

by | posted in: chocolate, food, The Charming South Kitchen | 0

Pumpkin Butter Muffins

Fall – I think for a lot of us kitchen people its one of our favorite seasons.  Pumpkin.  Cinnamon.  Sweet Potatoes.  Apples.

But, I don’t think I had ever experienced a Fall season until I moved to North Carolina in 2000.  See, I grew up in central Florida.  The only two seasons we had were Summer and Christmas Day (and some years we only had one season).  I loved it.  I was close to Disney World though I only remember going in high school and college when I would do Night of Joy with the youth groups.  I was close to the beach (though we had a pool, so my Dad couldn’t figure out why we needed to spend money going to the beach).

But, I remember moving to Wake Forest, North Carolina to start seminary right before a huge snow storm – rethinking the whole moving north thing.  But, then fall came around at the start of my second semester.  I adored the sound the leaves made as I walked through them on my way to class.  I loved wearing jackets with my jeans (even though I would sport some flipflops usually).  I loved sitting down with a warm cup of chai or steamed milk or hot chocolate to study out on the lawn.  The bright blue Fall sky against the browns and yellows and reds of the leaves.  Gorgeous.

IMG_1318

And of course, Fall brings pumpkin!  I could eat pumpkin goodies year round, but yesterday when I stepped outside for an early morning out, and felt the slightly cooler Atlanta air, I knew I was ready for Fall.  So, I whipped up these pumpkin butter muffins for my mister.  They were a winner. (This recipe was inspired by Joy the Baker)

Print
Pumpkin Butter Whole Wheat Millet Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffins
Cuisine: Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10
 
Hearty and healthy muffins, of course with some chocolate. Perfect for Fall mornings or evenings!
Ingredients
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 jar (10 oz) pumpkin butter (I used Trader Joe's)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1¾ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ cup dry millet (I found in bulk aisle at Whole Foods)
  • ¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup milk
  • juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Grease or line 10 muffin cups
  3. Mix wet ingredients (up through vanilla)
  4. Combine dry and add to the wet mixture
  5. Mix the milk and the lemon juice then add to muffin mixture.
  6. Fold in chocolate chips.
  7. Spoon into muffins tins.
  8. Bake for about 19 minutes or until muffins are done.
  9. Cool and eat. My husband ate one topped w some raw honey this morning.
IMG_1320

3 Mar 2014

Eat This: Coconut Oil Banana Nut Mini Muffins

by | posted in: food | 2

banana muffins

Muffins are a danger on our home. They are so easy to pick up, slather a butter of some sort on, eat for a snack, or three snacks.
I whipped these up in no time flat. In fact, it was a crazy weekend. I was attending a women’s conference in town that weekend, and wanted to leave some thing for the men in our home to eat on while I was away. Isn’t that nice? Really, I wanted to eat them too.
So, what better thing to do than to whisk up some banana muffins. And to make them healthier and easier to eat these are actually small bites of healthy goodness.
I tweaked the recipe from Heather, my neighbor and blogger of delicious recipes. My husband and older boy loved these and they are perfect for young kids because of their healthy benefits.

 

Print
Coconut Oil Banana Nut Mini Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffins
Cuisine: Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24 mini muffins
 
Easy, healthy banana muffins
Ingredients
  • 3 bananas, mashed (I use the brown ones that I've frozen - thaw them, and mash them)
  • ½ cup coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup raw honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1¼ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • ½ T baking powder
  • scant ⅛ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Mix together the dry ingredients.
  2. Mix together the wet ingredients.
  3. Combine together.
  4. Fill mini muffin pan (sprayed with cooking spray) ¾ full.
  5. Bake 11 minutes at 375.
  6. Enjoy with milk!
8 Dec 2011

Fruit and Bran make a wonderful muffin

by | posted in: food | 0

Moist, healthy, filling, fruit: what more could you want in a morning muffin?

I have tons of recipes that I’ve torn out of magazines over the years and I’m trying to actually cook through them.  Now that I have someone to cook for it makes it a little easier (and I always need ideas)!

These were very moist and have plenty of fruit and fiber in them.  And they are under 200 calories. 

1 1/2 cup all bran (the cereal)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3 T sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup molasses

2 T oil

1 apple, tart, chopped

1/2 cup frozen blueberries (don’t thaw) – use you can use fresh

Combine first ingredients (through the cinnamon).  Mix the wet ingredients.  Mix together with dry.  Fold in apple and blueberries.  Bake in greased muffin tins, fill 3/4 of the way, bake at 350 for about 23 minutes, give or take.  Cook for 5 minutes, then cool on rack.  Serve warm.

3 Nov 2010

Apple Walnut Maple Muffins

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Sara Foster is my go-to muffin lady. These were good, very fall like.

3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp EACH salt, nutmeg, allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, unsalted, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Grade B (preferred) maply syrup
1 c milk
2 granny smith apples, peeled, chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine dry, set aside. Cream wet together (up to syrup). Combine wet with dry, alternating dry and milk. Fold in apples and nuts.
Bake at 375 in greased muffin tins for 30-35 minutes.
Enjoy!
These would probably taste really yummy served warm with maple syrup drizzled over the top. I had to take them somewhere, so I couldn’t do that.

25 Jan 2010

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Pepita Muffins

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I needed to use up a bit of a can of pumpkin so this was a great recipe to do it. I was a little doubtful when these came out of the oven, but the chocolate really made these!

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 T raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds, you can find in bulk bins at Whole Foods)
3/4 60% Ghiradelli chocolate bar, chopped

Combine wet. Combine dry. Add wet to dry. Fold in chocolate. Put in 12 greased (I use silicon liners) muffin tins. Sprinkle pepitas on top.
Bake at 400 for 18 minutes.
Serve warm. I’m sure Dark Chocolate Dreams would be amazing on the top of these (instead of butter). These are going to the office too!
220 cal, 10 fat, 1.5 fiber