Faking Fall

Last weekend we picked up this new candle while out on our errands...

I lit it one evening this week and got into a Fall state of mind. Grace was asleep, D was still at work, and I dimmed the lights, poured a glass of pinot noir and relaxed like it was my job. There's something about Fall that makes me want to slow down and enjoy the season. Or just the fake Fall evening, in my case.

The next morning, which was yesterday, I decided to make these Fall inspired muffins:

I'd been dying to bake something using whole wheat flour. Random, right? Anyways, these are zucchini muffins that I got all "Fall" on by adding walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and substituting applesauce instead of vegetable oil. I added oats on top too. Cute, right? Healthy too! These puppies are only 100 calories a muffin, which is not too shabby. I'm going to hold out on sharing the recipe with you all though...I don't think it's been perfected yet and I think I can get them tasting even more yummy next time. I think I'll do a second trial run this weekend and see what I can come up with. :)


Why do I use my iPhone for everything? I just uploaded some pictures from our nice camera (which I plan on sharing later today), and it really isn't that difficult to get them taken and onto the computer. When I share the Zucchini Muffin recipe I'll take some new pretties to go along with it, okay?

To wrap up my fake Fall, I threw some chicken in the crockpot for dinner. I plan on using the crockpot at least 3-4 times a week as soon as it gets cooler out. When I shared this thought with D a few weeks ago, he stuck up his nose and made a sarcastic remark about eating stew every night. I hadn't even been thinking about stew, but his comment got me even more excited about crockpotting (my new word).

Last night's chicken recipe has always been well received in our house and it is too easy not to share.

Here's the deal:

Easy Crockpot Chicken

Ingredients:
-1 Pkg chicken breasts
-Can of salsa
-Can of corn
-Can of black beans
-1 pkg cream cheese
Optional - Shredded cheese, sour cream, torillas, rice, various toppings

Directions:
-Throw chicken into crockpot
-Top with canned salsa, can of corn (drained), and can of black beans (rinsed)
-Cook on low for 6+ hours or high for about 4
-Shred chicken (I just use two forks and leave it in the crockpot to do this. It literally falls apart.)
-Throw in a brick of cream cheese on low about 30 mins before you plan to eat
-Stir (it looks pretty gross) and serve on top of rice topped with cheese and sour cream to mask the ugliness OR serve in tortillas with your fave toppings. We do the tortilla thing around here...there are always extras left over from Taco Tuesday.

Enjoy! :)

xo,
H

P.S. If anyone has any good stew recipes, send them my way. Muahaha...