A Little Mama Love

Happy Halloween!!!

I received the MOST AWESOME care package from my sweet bloggy friend Becca. If you arent reading her blog, you should be. She sent me a care package especially for me... one of the few non-baby things Ive received in the last nine or so months. She knows how much I LOVE pumpkin flavored things (have I mentioned that on here before?).

She sent:

*Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix with cinnamon icing. YUM! I cant wait to make these! Im a sucker for all things pumpkin, but also for cookies. They are definitely a weakness of mine.
*Organic chocolate roasted tea. Seriously? Chocolate flavored organic tea? Yes please!
*A fall themed foodie magazine. I <3 magazines. I only subscribe to one (Cooking Light) because I feel bad spending money on magazines for myself, but I love them. If I could, I would subscribe to Martha Stewart Living, Southern Living, several cooking magazines and maybe even People for some mindless entertainment.
*A satin sleep mask for some help with daytime shut eye. Haha, yeah right. Like I get any shut eye ever, but one day I know my baby will sleep and when she does, Ill happily put on my new mask and snooze right along with her.
*Medela quick steam clean bags. I've been using these for a few weeks and love them! They are so convenient and easy to use.
*Organic lip balm. I cant tell you how much I needed this. Most lip balms give me a yeast infection in the corners of my mouth. Yes, seriously. It started with Bath & Body works lip gloss and now Blistex does it too. That's a whole other post though. Im super excited to try some organic balm because my poor lips need some moisture and the long cold Germany winter is looming.
*Two cans of organic pumpkin. I made pumpkin brownies this week. (Thank you Pinterest) They were so good, Im going to have to make them again and this time, Ill use the organic stuff. Love it, especially since we cant get specialty things like that here in Germany.

and......

*PUMPKIN SPICE COFFEE!!!!
I cant tell you how excited I am about this. Ive just started drinking coffee again this week- only half a cup a day. It's been heavenly having coffee again. I decided that since Baby M is crazy and fussy no matter what I eat/drink, I might as well enjoy half a cup a day. My lactation consultant agreed. =)

Thank you Becca! You are so awesome and sweet and receiving this care package seriously made my week!

Recipe of the Week- All About Pumpkins!

Spider Pumpkin?

Pumpkins in every size, shape and color

Artichoke Blooms

Pumpkin soup, Pumpkin butter on bread & pumpkin bratwurst!

It was all so good, but the soup was the best!

This past weekend, I went to my first Pumpkin Festival. They had pumpkin everything!

Pumpkin cookies, jam, butter and wine.

Pumpkin liquor, oil, seeds covered in chocolate and cocoa.

Pumpkin soup, bratwurst and bread.

It really got me in the mood for fall and inspired me to make pumpkin cheesecake muffins today. I found the recipe on Becca's blog, Lovely in Pink.

You all know by now that I LOVE pumpkin flavored anything.

Lattes, pie, candles, bread, anything.

After making these, I am now also a fan of pumpkin muffins.

These are delicious!

A heavier muffin than what I am used to, full of flavor, great with a cup of coffee.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Courtesy of: Becca

Ingredients

1 egg

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 T. sugar

2 1/4 c. flour

3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 c. sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. oil (I used light veggie oil)

(Not pictured: Baking soda)

1. To make the filling, beat the cream cheese, 1 egg and 1 T. sugar until well blended; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

3. Beat remaining eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened.

4. Divide the batter among 16 greased, paper-lined muffin cups.

5. Drop filling by teaspoonfuls over batter. Cover with remaining batter.

6. Bake 20 minutes in a 350º oven or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.

7. And as always, ENJOY!

( I enjoyed mine with a cup of Sumatran coffee, Starbucks brand, in my new Paris cup!)

Don't you just love my ceramic jack-o-lantern? I bought it at the festival for only

10 euro! What a steal!

It was the only one they had.

It's incredibly heavy & has a hole in the bottom to place a candle.

I love it!