Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!

There have been three days, count them, THREE. entire. days. this week, when it hasn't reached the 90s or rained here in gorgeous Tallahassee, FL. So, I decided to celebrate. I wore mocs with a sundress! I busted out my trusty-old leaf garland! And... I baked them. Yes, them. The ever-popular pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! (Cue music from heaven.)

And now I'm going to teach you how!

All you need is a box of Spice Cake mix and a can of pumpkin. That's it. I'm not joking. Now, you can get extra fancy and add raisins or walnuts... or chocolate chips (the obvious choice). 

Dump the can of pumpkin into your bowl. Then the cake mix. Then mix it up! No eggs, no water, no oil. The pumpkin does all that for you.

Hey mom, thanks for the mixer. It's awesome not having to make every single baked good by hand anymore. Seriously.

"I am bored with this talk of pumpkins."

Taste test your batter, just cause. Then dump into muffin tins, filling each cup up half way, after you spray them of course. Bake at 325 (or 350... check the box and how dark your muffin tin is) for 18-20 minutes. Pull 'em out. Let 'em cool. And eat one while it's hot because... it's just divine. Mmm. 

Starbucks decided to celebrate the fall times too, and it's been literally the only thing on my Twitterfeed for the last three days. (It's a good thing Harbor and I get to drink 'em together tomorrow morning and be all mushy and cute so we can add to the internet-celebrating of fall via da punkin' spiciness.) <-- Did any of you catch the good news? Harbor's coming! We're going to a wedding of a good friend of his over in Gainesville tomorrow evening, and my awesome little sister is going to road trip it over there with us. So much love. That car ride should be nothing short of hilarious.

Enjoy the changing seasons, whether they be climate-related, school-related, or just every-day-life-related. I know I am.

K

Are you ready for fall yet?

Well, if you need an extra boost, I'm posting a super-easy, super yummy recipe tomorrow. You won't want to miss it.

That is all. I must go back to my studies now. 

K 

A happy little Saturday.

You guys. I had such a wonderful day with my little sister! 

It all started late on Friday, when I got home for the night. I was snuggled in bed, browsing blogs and falling asleep, when it hit me. It was time to paint my nails! Now, I already talked about my nail adventure yesterday, so I'll spare you anymore details. 

I will tell you, however, that I can't stop painting leopard print nails. I. can't. stop. Jaclyn and I had plans to hang out and sew, so we spent some time studying, grabbed iced coffees from Dunkin Donuts (her latest obsession), and then came back to work through our next "lesson" in D.I.Y. Dress Up. (Best E-Course ever!) We ironed, cut, and arranged our fabrics for our next project, which we'll finish after church tomorrow morning. She and I worked on bows last week, and they were so much fun to make. 

Note: That pink bow is from American Apparel. It was just an inspiration for me while I worked.

Anyway, today I painted her nails leopard too. I'm serious about not being able to stop. It's so much fun. 

Mee-yow!

Tomorrow I have a lot of homework ahead of me, and unlike many of you, I will be laboring for part of Labor Day the day after, so I have to get a good head start on my studying if I want to successfully pull off an afternoon pool party when I'm done in the lab on Monday...  <3

K

Trying new things with mah nailz.

I'm on a nail painting adventure tonight. (Or, a nail painting safari maybe?) Tonight I messed with various color combos while trying to master the amazingly cute Leopard Print Nails DIY post over on Liz's blog. Honestly, the photos intimidated me because they're so stinkin' good, and even while I was painting I kept thinking, "These are not going to look cute at all," but... turns out they do! That last step with the Sharpie? It's the game changer.

I'm doing a trial run to see how easy it is to remove the Sharpie from my nails. Right now I'm stuck between two color combos:

Sweet Heart by OPI + Chinchilly by Essie (see my pinkie) 

or 

Absolutely Shore by Essie + Taupe by Love & Beauty + San Tan-Tonio by OPI (see my middle finger)

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Absolutely Shore combo. I just love that grey-green color, and I think it's neat to have little flecks of gold in the brown spots. Super fancy leopard print. 

:) 

K

Super easy lentil soup.

You might be reading this and thinking, "Isn't she in Florida where it's still super hot every day? Why the heck is she making soup?"

Well, my friends. When you are living on a college-person budget (again) and you find yourself with tons of produce sitting around your kitchen, and the thought of said produce going bad makes you cringe... you just end up making soup, I guess. See, I also have this box of chicken stock in my fridge from earlier in the week when my sister and I made a Weight Watchers version of a chicken pot pie. (Insanely good.) Yes, I am "primarily pescetarian," but if there are any reasons to eat chicken, Chick-fil-A sandwiches and chicken pot pie are the leaders of the pack. I still haven't decided which is king in the chicken department.

Anyway, I just finished making this soup and I feel compelled to share this goodness with everyone, because it is by far, hands-down, 100% the best lentil soup I've ever had in my life. My variation has a bit of a kick to it, because I ended up making it with the ingredients I happened to have on hand.

Enjoy!


Best Lentil Soup Ever
yields 3-4 servings*


1 T olive oil
1/4 of an onion, diced
1 - 2 carrots, chopped (or, in my case, two very large handfuls of baby carrots, haha)
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp each of oregano and dried basil (I used an Italian blend from Penzeys)
1 bay leaf
1 heaping cup of dried lentils
1/2 can of crushed tomatoes (but I used a can of fire roasted chopped tomatoes with green chilis from Trader Joes - it adds a lil' spice to life)
1/2 cup spinach, sliced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 tsp Penzeys vegetable stock
salt and fresh black pepper

*Original Recipe found on Allrecipes.com. I modified this version by cutting most items in half, and I also added some things, didn't have some things, etc. I highly recommend reading the comments, because it seems like lots of cooks out there have a few yummy recipe alternatives.  

The directions can be followed more easily on the site, but basically you cook the carrots and onions in the olive oil for a few minutes in a pot before adding the rest of the spices, and then you just dump in the rest -- except the spinach, which is stirred in at the very end. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour, add in the spinach, let it cool a bit, and then be sure to taste test your final results. I had to sneak a bit tonight... it's that good.

If you make it, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'm also curious to try new veggie-friendly soup recipes this fall, so share away, my friends.

Goodnight!
K