Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Fall is quickly approaching, and you know what that means... Pumpkin!

Pumpkins are back in the grocery stores, Starbucks has brought back their pumpkin spice lattes and to celebrate I decided to make these super easy pumpkin spice muffins. The best part? Theres only 2 ingredients!

Heres what you'll need:

• 1 box spice cake mix $1.25
• 1 15 oz can of pumpkin $1.89

Thats it! If you want you can add in lots of fun toppings like raisins, pecans, dark chocolate chips, or cream cheese frosting. The possibilities are endless! 

Serving size: 1 muffin

Total servings: 12

Price per serving: $0.26

Nutrition (per serving):
      Calories: 148
      Carbs: 33 g
      Fat: 1 g
      Protein: 2 g

**Nutrition and price calculated for muffins without additional toppings

The steps to make these muffins are pretty easy, it feels almost silly to do step by step explanations, but i guess I'll do them anyways.

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add the dry spice cake mix and pumpkin to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine everything. This batter is very thick because we aren't adding any liquid, so just keep on stirring until all those lumps are out! you can do it, I believe in you! The finished batter should look something like the batter below. 

At this point you're going to want to stir in any add-ins. I decided to add 3/4 a cup of dark chocolate chips. Yum!

I chose to line my muffin tin with these paper liners, but feel free to skip this step if you want. If you're not using liners, make sure to spray your muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Then, divide your batter into the 12 muffin sections and smooth the top so they look neat. 

 I decided to top each muffin with a few chopped pecans.

Bake your muffins for 20-25 minutes, you'll know they're done when you insert a knife or toothpick and it comes out clean. 

Whats your favorite fall flavor?

Happy Cooking!

Shrimp Tostadas

Besides these tostadas being insanely delicious, they're also so much fun! I mean look at it.. its so colorful and festive, and also incredibly easy to make and customize.

I use refried beans as a base, and top with sautéed onion, tomato, corn, avocado, shrimp, and a squeeze of lime, but you can add whatever you want! Some roasted bell pepper or jalapeño slices would be yummy too!

Here's what you'll need:

• 8 Tostada Shells $1.50
• 4 Avocados $5.00
• 3-4 Limes $1.00
• 32oz Can Refried beans $1.69
• 5 Ears of Fresh Corn $2.99
• 4 Tomatoes $2.49
• 1 Small Bag of Frozen Shrimp $8.29
• 1 Yellow Onion $1.00

Serving size: 1 Tostada

Total servings: 8

Price per serving: $2.99
Nutrition (per serving):
      Calories: 418
      Carbs: 48 g
      Fat: 36 g
      Protein: 16 g

First you're going to get your corn ready. You can use canned or frozen corn if you want, but I really recommend getting the fresh stuff, it just tastes so much better. Start by peeling off all of the husk and the silk on the outside of the corn. (thats the green part and all of the little stringy things). then stand the corn up on one end and cut down the side so that all of the kernels come off. Thats it! store in a container in the fridge until you're ready to use it. 

I go ahead and put the refried beans in a container also, that way they're ready when I need them. No need to cook them first.

Next, start thawing your shrimp. Place them in a colander and run cool water over them for around 5 minutes. Once they're thawed, place them on a paper towel to dry. 

Heat a pan over medium high heat. Once its hot, go ahead and add the shrimp. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. You know they're done once they're curled up and pink, and no longer translucent. Once they're done, place them in a container and pop them in the fridge. 

Next, take your onion, cut it in half, and remove the peel from the outside. Then cut each half in half again, so you're left with four quarters that look like the picture below. You'll then cut the onion so you have small thin strips. 

Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Feel free to use the same pan you used to cook the shrimp. Add one tablespoon of oil. I use coconut oil, but you can use olive oil, vegetable oil, whatever you have. 

Let the oil heat up then add the onions and cook them, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until they're soft and starting to brown. Then place them in a container and put them in the refrigerator. 

When you're ready to eat, place beans and onions in a bowl and heat them up in the microwave, then place them on top of a tostada shell and top with:

• 1/2 Cup Chopped Tomato
• 1/4 Cup Corn
• 1/2 an Avocado
• 3-5 Shrimp
• Lime juice

Happy Cooking! 

Chicken Club Lettuce Wraps

I am a huge fan of lettuce wraps. They're easy to assemble, healthy (as long as you don't fill them with 20 pieces of bacon and a side of lard) and super delicious! My favorite just happens to be these chicken club lettuce wraps. They're perfect for eating in this hot summer weather, and don't require too much work. You can cook everything on sunday and just assemble throughout the week when you're ready to eat.

In these lettuce wraps I use my Skinny Ranch Dressing.

Here's what you'll need:

For lettuce wraps:

• 1 Head of Romaine Lettuce $0.99
• 6-8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs $5.38
• 2 Avocados $2.50
• 1 Package Turkey Bacon $2.99
• 4 Tomatoes $2.49

For Skinny Ranch Dressing:

• 1 3/4 Cups Buttermilk $0.86
• 1/2 Cup Hellman's Light Mayonnaise $0.59
• 1 oz Package of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning Mix $1.59

Serving size: 1 Lettuce Wrap

Total servings: 8

Price per serving: $1.87
Nutrition (per serving):
      Calories: 354
      Carbs: 9 g
      Fat: 20 g
      Protein: 28 g

This recipe is pretty versatile. I prefer to use romaine lettuce, but feel free to use iceberg or bib or any other lettuce that you like. Similarly I prefer turkey bacon because its cheaper and I just like it, but if you're not too concerned about that and want to use regular bacon, you go for it! You can also add some extra veggies like cucumbers or carrots. 

The first thing you want to do is cook your chicken thighs. Feel free to use chicken breasts if you want, but thighs are typically cheaper. If you're feeling extra lazy then just get one of the rotisserie chickens from the store and cut it up. 

preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and place the chicken thighs in the dish. 

Once the oven is preheated, bake the chicken for 30 minutes, there will be some popping sounds, so don't worry. When done, cut the largest piece in half and make sure that there is no pink in the middle. If theres no pink, then go ahead and use tongs to hold the chicken as you cut it in to bite sized pieces. 

Place the chicken in a container and place in the refrigerator to cool. Next, heat a large pan over medium-high heat and cut the turkey bacon into bite sized pieces. Once the pan is heated, add the turkey bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes. Then place the bacon in another container in the fridge.

If you don't already have some of my Skinny Ranch dressing, find the recipe here.

When you're ready to assemble just take a romaine leaf (or 2 if they're small) and top with:

• About half a cup of chicken (depending on how much chicken you have)
• a couple of pieces of turkey bacon
• 1/2 chopped tomato
• 1/4 sliced avocado
• 2 tablespoons Skinny Ranch dressing

Happy Cooking!