Pumpkin is still in style, right?  

Okay... good.  I'd be so depressed if it wasn't.  It wouldn't stop me from eating it though.  If you've been following my blog, you know I have a love (and partial obsession) with ALL THE PUMPKIN foods.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I mean, I'm bringing you yet another pumpkin themed recipe, right?  You also probably know of my love and partial obsession of coffee.  I promise there's a connection here. 

Coffee Emporium happens to be the place back home that also sells my all time favorite chocolate chip scones.  Is your mouth watering?  Mine is.  Well they were out of them the day I stopped in.  It's fine.  They also happen to make these amazing pumpkin rice crispy treats.  Except I was really lucky that day because they were out of those too.  So instead of crying about my bad luck (because of course, on my way back to my parents house after the Coffee Emporium stop, I got a flat tire on the highway), I decided I'd just make my own version of the pumpkin rice crispy treats (plus chocolate, obviously) when I got back to Peoria.  Seems my luck must have turned around at some point because they turned out pretty great, which is why I'm sharing the recipe with you.  Enjoy!

Today I'm kicking muffins up a notch.

The muffins are the muffins created when a delicious chocolate cinnamon muffin marries a moist pumpkin muffin, and has a child.  The pumpkin side of this muffin is a throwback to a version of one of the first recipes I ever wrote (back in my Tumblr days).  The chocolate cinnamon side of this muffin is inspired by quite possibly one of my favorite Starbucks treats ever.  

Indecisiveness is a permanent part of my life when it comes to food.  All food sounds good.  All the time.  And when it comes to a muffin craving, how do you decide between rich and delicious chocolate or deliciously moist pumpkin?  Seriously, pumpkin everything this time of year.  But everything is better with chocolate?  Decisions are tough.  

I figured if marble cake is allowed, and chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream is allowed, chocolate-pumpkin muffins should be allowed too.  As a child, I was indecisive.  I could never decide what I wanted.  I always figured at some point in my life I'd grow out of it but as I've tried more things, making decisions has just gotten progressively more challenging.  Like I wish when you go to a bakery, you could order half of one muffin, half of another, and half of a third.  This could seemingly solve my donut problem too.  Instead of ordering 3 dounts, I could order 3 half donuts.  Bakery owners, if you read my blog, take this idea seriously, I think it's a winner.
 

So instead of having to decide between two types of muffins, now you know it's possible to combine them into one muffin.  Scoop half of one batter, and half of another batter into the same muffin slot.  Using a knife or toothpick, swirl together.  I'm having daydreams of doing this with banana and pumpkin, chocolate and banana, banana and cinnamon... the list is seemingly endless.  What two muffin flavors would you combine together?  Let me know in the comments.  

And for those of you currently rolling your eyes going, "Another quick bread recipe?"  Get used to it.  The quick bread love isn't going anywhere.

I've been watching a lot of Chopped lately.  Food Network has been airing the leftovers series.  I think it's funny when the contestants find out they are cooking with leftovers.  They get mad and say things like, "I never eat leftovers," or "Leftovers are gross."  That makes me sad.  Leftovers are a beautiful thing.   I get excited about leftovers.  Yum.

{DISCLAIMER:  I was in no way compensated for mentioning Libby's Pumpkin.  Libby's is solely mentioned in this post because the use of Libby's Pumpkin was a requirement for the recipe contest I entered this pizza in}

Pizza Sunday is one of my favorite holidays.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  Pumpkin is one of my favorite foods.  I think you get where I'm going here...based upon all of these things, this pizza recipe is a no brainer.  I'm going full on fall, diving right in with this pizza that has two wonderful fall things:  pumpkin and kale.

What is Pizza Sunday, you ask?  Well great question.  My roommate during undergrad once told me that she and her family always ate pizza on Sunday for dinner (clearly a brilliant idea).  We attempted it for a while, but being the busy college students we were, our schedules never seemed to fall in alignment and Pizza Sunday never became the consistent thing I had hoped it would.  Then, another group of my friends started making crust from scratch every Sunday.  Yet again, schedule conflicts, as I always seemed to sign up for work shifts at the Italian Restaurant on campus and never made it more than a few times.  But for the sake of nostalgia, Sunday will always be "Pizza Sunday."  #PizzaNight will be a recurring theme a few Sunday's each month on this blog.  I hope you're as excited as I am.

Now for this pizza.  I entered it into a recipe contest.  Yep.  the town about 12 miles east of Peoria is called Morton.  Morton, IL is known for this totally awesome thing:  its annual Pumpkin Festival.  This festival literally sounds like the best thing ever.  They have everything you could ever want to eat with pumpkin, a pancake breakfast, a pie eating contest, a 10K race, and of course the recipe contest sponsored by Libby's Pumpkin.  I can't wait to try ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS.  Like honestly, my mouth is watering now.  I'm mentally planning out what to try, without spending all of my money.

So the recipe contest.  I entered the adult savory competition.  The only requirement for the recipe contest was to use 1 cup of Libby's Pumpkin Puree.  A little background on me and recipe contests.  I'm not used to losing.  Before this weekend, I have only ever NOT placed in a recipe contest 1 time.  I'm published in Rachael Ray's cookbook, won the Miami University Dining Healthy Recipe competition, and a few other very small contests.  I've even been hand selected to audition for Master Chef with Gordon Ramsay for the past 2 years (however I will not be accepting the invitation this year due to my busy schedule).  So NOT placing tonight was a bit of a shock.  I'm not complaining.  Food is completely subjective.  A dish could be amazing but be disliked by many people.  As a cook, you have to stand behind your dish, and let me tell you, this pizza is AWESOME (aka I stand by my dish).  Actually, since when does something with bacon on top lose?  Apparently today.  The winning recipe was Chicken and Waffles.  In my opinion, it didn't look that great, but I'm clearly biased!  At the end of the day, not placing kind of did me a favor (I think...).  It saved me the hassle of re-making this pizza next weekend.  It saved me the stress of presenting my dish in front of hundreds of people and 3 celeb judges on a big stage next week.  Most importantly, it clearly saves me the calories I would have consumed by tasting pieces of cheese and bits of bacon while cooking again (I kid, I kid).  Now I get to enjoy the festival next weekend without the stress of making my pizza.  So thank you Chicken and Waffles, it looks like you did me a favor.  

Like I said before, my pizza is AWESOME.  My crust recipe is amazing.  I've finally developed the perfect thin, whole wheat pizza crust recipe.  A recipe I'm proud of.  The crust is thin, crispy and slightly nutty.  The pumpkin puree mixed with sage, honey and ricotta is the perfect amount of creamy and sweet, with the honey bringing out the natural sweetness in the pumpkin.  The creaminess of the mozzarella, mixed with the saltiness of the parmesan and fontina contrast the sweet pumpkin nicely.  Smokey and salty bacon adds a depth of flavor that is irreplaceable and makes this pizza a total winner (Everything is better with bacon right?  Even this Jew thinks so...).  Finally, not only does the kale provide you with your daily dose of nutrients, but it rounds out the pizza with a little crispness in texture and earthy flavor.  It's to die for.  This pizza is perfection, and I hope you'll agree.  

Sometimes in life, you don't win everything so I'm okay with it.  Actually it worked out because this morning, I ran a half marathon and placed second in my age group.  So I still won something this weekend.  Even if its not what I had originally planned on winning.

Keep scrolling, the recipe is below this picture.  Happy eating everybody!  

Now, before I really get started, I want to point out that as I sit here and type this post, it's 84 degrees F and humid here in Peoria, and my AC does not work properly and I'm sitting here sweating in my apartment.  Now that you have that picture in your head, it's had to believe that this post is about FALL.  Yes, I went there.  I'm a HUGE proponent of the notion that fall food only tastes good when it's actually fall (I stand by that opinion, now and forever).  When you have a cool, crisp, autumn breeze, the crunching of the leaves, and of course the hues of orange and red--that is when it's fall--that is when fall food is most delicious and most comforting.  Not August 25, when Dairy Queen and Starbucks decided to release their fall favorites.  Seasonally speaking, the official end to summer and start of autumn isn't until September 22!  However, seeing all the fall decorations, menu  items, and of course CANDY CORN all over town got fall on my mind early.  I've been telling myself that I wouldn't cave and I would wait until it actually felt like fall outside, but alas, I succumbed to the peer pressure, and here I am, on September 1st, developing a recipe that's all about that season that hasn't happened yet.  But September sounds more like autumn than August, so I'm just gonna go with it.  Besides, those who know me best know that I get giddy just thinking about foods made with apple cider, pumpkin, and all the other fall staples.  

So you can thank my good pal Molly for this post because she kind of inspired the idea.  That, and I've been looking for some savory applications of pumpkin for entering a recipe contest, so this seemed perfect.  After an afternoon of messing around with ratios and comparing other standard cornbread recipes, I think I've developed a winner.  Let's just say my kitchen smells AMAZING.  It's definitely a savory cornbread.  It's slightly sweet, and slightly salty, with just the right amount of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for that fall spice your senses crave.  It's moist in the center and crisp and golden brown on top.  It's so easy to make, requires ingredients that most people typically have at home, and most importantly, takes 30-35 minutes, TOPS.  I'm all about the quick (hello! Quick, healthy, delicious is my blog name...).  Baking in 30 minutes?  COUNT ME IN.  

Pictured above are most of the ingredients.  When I bake, I always like to do a mixture of whole wheat and white flours--I think that's the future dietitian in me.  Extra fiber, ya know??  The oil is necessary (for all you health nuts), it's what keeps this cornbread nice and moist.  The buttermilk adds richness to the batter.  The higher fat, the better, but this time around, I actually didn't have buttermilk so I made my own using the skim milk I had available.  Take 15 tbsp milk and add 1 tbsp lemon juice and allow to sit for around 10 minutes to curdle.  This will work as a great substitute for the buttermilk.  The spices add fall flavor--it's not fall without nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.  Trust me, you will thank me later when your kitchen smells AMAZING!  The honey is in there to balance out the flavor.  It's not intended to be overly sweet.  2 tablespoons of honey should be more than enough.

First I mixed the dry ingredients with a whisk, to get out all the lumps.

Then the wet ingredients.

Then combine, mixing as little as possible.  You don't want to over mix or your dough will become dense.

Grease an 8x8 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees F, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  It should be nice and golden brown on top.  This makes a great snack or breakfast with just a drizzle of honey on top.

If you want to make a fall meal out of the cornbread (and who doesn't on an 84 degree day in September...), you can make a chili.  Now, due to many reasons not limited to and including that I am out of cumin, I didn't really make a chili who's recipe I'm proud enough to share.  When I'm not in the mood to eat my chili, I typically make some sort of variation of this chili recipe by Rachael Ray.  Sometimes I add meat, sometimes I don't.  What I love about her chili's are that she adds beer to them.  That's right.  BEER.  It adds a nice depth of flavor to the chili leaving your tastebuds going, hmmm....  So, in good fall fashion, I added pumpkin beer.  Because I caved at the store last week and was looking for a reason to pop open the 6-pack.  Why not for a chili to eat with my pumpkin cornbread?  Seems logical.  So using the few excuses for chili ingredients left in my fridge, I managed to scrounge something together and pictured below is the delicious fall (even though it's not fall yet) meal that I enjoyed.  I can only imagine how delicious this will be once it's actually chilly out.