Baking In
So, I decided to stay in tonight. Mal and his friend ended up going to a bar to watch the hockey game, but I wasn’t in the mood for that either. I’m such a party pooper! When did I become such a grandma!?! I’m just much happier relaxing on the couch! 
Since I have the whole evening to myself, I decided to partake in one of my favorite leisure activities: baking! Well, I did some “lazy girl” baking. I used the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread mix to make a dozen pumpkin muffins.
The recipe on the box called for 2 eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, and the package of Pumpkin Bread mix. However, I modified the recipe by only using 1/4 cup of canola oil. The muffins still came out moist and soft on the inside, but the outside sort of burned, even after baking them for the minimum amount of time recommended. FYI: If you make these muffins with the modified 1/4 cup oil, make sure you check on these babies around 15 minutes or so.
The muffin batter going into the oven…
Viola! Pumpkin muffins hot out of the oven…
For a decorative effect, I made a flower design with pumpkin seeds on each of the muffins.
I haven’t eaten dinner yet, but a couple of these muffins and some wine sound pretty amazing to me!
Posted by: Tina 29 comments
Posted in: Uncategorized, products
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
HOORAY FOR BAKING!!! Love the pumpkin goodness
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Nights that are spent staying in and baking, are some of the best nights around!
The pumpking muffins look great!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
they’re lovely, specially the decorating pumpkin seeds!
One of my favorite thing to do when I have free time is baking! just love the flavor in the kitchen during baking time.
I think I’ll do some tomorrow too
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Delicious! I love the pumpkin seed toppers!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Baking nights are the best! I love the little pumpkin seeds on top…very cute!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
yay for baking!!!! the pumpkin seeds on top are super cute!
have a good night in! i’m doing the same thing too!!!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
baking is so therapeutic! those muffins look wonderful!
happy friday tina!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Baking is fun, glad you get a night to test new recipes! I just picked this mix up from TJs….good to know! I love your garnish of seeds, how cute! TGIF!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I need to make some pumpkin bread soon. It’s fall and I’m craving it!!!
Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow for a bit instead of studying
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Those look delish… I see baking in my future! Yummmm!
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I baked tonight too
Bobby is heading to someone’s beach house for the night – I was invited but I’m in a homey mood and figured I would enjoy myself more if I stayed in a chilled.
Have a great night
on Oct 24th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
i have a question– after reading about your weight loss journey, i was wondering, how do i find out how many calories (approx.) i should be aiming for in a day, if i’m trying to lose weight?
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Don’t feel bad, I too am home tonight while my boyfriend is out with friends. I did want to bake, but don’t have the ingredients and don’t feel like going out. Sometimes a girl just needs a Friday night at home by herself. I’m glad you got to bake, I love the decorations on top, very creative!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 2:52 am
wow these are so pretty! and i’m sure absolutely delicious. baking is so therapeutic, i find
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Yes I must say Tina – these look pretty amazing… nice work with the pumkin seed toppers!
zesty
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 8:03 am
they literally look “picture perfect” !
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Nothing wrong with a night spent baking and drinking wine… sounds like a nice relaxing way to start the weekend!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Yum pumpkin muffins and wine, sounds like a perfect Friday night to me!!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 9:25 am
There’s nothing wrong with staying in to bake! It’s my favorite pastime. I love how creative you got with the pumpkin seed toppers! Great job!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 9:32 am
that looks delicious! hope you had a nice night!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Nice decorations, I never think to do that even though things are tastier when they look better.
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
the stars will make the muffins taste THAT much better hahaa! have an awesome weekend
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
love the decorations! they look so pretty and sound tasty!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
When I first glanced at your pics of the unbaked muffins, I thought that you were baking them in a mini bundt pan, but the seed decorations are so much better! Those look really yummy!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
So cute with the pumpkin seed flowers!
on Oct 25th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
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on Oct 25th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
those muffins are so cute! i might be making those soon…
on Oct 26th, 2008 at 8:11 am
SmA033,
Good question!I used an online calculator to figure out how many calories I needed to lose about 0.5 pounds a week. Check out this calculator from A Healthy Me: http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/calneed It will give you the approximate number of calories to lose, maintain, or gain weight based on your height, current weight, age, and activity level. Good luck!
on Oct 27th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Love the pumpkin muffins – I may have to make them for my work’s halloween party on Friday