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About nomastehungry

I'm thirty, hungry, and probably doing yoga :)

Pumpkin Collagen Muffins

Tis the PUMPKIN season; bring alllllll the hate! I’m a pumpkin lover through and through and whenever September hits, I dive right in. I’m eager to have some normalcy right now, especially as we are entering schools reopening and lots of uncertainty with what that looks like. Being in the kitchen, experimenting with flavors of Fall is exactly what I’m craving.

Jump to Recipe

I’ve spent the last week in the kitchen tampering with my pumpkin muffin recipe to no avail. It’s been a week for sure! The first batch were gummy, tasteless, and underbaked. The second batch were as gummy as the first, and incredibly oily (which makes no sense to me). I decided to do some reading on baking and simple swaps to the baking process, including the tools to whisk batter. I FINALLY perfected the recipe, they do say third time’s a charm right? These muffins are absolutely delicious: perfectly sweet with natural sugars, velvety texture on the inside, and as usual: gluten free.

I also didn’t bother with my hand mixer, I used a good ol’ fashioned whisk and literally blended until just combined. I honestly think this made a world of a difference. This batch of muffins is dairy free too, with the exception of the BEST eggs known to man from Organic Valley. I had to add a scoop and a half of Vital Proteins collagen too because as I am entering 6 months postpartum, the hair-loss is lessening and I owe it to taking probiotics, prenatals, and my daily scoop of collagen in my coffee.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup coconut sugar*
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil*
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2 cups gluten free flour*
  • 1 1/2 scoop Vital Proteins collagen peptides powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • Pumpkin Pie spice
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
    • **You can find these awesome ingredients on Thrive Market – click the link here to head to the site! Get a free gift up to $24 when you sign up for a membership.

Preheat your oven to 350*. Grease a muffin tin with your preferred fat/oil – I use an avocado oil spray. Add all the dry ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until combined. Take a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, coconut sugar, pumpkin puree and whisk to combine. Add in the avocado oil and maple syrup and whisk again. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until JUST combined (try not to overmix).

Pour the batter into the muffin tin and top with chocolate chips. You can throw chocolate chips into the batter if you desire (to prevent them from dropping to the bottom, coat with flour first). Bake for 23 minutes. These will be a fall staple in your home for sure!

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Pumpkin Collagen Muffins

A seasonal Fall treat guaranteed to satisfy your pumpkin cravings

Course Breakfast
Cuisine Seasonal
Keyword collagen, dairy free, gluten free, muffins, pumpkin
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 23 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Servings 12 muffins
Author nomastehungry

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Pumpkin purée
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 cup Coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup Avocado oil
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 scoop collagen powder optional if you don't have this!
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350* and grease a muffin tin and set aside

  2. Add flour, collagen, soda, powder, and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

  3. In another bowl, add eggs, coconut sugar, and pumpkin puree and whisk to combine. Add the maple syrup and avocado oil and whisk again.

  4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Batter should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

  5. If you're adding chocolate chips, add 1/2 cup into a 1 tbsp flour to coat and pour into the batter. Let batter sit for 10-15 minutes.

  6. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 23-25 minutes.

Sea Salt and Rosemary Sweet Potato Wedges

Hubs and I have been watching a documentary on Netflix called Down to Earth and it’s actually co-directed and produced by Zac Efron and Darin Olien. Obviously, you’ll know Zac Efron as an actor, but Darin has been around the health industry for a while now. He discovered Barukas, a super nut in the Savanna and has been a notable figure of health and fitness. While watching this documentary, hubs and I had a conversation about our health and ways we can continue to not only cut out refined, processed foods in our life, but make smarter choices about water, waste, and recycling. This renewed my love for plant-based, wholesome foods and recipes, and sent me into a meal prep FRENZY last weekend. Needless to say, on the menu this week are homemade burgers with a side of sweet potato wedges, which is the recipe that I’m sharing with you here!

French fries are delicious, there’s no doubt about it. However, the oils that are used to fry the potato is consistently exposed to oxygen which then takes the oil and makes it harmful to your body. Oils that are usually used to fry french fries are often canola, soybeal, or sunflower, which carry high levels of trans-fats and is often times genetically modified and exposed to pesticides. My oils of choice are often between cold-pressed organic Olive oil and Avocado oil. The beauty of these wedges is that they’re not even fried, they are baked with olive oil and have a perfectly sweet, crisp-at-the-bottom texture, with an herbed flavoring due in part to the dried rosemary.

This is such a simple recipe that it’ll become a home staple:

  • 2 medium garnet sweet potatoes, rinsed
  • Dried rosemary
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Sea salt

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Preheat the oven to 400*. Take the sweet potatoes and cut off the ends. Slice them in half horizontally, then again vertically until you have four smaller quarters of the sweet potatoes. Slice them again into smaller wedges and toss into a large mixing bowl. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with dried rosemary and sea salt. Toss to fully coat and add to the baking sheet. Bake for ~20m (give or take a minute or two depending on your oven).

I cannot wait for you to give these guys a shot; they’re absolutely perfect as a side for burgers, a base for bolognese (if you follow a Paleo diet), excellent with eggs (OMG DOING THIS), and a healthy snack!

Italian Turkey Meatballs

It’s the middle of August already. Time really goes faster regardless of a global pandemic, and with an infant now it’s like every month whizzes by in the blink of an eye (no, I didn’t intend on rhyming). Sundays have become a day of meal prep for the week, as both my husband and I are now working from home, it’s way easier to have meals almost fully prepped for the week so we don’t have to wait until practically 9pm to eat. We tend to take care of Rowen before we eat but now that he’s sleeping a bit later, we’re eating earlier and he hangs with us. This baby boy is going to be so spoiled with homemade foods when he turns 6 months next month!

Back to the purpose of this blogpost: meatballs. These aren’t a staple in my home, but I love when I make them. This time around, I opted for a lighter version and used ground turkey meat. The usual ingredients are in them too such as Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and an egg. I also throw in dried herbs like oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes. I like making my own marinara sauce, but Rao’s or Jovial foods makes a delicious sauce with very clean ingredients so sometimes keeping it simple is best.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 package ground turkey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Dried oregano
  • Dried basil
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder

Preheat your oven to 400*. The beauty of meatballs: everything goes into the bowl at the same time! Mix the egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan, seasonings, minced garlic, Worcestershire, and ground turkey together in a bowl until fully combined. The balls should be sticky but form a solid circle a little smaller than the size of your palm. This mixture should form 12-13 meatballs.

Spray some non-stick oil spray onto a tinfoil-lined baking sheet. Place each meatball on the sheet with space in between. Bake for 20 minutes. In the meantime, begin to heat your marinara of choice (I do have a homemade marinara sauce recipe but will save that for another post) and once the meatballs are done baking, add them to the sauce and simmer for another 35-40 minutes. Serve with pasta, risotto, or my personal favorite: sliced and baked sweet potatoes (upcoming blog post!).

Healthier Buttermilk Fried Chicken

It’s been a minute since I’ve written a blog post and put my fingers to the keyboard and craft a recipe but I am BACK. Our sweet boy is already 4.5 months and just tried oatmeal for the first time yesterday – to say he devoured it up is an understatement. As a devout foodie this boy is in for it when he starts solids and eating the foods we eat for dinner. I’m so looking forward to having my sous chef in the kitchen with me, taste testing new recipes, helping me remake my grandmother’s Cream Cheese Rugelach (which I’m hoping to get on the blog this Fall), and create memories in one of my favorite places to be.

Who doesn’t love fried chicken? The crispiness of the skin, the breaded and dredge, the juiciness and brine of the chicken paired with greens, potatoes, and MAC. It’s a perfect comfort food and I’ve definitely had my fair share in eating it. I purchased some Organic Valley buttermilk thinking I would make buttermilk pancakes which, still, needs to be tested; instead, I threw chicken thighs into a bowl of buttermilk, salt, pepper, and decided “what the hell, let’s try frying some chicken.” Of course, this recipe wouldn’t be complete without my favorite cassava flour from Thrive Market, which as of July 31st you can get a $20 shopping credit when you purchase a 1 year membership – use the banner on the right! Additionally, I choose to use Avocado oil when I fry chicken cutlets and used it for this dish too because it not only provides a creamier texture due to the fats in the avocado, but avocado oil has a safe and high cooking temperature, whereas other oils when heated over 400* can burn and become not so healthy #themoreyouknow *cue rainbow and theme song.*

Here’s what you’ll need for this delish recipe:

  • 1 pkg chicken thighs or breasts (I used thighs, but I definitely recommend breasts with this too)
  • 2-3 cups avocado oil
  • 1 cup cassava flour
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • Salt
  • Pepper

PRE-SOAK YOUR CHICKEN OVERNIGHT! This will help the buttermilk soak into the chicken and marinade it!

In a deep frying pan or 4-5 qt pot, add in the oil and begin to heat it until it gets to 375* (I recommend getting a cooking thermometer for this). Add the chicken to the cassava flour and coat well. You can do a double dredge for thicker breading but I just did a single dredge. Add the chicken to the oil slowly and cook until each side is a golden brown. Remove from the oil and let drip over a cooking rack or dry with paper towel.

Pair with veggies, mac and cheese, potatoes, or your favorite side! This is such a fun take on the traditional fried chicken, and buttermilk makes it that much more delicious.

Tostada Tacos

Time is flying, and we’re still at home. Weather is getting nicer, and we’ve fired up the grill several times already this summer. While my creative juices are beginning to flow again, I find myself gravitating towards easier, more simpler dishes and recipes, given that my husband and I are still navigating parenthood with a 3.5-month-old.

We initially bought flour and corn tortillas to make crunchwrap supremes, then realizing the flour tortillas were too small opted for cheesy gordita crunches. Upon opening the flour tortillas, we noticed they went moldy *Sigh*. Ultimately, we decided to just make tacos, but I had already poured avocado oil in a pan to fry up the corn tortillas. I decided to stick with frying the corn tortillas up a bit and made them into traditional tacos, with a tostada twist.

These were so easy to make, and I used Siete Foods brand Taco seasoning, which was INSANELY delicious. How have I not had this before? You can find this seasoning online at Thrive Market (my go-to for a lot of products and groceries) or at Whole Foods.

Step 1: Pour oil of choice into a shallow frying pan just enough that it coats the bottom of the pan and then an extra 1/4″.

Step 2: Heat the pan on medium and add two tortillas at once. Let them fry for about a minute or two on each side, or until you see them start to bubble and lightly brown on the sides.

Step 3: Let sit on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. Assemble as you would tacos with all of your ingredients: tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, taco meat, hot sauce. Enjoy!

The texture of these tacos is a little crisp with a perfect bend in the tortilla, mixed with the mildly-spicy Siete Foods taco seasoning, I’m already anticipating making these again next week; NOMaste and stay safe!

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