put some foodies "pump" into your soup & muffins

happy halloweenies!!!

meet the foodies.

i found the foodies through my sister-in-law's bff - miss kristen.  kristen emailed me one day and suggested i check out these lovely books, as #1 they are sooooo up "my alley" and #2 are authored by a close friend's sister, joanne roach in england.  joanne, it's such an honor to know you and to spread the word about your foodies.  i love each each book and it's unique message about real food, values and cooking so very much.

tommy asks me to read him the books almost everyday.  and you can't just read one.

"can i have just.one.more mommy!?"

of course, the month of october is all about pumpkins.  check out the foodies amazing blog post page about mr pumpkin and how you can bring the story alive in your kitchen or classroom with kids.  yea yea, i know it's the 31st, and november loves pumpkins too:)  i made pumpkin soup last saturday night (i had never cut open a pumpkin before except to carve it!) for a super fun dinner crowd.  three families, 7 kids, 6 adults.  it rocked.  i forgot to read the book to the kids though... i think somebody gave the hostess too much wine...

as my oldest mac so perfectly explained after reading a foodies book for the first time, "mom, these are so cool! you read a story, then you learn about the fruit or veggie and then you get to make a recipe with it at the end."  i agree mac, it's all pretty genius.

this will not be the last time i blog about the adventures in the foodies' little veggie patch.  i plan and hope to spread the foodies as far as the eye can see:)  it's slow food, it's farm to table, it's real food it's edible schoolyard, it's food revolution it's food day... it's everything i am passionate about nowadays.

i made these pumpkin muffins today for abbie's classroom party.  i originally made these with shredded zucchini a few weeks ago and i altered them to pump.em.up for the big spooky day today.

pumped-kin chocolate corn muffins

1.5 c gf flour (200g - i use a scale for my flour and this is oh so easy to measure)
1 can pureed pumpkin (or 1 zucchini grated)
1 bag pamela's corn bread & muffin mix
1 T baking powder
2/3 c honey/organic sugar/coconut palm sugar
1 c coconut oil (room temp - it's like softened butter)
4 eggs (best quality you can buy)
1 T vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 c enjoy life brand mini chocolate chips

in a stand mixer, cream the oil and sugar.  add eggs, vanilla and pumpkin (or grated zucchini).  in a separate bowl whisk together flour, corn mix, baking powder and salt.  gradually mix into batter.  add chocolate chips.

bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

and here's the optional spooky green frosting i am making later today for the kids to spread on top!!!

ooooooooooo-oooooooooooooooooooo-ooooooooooooooooooooooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooooo



ps

i bet you are wondering what the what are we doing with the hoards of candy!?  the kids separate all the pieces and remove any "approved" candy (yea, there's not much we'll keep).  then, they'll turn in the candy to the "halloween bank" for 5-10 cents a pop.  next week, we'll go shopping for something special together.  they learn about math, how far the mighty dollar will take them and we get the fake stuff OUT-o-the-house.

you won't be a meanie... happy happy halloweenies

xoxo