Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Forget changing leaves. Forget dropping temperatures. The official mark of the arrival of fall is the arrival of the Pumpkin Spice coffee and Pumpkin muffin at Dunkin Donuts. Now I admit that eating a pumpkin muffin is like birthday cake for breakfast, but I'm all for it. At 600 calories and 26 grams of fat, it is certainly a splurge. It's also the size of my head. In order to enjoy my favorite fall treat more often without feeling even a twinge of guilt, I make my own. I even brew my own Pumpkin Spice coffee, but only because finding a Dunkin' drive thru in northern Jersey is like finding the Loch Ness monster. These muffins are super moist and amazing, but don't get me wrong, these muffins aren't healthy. They are just smaller. So they are healthier, right?

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 1/3 c. sugar

15 oz. pumpkin puree

1 c. vegetable oil

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, cold

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 cup Maple Brown Butter Icing

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cups of 2 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until smooth, add 2 cups flour, cinnamon, nutmeg,salt, soda, and powder and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared tins. In a medium bowl, crumble walnuts, brown sugar, 1/4 c. flour with a fork until combined. Sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks. Drizzle with icing.

A Follow Up and a Giveaway...

For those of you who are still feeling like cloth diapering may be too much for you, do not despair. It's not an all or nothing deal, anyway. At least not in our house. It was a few weeks before we put Jude in cloth when he came home from the hospital, and in that time we tried at least 5 types of disposable diapers. That's how we learned about his super sensitive skin. The one diaper that didn't cause a reaction was the Seventh Generation brand. 


This made me happy. Not only are they Bean's bum friendly, but they are also earth friendly (or friendlier as disposables go). We always keep a small stash on hand for the days I go brain dead and forget to toss the cloth diapers in the wash early enough. We've also begun using them at night, since even double lined cloth just isn't cutting it between 2 and 6 AM. It's the witching hour.


My Blog Spark and Seventh Generation sent us a pack of the newly reshaped Free & Clear Diapers to try, which I love since we already dug the originals. You can get a pack, too (details in a bit)! And don't worry, if you get hooked, you'll still be able to save. Go over to Amazon's Subscribe and Save and get 15% off a case. We only have them delivered every 2 months since we use them rarely. I figure it is still cost efficient for people who use disposables all the time, since you can cancel and renew subscriptions over and over to still get the discount :)


Here's the skinny:
The Seventh Generation Free & Clear diapers do not include chlorine processing, fragrances, latex and petroleum based lotions. With processed chlorine-free wood pulp in Free & Clear diapers, no chlorine is released into the environment during the  whitening process of the diapers. Seventh Generation has also reduced the size of the diapers´ plastic packaging, meaning that each pack now contributes even less overall landfill waste than before. In fact, Seventh Generation Free & Clear diaper packaging can now be recycled at local supermarkets where plastic bag recycling collection boxes are available.  

• Seventh Generation on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SVGDiaperFbook
• Seventh Generation on Twitter: http://bit.ly/SVGDiaperTwitter
• Seventh Generation Free & Clear diapers on SeventhGeneration.com:http://bit.ly/SCGDiapers
• For information about the whitening process: http://bit.ly/TCFProcess
• For information about the role of pigments in diapers: http://bit.ly/DiaperPigments

Click here to save $2.00 off Seventh Generation Diapers: http://bit.ly/seventhgendcoupon


Enter and win a pack of Seventh Generation diapers for your own Bean's booty! 
How? Just leave a comment with a contact email so I can reach you!


For up to 4 extra entries do one or all of the following and leave a new comment for each entry:
1. Like this blog via Google Friend Connect
2. Like Jojobean Designs on Facebook and share this giveaway with friends.
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this giveaway.
4. Visit Jojobean Designs on Etsy and come back here to tell me what item is your favorite, or suggest something you'd like to see in the shop!


This is a quickie giveaway, so be sure to get your entries in! Giveaway ends on Friday, 9/16/11 and I'll post a winner (chosen via random.org) on Saturday, 9/17/11.


All info, prize packs, and coupons are provided by My Blog Spark and Seventh Generation.