hello november

the week is finally over! after a quiz and three tests, i am glad that the weekend is here! this weekend brings a birthday-costume party, mom and dad coming to town and the start of homecoming here at UT! and today brings us november! where on earth did october go? i don't mind though because i can celebrate 21 years of myself starting today (yes, i get the whole month)!

i am still on that pumpkin kick i talked about earlier and as a treat for surviving this past week and since my parents will be here, today i made some pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! if you ignore the icing, they really aren't horrible for you and they make the whole kitchen smell like amazing!

pumpkin cupcakes

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend 

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

2 tbsp honey 

cream cheese frosting

1 block greek yogurt cream cheese (i used kroger's brand)

1 stick butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with 11 cupcake liners and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. in a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients for cupcakes and mix well. 
3. fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of batter. 
4. bake for 30 minutes and let cool before icing. 
5. to make frosting, beat all ingredients together in a mixing bowl until thick and smooth. 
6. ice cupcakes once they are cool and store in the fridge until ready to serve! 

now that halloween is over (which i have never gotten to celebrate in college because i have always had a test the day after), holiday season is already in full swing. i love everything about the holiday season and am so excited that everything holiday related is starting to appear in stores. i went to target today and they have out their thanksgiving decorations (which some of is already on sale!) and are starting to put out their christmas decorations! i bought an adorable pink and green stocking to hang on my door later this month. i have a rule where i won't decorate for christmas or listen to christmas music until after my birthday! 

and sorry for being MIA for the past few days but i thought school should probably come before blogging! since i have a much lighter workload this coming week i promise not to disappear on you! happy november to all! 

xoxo,

clp