A Green Wrap

I've always loved a simple wrap. They're fast and easy to make and work well on the go. This past summer I started experiementing with different vegetarian combination wraps, and I fell in love with the flavors in this wrap in particular. I made this green wrap with a spinach tortilla (gluten free), hummus, fresh baby spinach, avocado, cucumber, and quinoa with zucchini and parsley--all healthy, all yummy, almost all green.

Ahead of time, I cooked a cup of quinoa with zucchini and parsley. This quantity of quinoa allows me to have a healthy source of protein to use in different dishes for up to five days. There are quite a few quinoa tutorials out there, but the most important piece of advice I have for cooking quiona is rinse the quinoa well before you start cooking it.

When I am ready to make the wrap, I put down a piece of parchment paper to help with rolling the wrap and eating on the go. I also slice the cucumber and avocado and set out the spread for easy assembly.

I spread the hummus on first as a type of glue for the other ingredients.

Then, I add the spinach, avocado, cucumber and top with the quinoa.

Finally, I wrap it with help from the parchment paper and am ready to enjoy lunch.

Let me know if you give this wrap or another green variation a try. Happy eating, y'all!

A Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin

In our little half of the duplex, we currently have pumpkin beer, pumpkin spice coffee syrup, and now pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. You might say that Collyn and I have a little bit of an obsession. But, who doesn't love pumpkin goodness, especially in October? 

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

A few days ago while I was working on the paper that has kept me from blogging for the past couple of weeks (I turned it in yesterday, hooray!), I ordered a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin at one of our lovely local coffee shops, so today, when I decided I was in the mood for some baking, I thought back to those delicious muffins. I looked online for a recipe but didn't find one that sounded right to me. I wanted to use multiple spices rather than the pre-mixed spices in a cake mix, oil rather than butter, and pure pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling. So I, of course, called Lulu for consultation, and she had a plain pumpkin muffin recipe that we spruced up to make the recipe for these muffins. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

yield: 24-30 muffins 

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Whisk dry ingredients together.

Add vanilla eggs, oil, and pumpkin. Mix until evenly incorporated. 

Add chocolate chips and stir. 

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or line them with cupcake paper. Fill the tins 3/4 of the way full (I discovered that filling them not quite as full makes the tops pop rather than spread and flatten).

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy. 

Why not have a little chocolate with your breakfast?