Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Last week, I had a sudden urge to do some baking. It was a dreary fall day (as most have been lately) and I decided to whip up something with pumpkin to fit the mood. Using a combination of recipes from All Recipes and The Hungry Housewife, I forged ahead.

Because I didn't have any buttermilk on hand to make Leslie's recipe, I found a suitable one on All Recipes. The basics are as follows:

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:
1.)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2.) In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

3.) Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

I got to work mixing everything. And, threw in some extra cinammon because I'm crazy like that.

Then, because things only get better with chocolate, I eye-balled some milk chocolate chips for an addition.


Then, I mixed up some of Leslie's crumb topping, minus the oatmeal (we were out).


CRUMB TOPPING INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup oatmeal (1 package of instant oatmeal)
1/2 cup walnuts

In a medium bowl, combine first five ingredients with a pastry blender or fork, so it resembles, well "crumbles". Mix in oatmeal and walnuts.

I poured my pumpkin mixture into the prepared loaf pan and muffin tins.

Note: This recipe makes a ton (3 full loaves). I went with one loaf and the rest muffins, but plan accordingly.


And, added the crumb topping.

Into the oven they went...
And, after...the house smelled wonderful!

These were a huge hit and I'll definitely be saving the recipe because it was so simple to throw together. My husband swears that the bread only got better as the week went on... Everything stayed very moist and fresh (the last of it was being finished by family and friends a week later) and the flavor was full without being over the top pumpkin-y.

I just love this time of year for baking, don't you?

28 Weeks

So, I'm a bit behind on these, but here are some recent belly pics at 28 weeks.

Ladies and gentleman, time is really flying now. At my doctor's appointment last Thursday, we scheduled everything thing through December (37 weeks). Holy hell, that was a reality check. Olivia will be here before we know it.

I'm still feeling pretty good and working out 4 to 5 days a week. I had to give up my step aerobics class, but I'm keeping up with the light weights, elliptical and stationary bike. And, to make squeezing in some cardio even easier (now and when the baby's born), we now have this pretty little thing in our finished basement.

I told Josh it could be my Christmas, birthday, push, whatever-we-need-an-excuse-for present. Staying fit is obviously important to me, and getting to the gym is going to be a much more difficult task with a newborn. Problem solved :).

In other pregnancy news, I gained 5 pounds this month for a total of 20. It's hard for me to make peace with any weight gain, but this is obviously a necessity. And, I'm still right on track in terms of what is recommended so I can't complain too much.

As far as eating goes, during the week I keep it all healthy, and then I allow myself some splurges on the weekend. If I'm craving pizza, cookies or donuts, I make myself wait until Friday through Sunday for the most part, and I think it keeps me from going too crazy. But, I'm not going to say no to those things entirely. I mean, I'm pregnant for goodness sake. What indulgences do I have besides food???

The doctor also commented on the very faint linea nigra that has appeared on the lower half of my stomach. It's barely noticeable at this point, but she said with my darker, easily tanned skin tone, it'll probably be out in full force by the end of my pregnancy.

Turning over in bed is becoming quite the challenge, as is bending over. I've had three instances of sciatica in the past week, and all I can say about that is it's pretty horrible. It has to do with Olivia shifting in my pelvis and she'll temporarily place pressure on the nerve, causing shooting pain all down my right side. The best I can describe it, it feels like a charley horse, total numbness, and pins and needles all at the same time. It lasts anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes and provides a perfect opportunity for me to practice my pain management techniques :).

Speaking of pain management, we're halfway through our 4 week childbirth classes and I'd have to say that we're both really enjoying them. The three hours go by pretty quickly and I think my husband especially appreciates all of the information. I've read every book under the sun and he's read his fair share as well, but the added visualization is a plus.

Her room is coming along, we're shopping for a new car and our baby preparedness is in high gear. Just over 11 weeks to go...