The word "natural" is such a loaded word. Essentially everything comes from nature, even the things we don't specifically like and are terribly bad for us. But when we see the word "natural" on our food and clothing and personal care products we believe that these products are as close to their original state as they can possibly be. When I came up for the recipe for these muffins, I made an effort to use foods that were as close to their natural state as I could. With the exception of the whole wheat flour and vanilla extract, all of the ingredients are fresh (and some local). There is also no sugar in these muffins! The sweetness comes from the honey and grated apple.I used this method to substitute using applesauce in the muffins. You can also use real maple syrup instead of honey and the eggs can be replaced to make them vegan.

Chicken is one of the most versatile of proteins out there: you can bake it, fry it, turn it into a soup or stew, steam it, stir fry it - it's pretty much endless. And at 38 gram of protein per cup, very low saturated fat, and is naturally low in sodium, you can't beat this lean meat.

A few weeks ago we had some friends over to let our boys have a little "play date" fun. In my 1950's-esq fashion, I needed to have something baking! You should always have something baking when you have company! It's like some ingrained female/maternal instinct I have always had despite the fact that never remember my mother making anything from scratch. I mean, even Cher in the movie Clueless put a stick of cookie dough in the oven when Christian came over for their "date." (Maybe not the best reference since she did, after all, set fire to the oven. But still...)

This past weekend I hosted my very first cookie swap! After a random idea and a post on a whim on Facebook, I had what I expected to be a good handful of attendees, however, after a lot of illnesses and other medical emergencies of a few of my expected attendees, it ended up being a small house. No worries! That just meant more cookies and wine for us.

If you have never been to or hosted a cookie swap, it is precisely what it sounds like. A cookie swap is a way for friends to get together and exchange recipes while providing tasty samples for all to enjoy. A guest is required to bring roughly a dozen cookies per guest for tasting and for the attendees to take home along with recipe cards for each. Coffee and tea are a must and wine and other spirits optional. It's basically an excuse for adults to have "grown up time" and have adult conversations whilst consuming adult goods.

Throughout the entire month of October, Eamon had been "collecting" pumpkins and lining them up in sweet little spots throughout the house, occasionally trying to roll the largest one through the rest in an effort to reenact Linus and Lucy picking their carving pumpkin at the beginning of "The Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown special. There were large ones, small ones, white ones, orange one, and...by this weekend, rotting ones. I had four decently sized baking pumpkins sitting on my living room floor just ready to attract critters of all sorts. So, much to his chagrin, mommy needed to do something with some of his pumpkins.