These last few days have been a bit crazy. I registered for Step 3 and have been trying to come up with a study schedule, but haven't quite decided on the best approach for studying, especially since I'm going to be a on a busy service for the next two months. I've also been trying to fit in exercise, but failing miserably (more on that in a blog post later this week). I also have a bunch of stuff I need to get done that I've been failing at. Instead of getting stuff done, I've been loitering around and have been so unproductive, it's shameful. And today I drank three cups of coffee and now my stomach feels super queasy. Not fun.

Yesterday, however, I did manage to make some pumpkin cream cheese muffins! I'll be honest, I didn't make these from scratch. This recipe is purely boxed, but I wanted to share with you because I was amazed by the results. I bought the Pillsbury Perfectly Pumpkin Cake Mix back in October but didn't have the time to bake until recently. Definitely wanted to use this mix up during the holiday season! I don't know what encouraged me to buy this because I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin desserts and the pumpkin baking mixes I've tried in the past have been waaaaayyy too artificial tasting. So to my surprise, these cupcake/muffins turned out absolutely delicious. They have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor without being overpowering or too spice-y. I topped off the muffins with the Duncan Hines Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting using my nifty Wilton Decorating Bags and a closed-star icing tip. 

Together with the cream cheese frosting, these muffins taste absolutely delicious. It's not too sweet, which is the best part. It took a total of one hour to make from mixing the ingredients to frosting the muffins. You can make the muffins look professional by using different shaped icing tips to pipe on the frosting. Definitely a quick, delicious, easy dessert to make for parties and holiday gatherings.

Hope you enjoyed this quick, easy baking post. I'm going to be making sugar cut-out cookies either this weekend or next, so watch out for that post coming soon! :)


#healthyholidays Day 7 : For the past three days, I've been tracking my daily intake on MyFitnessPal. I'm on a 3 day streak! I haven't tracked my daily intake regularly since like last year, so this is definitely a big achievement. I've been eating roughly 1500-1600 calories per day, which is a good goal for gradual weight loss. I didn't want to jump from binge eating to restricting my calories to 1200, so this is perfect. Once I start exercising, I think I'll start losing weight even with eating 1,500 net calories per day. I still get hungry in between meals because I'm so used to eating large portions, but I'm hoping this will change with time and less binge eating. Since I've been tracking my calories, I've been feeling a lot lighter and less bloated. I've also been trying to drink at least 40oz of water per day, which helps reduce bloat even more. The weekend is going to be a challenge, since that's the time I usually get derailed, so keeping my fingers crossed.

Halloween-Themed Cupcakes

Look at me on a roll with all these posts this week! Definitely the post-CS and Halloween spirit! As I mentioned in my Fall Favorites post, I wanted to use this weekend to practice some cupcake decorating. After browsing Pinterest, I decided to attempt some monster cupcakes. They require super simple piping techniques, perfect for a beginner, and come out with excellent results! And they're a super fun craft to do with kids. I had a really fun time making some monsters with my younger brother.

Here are the supplies I used. It may seem daunting, but don't worry you don't need all these things! The only things that are essential to making these monster cupcakes are buttercream/decorating icing, a few decorating tips, and candy eyeballs. 

The Cupcakes -- You can make the actual cupcakes using any recipe you have lying around. To keep things simple, I chose to make yellow cupcakes from a box. The Duncan Hines box mix make really delicious cupcakes! 

Cupcake Icing -- This is the most important part and makes the difference between 'meh' vs. artisan cupcakes. You don't want to get just a regular can of frosting from the store!!! I cannot stress that enough. I've tried to decorate cupcakes in the past using the cheap $2 frosting cans and the results have been disappointing. That type of icing is super runny and it's literally impossible to decorate with it. You want a stiff icing that can hold a pattern, which is crucial to cake decorating. I would recommend going out and buying icing that is specifically meant for decorating. You can also make your own buttercream icing. But if you're lazy like me, try the Wilton White Decorator Icing from JoAnn Fabrics (also sold at Michael's). It was my first time using it and I was really happy with the results! 

Decorating Tips -- I only used 3 types of tips for my cupcakes, but I've pictured a bunch of different tips to show you that there are endless varieties when it comes to cupcake decorating! The 8-pack decorating  tip pack pictured above is from Walmart for only $3! Plastic tips are just as good as metal ones in my opinion. JoAnn Fabrics has a wall of different icing tips, many of which are only $0.99! For the cupcakes pictured above, I used an open star tip (purple icing), a grass tip (teal icing), and a closed star tip (pink icing). Again, you can get creative and use different types of tips to get different effects! I definitely LOVE the grass tip for making hairy-looking monsters! If you're new to cupcake decorating and have no idea what each tip looks like or the designs it makes, check out this video. She does an excellent job of explaining basic piping tips and techniques! 

Decorating Bags -- I like using decorating bags specific for cake decorating since they are super sturdy. They're relatively cheap too. However, you can also get away with using Ziploc bags if you don't want to invest in fancy decorating bags.

Food Coloring -- You can get a variety of different food coloring gels at craft stores, but you can also use whatever you have lying around and get creative with coloring! A few of my friends have used jelly, fruit syrup, etc instead of actual food coloring in the past.

Candy Eyeballs -- from JoAnn Fabrics for only $4.99! They have small ones and large ones. I chose the large ones for regular-sized cupcakes. Try the smaller ones for cookies or mini cupcakes.

Once you have all of your materials, now's the fun part! Get creative with the piping and try out different ones in different shapes and colored icing. I used the open star tip to make the purple monster, and the grass tip to make a fuzzy hairy monster, which was my favorite. I had a few writing gels I had lying around to make mouths with, but you can use chocolate frosting plopped in a plastic bag to make mouths with. The most important part is remember to have fun and share this memory with loved ones! :)