quick chicken-corn chowder

This was rated in the top 20 chicken recipes from one of my favorite cooking magazines, Cooking Light. It's healthy AND takes under 30 minutes to prepare! After reading some of the reviews I decided to use a rotisserie chicken and I'm glad I did. It gives it such a great flavor, I'll have to start keeping an eye out for the reduced price rotisseries. :)I still feel like it was missing a tiny bit of something though...maybe a little hot sauce? I'll have to play around with it, still a great recipe overall.

Yields: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)
Only 257 calories per serving! 8.1g fat, 19.1g protein, 28.6g carbs, 668mg sodium

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used the 2 breasts from the rotisserie chicken)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (I omitted)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

Preparation

• Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and jalapeño; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 5 minutes). Season with extra salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy!

pumpkin spice muffins

These are the moistest muffins I've ever tasted. And to think they only took 2 ingredients! No eggs, oil, or sugar! If you're an amateur at baking like me and want something that tastes and smells just like fall, these are for you. You could even sprinkle with powdered sugar, add chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or top with cream cheese frosting if you're feelin' adventurous! ;)

This recipe makes about 14-16 regular sized muffins.

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
15 oz 100% pure canned pumpkin
paper muffin/cupcake liners


Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and canned pumpkin until well combined.

-Spoon into paper lined small muffin/cupcake tins, 2/3 full. (Batter will be thick)

-Bake at 350 for 23 minutes (roughly 15 min. for mini muffins) or until toothpick comes out clean.