Sweet Potato Muffins

Today is the first official day of fall and I am so ready to break out the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, pot roast and apple pie recipes. There's just something so comforting about fall foods that I really love - cinnamon and cloves, root vegetables, thick soups and slow cooking makes my kitchen feel perfectly cozy. What better way to usher in the start of fall than these delicious muffins. They are loaded with vitamins and packed with fall flavors. This recipe will make a nice big batch of about 24 muffins. Eat some, share some, and freeze a few to enjoy later.

Wet Ingredients:
1-1/2c Thrive Sweet Potatoes
1/2c Thrive Apple Chips or Slices
4-1/2c Water
1/2c Butter or Applesauce
1/2c Honey
1t Vanilla Extract

Dry Ingredients:
1c Thrive Whole Wheat Flour
2c Thrive White Flour
1/4c Thrive Instant Milk Powder
2T Thrive Egg Powder
1t Baking Soda
1t Baking Powder
1t Pumpkin Pie Spice (sub 1t cinnamon if desired)
1/2t Salt
1/4c Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Brown Sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 12 cup muffin tin very well (these little things are sticky!). Combine sweet potatoes, apples and water in a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Puree sweet potatoes and apples with a stick blender (or carefully transfer them to a standard blender), then stir in remaining wet ingredients. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring well. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups and top with a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Pizza Bites

These pizza bites are super fun to make for dinner. They will come together quickly if you have a batch of pizza dough ready to use in your freezer.

First, make a batch of whole wheat pizza dough:

1 1/2c Warm Water
1 Package Instant Yeast
1T Honey (or sugar or agave nectar)
1/8t Salt
1/2t Garlic Powder (optional)
1T Olive Oil
2 to 4 cups Thrive Whole Wheat Flour

Combine warm water, yeast and honey and let rest for 5 minutes. Add oil, salt, garlic powder if desired and 2 cups flour to yeast mixture. Continue adding flour, 1/4c at a time, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a ball, put it into a greased bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let rise for 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, make a fantastic dipping sauce:

1T Olive Oil
1 1/2c Water
1/2c Thrive Tomato Powder
1/2t Garlic Powder
1t Sugar
1/2t Italian Seasonings
1/8t Salt

In a small bowl, combine Tomato Powder, garlic powder, sugar, Italian seasonings and salt. In a saucepan over medium high heat, bring water and olive oil to a boil. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in the Tomato Powder mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want your sauce to be a little thicker, continue to simmer until the desired consistency is reached.

Now it's time to assemble your pizza bites. You can fill your pizza bites with whatever you want! Here are a few ideas:

Thrive Red & Green Bell Peppers
Thrive Mushroom Pieces
Thrive Chopped Onions
Thrive Sausage Crumbles
Thrive Sausage TVP
Thrive Ground Beef
Thrive Pineapple Chunks
Thrive Bacon TVP
Pepperoni
Canadian Bacon

You're also going to need about a cup of shredded cheese and several tablespoons of melted butter with a dash of garlic powder mixed in. Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a large casserole dish.

Prepare your chosen fillings by rehydrating your Thrive products and chopping any larger items into small pieces. To assemble your bites, pinch off small a piece of dough and flatten it out into a 3" round. Put a small amount of cheese and toppings in the center.

Bring the sides in, pinching the edges to make them stick together, and gently roll into a ball. Roll the ball in your butter mixture and place it in the casserole dish.

Repeat until you run out of dough! You can let the bites rise if you want to, or just bake them right away. Bake the bites at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce on the side.

Homemade Bagels

Making bagels is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with your kids. This is a very hands on learning activity - kids can measure ingredients (hello math skills!), watch the yeast activate (chemistry and physics), knead the dough (tactile), experiment with mix-ins like seeds, nuts, and fruit, and make fun shapes (geometry). Unlike store bought bagels, no two homemade bagels are alike - each one has its own unique shape and size, and each one can be flavored differently if you choose. If you want to make the cream cheese yourself, you'll want to start it the night before you make your bagels. Eating your bagels with homemade cream cheese is just the icing on the cake! Or the cheese on the bagel :)

4 1/2c Thrive Flour (White, Whole Wheat or a combination of both)
1 1/2c Warm Water
2 Packet Yeast
3T Thrive White Sugar
1T Thrive Salt
1T Honey (or maple syrup, sugar or molasses)
1T Thrive Baking Powder

Combine 1 1/2c flour, warm water, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix for 30 seconds on low, then 3 minutes on medium. If you are making this by hand, just stir it for 5 minutes.  Next, mix in flour, half a cup at a time, until a stiff dough forms (about 2 1/2 more cups). Flour your working surface with remaining flour, turn the dough out and knead it for 5-7 minutes. Cover your soft dough with a bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes. Next, divide and shape the dough as desired. Set your bagels on a greased cookie sheet and let them rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add 1T honey (or other sweetener) and 1T baking powder. Add the bagels 4 or 5 at a time, and simmer them for 7 minutes, turning once. Remove each with a slotted spoon and return to the greased baking sheet. If you would like to top your bagels, brush them with a little bit of Thrive Egg (1T Thrive Whole Egg Powder + 1T Water) and gently press desired toppings onto the top of the bagel. Once all of your bagels have boiled, bake them for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping suggestions: coarse salt, poppy seeds, Thrive chopped onions, shredded cheese, parmesan, cinnamon and sugar, thinly sliced jalapenos, sun dried tomatoes, garlic powder.

 Makes a delicious BLT!