john frieda | the sydney project

AM

Posted on September 5, 2013 by sydneyday

Today I have for you lovely people 1) a recipe to share, 2) a Top Ten bloggy thing I saw on Life With a Side of Coffee, and 3) I have some very important music news to share…I’m going to start things off with that last one…

Are you ready? Ok then.

The Arctic Monkeys new album, AM, which drops on September 10th (finally!! I’ve listened to the first two tracks–Do I Wanna Know & Are You Mine? every single day for months & months now in anticipation) is currently streaming for FREE on iTunes! Best news, I know. I discovered this late last night thanks to the Free People blog (via Pinterest), and it has already made my work day a million times better. This new album has a little bit of a different sound than what the boys have done in the past, and I’m kind of loving it (currently, I think my favorite song is Arabella and No. 1 Party Anthem. But it’s the Arctic Monkeys, then can pretty much do whatever they want & I will probably still listen to it. I can’t wait until I can actually purchase this album. September is a great month music-wise, with HAIM’s full length album coming out at the end of the month, and KOL’s new one, Mechanical Bull, releasing on September 24th…it’s looking pretty good, right?!

Now on to that recipe I mentioned. Since it’s Fall now (Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back, therefore, it is now Autumn even if it doesn’t yet feel like it), and I’m getting back on the “get healthy” track, I decided to make myself a little tasty & breakfast/snack that is filling and not terribly bad for me: Apple Pumpkin Muffins! And they are yummy & not horribly unhealthy like many muffins are. I based my recipe off of a vegan recipe that I found on The Minimalist Baker. If I would have had almond milk & non-dairy butter, and flax seeds on hand, I would have went ahead with the vegan recipe, but since I didn’t (because I’m not vegan), I changed it a bit. The worst part of these health-wise is the 1/2 cup of brown sugar & the two tablespoons of butter in them (you could always use light margarine or you could leave out the butter all together if you really wanted to). But it’s only 1/2 a cup, most of the flavor comes from the spices, and of course the apples & pumpkin.

Now, I believe that “Top Tens” post I mentioned is up next, which I’m doing in lieu of today’s Blogtember post, because this looked like more fun. (Just a note, I have WAY more than 10 on most of these lists.)