First things first: updates!! 

1.  It’s been a crazy-busy last few weeks of summer. My brother AND my sister both got married within 6 weeks of each other, Hubby started his cross country season (assistant coaching), and I worked the last day of my job, which means that The Modern Homemaker is now officially a stay at home mom!! I’m so excited!! 

2. We found out that baby number two is a BOY!! Here’s how we told my husband’s side of the family 😉 

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Note: this was actually round two of the game. The first round included ONLY balloons filled with white paint so the fun wouldn’t be over too quickly. The fam wasn’t too happy when they popped the last balloon and it didn’t reveal the gender. 😉 It was such a blast, though! 

3. And now, onto the purpose of today’s post! I was inspired by the pumpkin-spice everything that I’m seeing everywhere and had to make SOMETHING now that it is officially fall. I went with protein bites, but naturally I wasn’t satisfied with using just any recipe I found. So I winged it and luckily, they’re delicious!! Enjoy ❤️

Pumpkin Spice Protein Bites

Ingredients:

• 3 cups quick or steel cut oats
• 5 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup dark honey (or maple syrup)
• 1 cup pumpkin purée (I like Simply Balanced Organic Pumpkin!)
• 1 cup peanut butter 

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together!! *if you’re feeling less lazy than me, mix dry ingredients together separately, first, for an even distribution of spices. 
2. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and place on pan lined with parchment paper. 
3. Freeze for one hour; transfer to air tight container and refrigerate. I’d tell you how long they’re good for but it wouldn’t matter because they’ll be gone long before they go bad.

*Makes 2-3 dozen, depending on your definition of “tablespoon-sized balls”

*Mix it up! Chocolate and cranberries appealed to me, personally. You can swap either or both for chopped walnuts, almonds, peanuts, raisins, coconut flakes, mini m&ms, butterscotch chips, etc. Peanut butter may be swapped for Almond butter, and chia seeds for ground flax seeds. 

*Want an extra kick? Try adding a few tablespoons of ground espresso! Yum! (I skipped this because- preggo).