necessity is the mother of invention

My parents are arriving this evening.

Now, my parents are... how shall we say... big eaters. Not like obscenely big eaters; but my dad is a big guy and they just are used to bit more food than what is the usual for us.
My little family rarely does big breakfasts around here... toast and cereal -oatmeal if you're lucky. And lunch is typically kind of a scrape together whatever, graze a little here and there non-event. My kids are picky eaters and Ryan and I don't eat all that much and dinner is the only thing I normally worry about and "plan" for. (and planning could be a loose term these days as well)
However, when my mom and dad are here, I need things a little bit more together and actually have food and plans for not only dinners, but real substantially sized breakfasts and lunches.
So I did my homework and have meals all planned out and a rather large shopping list.
What I didn't do, however, is make it to the store this week.
And because I'm not brave enough to drag my two kids along on a mondo grocery shopping trip with the moods we're all in today, and being pretty much out of food around here, -luckily, I have Costco take and bake pizzas ready to go for dinner tonight- I was at a loss for a breakfast tomorrow before I am able to get groceries.

Enter Cake-Mix Muffins!

I had heard of these "two ingredient" pumpkin muffins before, but had never tried them.
I've done well as of late getting more and more away from processed foods, opting for homemade, if-not-healthier-than-at-least-I-know-what's-in-them baked goods, dinners and such. But I was desperate for a substantial breakfast item tomorrow and I was desperate for NOT experiencing the grocery store with the kids today, so I tried it.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins:
1 box spice cake mix (or yellow + pumpkin spice or nutmeg, cinnamon, etc)
1 15oz can pumpkin puree

That's it. Really. No eggs, no oil, no nothing else.
Mix together (it will be thick) and bake at 350° for 20 min. (less for mini muffins, more for jumbo muffins) Makes 12 regular muffins.
I sprinkled some brown sugar on the tops before baking.

I did jumbos.

And you guys...
they are so moist and yummy!
And at least seem healthier with a whole can of pumpkin in just six muffins!!




And then I went out on a limb and tried making up another version...
Easy Peach Muffins:
1 box white cake mix
1 can sliced peaches (light syrup)(and I cut the slices into chunks.)

That's it.
I poured a little bit of melted butter on the tops and sprinkled these with cinnamon and some raw cane sugar before baking.














If I'm being honest here, the peach ones turned out a little too moist. I dumped in the whole can of peaches, juice and all. I think they'd do well with most of the juice reserved, just adding a bit to moisten rather than the whole can. They sure taste great though, even if they're not as pretty as could be!

These big yummy Coscto-wannabe muffins along with some fresh fruit (maybe some bacon from somewhere in the back of the freezer?) will be a great filling breakfast tomorrow!

So there you go.
A super quick and easy -and yummy!- recipe if you're looking for one with the busyness of the holidays!