MMM Smells Like Pumpkin….

The weather in Las Vegas has been fabulous. I think 100 degrees is long gone. I’m already putting away my summer clothes and getting my fall/winter clothes ready to go. I’ve been on a mad shopping spree lately to get some new items to wear this season. I even picked up a can of pumpkin to make these delicious muffins!

I found the recipe from the Paleo Plan. Their recipe for Paleo Pumpkin Muffins is so simple and delicious. My house smells so good right now, I can’t wait to dig into a muffin after I click publish. This will now help when I drink my afternoon cup of coffee at my favorite coffee shop. The cream cheese pumpkin muffins and pumpkin breads will not mesmerize me as much. Now I can enjoy my pumpkin muffins at just 166 calories per serving and not get that sugar crash.

Happy Pumpkin Eating!!

Fallon

Pumpkin-Banana Bread with Spelt Flour

I’m going to get real with you for a second. I’ve been craving a delicious pumpkin bread since August. Something about warm, cinnamon-y, pumpkin bread sounded real comforting! I wanted to make it more healthy as well, since I’m trying to do that with most of my recipes I make now. How can you make a baked good more healthy but still taste good? It is simple, don’t sacrifice flavor and quality. Bananas work perfectly when making a recipe more healthy. Thank goodness for September.. let all the pumpkin eating begin!

This particular recipe I found was good but I wasn’t sure if it would work exactly, you know how that can go sometimes. I took my time and decided to make some adjustments. What worked, turned out to be a really fantastic pumpkin bread. I used my huge bread loaf pan to make one big pumpkin bread. What I thought was hilarious is I came home from work one day and it looked like someone had a lunch time party at my place. My boyfriend likes to get some of his army buds over at lunch time to play with the Xbox and eat some pizza. Well..my pumpkin bread was nearly gone. I asked Mike who ate it and he said, “I just put it out and they started eating it. They liked it.” So if the guys in the Army approve.. then I think you should try it out for yourself. ;) If you truly want vegan pumpkin bread, this one is easy, just swap out the eggs and use 3 flax eggs instead!

Pumpkin-Banana Bread
By Fallon

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/3 cups stevia in the raw
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11 x 2.5 x 5.2 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl mash the banana till smooth but a little chunky. Add in the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed. In a medium-sized bowl, place flour, stevia, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir with a whisk till combined. Add flour mixture to banana/pumpkin mix and beat until just moist.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick placed in center comes out clean.

Let cool COMPLETELY in loaf pan, then flip onto a cutting board and slice 20 servings for thinner slices and 16 for large slices.

If you go the 20 slices route check out these stats: 146 calories per slice, 4 grams of protein and fiber. Not going to lie.. I enjoyed my pumpkin bread with a vanilla protein shake. Oh yeah!

I’m off to Atlanta this weekend! Mike’s birthday is on Tuesday and I’m treating him to an Atlanta Braves game tonight and Six Flags tomorrow. I’m kind of scared of Six Flags.. but I better suck it up because it was my idea.. OH BOY! haha ;)

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!

Love,
Fallon

Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins

Okay so I FINALLY decided to make the Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins I mentioned a while back when my mom was making her Turkey Taco Chili. My dad requested she make it with ground beef this time around, since he isn't a turkey fan. So I noticed I still had some pureed pumpkin to use up and this was screaming MAKE ME! I only made half a serving, 6 muffins. We each ate one and I put the remaining 3 in the freezer. Thinking about it, I freeze a lot of my baked goods and end up forgetting about them. I should see what I have lurking around. ;)

The recipe for the Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins comes from the Wholefoods website. I think I printed this recipe out LAST YEAR and never made it till recently. I have so many recipes I want to make and then I never make them. I think it just a foodie thing many folks do because we save so many recipes and it becomes very overwhelming!

I made some changes to the recipe. The scaled down version of 6 muffins is below.

Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins (Adapted from Wholefoods Market)
Ingredients
1/4 cup cooked, mashed fresh or canned pumpkin
1 tbsp flax meal, 3 tbsp water (Do this first and set to the side, it takes about 2 minutes to set)
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil or spray 6 muffin tins (I used a silicon muffin pan and sprayed it lightly just to make sure nothing would stick.). In a large bowl, combine, pumpkin, flax/water combo, and yogurt. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, honey, baking powder and salt. Add this to the liquid ingredients, stirring to just combine (I added the honey to the dry and mixed it in, you can add to liquid instead, won't make a difference.). Do not over-stir or beat. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake 20-25 minutes, until muffins are golden and a toothpick is inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

They baked really nice in the silicon.
Check out the flax specks!

What's a pumpkin cornmeal muffin without
some pumpkin butter?

Chili with extra lean ground beef.
It was good but I liked the Turkey version better.

That's right baby!

They were absolutely awesome. I ask myself why didn't I make these sooner? They weren't overly sweet, perfect cornmeal crumble and the oil and butter couldn't even tell it was missing! To be honest with you, I didn't realize that I didn't add any canola oil or butter to the mixture. I was more focused on swapping out egg for flax that I totally forgot! Oh well because I didn't even notice it was missing, neither did anyone else. LOL

I'm off to roast some cherubs (baby tomatoes) and eggplant. So much work and so much food, I'm just cooking it up and throwing meals together for work. Way better then eating out any day, in my opinion!!

Happy Saturday,
Fallon

Pumpkin- Sunflower Seed Breakfast Cookie

 

Good morning!! Yes it is Sunday, I actually know what day it is today. I haven't had a day off in over 8 days now, so I'm a bit loopy! Couldn't get to the gym for 3 days in a row, and this morning I woke up extra early to make sure I workout before I do anything else today. I really miss my workouts. I feel amazing right now and my endorphins are running wild! I need this but when I'm working every day and up to 9 hours, who wants to workout? I don't even have a huge appetite because I'm just tired!! At least falling asleep is really easy ;) 

The recipe I share with you today I made last week. I had to make my pumpkin breakfast cookie better then my first attempt. It was good but I thought I added too much pumpkin and spice. It was overkill! I've been enjoying this sunflower seed butter I picked up from Trader Joe's few weeks ago. Honestly it like crack in a jar, you can't have just 1 serving but several!! It good on ANYTHING! I knew the sweetness from the sunflower seed butter, would compensate for the not so sweet pumpkin. It sounded like a good combo and it was a good combo! 

Pumpkin- Sunflower Seed Breakfast Cookie (by Fallon)  

Ingredients  

½ cup or 40g of old fashion oats

1 tbsp of brown rice protein powder

1 tbsp canned or fresh pumpkin

1 tbsp sunflower seed butter

1-2 chopped medjool dates

1/2 packet stevia

Spices to your liking: pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove

Unsweetened vanilla almond milk or any liquid

Toppings: dollop of vanilla coconut yogurt, raw sunflower seeds and ground flax

Mixed your oats and protein powder together. I like to add my stevia and spices next. Then I added a tablespoon of pumpkin and the nut butter. Mix it till it kind of sticks to the oats and then I'll add the chopped dates. Mix around and then slowly poor in the almond milk till you get the right consistency you are looking for. I like when it comes together and is moisten, not overly liquidy (made this word up!). Flatten to a plate and set in the fridge over night. In the morning add the toppings and ENJOY! I had a honey vanilla chamomile tea to go with it. I really really enjoyed this breakfast. 

You have to try this. You will be so happy you did.
 

I promised this would be the last of pumpkin recipes for a while. Can you believe I still have pumpkin leftover? lol. I'm not sick of it but I definitely can't have it every day. I rather eat chocolate every day instead ;)

While I wait for my boyfriend to call me today, I'm off to bake some cookies for his Halloween care package. I already baked the other batch the other day and will share that recipe with you soon. As well as the one I'm making today. Might be a double post.. who knows! 

Enjoy your Sunday. How I MISS having this day off. 

Fallon

Can't get enough of pumpkin!

Am I driving you crazy with pumpkin recipes??? I hope not! I have one more after this to share with you and I think I'm taking a break from pumpkin that is. I have some baking I need to get done for my boyfriend's Halloween care package and I can assure you you won't be seeing any pumpkin there! Which I will share with you guys as soon as I find more free time. I wish some could whip me into action to get this package out. I'm being awful about it this month, but I think it because I'm not use to working every day now! So the pumpkin recipe I share with you today is a biscotti recipe.

Last year when I started making my own biscotti I tried many recipes and they usually failed. They failed because the dough was ALWAYS dry. I learned to discover that wetting your hands with water helps to smooth out the log. Without knowing that before hand I used to just buy the Nonnis brand from the store. Which were so good. They had different chocolate kinds and they were just the right size. Not wanting to fail on biscotti baking I came upon Pumpkin Biscotti from Simply Recipes. This was the first biscotti recipe I made where the dough wasn't completely dry and falling apart. Just to form the log smoothly I used a little water, but nothing major. It was a winner!

I love biscotti and this is the time of year where I always want it. It is my all time favorite with coffee or tea! This pumpkin biscotti isn't hard like the other biscottis, but if you leave it out you will find yourself with a hard biscotti! It soft, moist and full of pumpkin spice! I like to keep mine fresh in a ziploc bag or a mason jar. Biscotti always make a nice gift for holiday parties and gatherings too. Enjoy! The recipe can be found HERE.

Ready for the oven! Topped smoothed out with a little water on the hands.
 

After cooled from the first baking round, cut into 18 pieces. 
Ready to baked for the second time!
 

Have them lined up like an Army =P
 

Made a gift for myself. =)
  Smooth lines, delicious dipped in vanilla honey chamomile tea.
 

That is all for tonight!!
Fallon

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie

First let me start by saying I'm on this pumpkin craze as you can see! I hate to see the canned pumpkin go bad, so I've been trying to use it up in all kinds of recipes/meals. Most of it is experimenting because I still can't seem to get that "correct" pumpkin flavor you would find from a pumpkin pie! So I'm debating if pumpkin is something I really like? Well I did enjoy my breakfast cookie I made the other day. If you haven't heard of breakfast cookies yet then you are missing out! I discovered the breakfast cookie on a health/fitness blog called The Fitnessista. You make it the night before and in the morning you have this fabulous breakfast that mimicks a "cookie" but really it just an easy way to eat oatmeal. It's too soft to eat with your hand so a spoon is required. During the summer season it is too hot to eat warm oats, so this breakfast cookie is a great substitute. Here is her link on how to make her version of the breakfast cookie. It's a good basic recipe to follow but many blogs have branched off to make their own version of a breakfast cookie. Which is what I have here for you today!  

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie (Adapted from The Fitnessista)  
Ingredients
40g or 1/2 cup of old fashion oats
1 tbsp of PB2
1 tbsp of brown rice protein powder (I used chocolate, Jarrow brand)
1 tbsp of ground flax seed
Dash of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice (as much as you need to get the right flavor consistency)
2 heaping tablespoons of canned pumpkin (if you have fresh, use it!)
2 tsp of pure maple syrup
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I used Almond Breeze)  
Garnish- Almond butter, vanilla yogurt (So Delicious Coconut milk), and sliced almonds

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Add the spice. Next add the pumpkin and mush it into the dry ingredients. Add the maple syrup and a little bit of almond milk. Mix and keep adding the milk till you get a cookie that is moist but not watery. On a plate flatten the cookie mixture to form a cookie. Cover and place in the fridge over night. Before eating the cookie I like to garnish it with a drizzle of almond butter, a spoonful of yogurt in the middle and sprinkle some sliced raw almonds on top. Grab and spoon and dig in!

I couldn't wait to eat this! 
  Just a little close up of the goodness ;)

I mentioned in my last post about a Turkey Chili my mom makes. Well she did make it and it has been my meal for the last few days. I'm waiting to post the recipe because I've been having different variations of the chili. What I really want to make with it is some corn muffins... more specifically Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins! Which I found on the Wholefoods website. Work been keeping me busy and just making me slightly lazy to do any baking. I'll get to it soon though because my goal is to use up all my canned pumpkin! Technically it is my Friday today but I only have 1 day off. Not a fan of split days off! 

Have a good one, 

Fallon

Cranberry Pumpkin Energy Bars

Who else likes to have a nice cup of hot coffee while baking?? It excites me to have a warm cup of coffee and be busy baking in the kitchen. This is something I always look forward to. It is relaxing and I'm in my OWN zone! I've gotten off the caffeine kick and converted to black tea if I need a little push for the day or caffeine free teas, which right now I'm digging a vanilla honey chamomile. Well I wanted a coffee for my energy bar experiment. Starbucks was on the way home, and it was around 1pm. I figured I'd get a decaf for once. Just my luck they stop brewing it after 12 because it isn't popular enough, but I can wait 5 minutes for them to brew a batch. Why can't they just brew half of the decaf so they aren't wasting it as much? It is nice to have a variety for customers! I thought that was retarded, I just wanted to leave. The barista mentioned I could get an decaffeinated Americano. I said fine but I know Starbucks makes a real weak Americano, too much hot water. It was alright to say the least. At least it settled for coffee and baking time!

From my last energy bar making experiment Mark's Daily Apple I decided I wanted to experiment with my own bars and maybe find something I will actually enjoy. The primal energy bars from Mark's blog were okay. I wasn't happy with all the almond butter and coconut oil that went into them, I rather smear almond butter on my bars than have it mixed into something. So I adjusted the recipe and made my own. In honor of Fall's arrival I opened up a can of pumpkin and wanted that as my main ingredients for the bars and to replace the almond butter.
 
Cranberry Pumpkin Energy Bars (By Fallon, inspired by Mark's Daily Apple )  
Ingredients
1/2 cup raw sliced almonds
1/2 cup raw pecans
1/4 sweetened coconut (unsweetened works too)
1/4 cup pureed pumpkin (homemade or canned)
3 oz. extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of ground clove (optional)
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 dried cranberries
Coconut to sprinkle on top

On a cookie sheet toast the nuts and the coconut in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. After 6 minutes check on them to make sure they haven't burned and shake them up. Keep checking on them till they are done because the coconut burns quickly!

Should look like this, the coconut is a light brown, 
and the nuts aren't burned.
 

When you smell them, then you know they are done!
 

While the nuts and coconut are toasting melt together the coconut oil and pumpkin. I used the microwave for about 30 seconds. Once melted add the vanilla extract, maple syrup, spices and salt.

Once the nuts are out of the oven, transfer them to a food processor until they become coarsely ground. Set the oven down to 325 to bake the bars.

Check out the steam!! This mixture taste soo good on its own!
 

Next add the egg to the cooled pumpkin/coconut oil mixture. Then add in the nut mixture and the almond floor. Make sure everything is mixed thoroughly. In a lightly greased (I used olive oil spray) 8 x 8 nonstick pan spread the bar mixture evenly. Next sprinkle on some coconut. Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. The bars should be cooked through and not wet. I checked this by lightly tapping my finger in the middle. The bars should be cooled completely before cutting into them. I put them in the fridge for a few hours and they held better. I also decided to keep them in the fridge so they would last longer.

The final result? Well I think I over did it on the SPICES! Very powerful and definitely don't need 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. I thought they'd be similar in texture to the original bars I made, but they were much more moist because of the pumpkin. As for the coconut oil I think 3 oz is a bit overwhelming so next time I'll only use 2 oz of coconut oil. I like the coconut garnish on top, helps with the spiciness of the bars. The bars definitely have a nice texture with the processed nuts. It reminds me of the texture from a Larabar. I think these would taste better with a smear of almond butter on top ;) I haven't tried it yet but when I do I'll let you know. I still need more bar making practice but practice makes perfect right? I'll be interested if anyone else tries to create their own bars with pumpkin. If so let me know!!

----------------------------------------------------
On Friday I went to one of my friend's wedding from college. Her now husband is in the army and has been deployed in Kuwait. Long story short he decided while over there and her at home he wanted to get married on his 2 week leave that he is currently on. You know how many months she had to prepare for this wedding? haha.. 3 months! The poor girl turned into a bridezilla and was very stressed and confused. At least she had a great maid of honor to keep her in line! The end result was a great, simple wedding. It was small and she had everything she wanted within her budget. They married in a park and had their reception at Claim Jumper, their favorite restaurant. So of course I took pictures of food and cake! Claim Jumper has HUGE portions, I don't get it. Hence my massive, on steroids sweet potato pictured below. LOL. Someone ordered their turkey dinner it had a biscuit, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, vegetables, and gravy. I should of taken a picture of it, I couldn't believe the portion size of it. The girl who ordered it must of weighed 100 pounds, she took 2 bites and was stuffed. LOL

My good friend Z had the tri tip. Probably the best thing to order that night. 
She said the potatoes tasted weird, nothing like homemade!  

Hah, this was a Jamaican Jerk Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato. I asked them where they got this sweet potato because it was on steroids for sure! LOL. Definitely was different, not my favorite. I requested the salsa and honey on the side. The salsa was awful (thank goodness I left it off) but HELLO I had a stick of butter in the middle. They could of warned me it had butter. Sneaky Sneaky! 

Isn't the cake cute?? It was simple and elegant.
This had 2 flavors: chocolate and vanilla cake.

I love how couples will personalize their cakes!

Chocolate cake with chocolate mouse and raspberry between.
Doesn't it look rich and delicious? It was more of a disapointment,
it wasn't rich, nor sweet. Rather bland. 

Vanilla cake with Bavarian cream and fresh berries. Now this was DELICIOUS! 
As much as I love chocolate, I think I'd like this kind of cake combo for 
my own wedding one day. Everyone always enjoys it too.

 Even though it was okay it was still consumed mostly by me. ;)
Notice the fondant left over. ICK I can't stand the
sweetness or the texture of it. 

I was pretty stuffed after dessert. Was well worth it though. :) 

I wish R and J the best for a happy and healthy marriage. She is now an official Army Wife!! WOOT WOOT!

Good night!
Fallon