Tag Archives: pumpkin

By The Magazine

by

Last day of school before a 5 day break, what what?!!  I was actually super busy all afternoon but something about not having to go to class tomorrow just made the whole day feel 100% fun.

I rolled over to look at the time this morning and it was already 7:15.  It’s possible my alarm didn’t beep, but more likely that I turned it off in my sleep.  Breakfast was on the go, and rushed.  A perfect pear,

and this Orgain Iced Cafe Mocha protein drink.

I bought the drink on super-sale at the Co-op and it wasn’t really what I was expecting.  It wasn’t thick or sweet at all, which would normally be nice but was strange when I was expecting the opposite.  But the nutrients did a good job of filling in my morning.

And then we had cake.

I’ll tell you again, that my classmates all loved the crock-pot cake.  Even if you don’t win my giveaway I suggest making it at home.

Amid afternoon activities, lunch was eaten in parts.  First, a strange-sounding yogurt bowl.

Activia Selects French Pineapple yogurt with canned pumpkin and shredded coconut.

I know that combination sounds strange, but it was pretty good.  Pumpkin Colada?

Plus a bag of popcorn.

And a Biscoff spoon.

I’ve had this jar of Biscoff open for more than a month now and I’m sort of not sure how there’s still any left.

Dinner was Tomato-Vodka Soup and Scones, both magazine recipe finds.

The Tomato-Vodka Soup was from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I skipped the spices and rim rub, only used half of the vodka, and substituted light for heavy cream.

The Easy Scone recipe was from Woman’s Day.

I used light cream instead of heavy again, but otherwise left this one alone.

Both were delicious.

But I’m not the hugest tomato soup fan (I made this for the husband mostly) so I left behind the 2nd half of my bowl.  Instead I ate a 2nd scone.

With Smart Balance Light and honey.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

Are You Having A Good Life?

by

I got something like 4 hours of sleep last night.  I’m not ready for either of today’s two exams.  I’m tired and cranky, x 10.

But yesterday evening I spotted an e-mail in my inbox from Fage and Foodbuzz about winning a trip to Greece by posting about the Greek tradition of “Good Living.”  They defined good living as having a positive, healthy life and I’m inclined to agree. 

So last night I set myself up at the mantle.

I’m healthier, happier, and less likely to fall asleep if I study while standing rather than sitting.

And this morning I took the time to make a healthy, tasty breakfast.

Though I did make sure it could be eaten quickly, and with one hand!  Today won’t be fun or easy, but at least it is off to a good start.  I think that pursuing a good life means making an effort to be healthy and positive, and that the little steps you take towards this goal are the ones that really matter.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, serves 1

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp dried cinnamon
  1. Blenderize.
  2. Sip.
  3. Swoon.

“As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway“

P.S.  Earn my love; who sings the song with the lyric from the title?

No Sleep Makes Strange Cravings

by

Hello, hello. It’s been a long time (48+ hours!) since I’ve posted and it’s felt even longer. It’s been a crazy couple of days. My meals since I last blogged have been anything but impressive, but it kind of made me want to post all the more since I’m trying to put it all out there. I will add the disclaimer though that this is a *do not as I do* post 😉

I didn’t tell y’all last time, for obvious security reasons, but Monday was Adam’s 1st 24-hour shift at the hospital. It went very well, but I’m still glad that he’ll get to sleep at home most nights this year! I was tired, he was tired, the dog was tired.

<– That’s the scene I walked in on Tuesday afternoon. Swoon.

I had a ton of schoolwork to catch up on and was worried about sleeping without Adam so I pulled a bit of a 24-hour shift myself and only slept 2 hours on Tuesday night. <– this was a terrible idea, but more on that in a minute. I studied mostly standing at the mantle, which was lovely, and had a civilized midnight snack of tea with skim milk and dark chocolates.

Since I packed lunch before my all-nighter, Tuesday’s meals got off to a good start. I mixed together a Stonyfield 0% Chocolate Underground Yogurt with pumpkin puree and the end result was pretty amazing.

I also packed some citrus.

I ended up eating just the tangerine and giving away the orange.

And I bought a coffee – with tons of skim milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon – during a break in class.

Brunch was tasty, but not very filling, so when I came home to my sleeping family I stole a slice of Adam’s Newman’s Own White Pizza.

I also ate this fruit packet.

Wednesday (today) involved a major test and a major paper, so working on practically zero sleep Adam and I knew to grab hot bar for dinner Tuesday night.

An Indian dish and some tofu,

veggies,

which included some “Asian” Brussels sprouts that we so wildly good I almost drove back to Wegman’s to buy more!

I also snacked on a bowl of pretzels and coffee & cream malted milk balls.

And then the evening took a turn South. It’s possible I had a full-scale meltdown and confirmed that I’m now too old to pull all-nighters. Writing my paper involved such dramatic sobbing that I had to reprint a copy of my article because I got it wet with tears. Pathetic, I know.

When I did wrap things up, around 2am, we both celebrated with bowls of Lucky Charms.

Thanks for the cereal, husband, and for loving me in spite of me!

Tuesday I was too tired to be tired (if that makes sense) but today I felt every single missed hour of sleep. Meet breakfast –

And lunch –

Why, yes, classmate wondering why I’m photographing two bags of combos at 10am, I do write a healthy living blog.

But my paper was turned in and my test was at least passed, so today wasn’t a total fail. All I wanted to do at 4:30 when class finished was go home and sleep, but instead I headed to work. Tonight was my final shift which was actually sort of sad. I suppose I won’t miss random strangers calling me an asshole and hanging up, but the whole getting paid thing was nice.

When I got out at 9, I picked up Adam so we could fulfill the strangest food craving I’ll ever have – a McDonald’s Fillet-O-Fish Sandwich.

I hate McDonald’s. I’ve never even tasted this sandwich before. But for some reason I was smelling it all afternoon and it was driving me crazy.

This wasn’t even good (I was right, McDonald’s is gross) but at least I can move forward now.

P.S. I still have to shower (it’s after midnight) and tomorrow I have to *start* studying for Friday’s giant test so if you think tonight’s post was whiney and/or incoherent you probably should wait to read again until this weekend!

Have you ever craved a food that you’ve never tasted before?

Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins

by

It took me a couple of days, but I knew I had to get this recipe posted for you guys.

This recipe is a little time-consuming – you have to make three separate batters and layer them together – but the end result is totally worth it. 

These are muffins and not cupcakes, no frosting and the texture is more muffin than cakey, but they still work perfectly for dessert. 

Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins

Yield: 30 muffins; Prep Time: 1 hour; Cook Time: 23 minutes

Instructions

For this recipe you’ll need to prepare the pumpkin batter, chocolate batter, and cheesecake filling separately and then layer them together into the muffin tins.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Line muffin tins with baking liners then set aside.  You’ll need to prepare the batters in separate bowls but the prep time will go more quickly if you work on both simultaneously (i.e. measure all your flour at once, all your eggs at once, and so on).

for pumpkin batter

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat until well-combined.  In another bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour through salt).  Working in small batches, whisk dry ingredients into wet.

for double chocolate chip batter

  • 1.75 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Place dry ingredients (flour through mini chips) in a large bowl.  In another bowl whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Pour wet into dry and carefully fold together, taking care not to overmix.

for cheesecake filling

  • (2) 8oz packages 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Use electric beaters to cream together cream cheese and sugar for 3 minutes.  Beat egg whites and vanilla into the mixture.

muffin instructions

Place approximately 1.5 Tbsp of pumpkin batter in the bottom of a muffin liner.  Top with 1.5 Tbsp cheesecake filling, placing filling as close to the center of the cup as possible.  Top with 1.5 Tbsp chocolate batter.  Repeat process with remaining batters until all of the tins are full (you will most likely have a little bit of chocolate and cheesecake remaining when the pumpkin runs out, but 30 muffins are plenty).  You may wish to alternate which batters are the top and bottom layers, I did half of each.  Carefully use a toothpick or chop stick to swirl around the edge of each tin, ideally mixing the batters a bit but not moving the cheesecake filling.  Bake at 375* for 20-23 minutes, until muffin tops are firm and an inserted knife comes out clean.

Adapted from Rachael Ray’s Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes and Food Network’s Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Hallowed Breakfast

by

Happy Halloween! 

We didn’t have any fun plans this year but I am all about any holiday with theme candy and colors!

I even applied those colors to my breakfast.

orange = pumpkin, black = chia seeds and mini chocolate chips

My (stove-top) base was 1/2 cup each water and skim milk, 1 medium banana, 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds.

With a handful of shredded, unsweetened coconut and 1/2 tsp mini chips for topping.

This was good but I had too much food and not enough time, I’ll probably only finish eating half of the bowl.

spooky snack preview

I don’t have time for “lunch” on Mondays, but I do have a few things packed to snack on during our short breaks.  A gorgeous looking Comice pear,

and a vanilla YoCrunch with candy bits for the holiday.

What are your Halloween plans?  Did you celebrate already this weekend?  Costumes?!

It’s About The Week

by

Since Tuesday was completely devoid of veggies I made sure to fit some into every single meal today!  My life is still so all over the place and some days I don’t even come close to eating the healthiest diet.  I try to make up for those days by getting in extra nutrients on the days where I can.  Healthy living is more how your week looks than any one day in isolation.

For breakfast I got in a massive dose of Potassium and Vitamin K, aka pumpkin.

Into the blender went:

  • 1 medium banana
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup Plain Fat-free Stonyfield yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup

I ended up with a massive smoothie!

Lunch was all about Folate, or chick peas.

I topped a leftover half serving of channa marsala with some mango chutney.

I also snacked on this baggie of Combos during my last class.

I didn’t say every food choice was about nutrition, some things you eat just for fun!

Dinner was all about Lycopene (and some others), with baked eggplant in tomato sauce.

This dish was so darn good, even as leftovers!  A billion times better than it looks, that’s for sure.  I’m going to publish the recipe soon as part of a Foodbuzz sample post, it deserves some love.

The other half of dinner was mini rigatoni with sharp cheddar and evoo.

This bowl was delicious and I definitely went back for a full serving of seconds!  Plus a few big handfuls of unphotographed kettle chips; we had some reeeeeeally frustrating things happen at school today and I might have been stress nibbling a bit.

When you eat for health do you tend to look at things day by day or take more of a weekly approach?

Health Fair Fare

by

Good morning!  I’m especially chipper today because I got a whopping 10 hours of sleep last night.  I always turn into a bit of a bear at the slightest hint of cold but it appears this year my body requires a full-scale hibernation!

Yesterday morning did get off to a good start with a yogurt bowl.  Into the last ~ serving of Wegman’s 0% Greek yogurt I stirred 1 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and 2 Tbsp Silk Plain Almond Milk.

Then I plopped in a big handful of raspberries before the mix had time to resolidify.

And since I used up the last serving I could use the container as my bowl; portable, yo.

Note: I use the word “yo,” unironically, often.  If we’re going to be friends you should know.

We have our Coordinated Program stuff on Thursday which usually means a 4-hours-straight block of class, but yesterday we technically got out a bit early because we were putting on a health fair!  The program was split into two projects this semester – one group is organizing the chili sale (my group) and the other group organized an on-campus health fair – but everyone in the class ultimately participates in both.  I think the Health Fair group did a great job!

The fair was professional and I was especially impressed with all of the non-dietetics students for how interested they were in learning about nutrition.  I was at the “quiz” table (not shown) and it was a ton of fun.

We didn’t really have time for lunch but I did snag a baggie of baby carrots from one of the other tables.

Plus we all hit up the bake sale.

Our pumpkin fudge pops were a hit!  I also ate most of this carrot cake bar my friend Hillary made.

Yum.  We laughed that it wasn’t really dessert, just that I was making sure I got in my orange veggies for the day!

We recently got a recall notice for the husband’s car so I spent my afternoon out at the Toyota dealership.  I did a little bit of studying and made the best meal I could from the vending machines.

I brought Adam home a handful of those pretzels but it was too late, he had already eaten two big servings of leftover African Peanut Stew, aka both of our dinners.  I was pretty tired and I couldn’t get take-out so instead of grumping around all evening I just got into an early bed.

And since clearly getting up at 5am this morning was easier that most, I had time for breakfast at home today.

I mixed a Stonyfield Low-Fat French Vanilla Yogurt with pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin, then topped with 1/4 cup of All-Bran Bran Buds and 1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut.

This was like mousse with crumb topping … sort of!  I do adore that Bran Bud cereal though.

I’m done with class at 1pm today and I’m hoping to bang out a lot of work for next week’s test.  We are getting back our 2nd test from last week today and considering how bad the 1st one was I bet I’ll be motivated.

Which has more caffeine (no looking it up!) a grande coffee from Starbucks or a Red Bull energy drink?

Tervis, Tastes, TV

by

Today was a perfect day with the husband and dog!  Especially the walk we took around a new block (as in new to us) this morning, pictures to come tomorrow.  I did not do any school work though I did deal with the laundry and eat some veggies.

I even got some veggies into my breakfast, via pumpkin hot chocolate!

To back up, here is the Tervis tumbler I received via the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.

I grew up with glasses from Tervis and when Adam and I started living together they were one thing I was sure I wanted and was willing to spend money on.

Even though I’ve used them forever and know how great they are at keeping drinks cold and not sweating all over the table, until I received my letter with the package I’d never thought about putting anything hot into a Tervis.  Thankfully I had a fantastic recipe to try out.

Pumpkin Hot Chocolate, serves 1

  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 2 Tbsp milk chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Heat milk to simmering in a small pot.  Whisk in chocolate chips until smooth.  Whisk in pumpkin and spice and continue to simmer 1-2 minutes.  Serve, preferably topped with whipped cream!

It was a lazy sort of day and somehow Adam and I made it until 2:30 without eating anything outside of hot chocolate (he doesn’t like pumpkin so I made his with booze!).  We were running errands by the time that we realized we were long overdue for a meal.

So we went to India Gate and had the best meal we’ve eaten yet in Buffalo!

The service was great, the food was healthy and packed with flavor, and the location was footsteps from our apartment; we’ll be back!

We started by splitting a mango lassi.

It was pretty good, but the last (first) time I went to India Gate I had a fig lassi and there was just no beating that!

Adam and I wanted to try several flavors so we made sure to both order things the other would enjoy.

Chicken Makhani – boneless, skinless tandori chicken breast prepared in tomato, butter and cream sauce and garnished with cashews and raisins – for Adam,

and Bhartha Paneer – fresh eggplant cooked with home-made cheese and special house sauce – for me.

Plus rice.

Here was plate #1 –

Adam’s sauce was so rich and creamy!  And my eggplant had the perfect amount of spice.  The homemade cheese was pretty fantastic as well, Adam actually thought it was tofu the first few bites!

And plate number 2 –

Another scoop of Bhartha Paneer plus a bite of rice with Makhani sauce on top.  The husband and I were practically swooning by the time we finished!  Everything was so rich without being too heavy and it was tons of fun trying a few new things.

We also tried a handful of this spiced lentil mix (I think?!) on the way out.

The only meh.  All this did was make it essential for me to buy Good & Plentys at the store.

Speaking of sweet, after we dropped off the groceries and picked up the dog we headed out for this –

I had Coldstone’s pumpkin ice cream in my head all afternoon and was thrilled to see that they had caramel frozen yogurt to mix it with!  Plus graham cracker and caramel sauce.

It was wonderful.  And the price was wonderful too; Adam and I both ordered kid’s sizes and we ended up only paying $3.20 total.

We are finishing our wonderful day by cuddling on the couch and catching up on TV.  Note – major props to “Modern Family” for the funniest (and most tasteful) gay joke I’ve ever seen on tv!

Since our 3pm lunch was also basically breakfast and dinner – minus dessert! – I’m going to grab something else to eat but I’m done blogging for the day so I can cuddle.  Either an English muffin, a cookie, or both.  Happy cuddling, readers!

What’s your favorite Indian dish to order?