Posts tagged ‘Pumpkin Pie Spice’

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October 28, 2011

Natural Pumpkin Oatmeal “Cuffins”

I recently stumbled upon Raw Is Sexy, the fabulous blog of a Californian raw chef and plant based wellness coach who transforms everyday favorites into natural, vegan recipes. When I saw her Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, I couldn’t resist and whipped up a batch right away with a few tweaks.

After a long day, these little buggers were just what the doctor ordered. Is it just me or are cookies the best medicine? I wasn’t alone in my love for this culinary creation. My roommates and friends raved about them…I had too many leftovers lying around and although these are guilt-free I simply HAD to give some away before I ate the entire batch! Taylor coined the name “cuffins,” based on the fact that they taste like healthy muffins in cookie form. The name stuck. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup of water
2 cups flaxseed meal
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 whole avocado
1 cup of pitted medjool dates
1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree
1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed
Dash of stevia, and vanilla extract
Option additions: chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
*Next time I will experiment with using more pumpkin puree and less bananas because the flavor wasn’t as predominately pumpkin as I had wished

To start, place the avocado, water and medjool dates in the food processor. Blend until smooth.

Next, combine your dry ingredients. 

Mash up your banana and add it to your the avocado mixture with the pumpkin puree. Fold in the dry ingredients.

Time for the fun part! Roll into balls and place onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. I may have eaten a spoonful or two of the batter in the process…

Set the oven to 350°F and bake for 10-15 minutes before indulging!

Quick, easy and delicious. Go ahead, have two or three. They’re healthy! Pumpkin Oatmeal “Cuffins” are great days later heated up in the toaster oven, too. Add a cold glass of soy milk and you have yourself a great afternoon pick-me-up. I even crumbled one up on top of my Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal the other morning. Doesn’t get much better than that! Healthy cookies with no added sugar, eggs, butter or flour? Yep, that just happened. Enjoy!

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Snack | 5 Comments »

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October 16, 2011

Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal

I’m a big breakfast person but lately my favorite meal of the day has been routinely consisting of two scrambled eggs and a banana smeared with natural, chunky peanut butter. Although delicious and healthy, I needed a little extra umph the other morning before a tough exam. Enter Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal (inspired by this recipe on Family Fresh Cooking). Believe me, it tastes just as good as it sounds. If not better. Between the whole grains and protein-boost, I had the energy I needed to power through midterm’s week. This recipe is a keeper, perfect for a crisp autumn morning!

Ingredients
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 scoop vanilla soy protein powder
1 cup soy milk (I used Silk Vanilla)
1 egg
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Dash of baking powder, salt and all spice
Sweetener of your choice (i.e. stevia, agave nectar, honey)
Optional toppings: bran cereal flakes, mashed ripe banana, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, nut butter, etc.

To start, preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a small (8×8) baking pan with cooking spray. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients (including the spices and sweetener of your choice).

In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (whisk the egg before adding) before slowly folding in the oat blend.

Pop in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the oats are fully cooked. I sprinkled bran flakes on top for some more healthy carbs. Beware, the lovely aroma wafting from your oven is almost as amazing as my autumn must-have candle scent, Yankee Candle’s Frosted Pumpkin. Mmmm…

Spoon into a bowl and add in toppings of your choice. I garnished my oatmeal with an extra spoonful of pumpkin puree and some pumpkin seeds, as well as a mashed, ripe banana. Holy cow this was so delish. I can’t wait to make it again!
What’s your favorite pumpkin dish? 

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

Posted in Breakfast | 1 Comment »

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November 16, 2010

Healthy Alternative to Swiss Miss

Nothing hits the spot better after a long, chilly day than a hot cup of cocoa. I usually am lazy and throw a packet of Swiss Miss into a microwaved mug of water, yet last night I decided to distract myself from my huge presentation I have today (hence why I’m blogging right now rather than practicing…oops?) to look into homemade hot chocolate. What did I learn? Hot Chocolate from scratch is quick, easy and a whole lot healthier. You don’t get the stomach ache after from the mass amounts of sugar (16 g. per Swiss Miss packet without the fun little marshmallows, mind you) yet it curves that decant, chocolate craving and warms you up from the inside out!


Sprinkled with Love’s Homemade Hot Cocoa
(ditch the cal’s and sugar!)
1 cup of Silk Soy Milk (Light Vanilla for the creamy taste without the calories)
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp. vanilla or almond extract
Dash of salt and Splenda (to taste…I don’t like things too sweet)
Pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice for a festive flair!

If I had an espresso machine I’d totally throw a shot in there to get some caffeine, but I made do with what I had. A lot of recipes I saw sprinkled brown sugar or chocolate chips (even drizzled chocolate sauce) in there…although that doesn’t really follow my almost-no-sugar policy, add it in there if you see fit! Cocoa is really good for you actually, some articles I read said it has more antioxidants (almost 3x) than green tea! Check this link out for more fun facts and information on cocoa’s health benefits (fights cancer, heart disease and aging? Who would have thought!?) Cocoa is a natural appetite-suppressant and contains “beauty” minerals that promote healthy, glowing skin, strong nails and hair, among other things…so, moral of the story, drink up!

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

Posted in Food for Thought, Random, Snack | 6 Comments »

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October 20, 2010

Who Is Granny Smith?

Delta Zeta took over the Horse Listeners Orchard in Ashford this past weekend for a Sister’s Activity and I consequently have had lots of Granny Smith apples lying around. Although I was tempted to make an apple crisp, I took a healthier route: a delightful Turkey, Brie and Apple Sandwich and homemade applesauce.

Turkey, Brie and Apple Sandwich
Ingredients
2 tbsp Dijon mustard (I used yellow, not a Dijon fan…)
1 tbsp honey
Bread of your choice (I used Arnold’s 100-cal Sandwich Thins)
4 oz. Brie, sliced
8 oz. thinly sliced turkey
1/2 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
Spinach (optional)

In a small bowl, mix together the mustard and honey. Spread it on the slices of bread. (HouseandHome.com recommended raisin-walnut bread, which sounds so delicious yet Big Y didn’t have anything of the sort, fail, so I resorted to the whole wheat sandwich thins I already had in the cupboard. Probably a healthier choice anyway.)

Thinly slice the apple and brie.

Layer the ingredients to your liking.

In order to melt the cheese and toast the bread, I put the sandwich in my George Foreman Grill. This appliance was the best Christmas present EVER. I use it for everything. A panini press would work, too!

Taylor, mouth still full with her first bite, mumbled, “This is the best f***ing thing I’ve ever had.” Success. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Homemade Apple Sauce
 Ingredients
 4 apples
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Honey (instead of sugar)
Splash of apple cider or apple juice (optional)

Peel the apples.

Chop!

In a medium saucepan, combine water, apple cider/juice, apples and cinnamon.

Most recipes call for sugar, but I tried drizzling a little bit of honey instead. I’ll let you in on another little secret of mine, I sprinkled Pumpkin Pie Spice in there to enhance the overall seasonal flair.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

Let cool, then mash with a potato masher.

Serve hot or cold!

Apple picking season ends fairly soon, if not already, so get out there and pick your own while you still can. It’s festive! My sisters and I had a fabulous time enjoying each others company, the beautiful scenery and eating our way through the orchard. I’m partial to the Granny Smiths, yet you can of course use other apples for the recipes I tried out. Looking for another way to incorporate your “apple a day?” Slice apples and top your salad! Or try this fitsugar.com recipe. Anyway, I had a blast creating these apple dishes (and eating them…) while listening to Pandora’s Classic Broadway Showtunes Station. Oops, did I just admit to that? Bon appetit!

Sprinkled with Love,

Lauren


Posted in Lunch, Snack | 4 Comments »

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