27th day of pumpkin

 I am in the home stretch of my pumpkin enjoyment.  I can even honestly say that I enjoyed every last sip,drip, crumb and bite of pumpkin.  I even managed another homemade concoction of my own.  As you know I am not a professional so try my recipes at your own risk.

  I have atleast one plan for another made up recipe but other than that; the remaining items will be made by someone else and tested by me!

Today's ingredients in their entirety!

1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt (always vanilla plain is plain for sure)

1 .5 tablespoons of pumpkin (not the pie mix)

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of pumpkin pie spice

Mix all together in the same bowl.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Soup today for day 23 of 30!

  I wonder if I could have lost weight from this challenge if I stuck with a 100% pumpkin diet. I'm talking a whole breakfast, lunch and dinner deal.  I'm talking strictly meals and not desserts?  What are the benefits of pumpkins?  There's got to be something, right?  I will have to look that up.

  Today I was bound and determined to make a savory meal versus a dessert or breakfast item. Haven't I run out of those? What else is left?  Maybe a quiche?

  I have complied a list of a few options I would like to make but otherwise this challenge was not organized.  I just wanted 30 days of pumpkin.  I didn't have a specific item for each day it's just been whatever I made or bought.  It would have maybe took the fun away if I shared a preplanned list for the month.  So instead everyday I ran around figuring out what to do.

  Today just so happens to be soup.  I had an opening for dinner because we are low on leftovers so this provided another alternative.

This was a fast, easy, basic soup.  Although it had some spice added to it; it could be dressed up more to another level if you knew what you were doing.  Not me.  Remember how my ice cream and popsicle turned out?  I however really liked this soup.  It was a creamy soup, and although it tasted very much so like squash (which I like to) it seemed to have lost its pumpkin individuality.  I was amazed at how the texture of the pumpkin changed and it became creamy like soup. No grit, or lumps.

  This will be a nice soup I can make and will have my kids make and note the recipe because it is #1 good for you, #2 a great healthy choice #3 quick and easy soup for them to make #4 it's way better than soups in a can.

Thank you myrecipes; I can always count on you!

Day 22 Pumpkin Crepes

  Bonjour everyone!  I have told you before I have no problem waking up and making breakfast.  I kinda of like to cook and bake.  Breakfast and dessert are my favorite meals!  Can dessert be a meal?  If its fruit based and healthy; can it be a meal?  I did mention last night how the pumpkin challenge was ending and we were running out of breakfast ideas.  We have done oatmeal, pancakes, waffles and doughnuts.  Then that light bulb said what about crepes?

  Crepes it is!  So today we have pumpkins + crepes!  I had a lot of apprehension about this as I thought crepes were hard to make.  I had never made them before.  Never even thought about making them because I didn't have a fancy Crepe pan, didn't know there was an easy enough recipe, and wasn't sure I would like them.

  This recipe was straight forward and easy to interpret! I was swirling my batter in the frying pan and it was obviously working. The original creator of the recipe even let you know the mix would be runny.

  

I am so in love with this recipe as I was able to step out of my comfort zone and successfully make something I have never done before.  This doesn't compare to changing the flavor of an item.  This is a major event.  This is up there with amazing accomplishments like when I made butter and mayonnaise.  

This is a keeper!  I cant wait to use this in our breakfast line up.  With this as my base I will change the filling now.  Stay tune for those meals!

  It was amazing to see this perfect little she'll form.  Follow the directions (and I usually do but I still thought crepes were hard, were above me to make) 30 seconds to a minute then flip.  

  The cream inside I did change a little.  Of course since I didn't plan too far ahead I got to work with cream cheese that was not pliable from room temperature but we made do.  I didn't use as much as the filling recipe requested and I didn't have any whopping cream but I did add some powder sugar, 3 tablespoons of pumpkin a small chunk of cream cheese and pumpkin spice.  I didn't have enough filling for all the crepes I made.  But that is fine we will fill them with goodness tomorrow.  We were all able to have one as a sample and at this point that was nice enough.  The filling was delicious! Cream cheese added to anything (even without the whip cream) is a great ingredient.

This fabulous Crepe recipe came from simplisticallyliving.

Pumpkin recipe enclosed for Day 21 pumpkinchallenge

  The pumpkin challenge is still around.  Day 21 is done and over.  I have only a few days left but can say this was a great journey.  No, I didn't make something everyday but it was my game and my rules so I get to make the exceptions.  Besides the homemade outweighs the store/restaurant items!

  Today's recipe was found on a pumpkin dedicated board on my pinterest.  Check out what else in have pinned by selecting the tab on the side.  I have a wide range of boards from fashion, to recipes, to homeschool lessons, to crafts, science and DIY projects.

  Todays pumpkin cake was super easy.  I like that I got to pull out some ramekins.   I bought 4 (need 2 more) awhile ago and only use them randomly.  So when I pull them out it makes the occasion feel extra special.  Besides everyone loves to have their own cake and some of us need a little bit of portion control.  A ramekin guarantee one slice (basically) and not a piece more.

  The recipe was originally made to make 2 ramekins but ramekins do come in different sizes and I have never been one to get an exact count to compare with what the recipe states.  So I present you 3 cakes. (Still an issue for 6 people to get a sample of however)  But never fear we made do and we will keep this recipe to make again and doubling it will not be a problem.

Of course when you make it in a ramekin depending on the size it really looks just like a cupcake.  But that's ok because this little cake was delicious.  I did leave off the topping and used all purpose flour for the whole thing but this was a great, moist tasting cake.  Again the smell coming out of my oven was divine. I wish I could capture that and share it with you.

Thank you howsweeteats. This recipe was delicious!

A Bowl of Hot Pumpkin! (Day 17- done)

  This recipe is a short and sweet one.
 Another breakfast meal brought to you by pumpkin (and oatmeal) surprise!!

  I started out with a single serving bowl of oatmeal.  I also had the teens assistance in this matter.  She was also the ever so eager guinea pig.  After all this is half an experiment no sense everyone getting sick.

 The oatmeal just sat there waiting to be spiced up and appreciated more.  Oatmeal makes the best base to build on.  I wonder if I can run out of flavored oatmeals.

For this oatmeal we just used water versus milk.  We added about a tablespoon of pumpkin then honey, vanilla,pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves and all spice.  Sorry no measurements.  I think this is an individual preference.  The pumpkin and the oatmeal becomes your base and you just build on it.

The end result! Pumpkin oatmeal!  The teen enjoyed it although she declared it was not her favorite she did like it nonetheless.

No recipe credit today because I made this!!

Ooh your such a loaf (Pumpkin challenge)

  It's almost amazing how many recipes if you plan a little and maybe skimp a little how far a can of pumpkin can go.  I do believe I have gotten good at it.  I can't make a recipe but I can stretch a can of pumpkin to suit my needs.

 I won't know what to do with myself when it comes to mixing up something that's not orange.  I may think the recipe is wrong after this month.  I will tell you the smell never gets old.

 Have I perfected a pour shot?  Not to bad if I say so?

 All ready set to bake. An hour is such a long time.  But in the end we know it will be a great accomplishment.

 Hello pretty.

 Just a touch of golden color and the sweet taste of pumpkin! Yum!

Now as I show you the picture inside obviously you can see I did forgo the cream cheese.  I was going to put it in, then couldn't find it.  Need I say  later tonight I found it.  Oh well.  It taste just fine without it and if I was watching my calories I have just decreased them slightly.

This recipe came from the  eastcoastmommyblog.

Cookie monster (Pumpkin edition)

  Ok so I need to stock up on pumpkin scented candles, potpourri or cans of pumpkin.  I am getting so used to the smell and it's not quite becoming second nature but I wish it was.  I love the way it smells and fills my house when I cook it.

  Of course making cookies always smells good but to know it has some pumpkin in them makes these extra special.  These here are my first official pumpkin cookies!

  I assigned the teen to assist and young chef assigned herself to help.

 So these cookies were essentially made by 3 people but don't worry we are all trained professionals.  Also as a side not before I scare you away; this recipe was not that hard.

 You got your dry bowl of ingredients. Funny how noone ever wants to taste the flour bowl.

 Your wet bowl filled with butter and sugar. Fingers did sneak in here.

Then behold the bowl of pumpkin goodness! Don't touch it has an egg in it and you know what they say.  (I live on the edge)

  The only bad thing about this recipe is they require some down time in the refrigerator.

So with that downtime comes a lack of trust and impatience.  The kids got their hopes up only to be put on hold.  This is a hard concept to grasp. Now you see them now you don't.  My poor plan on this step also meant the cookies were having a sleepover in the fridge as it was already 8 o'clock.  Enter worst mom of the year.  However I said I would make them for breakfast in the morning and I regained my tolerable mom title.

0700 let's get this show on the road!

Ahhh tick tick tick. Done

I present you an awesome cookie. An awesome pumpkin cookie!

  Check out the recipe, grab your ingredients and have milk on hand these should go in the books as a must have for a fall cookie.

These awesome soft pumpkin goodies come from cookingclassy.

No repeats here! Pumpkin Waffles Today!

  We make a lot of hot breakfast in this house! Does that make us morning people?  Maybe just people that are hungry.  Today in maintaining my goal of 30 days consuming pumpkin we started out early with a batch of pumpkin waffles.

  I love my waffle maker.  I have had this waffle maker for years.  My mom made me waffles on a regular basis growing up.  She of course doubled the batch as we ate plenty of them.  I on the other hand make a single batch and cook eggs with it or offer other items as a space filler.  A waffle maker was the first kitchen appliance I asked for as a grown up.  This is the very same one!  I will skip the part that tells you how old this machine is but it has definitely been a gift that keeps giving.

  Can you see how loved it is? Do they call that seasoned?  White doesn't look like the best color for this appliance?  Maybe I will see if I can clean off the "love".

 This morning I had the teen make the waffles.  Sometimes I sit in the other room and bellow the ingredients sometimes I hover around her.  When I am not directly in her space she asks less questions and gets the job done.  When I'm standing near her she seems to doubt herself.

 Wet bowl and dry bowl for this recipe she has done this before.  No questions about separating them and stirring thoroughly.  But why do I need to make a well? What is that extra for?

   She did a great job! First thing she said after bite number one was these were the best waffles she ever made! I will have to agree with her that theses are "those waffles" that syrup is barely necessary.

These waffles had just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.  The recipe only called for a 1/2 cup of pumpkin!  

 A faint trace of syrup was added on these but you can definitely go without. These waffles were delicious and will be added to our breakfast options (note to self always keep can of pumpkin on hand).

Todays recipe pumpkin-waffles!

Pumpkin Day 12

  Although I did have a pumpkin latte and I started to make some cookies to late to be cooked tonight (they will be my pumpkin tomorrow) I squeezed out a pumpkin milk shake.

  This recipe does not use the already yummy pumpkin ice cream available in stores.  I used vanilla ice cream and a couple scoops of pumpkin pie from the can.

  I even fudged a little on this recipe as I didn't quite have the exact amount of ice cream so I had added the called for ingredients just not the exact amounts.  That's a close to me making my own recipe up as it gets.

  Also because the rest of the family were eating bowls of ice cream it really didn't matter that my concoctions only made one little glass of a pumpkin milkshake. Hmm, how convenient.

Another day down! Mission accomplished!
Recipe credit goes to:ourbestbites.com.

Pumpkin Day 7!

  I have experimented twice with my own recipes containing pumpkin today.  I am not going to count them until I get them passed through the children.  I made an attempt at ice cream and the other was popsicles.

  To blend pumpkin into spoonable goodness is a science. Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin pie spices and maybe ginger.  I know those can be added to the pumpkin mixture to make it better but I haven't gotten the right proportions figured out.  An apple uses the same spices but an apple also atleast starts out good so you can build on that.  Maybe by the end of the month I can build a nice pumpkin basic mix to build on! Until then I found a new recipe!

  These are like the no bake energy balls.  It has very few ingredients and all of the ingredients are natural and healthy.  This is so easy your kids could make it.  I did skip the powdered sugar coating as I didn't think my kids needed it.  I wanted it as a healthier snack but by all means I'm sure it tastes extra nice with it so you could try that as well.

  The end result is a perfect afternoon snack.  Bite size pumpkin balls!  This recipe took a minimal amount of pumpkin as well but you can taste it and it was good and the raisins added a nice component in the oatmeal mix.  Now with the last two items in the freezer I have officially used up this can!  On to the next can!

  Thanks for following my pumpkin challenge!

Today's recipe came from parenting.com.

Day 6 Drinking more pumpkin!

  I had to catch up today as I didn't consume any pumpkin yesterday.  So after our pancake breakfast I set into finding another pumpkin recipe.  I made a menu for the week but I have no organized plan for this pumpkin challenge!  I only know a few items I want to try.

  So after giving my daughter two choices we settled on pumpkin pie hot chocolate! Ahh, how could you not?

As long as you have the normal pumpkin pie spices and your pumpkin pie all you need is some white chocolate and then you have the makings of a nice hot delicious liquid treat!

 Mix everything together and let it boil.  I really need to get a pumpkin scented candle.  I'm so in love in the scent.  Although I'm sure you can't duplicate this smell enough.

  This drink was awesome!  I have had a few pieces of white chocolate in my cupboard for awhile so it was nice to have it on hand for this recipe.  I did add some milk to thin it out and it was delicious.  It tasted like a hot pumpkin drink with hints of white chocolate.  I shared with the younger ones and they liked it.

  Boy I sure am glad I have all these recipes documented so that I can go back and look up our new favorites and indulge in March or any other time of unofficial pumpkin season.


Ohh, macaroniandcheesecake this recipe was a definite keeper for this house.  We will be making this one again for sure!

Pumpkin! Missed a day! (Day 5)

  Ok so I missed a day but never fear. Catch up is here!  I am more than happy to play catch up and make two glorious recipes with pumpkin in it today!

  So first off we started the day with pancakes.  Pumpkin pancakes.  These were delicious warm.  I had my doubts as the teenager was helping me and a few of the measurements didn't go as planned but all was well.   She is so funny making pancakes.  She lacks in the pancake flipping department.  When she becomes an adult she is going to excel in the pancake department because of all this practice I am giving her.  Or she will never make one when she's grown.  I will have scarred her for life.

 This recipe helped us stretch out the can of pumpkin we opened for the granola yesterday.  A small amount went into the pancakes but it still had a good amount of flavor in them.

These pancakes were great.  I ate a couple without syrup and I think if you can eat them like that then they must be good.

Thank you sweetpeaskitchen for the great pumpkin pancakes!

Day 4 Pumpkin

  It may be late but it's too early to give up on my 30 days of pumpkin consumption!  I didn't want to count a pumpkin coffee and donut that I ate again.  That is not what this is all about.  This challenge is about me making, baking or cooking pumpkin.  So I made for today Cinnamon Pumpkin Granola!  We eat a lot of granola and oatmeal here so I am never short of it!

  I found the recipe to be easy.  Granola recipes come in a variety of skill levels as well as ingredients.  This recipe although took a very small amount of pumpkin (3 Tbl) it did require ingredients I had on hand.

  I think I mixed this up quicker than it took to cook, stir,cook stir.  With granola you have to babysit.  Over cook it and it's hard as rocks under cook it and not stir it around you get flavored uncooked oats.  Neither of which sound good to me.

  I did stir a little harder and as thorough as I could as I cut corners and didn't make a wet bowl and a dry bowl.  I was confident that it was mixed though.  The you lay it down on the cookie sheet to bake.

  I can not even begin to tell you how good it smelled.  All the children let me know how good the granola smelled.  Sometimes food is the best potpourri!  It quickly covered up the cabbage scent from dinner.

  Granola is served. Pumpkin to be exact!  If you look closely you can see shredded coconut.  It's taste like pumpkin. Surprisingly with such a small amount of the canned pumpkin.  I probably will not mix anything else in it but it will get sprinkled on a bowl of yogurt or in a bowl for dry munching!  I want to work on making clusters.  I'm never very good at that.  Cheers to the pumpkins!

Recipe credit goes to lecremedelacrumb.

How do you drink your coffee?

  I scored this great Keurig a few months ago from a show on TV for a steal but it was not one of those famous K-cup machines.  No not here.  It was an overlooked R-cup machine. I didn't pay attention to that part when I bought it.  I was just excited that I was able to join the Keurig club.  Well now I don't think I'm part of the club.  I think I'm in the Keurig family but maybe like a distance cousin.  One that's not always invited over but gets a random coupon just too get my money but that's all.

  When it arrived I presented it to my husband as he is the one that wanted to make coffee at home.  I was unaware I could make what I buy at home.  I thought only highly trained professionals were allowed to make it.  I briefly remember him making a cup though.  So obviously you don't need to be so highly trained just skim the directions and your good to go.  It does make lattes and cappuccinos like the original Keurig, it has a frother in the system, but that's where the similarities stop.  I didn't know it was not the "real deal" the K-cup machine until I had gotten reusable K-cups and they didn't fit.

This is what a R-cup looks like.

This cup is much shorter and even a little wider.  There is no confusing the two.  I can not use a K-cup in my R-cup machine.  The Rivo is strictly a R-cup deal.

  I still haven't personally used it but do frequent area places for my coffee supplement.  Thankfully I do not need coffee and so therefore do not go everyday or every week. However I have gone to Wawa three times this week!  Today being the third day I actually picked up their refillable cup.  The cup costs a couple dollars and refills for this month are $1.  After this month they go up a few cents more.  Ahh, did you hear me say I have already gone multiple times this week already.  Looks to me like I purchased my refillable cup just in time.

  Of course don't bother asking what's in my cup.  Tis the season for pumpkin!!  I fell in love with it after the first cup.  Lol, are you still with me?  I am not a regular coffee drinker but I have drank coffee 3 times this week.  Something is going on.  It is so good that my husband doesn't get any leftovers.  Usually he gets the other half of the cup.  I drink the whole thing.  I used to also get sick after drinking even the little bit that I did.  I also couldn't necessarily drink it when it was room temperature or cold.  Not the case here!  This coffee is all around good and pleasing to me and my belly!

    Well I am now so excited to go back with my cup for the rest of October and reap the rewards of paying a reduced rate for my coffee, sparing the landfill of my coffee cups

and drinking up some more yummy goodness.

What's in your cup?