its the great pumpkin charlie brown

See You In the Pumpkin Patch

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Posted by Judy Moon

As much as I LOVE my beach time and I have been doing my best to keep the summer vibes going (I just recently broke down and put socks on to go to work, that means fall is officially here when I pull the socks out), I soooo love fall as well.

I love the beautiful colors of the changing leaves, the little chill that’s in the air in the morning when I am on my morning walk with my dog Murphy, and my favorite part is of course pumpkins! My mantle becomes a literal shrine/altar to all that is pumpkin. Just for fun – here are nine of the best quotes from It’s Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown – because Linus is a miniature Philosopher and it’s time we revisit his quotes from this Halloween Classic.

I like to experiment with different pumpkin recipes and I recently tried one that is a keeper. It’s quick, easy, healthy and tasty – that ticks all of the boxes for me!

It was a recent post from Dr. Axe – he rocks!

I followed the recipe exactly, which is not always easy for me to do. My creative mind always wants to do something just a tad different, but with baking, you can’t be as flexible or sometimes things go terribly wrong.

This pumpkin bread got a thumbs-up from the hubby. It’s not super spicy, which we both liked but if you like that screaming pumpkin spice taste – you might want to up the spices a bit. It was also not quite sweet enough for our taste, so next batch, I will add some more sweetener. My advice would be taste the batter before it goes in the pan.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Total Time: 85 minutes Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  • Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl
  • Combine all dry ingredients in another bowl
  • Mix both bowls together until well incorporated
  • Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes.

 

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

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Posted by Judy Moon

When October rolls around, it means one thing to me…Pumpkins!!

And of course the switch from a martini to a Manhattan before dinner. I’m not sure how that personal rule of mine started but so it is.

Back to pumpkins.

I LOVE pumpkins. I love the shapes, I love the colors, I love the process of picking them out, (my husband Joe is a patient man, the only thing longer and requires more patience from him is my picking out the Christmas tree), I love the cider donuts they sell at Duffields Farm, where we go for our pumpkins. I secretly want to go through the corn field maze they have there – but it’s kind of for kids and there is a part of me that doesn’t want to be the adult in there freaking out if I got lost. Not worth the stress!

They have all of the cool varieties of pumpkins and gourds like you see in Martha Stewart – the blue ones, the white ones. They just make me smile.

Another cool thing about pumpkin is that it’s a Super Food- a real nutritional super star.

Pumpkin contains:
*Alpha-carotene
*Beta-carotene
*High fiber
*Low calories
*Vitamin C and E
*Potassium
*Magnesium
*Pantothenic Acid

Check out Super Foods- Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life by Steven Pratt, M.D., and Kathy Matthews for even more fun facts about the benefits of pumpkin.

Here is a great pumpkin smoothie recipe that I make. It’s loosely based on the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Recipe from Oh She Glows.

Great Pumpkin Smoothie
(serves one)
1 c unsweetened almond milk
1Tbs flax seed
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned but you can use fresh if you are that organized) *I have been known to use a little more since I like it really “pumpkiney” if that’s a word
1/2 banana
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardamom
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg ( I use 9 grates of nutmeg, I like nutmeg and the number 9- that’s my logic)
1tbl molasses
1 tsp maple syrup or agave
ice if desired

Blend all ingredients in your Vitamix, Magic Bullet, Montel Williams Health Master or whatever machine you blend your shakes in and the most important part is… enjoy the flavor of fall!

Cheers!

Photo Credits // 1 Flickr // 2 Martha Stewart // 3 Oh She Glows // 4 Two Peas and Their Pod // 5 Tumblr