Them there are my two little ‘cooking pumpkins’ on the back porch. Can you see the four and a half inches of rain we’ve gotten today?????? Good gravy, I hate to complain, but do we have to go from near drought conditions to a flood in one day? Really fun with two little dogs who think getting their feet wet is akin to walking across hot coals, and a big fuzzy doggie who doesn’t care how wet he gets, and is very restless without his usual two walks. Okay. I’m over it now.
Back to the pumpkin stuff. I forgot to tell you the other day that I made a really good pumpkin smoothie. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture because, well because most pumpkin things just don’t look that appetizing to me. But it was really tasty. Here’s the recipe: 1 cup of whey (from draining my yogurt, you could probably substitute 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup water,) 1 cup almond breeze, about 1/2 cup pumpkin (that happened to be frozen,) 1 banana cube (about 1/2 frozen banana,) 1 frozen apple juice cube, and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Yum yum. Didn’t need any added sweetener with the banana and apple juice.
Today I was restless (cabin fever) and came up with the idea of a pumpkin latte. I think it was better than any I’ve gotten at coffee shops. Okay, so I’ve only ever gotten one at a coffee shop. This was darn good.
Here’s the recipe: 1/2 pkg. Starbuck’s Via iced coffee dissolved in about 1/3 cup of water, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 2-3 Tbsp pumpkin, and about 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Heated this all in the microwave for two minutes, and then put it in the blender to whirl it up cause I think that’s what you’re supposed to do with a latte. Topped with a little lite reddi-whip. Mmmm mmm–tasted like pumpkin pie in a cup!
Well, that’s all the pumpkin news I have for now. I did make Lori’s Pumpkin Cranberry protein bars, and they have been quite enjoyable. I think I overcooked them, but I remedied that by putting a couple Tbsps of vanilla ice cream on top…
Here’s one of my favorite veggies and its so simple to cook. Cut up carrots (you don’t have to peel them) and put in a cup with some Mrs. Dash and a little lite butter. Microwave for 2 minutes, check them and then microwave a minute at a time after that until desired doneness. I had the carrots with some zucchini and a small top sirloin steak for lunch.
Red pear for a snack. Isn’t that pretty? Tasty too.
Dinner was not particularly attractive, but quite tasty. The cottage cheese, crushed pineapple, and walnut combo, alongside some roasted cauliflower.
Well I’m hoping my internet quilt show will come on in 20 minutes, so I’ll sign off for now. That reminds me that I still owe you a quilt show report. Maybe tomorrow.
debby weighs in 
you have probably said before and I am just not remembering.
Do you cut the pumpkin in half, deseed and then bake upsidedown in water like you would any other squash?
and then you must be freezing so you can pull out these small amounts to add to other things – ?
If so, what measurement are you using to freese?
I am sort of picturing your using a melon baller, then letting them freeze on a cookie sheet before dumping them in a big freezer bag – ?
I only cooked pumpkin one time before, but yes, just as you describe, but no water. And last time I did it the pumpkin was very small so I just used it right away. This time I plan to freeze. I might use the ice cube trays to freeze. That makes it very convenient, especially for smoothies or other small projects..
I made a curried pumpkin soup last night and thought of you and Lori when I ate it! It was awesome. And I don’t care how “unattractive” your dinner was, it looked great to me. You know how I love roastedANYTHING 🙂 I’ll have to try that smoothie. Apple juice in the ice cube tray? Who knew?! LOL
The apple juice happened because I had some fresh apple juice from “Apple Hill”. It is so delicious, and extra sweet, but goes bad very quickly (no preservatives) so I got the idea to freeze it, just like other fruits I freeze before they go bad.
Mmmm, pumpkin! I have a little pie pumpkin that I haven’t cooked yet. Also have a can of pumpkin that I ended up dolloping out and freezing. ( Wish I’d thought to use the melon baller for portions, though.) That latte looks so tasty! I’m thinking about trying Georgie’s coffee cake recipe, but using pumpkin instead of apple sauce and pie spice for the cinnamon. Think that would work?
We got rain this past weekend, too, but not quite as much as you did. Just enough to make a fireplace cozy and knitting the activity of choice. Stay dry & hope you and the pups get a chance to get a good stroll soon!
Your pumpkin cake idea sounds delish! And yes, everybody settled down and I had a very nice evening quilting. Today the sun is trying to peak out and I am off for a long walk with Noah!
Am now craving all things pumpkin. YUM!!!
Every time I see a pumpkin latte, I think of POD’s random comment to me about “why pumpkin? why not broccoli?” and I laugh…your latte looks good! As do the carrots – now I have a hankering for carrots, and they are not normally one of my “go to” veggies.
The best thing in your post? The red pear because I am eating one while reading blogs LOL!
I have a pie pumpkin that needs to get cooked up, too. We actually have a pressure cooker and chop up the pumpkin and throw it in there. Makes quick work of cooking without it getting mushy.