Pumpkin Milkshake for 1

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

While we are on the cusp of one of my most favorite holidays, I've got a simple, easy, and proportional treat. It's the perfect dessert for 1 person, and best of all, you can use any leftover pumpkin puree you have remaining from making pumpkin pies. I had about 3/4 cup of leftover pumpkin puree, and it ended up being the perfect amount for this milkshake. There's really nothing to this recipe, only 4 ingredients. Pumpkin puree, vanilla ice cream, a tiny amount of pumpkin pie ice, and because I'm a kid at heart, some chocolate sprinkles. 

In fact, because I was just making this for me, I didn't even bother to unearth the blender. I used my smoothie cup and my immersion blender. Perfect for a small amount of liquid and what felt like less cleaning. 

It occurred to me, as I'm sitting here typing, that I could have a blog specifically dedicated to desserts for one. Honestly, most of the desserts I make are desserts for one. The hubby and I aren't exactly dessert people, and I'm almost always more or less focused on what I'm making for dinner. But, later in the evening, I usually am rooting around the kitchen, looking for something sweet. I end up making cookies in mugs in the microwave, mini-cakes to inhale, or something cold and frosty, like milkshakes. In the case of this milkshake, my eyes passed over that container containing a smidge of leftover pumpkin. That was all she wrote. 

Can I tell you how much I'm loving pumpkin this fall? Well, it's a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot. Y'all are going to have to put up with pumpkin recipes well into December. I made Turkey Pumpkin Chili the other night, and it was so good. When I think of pumpkin, I always think of pumpkin pie. Or pumpkin spice lattes. Or this milkshake. Whatever the case, when I think pumpkin, I think of that spicy, sweet flavor. But that's only because we all love to add sugar to pumpkin. My chili had 2 cups of pumpkin puree in it, and let me tell you, it tasted nothing like pumpkin spice! :)

Trust me, when it comes to chili, that's a good thing!

As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, it's the day before Thanksgiving! I, unfortunately, have to pick up a few things at the grocery store. Argh. Not looking forward to that. After I brave the crowds, with their turkey-hazed, wild-eyed craziness, you can bet I'm not leaving the house. I have a Pecan Pie to bake today and Deviled Eggs to make. I've actually never made Deviled Eggs before, so something new for me. I'm a tad nervous about the Pecan Pie, pies are so temperamental. I did pick up a clear pie pan, so there's no chance I'm going to an under-baked crust :) Now all I have to worry about it is making sure the filling is not "soupy". It is supposed to be somewhat overcast today. Which makes me a little nervous of that old wives tale saying you should never bake Pecan Pie on an overcast day. Cross your fingers for me!

I hope everyone has fantastic, safe, and family-filled holiday tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Ingredients (makes 1 milkshake):

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 small scoops vanilla ice cream

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

optional: chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, ice cream, and pumpkin pie spice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and top with chocolate sprinkles, if using. Serve immediately!

Printable Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these!

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Creamy Chicken, White Bean, and Green Chile Soup

Today, I'm sharing one of my most favorite of soups with you guys. This recipe has been hanging around my kitchen for years. Since right around Day 1 of my food obsession. I've told y'all the story before- how I became super unhealthy in college, gaining 70 lbs from the day I graduated high school. Eating, and eating, and eating until I reached my rock bottom. Either go up another size in clothes or change my life. I chose to change my life and "Cooking Light" was where I started. In the beginning, I created a username at myrecipes.com and began to save recipes under my username. I would spend hours trolling the website, looking for new recipes to add to my bucket list. This soup just happened to be one of the first recipes I tried in the those days. 

You can find this recipe on Cooking Light's website under the name "Witches Brew Chicken Soup". However, since it's long past Halloween, I decided to call this soup what it is rather than stick to the themed name. Besides, this soup is good all winter, not just in the fall. It's creamy. Flavorful. Delicious. And customizable with your choice of toppings!

One of my favorite parts about this soup is that it's made creamy by mashing a can of beans and mixing it with a little bit of milk and flour. You know, rather than thickening with a larger volume of flour, and then adding heavy cream. This soup is so creamy, you'd never know it was made that way by a healthy trick. 

I suggest serving the soup with a nice crusty bread. You'll want to sop up every last drop of this soup. 

Choosing this soup to feature today actually brought about a really fantastic blogging idea for me. There are so many wonderful recipes I've got hidden in my Cooking Light archives. I think it would be fun to dig out some of my most favorite recipes I haven't made in years and feature them on the blog. Of course, I think this may be a project of the new year. We'll see. I've got Pumpkin and Pecan pies to make this week, Pumpkin Brownie Bread and Cinnamon and Toffee Chip Cookies in the pipeline, and then... dun, dun, dun... It'll be time to feature Christmas Cookies. I held off pretty long on choosing this years cookie menu, mainly because I get so darn excited I want to start at that moment. And cookies get stale, so they aren't anything you can make early. So I waited, and waited. Until yesterday. Temptation took over, and I was on Pinterest like white on rice. It only took about 10 minutes before I'd picked out what I was going to make this year. Above all else, I make Snickerdoodles every year. They are tradition, and everyone looks forward to them. I'll also be repeating my Christmas Crunch Popcorn. Mainly because the hubby's family is addicted to it. The rest of my lineup will be as follows: Cake Batter Christmas Cookies, Peppermint Truffles, Peanut Butter Cup Bark, and Homemade Turtles. 

And there I go. All excited again. And there's still a couple of weeks before I get to start! Argh, the humanity!

Ok, I'm going to try to get excited to bake my pies. I'm making my first-ever pumpkin pie! I freshly roasted another pumpkin yesterday, and I have big plans. Big, BIG plans. Pumpkin Pie, Turkey Pumpkin Chili, and as I mentioned before, Pumpkin Brownie Bread. 

Yep. Excited again :)

You know what I'll be doing this weekend. I hope everyone else has a fantastic and safe weekend!

Ingredients (serves 6-7):

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

2 (16 oz) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained (divided)

1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chiles

2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup almond milk

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded (I used leftover meat from a chicken I roasted)

1/4 cup cilantro

toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions (optional)

Directions:

1. Add bacon to a large stockpot while cold. Place over medium high heat. Sauté bacon until crispy. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Set aside, reserving the bacon grease. You only need about a tbsp, so you may want to discard some grease if you have more. 

2. Add onion and carrot to the bacon grease. Sauté for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic to pan, sauté for 30 seconds.

3. Add chicken broth, cumin, and ground red pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 can of beans and green chiles.

4. In a small bowl, mash remaining can of beans. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour and milk. Add milk mixture to the mashed beans. Stir to combine. Slowly, and stirring the soup continuously, add bean/milk mixture to the soup. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens. Add chicken and cilantro, and heat until chicken is hot (about 2-3 minutes).

5. Ladle soup into bowls and top with desired toppings, including reserved crumbled bacon. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Vegetable Beef Soup

Lentil Soup with Spicy Sausage and Kale

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesdays

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

I finally got around to roasting that pumpkin. Actually, I've got 4 pumpkins, so I got around to roasting 1 of my pumpkins. I fully plan on roasting another, but my FoodSaver bit the dust. A FoodSaver, for those of you not familiar, is a home appliance that allows you to vacuum-seal pretty much any thing you want. It's how I buy all my meat in bulk, and how I turn a big pot of soup into multiple meals. Ours has been on its last legs for a couple of months now. In September, the latch on it broke so much that we have to hold one side of the appliance down in order to seal anything. And just last week, the motor finally went out. So the darn thing won't even suck now, and you have to use the weight of the whole world to hold the contraption down if you want to seal up a bag of chips. It's been frustrating. The hubby and I were talking, and we figured out the FoodSaver is the kitchen appliance that is used the most. Not the stand mixer. Not the food processor. Not the toaster, or the microwave, or the oven. The only appliance that comes close in terms of usage is the coffee maker. Even the coffee maker is in second place though, because I only use it once a day. I use the FoodSaver multiple times every day. I seal almost every bag I open. And it seems I'm always making broth, soup, purees, sauces, etc. that need to be vacuum-sealed and frozen. 

So I'm in a holding pattern presently when it comes to stocking my freezer. I'm trying not to prepare anything that has to be vacuum-sealed, and I'm trying to keep my cool when sealing anything. But only temporarily. My wonderful, generous parents were planning on getting us a new FoodSaver for Christmas, and thankfully, they are sending it to us early! It should be here soon (within the next couple of days) so until then, I'm holding off on making anything that needs to be sealed. And that includes homemade pumpkin puree!

I've been buying canned pumpkin for years. Just like everything else that I'd never considered making homemade, like chicken broth, salsa, taco seasoning, hummus... you get the picture. However, the hubby's aunt gave me 4 pumpkins, so I figured it was finally time to experiment with pumpkin. My parents have been making their own pumpkin puree for years, which they actually feed to their dog. Did you know pumpkin puree is good for their coats, and possibly might make a finicky eater gobble up their dry kibble? Good stuff for pups. My teeny chihuahuas have a tendency to gain weight, so unfortunately, pumpkin is not in their future. It is in mine though! I roasted that smaller, wartier pumpkin and ended up with 6 cups of pumpkin puree. Not bad for such a small pumpkin. I got these pumpkins for free, so much more economical than buying canned pumpkin. Plus, no chemicals from an aluminum can making their way into my puree.

Preparing the pumpkin is easy-peasy. You really just slice the pumpkin into quarters, scoop out the innards and seeds (reserving seeds for roasting!), and then toss the quarters into the oven. 1 hour later,  boom, you're done. Scoop out the roasted pumpkin, puree until smooth, and voila! Homemade pumpkin puree. It doesn't get any easier. Not only did I freeze a bunch of puree for later, I kept about a cup out that I'm going to make Pumpkin Milkshakes with. I've also got a recipe picked out for the next pumpkin. I'll be using a good portion of that one to make Turkey Pumpkin Chili. 

In home health care news, I'm feeling better. The mysterious sore throat comes and goes, but is mostly gone. The horrendous cough has subsided about 90%. And energy? It's coming back, albeit slowly. The hubby's cold never seemed to get as bad as mine, indeed he is almost 100% already. The nerve of his immune system.  The hubby just finished up a run of night shifts, so he's got a couple days off before he goes back to day shift, and we are taking full advantage. We had a lunch date at the local brewery yesterday, and today promises to be movie day. We love having a weekend in the middle of the week :)

Hope everyone is having a great week! Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (amount prepared depends on pumpkin size):

1 pumpkin

Directions:

1. Cut top off of pumpkin. Slice pumpkin into quarters. Scoop out seeds and membrane using a spoon. Cut pumpkin into smaller wedges, if desired. 

2. Preheat oven to 350º. When heated, place pumpkin wedges on a cookie sheet. Roast pumpkin in the oven for 45 minutes- 1 hour. Bake time depends on size of pumpkin. Pumpkin is done when wedges are browned, soft, and easily pull away from the pumpkin skin.

3. Peel pumpkin skin off and place wedges in a food processor. Pulse until smooth, or desired texture.  Store puree in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze.

Printable Recipe

Looking for recipes to use pumpkin puree in? Try these!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Creamy Pumpkin Custard

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Apple Pie Smoothies

I loooooove smoothies. Love them. More often than not, I have a smoothie for an after-dinner snack. It's so easy to keep the essentials on hand. Frozen fruit, greek yogurt, almond milk, orange juice- all convenient to keep at home. Or in the case of this smoothie, I used fresh fruit but added ice. There's just a million combinations and possibilities out there. I came up with this one when I was craving a smoothie and staring at a large bag of apples sitting on the kitchen counter. You'd think the hubby and I were horses with the amount of apples we eat. Once I threw the apples in my smoothie, it just seemed natural to add a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to give the concoction an apple pie flavor. And it does. Deliciously. 

So, happy Thursday everyone! It's almost the weekend after another long week. I (and now the hubby) am still sick. I've been sidelined with this nasty cold for a week and 2 days now. It's strictly in my lungs now, and that's the most frustrating part. Running while coughing up gunk from your lungs is not desirable. So I've been resting, and trying to get better. And... I'm pretty tired of resting. I'm usually on the go, I have lots to do, and I usually have tons of energy. Not so much right now. I'm really hoping the remainder of this cold goes away on its own, I'm not really relishing the fact I might have to go to the doctor. I'm definitely one of those people that avoids the doctor as much as possible. 

My plan for today, since I'm still not feeling awesome, is to roast a pumpkin. You know, to make homemade pumpkin puree. I've got 4 amazing pumpkins sitting on my porch as decoration, I think it's time to delve into one of those suckers. I'm picturing all the stuff I'm going to make with homemade pumpkin puree, and getting very excited. I see a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie in my future :) Plus, my pumpkins are pretty big. I should have plenty to freeze. Pumpkin treats year round!

I've never been one to only eat certain things at certain times of the year. I like pumpkin in the spring, and summer too. I like soup in the summer. I like salads and berries in the winter. The only convention I stick to is, I don't eat Chicken Parmesan in the summer. It's a winter-dish only. Don't ask me why, I'm just very stubborn about that rule. In fact, it's getting to be that time of year when I start craving Chicken Parmesan. Crunchy, saucy, cheesy... yum. It might be time to put that one on the menu...

Wow, I got really off-track there. Started out talking about smoothies, apples, and fruit, and somehow winded up waxing poetic about Chicken Parmesan. What can I say? The mind doth like to wander...

So, to surmise- if you like fruit and fruity drink concoctions, this is for you. If you like apple pie, this is for you. If you like somewhat healthy drinks, this is for you. I love this delicious, spicy, apple-iscious smoothie and I think you will too.

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes 1 large smoothie):

2 apples, chopped

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/3 cup almond milk

2-3 tsp honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1- 1 1/2 cups ice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Add more or less honey to make smoothie sweeter. Add more ice to make smoothie thicker, if desired. 

2. Pour into glass. Sprinkle top with cinnamon, if desired. Serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Chocolate Oat Smoothies

Green Smoothies

Tropical Fruit Smoothies

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ah, the first pumpkin recipe of the season. Fall truly has descended upon us. On this day in NE Kentucky,  this means the humidity is gone, there's a crisp chill in the air, the leaves are falling at an alarming rate, and... pumpkin recipes are all the rage. And I love me some pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is one of my most favorite pies. It's right up there with cherry and raspberry pies. Oh, and chocolate pie. Blueberry. Mmmmm. Ok, maybe I just like pie. Good thing, because these little muffins truly taste like pumpkin pie. 

These muffins are so perfectly moist and tasty. The vanilla-cream cheese topping makes it taste like a dollop of whip cream on a slice of pie. I wasn't expecting such WOW results, but hey, I'll take it. The recipes makes a fairly large batch, about 18 muffins, but I had no trouble pawning these off on family members. They were gone in the blink of an eye. Well, excluding the ones I saved for hubby, but let me tell you, those are long gone too.

Making and devouring these were a little like dipping my toe into the water. I'm fully ready to be submerged in pumpkin now. I'm craving pumpkin bread, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin smoothies- doesn't a pumpkin pie smoothie sound to-die-for?? Meaning, this is only the beginning. Beware-plenty of pumpkin recipes to follow...

I am feeling a little pep in my step this morning. I just got word from my mom, who was waiting on results from a bone density test, that her scan was clear! This news made my morning. On top of that, it's a perfectly, crisp fall morning without rain. One thing I'm seriously enjoying about this fall is running. It was a difficult, struggle-some summer running in the humidity. Where I thought I'd gotten out of shape because I could only run 2.5 miles without getting dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, and cold, I've realized I was overheating. Simply due to the weather, not to my conditioning. But running in this cool weather, I feel like a million bucks. I ran 5 miles in 48 minutes yesterday, definitely a feat for me. And not something I could accomplish at 75º with 90% humidity. Most of my miles were sub-10's. I'm pretty darn slow, so I'm super-proud I was able to do this. 

One other fact that has me in the groove this morning? The hubby and I leave for Cancun in 9 days! Holy moly. I've still got a few items to pick up for the trip (i.e. 20 bottles of SPF, please) but I've got the essentials. A million swimsuits, since I'll be living in them. Plenty of sundresses. Flippy floppies. A house sitter :) Yep, I think we are set and I'm just counting down the days till the hubby and I fly out of Cincinnati. Finally, 5 years later, we are getting the honeymoon done. 

So, yay, it's almost the weekend! Truth be told, the hubby's had the whole week off and we have been maximizing his down time. Lots of movies. Bingeing on TV shows. Making homemade Chinese food. Devouring carrot cake. And for the hubby, an abundance of video games. We love making the most of our relaxation time. Sadly though, he has to work all weekend, so I'll be left to my own devices. I'm halfway through "Divergent" (I know, I'm so behind the times) so finishing that book and moving on to the next is numero uno on my list.

After baking something pumpkin, of course :)

Happy Thursday!

Ingredients (makes 18 muffins):

Muffins-

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

2 eggs, room temp

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

1/4 cup milk

Cream Cheese Topping-

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners (18 liners). Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Mix with a whisk by hand until combined. Mix in eggs. Mix in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine baking soda and flour. Mix in one cup of flour mixture. Mix in milk. Mix in remaining flour mixture. Do not over mix, mix until just combined. Divide batter equally among liners.

4.  In another bowl, mix together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Mix until completely smooth. Drop 1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture onto each muffin.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage. I stored mine in a bowl with a kitchen towel over them due to how moist they turned out. Store in the fridge if you are not eating all the muffins within the first day or two.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust.

Looking for other fall recipes? Try these!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Creamy Pumpkin Custard

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friend's Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday