Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie

Halloween Themed Recipe #5- Countdown to Halloween


I love having smoothies for breakfast. It's quick, it's easy, it's simple. 

I don't have a lot of time in the morning to make a nice breakfast, as I am assuming many of you reading this are in the same boat! I can throw everything in a blender and in less than 5 minutes I have a delicious breakfast. 

Since it is fall time I use a lot of pumpkin puree in my recipes. Costco sells big cans of Libby's Pumpkin Puree in packs of 3, which definitely last me through the season. Now when you buy pumpkin puree make sure it is the real stuff (like Libby's) and not just pumpkin pie filling. The pumpkin pie filling can have extra sugar and preservatives in it compared to the pure puree. 

One of the ingredients I love adding to my smoothies is cold coffee because I am able to get my caffeine for the day without adding the flavored creamer or half and half, which equates to extra calories. Another ingredient I add to my morning smoothies is a nutrient dense protein powder called Shakeology. It is packed with my daily dose of vitamins, minerals, fruits, and vegetables. By adding it to my smoothie it helps me stay fuller longer throughout the day as well as makes my smoothie more substantial.

The Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was created on a morning when I couldn't make up my mind of what to put in my smoothie, I know we have all been there before! I wanted to add coffee, pumpkin puree, chocolate Shakeology, Vanilla Shakeology....so I decided why not throw it all together?! And that is exactly what I did. 

And the Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was born.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of iced coffee (I use Starbucks brand)*

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 scoop Chocolate Shakeology**

1/2 scoop Vanilla Shakeology**

1/4 cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree

1/2 banana (not pictured)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash of cinnamon

Add everything into the blender along with 4-6 ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite cup and whalah! You have an amazingly nutritious breakfast!

*Starbucks iced coffee can be swapped for any cold coffee. Do NOT add hot coffee to the smoothie, it will cause the smoothie to not blend smoothly.

** If you do not have Shakeology this can be swapped with any protein powder you have at home, although I do have to say it might not be as delicious! Or if you don't like protein powder you can omit it all together!

Happy Blending!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Halloween Themed Recipe #4- Countdown to Halloween!

I love pumpkin. I love chocolate. Putting the two together seemed like a no brainier.

There is no doubt pumpkin season is here and in full swing. Everyone is looking for their next best pumpkin recipe, well no need to look any further. You have found it. Right here, on this page.

This bread is moist, chocolaty, and will cure any sweet tooth you have. There is mounds of chocolate chips in every bite. It is not overly sweet though, it is the perfect balance of sweet. Anytime you add pumpkin to a baked good you can guarantee it will come out moist and fluffy due to the nature of pumpkin.

Have a slice for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even a late night dessert before bed! {That is usually when I op for it haha} I love warming up my slice and topping it with creamy peanut butter, butter, or homemade pumpkin butter, that way the topping melts all over the bread and I get the flavor in every.single.bite. <3 

This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to get in the oven..it just depends on how fast you add the ingredients! Don't let the long ingredients list overwhelm you! Let's get cooking!

*For a clean version of this bread, look for the substitutes next to the ingredients in blue.

Yields: About 10 slices. Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes. Cook Time: 50-55 Minutes Total Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients: 

1 large egg (1 banana)

1 cup pumpkin puree (Libby's works best!)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (substitute maple syrup)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (substitute applesauce)

1/4 cup of greek yogurt (vanilla yogurt works great too!)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (substitute whole wheat flour or almond flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Dash of salt 

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Take a stick of butter and grease the inside of the pan. Use your hand to spread the butter evenly, covering all the sides and bottom of the pan. Add 1 heaping spoonful of flour to the pan, shaking it around until it sticks to the butter. Dump the excess flour.

2. In a large bowl, add the first 10 ingredients and whisk to combine.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

4. Slowly add the powdered ingredients into the wet pumpkin mixture. Stir until combined, but don't over mix.

5. Add the chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

6. Pour the batter into your prepared bread pan. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.

7. Bake for 50-55 minutes. The top should be domed and a golden brown color. Double check by sticking a toothpick or fork in the middle, if it comes out clean the bread is done. If mixture sticks to it, bake it for another 2-3 minutes. If the edges of the bread look too brown, cover lightly with aluminum foil.

8. Allow bread to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Store bread in an airtight container. 

Candy Corn Bark

Halloween Recipe #3- Countdown to Halloween!!

Remember when I said I was going to make healthy Halloween recipes and I put in parenthesis next to it that MOST of them would be? Well.....this is one of the exceptions!

I love baking. A lot more than I used to. My love of baking interferes with my desire to stay healthy. :-) So what do I do with everything I bake?? I take it to work with me of course!!! My co-workers love it and it means I don't have to eat all of the baked goods. But on a serious note, I love baking and taking it into work, people get so excited and I feel like it brightens their day! Try it! 

Anyway, this recipe is SUPER EASY to make! I love this recipe because you can make it so many different ways and even coordinate the toppings with the holiday or season you are in. Cook time is probably about 5 minutes and then you stick it in the freezer for a few hours.

Supplies:

You will need a baking sheet with a rim, wax paper, milk chocolate chips, candy corn, and orange frosting (preferably the kind that is in a tube with a point so you can drizzly it over the chocolate like in the above picture). 

Directions:

1) Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Stir chocolate with a spatula. If it's not melted all the way microwave for another 15 seconds and stir again. Continue until chocolate is melted, but you shouldn't need to do it more than twice.

2) While chocolate is melting, lay wax (parchment) paper on baking sheet. Overlap 2 pieces to cover the whole pan, but don't have the pieces overlap in the middle to prevent chocolate from seeping through.

3) Once chocolate is melted, pour onto covered baking sheet and spread evenly over pan with a spatula. You may need to hold the wax paper while you do this since the paper will move around since it's not attached to anything (Make sure you move fast before the chocolate cools!).

4) After you spread out the chocolate to your desired thickness, top with candy corn and drizzle with frosting!*

5) Pop the whole tray in the freezer for 2 hours. Then break into pieces! You can make the pieces as big or small as you want. I used the handle of a metal knife to help break up the pieces so I wasn't manhandling the chocolate!

**You can modify this recipe by adding whatever toppings you want, such as nuts, peanut butter, pretzels, and other assorted candies. You can even use dark chocolate or white chocolate for the base if you want.**

Enjoy and Happy almost Halloween!!

Sweet Potato Witches Fingers

Halloween Recipe #2- Countdown to Halloween!

As I looked on to what I had pulled out for dinner I thought "How can I possibly make ANY of this Halloween-ish?!" I had talapia, green beans, and a sweet potato in front on me.... 

And then it hit me! Sweet Potato Witch Fingers! Witches are known to have pointy nails, so if I can cut this potato into fries and then give them a pointy tip to resemble witches pointy finger nails I could be in luck!

Instructions:

Step One- Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry the sweet potato.

Step Two- Cut the ends of the potato so it can sit on the cutting board without falling over.

Step Three- Cut the potato into slices approximately 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the potato is vertical so you can make the fries long.

Step Four- Cut the potato slices into thirds. Then use your knife to add a point to the top of the fry (see picture to the left). You will take a little off each side of the top.*

*Waste Alert!-Don't throw away those little pieces of potato. Throw them on the pan to cook or save them to mix in with a breakfast scramble.

Step 5- Drizzle olive oil (or coconut oil) over the fries and whatever seasonings you would like. I topped mine with chili powder to add some kick! Cook for 25 minutes. 

Step Six- Once done, allow to cool for several minutes. 

Step Seven- Place wax paper in a cup and stack the witches fingers inside, almost as if they are coming out of the cup, and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!




P.S. Stay tuned as I bring more healthy Halloween recipes your way over the next 5 days!