This is such an easy soup to throw together & is the perfect October mood.
You can make it with bone broth (my rec) or vegetarian with vegetable stock. Either way, it’s loaded with goodness. Pumpkin puree is loaded with antioxidants & polyphenols for healthy cells.
Benefits of bone broth: I usually just start with an organic rotesserie chicken & simmer it down in water for 3-4 hours, until the broth is thick & jiggly, then remove the bones. Bone broth is incredible for gut & skin health (collagen) & is what our bodies crave & need during these transition months to colder winter days.
I used my favorite new Le Creuset & it simplified the process & made it that much more enjoyable to see it simmering on the stove while we lit our first fire of the season & curled up with the kids.
Ingredients
*3-5 cups of bone broth or vegetable broth (depending on how thick you like your soups)
*2 cans organic pumpkin puree (15 oz)
*2 cups coconut milk (15 oz can)
*4 carrots, chopped
*3 large cloves garlic, pressed/crushed
*1 bell pepper, finely chopped
*1 jalepeno/spicy pepper
*1/3 c brown sugar
*1 medium white onion
*4-6 large sage leaves, finely chopped
*Salt & pepper to taste
*optional parsley for garnish
Directions
*Chop veggies & herbs & throw them into the pot on medium high for 5 minutes until soft
*Blend the puree & broth & brown sugar in a separate bowl, then pour into the pot with chopped veggies
*Slowly pour coconut milk in, while stirring
*Simmer for 30 min to 1 hour, garnish with parsley and serve with fresh bread
I can’t believe it’s September 30th, and yet as I sit here on my porch and soak in the gorgeous, cool fall air, and watch the kids play in their new mulch/trucks box…with tuxedo chili simmering in the crock pot for dinner (yum), and a beautiful sense of transition in the air, I’m reflecting at just how much has happened this month, with deep gratitude. I mean, just 25 days ago, on labor day, we were at a 100 degree pool party and wishing summer off in style–and then diving in to the inevitable new routines, de-cluttering, resetting alot of things in September, and I am amazed at how good it feels to be here…squarely in the fall, and moving closer to our next new chapter–with awareness–our family will soon be 6! (In the early part of the new year). Setting up home and routines, kid routines to work well for us right now, while also being aware of this chapter of the fall coming to an end, and preparing for a totally new one, requires some intention and planning, but that’s what 2nd trimester energy and nesting is for, and is so important and beautiful.
I had set a goal to myself to share 8 blog posts with you all in September. Nothing crazy, just consistency in sharing a couple times per week–my list of topics I’m either working on or want to tackle is long!….I know that sometimes I can let topics percolate for quite a while in my head, wanting to resolve and have all the answers–or better words–and then when they finally come out of me they are epic length and my amazing editor (also sister) says–this should be more than 1 post…!
So as part of my monthly intention setting this past month, and looking at ways I love to connect, I resolved to push past the long drawn out build up, and try to share things short, sweet, sometimes unresolved, sometimes just what is being inspired to me in that moment…and giving myself permission to have conversations and then come back to some of these important topics–creating space, mothering with ease, self care habits, morning routines, easy recipes that are family friendly, fitness as a mother, and more.
So today, I’m just sharing a fun recipe that I was craving this morning in the cool fall weather…and a great swap out that I love to do–replacing flour in baking recipes with super high quality plant protein (vanilla usually). The kids almost never notice, and it makes a recipe so much heartier and healthier…I would even consider these suitable breakfast material 🙂
(If you want pumpkin explosion, pair with your favorite pumpkin dairy free creamer in your coffee;))
So here you go, celebrating the send off of September with these yummy treats. If you make them, let me know how you love them!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies
(yep, they are a mouthful in every way)
Preheat oven to 350
1 can pureed pumpkin, organic
1/2 cup butter–softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup organic raw sugar (or substitute stevia if keto, 1/2 cup honey if you prefer, or even maple syrup would work)
*****
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup white whole wheat flour (this is all I keep around, it functions well in baking and is better for us)
Blend wet ingredients…this is what kitchen-aids are for!
Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl, then slowly add to kitchen-aid or mixing bowl, gently combining, with chocolate chips as the last thing.
Put onto tinfoil when baking, and bake 20 minutes or until the bottom edges are browning.
I hope you try one warm, they are amazing! And this makes enough to store some for school lunch treats, send them to the office with loved ones, coffee snacks, or anything you want them for.
Don’t you think we should bring those words back into our vocabulary for this school year, mommas?
I don’t really love the phrase “hack” it feels like something is getting cut off or is missing…this is all about what we’re gaining when we keep things simple and enjoy the process. I’d like to go back to good old fashioned life—simplified. And fun. Because life with littles can and should be. Especially when momma’s been getting her breaks and her own self-care (I’m speaking from experience, can you tell?:))
Since my girls are in school full days, and Corinne has just transitioned to kindergarten, I’m enjoying making the afternoons low-key, and coming home for rest, playing outside (yay, cooler fall weather), and of course, after-school snacks.
I am not a big believer in over-scheduled kids (which seems to be the norm nowadays). They need to relax and play.
Now I’m not sitting at home baking for them all day (though occasionally I can, and that’s fun)…so I like quick and easy, make ahead or ready made snacks for us to grab.
Here’s the thing moms–there should be no guilt involved if we’re able to find shortcuts and make things healthy and yummy–so you’ll see some included here. Not every day needs to be pinterest worthy or be hours of blood-and-sweat from scratch, amiright? We need to have memories of ENJOYING it, and so do they. Rant over.
As shared before, some of our favorites are Guac and chips (organic guac), hummus or ranch and raw veggies for them to dip it in, grapes, apples and peanut butter, and occasionally something sweeter.
And this is our September 2018 seasonal snacking roundup for you. Some are straight out of a bag. Healthy. #winning. Others are out of a box with modifications, to make it seasonal and healthier…also winning…and some are from scratch but the kids do the work for their own healthy snack, and it becomes an after-school activity–messy, yes, but less-so than finger painting (anyone else ban that? Ok. great). We’ll call these all #momwins.
Yes, this video is our fun behind the scenes time lapse. It’s a really good thing you can’t see too much of what’s going on (Ambrose eating everything he touched, or the girls doing a talk show and pretending to be “youtube stars”–whatever those are?…so yes…enjoy it!)
So, for the Apple dippers, here’s the general idea. Grab some apples (preferably local, in season), and some greek yogurt (I love the thickest kind, like siggis)…and some dipping items–coconut, cocoa nibs, crushed almonds, cinnamon (my kids went nuts with it)…and arrange everything in bowls with a foil wrapped tray ready to catch the goodies. Then, if kids are allowed to use knives, help them cut the apples. We did strawberries too (not in season), and left the greens on, it’s your call what kind of fruits you want to try this with. Probably not too soft is ideal.
Then show the little ones how to take the slices, dip in yogurt and then in coconut and other toppings. They get the hang quickly, and you’ll have to let them just be free to take it from there. It’s all about enjoying the process as they make their own snacks!
Then, when everything is used up, throw the trays of fruit in the freezer for 10 min or so to harden…don’t forget about them, as you don’t want them too crunchy (we may have had to let our strawberries soften back up)…and voila! Fun, easy and healthy snack…I hope you’ll let us know if you make them… and post pics:)
Somehow they like the taste of them more when they’ve had to do the work…Ambrose was so proud of his plate of apples that he brought over to Emma.
I love these little chubby fingers, and I never want to forget these moments, even when the sink is overflowing and the floor is a mess after our “cooking session”–it’s worth it…
For the pumpkin cookies, I grabbed a box of Gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix and a can of pumpkin puree. I love the GF mixes, there are some great ones out there, that use less sugar (this one had brown sugar only) and would meet our approval in terms of ingredients. Of course we’d all love to make cookies from scratch all the time, but let’s be real, I’d rather that they get done, and I’m still smiling 🙂 This recipe called for egg and butter and vanilla and I replaced the first 2 with the can of pumpkin puree, so that made them GF and vegan, but more importantly, easy and yummy, and my house smelled like fall!
When the kids came back downstairs Emma said “hey, were did these come from?!” and Corinne asked me to save 3 cookies in baggies for her and her 2 favorite classmates for tomm, so I’ll count the whole experience as a win. Ambrose helped me with the kitchenaid (he loves to turn it on), and he happily licked the beater for me!
Finally, I threw out a bowl of Terra chips–sweet potatoes, blue potatoes and beets, in crunchy delicious form…I’d rather they enjoy their veggies and satisfy their crunch seasonally, than just be clamoring for chips of another less healthy kind–and these were on sale at Whole foods so it was a no-brainer to stock up.
I hope that you have beautiful fall afternoons with your kids–may there be more love, laughter and mess than there is tantruming, and I hope that you all enjoy these simple and fun snacks, together.
This is such a simple fall recipe, and it’s ridiculously good.
But don’t take my word for it:)
I make other variations using the other life shake flavors–especially cafe latte…since this one is seasonal.
*1 cup almond butter or another nut butter of choice.
*1 cup pumpkin spice life shake raw protein
*2/3 cup honey
Heat the honey and nut butter over medium heat, stir well, then slowly add the protein powder, stirring continously.
Remove from heat, place in a glass pie pan (round or square) and refrigerate 2 hours min or freeze 1 hour, if you’re feeling impatient:) I store mine in the fridge as well.
Bon Appetit!
Enjoy with a fall tea like chai, preferably by the fire with some loved ones.
