homemade pumpkin butter

Everything was looking up this morning- I had a 3 hour work day ahead and Isaac’s temperature was down to 98°. It seemed that we would still be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Isaac family as previously planned since he was feeling better.

I had a delicious bowl of oatmeal/oat bran with some of the usual suspects- maca powder, chia seeds, homemade pumpkin butter, and better n pb.

I left work early for the holiday and came home to grab lunch before heading out to run some errands.

There was a bowl of roasted red pepper and tomato soup eaten and I also had some baby carrots, left-over hummus from the work feast, and homemade whole wheat pita chips that I made last night.

Why did I never realize how easy it was to make delicious pita chips?

Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Whole Wheat Pita
Spray oil
Garlic powder, sea salt, ground pepper (to taste)

Cut the pita into small triangles, sprayed them with oil, and sprinkled them with the seasonings. Easy peasy.

I snack on a few pieces of Newman’s Own Organic 70% Super Dark Chocolate and made my way out the door.

I got a little Christmas shopping done, along with a few small purchases for myself. That always happens to me!

I also made a last minute stop by two of my favorite local groceries – Good Foods and Ellwood Thompson’s. I had some t-day ingredients that I still needed… but those few items turned into a few more and I even ended up buying dinner. The Goddess Tofu wrap was just too hard to pass by- you might remember it from the many times be-fore.

It’s interesting how different the wraps look each time I have them, however they may look dissimilar but they always taste yummy. I had 1/2 of the wrap and snacked on some veggie chips.

After dinner I starting prepping my dishes for Thanksgiving and just as I was taking the roasted butternut out of the oven Isaac took his temperature again and it was BACK UP TO 102°!! This means no visiting Isaac’s grandparents and Thanksgiving will be spent at our humble abode. It’s a little sad not to spend the day with family as planned, but we don’t want to risk getting anyone else sick and we’ll make the best of it together at home. We’re actually thinking of doing a board game marathon, which I think will be a fun!

I’ve already prepared a couple dishes that I was going to take with us but we don’t have any of the other traditional Thanksgiving fare around to make a big meal so you’ll have to wait to see what we end up throwing together tomorrow.

- Brittany

{ 8 comments }

I ran out of my beloved Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter yesterday. I definitely needed more, but rather than rushing out to the store I decided to make my own using a recipe I found on Kath’s blog.

Maria’s Homemade Microwave Pumpkin Butter

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups (15 oz) canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling mix)

Combine everything except pumpkin in microwave-safe bowl. Mix well, and microwave on high for three minutes.
Remove from microwave (Carefully!) and stir really well.
Stir in pumpkin well, and microwave on high 5 minutes.
Remove from microwave (Even more carefully!), stir, and let cool.

This recipe was super easy and turned out great. I was pumped because it tastes very similar to the TJ’s version, just has a bit thicker consistency. If you’ve been trying to find pumpkin butter I strongly suggest stopping the search and trying the above recipe. It won’t disappoint!

I incorporated the P butter into breakfast with a slice of toast.

And because I can’t find the Stonyfield Pumpkin Pie yogurt anywhere here in Richmond, VA (not even Whole Foods) I decided to create my own Oikos Pumpkin Parfait.

Pumpkin Parfait

1/4 cup Ezekiel golden flax cereal

1 container (5.3 oz) plain Oikos Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon pumpkin butter (homemade or store bought)

1/4 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal

Layer all ingredients in the order they are listed into a parfait glass or bowl. If you’re feeling fancy you can use a wine glass. Stir all ingredients together and enjoy! Super simple, yet super tasty as well.

The pumpkin parfait recipe is my entry into the Oikos Na-MOO-ste Giveaway for bloggers.

It’s easy to enter and the prize package is an all expenses paid weekend trip for two to the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, MA.

There are three ways to enter and you only need to choose one:

A) Share a brief story about why you need to relax and say “Ohm.”

B) Share a recipe you create or tip using Oikos yogurt – it can be as simple as a holiday dip or dessert or breakfast idea.

C) Post a photo of you doing yoga in a toga (Oikos is Greek yogurt after all!).

All entries (your post is your entry) must include a link to the Facebook fan page, and be emailed to oikos@360publicrelations.com by November 30, 2009 – and you’ll be entered to win! The winner will be selected at random and notified by 12/15/09.

The rest of my day was leisure based- Isaac was at a frisbee tournament so Olive and I were on our own. I made a special stop by Whole Food’s for a few items and decided to grab lunch. I got the norm- salad greens with sesame tofu and a bunch of other salads on top. Lots of wheatberries and curried things. It was scrumptious, but who would expect less?

It was absolutely beautiful in Richmond today so a friend an I took advantage of the weather and went for a long walk around the city with miss Olive. It was such a treat to enjoy the sunshine and colorful leaves after 3 days of dreadful rain. We then came home and turned my living room into a yoga studio. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon!

I love yoga but often fall out of the habit of doing it. I guess there are several reasons. 1- the yoga studio near by house is expensive 2- I suck at working out at home- I get distracted and I am simply more motivated once I’m at the gym 3- I am more enticed to do my own cardio and strength training stuff at the gym rather than to attend a yoga class. The thing is – whenever I do yoga I always feel so relaxed afterwards, plus the more intense practices like power or core are great for strength training and I’m typically sore after those. Long story short I’m excited because I’m slowly but surely getting back into my yoga groove- I actually did it twice this weekend and feel wonderful. Now I just have to keep it up.

Do you like yoga? Why or why not? What’s keeps you motivated to do it?

- Brittany