Chewy Pumpkin Granola

September 29th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (Comments Off on Chewy Pumpkin Granola)

I’ve got another pumpkin recipe today, but please don’t be annoyed.  I promise that I’m about to lay off the orange stuff for a while to ensure my hands stay on the paler side of normal this season.

I’ve had a hankering for granola, but every time I look at the ingredient list on the packages in the store and then look at the price, I sigh dramatically, throw my head back with my forearm over my brow and cry “Why, Granola?  WHY?”  (and then I look around the granola aisle and say “who said that?  people in this store are crazy!”)  Read more...

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Pumpkin Muffins (Version 2.0)

September 25th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (4 Comments)

Here we go.  The season of Everything Pumpkin has arrived.  Are you ready?  Do you have your pumpkin game face on?  Pumpkin pie!  Pumpkin spice lattes!  Pumpkin lasagna!  (Pumpkin lasagna?)  I’m even ready to declare September “National Pester Your Mother to Make Pumpkin Muffins Month” because that’s exactly what my kids have been doing: pestering me to make pumpkin muffins.

OK gang, I’m ready.  Let’s do this.  Read more...

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I Have Something To Tell You About Butternut Squash

October 8th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (6 Comments)

This is Butternut Squash #3 in my kitchen this fall.  My skin is turning more orange by the minute.  Stinking beta carotene.

That’s actually not what I wanted to tell you.

Halved Butternut Squash

No, what I wanted to tell you is that when butternut squash is peeled, cubed and roasted in coconut oil, it reminds me a heck of a lot of a roasted sweet potato.

But that’s not the good part.

Compared to a sweet potato, butternut squash has nearly 100 fewer calories, half as many carbs and 9 fewer grams of sugar per 1 cup serving.  Read more...

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Potluck Apple Crisp

October 4th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (1 Comments)

Over the weekend we had a potluck picnic on the calendar and we were asked to bring an autumn themed dish to pass.  I needed something simple, but more importantly, something that I could remember most of the ingredients to off the top of my head.  Per usual, I was making my decision about what to make while I was on my way to the grocery store.

What’s that saying?  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?  Whatever.  Let’s just make apple crisp.

First thing on the morning of our picnic, I tore into my bag of Granny Smiths and got to work.  Read more...

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Coconut Curried Spaghetti Squash

October 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (5 Comments)

I bought a spaghetti squash last week simply because it was there on the shelf in the produce department. I had no spaghetti squash plans. I had no spaghetti squash dreams.

Spaghetti Squash

I did know that I wanted to do something different with this planless, dreamless spaghetti squash. I’ve made spaghetti squash pie and spaghetti squash with red pepper sauce, this time I was in the mood for something new.

When I realized I was going to make a curried spaghetti squash? I declared myself a genius.  Read more...

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Slow Then Fast Food

August 28th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (9 Comments)

As we were first settling into our new life as a family of five, there was a lot of snack food consumption going on around here. Pretzels, granola bars, tortilla chips, crackers… I loaded our cupboards with quick and easy foods because well, they were quick and easy. I stuck with foods that weren’t awful, but I wouldn’t classify them as The World’s Healthiest Foods either.

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. We were fortunate to have friends and family bring us plenty of meals in those early weeks, but it’s possible there were afternoons where we had air popped popcorn and graham crackers smeared with almond butter for lunch.  Read more...

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Yes, You Can Make Pumpkin Pie Without Evaporated Milk

November 25th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (70 Comments)

Today let’s be thankful for leftovers.

Pumpkin Pie Without Evaporated Milk

I made pumpkin pie this year! Until this week, the only thing I knew about pumpkin pie was that I liked to eat it.

Therefore, as a pumpkin pie newbie (and a girl without a lot of extra energy to spare right now), I decided to go with the tried and true recipe on the side of the can of Libby’s pumpkin puree.

And it looked simple enough. Pumpkin, sugar, spices, eggs… a can of evaporated milk?  Read more...

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The Whole Enchilada

November 17th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (3 Comments)

Enchiladas for dinner tonight!

Pumpkin Enchilida

And they. were. awesome.

But guess what’s inside of them? Just guess!

Never mind, you won’t be able to guess. In fact, you won’t even believe me when I tell you.

OK fine, I’ll tell you.

In a minute.

First, let’s start with these little buggers. They played a big part of what made tonight’s meal so good.

Chipotle Chiles

While I’ve made my own enchilada sauce before, I did it a bit differently this time.

Chipotle Chiles Pureed

Homemade Enchilada Sauce  Read more...

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Puppet Run

October 28th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (5 Comments)

So I hurt my wrist.

Wrist Hurt

I know. It’s always something, right? Left pointer finger. Left knee. Left wrist. What’s left?

I’m not even sure how I did it. I think it’s keyboard/ergonomics related, so I’ve changed some things up on my desk, but the pain went from “niggly” to “bad” to “awful” in a matter of days. Dr. Google suggested a wrist brace and it’s helping! The real doctor today said the same thing about the brace, but didn’t agree with my self diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.  Read more...

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What to Do With a Pumpkin

October 16th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (8 Comments)

(Alternate – and perhaps more catchy? – Title: The One Where I Show You My Underwear)

(Took me a minute to decide.)

So!

White bean blondies aren’t the only thing you can bake to heat up your kitchen. Pumpkins are good for that too, especially first thing in the morning.

Bake a Pumpkin, Heat up your Kitchen

This pumpkin showed up in this week’s CSA share, and I swear, my first thought was “A pumpkin?? How on earth do you cook THAT?”

And then I reminded me that a pumpkin is just a squash.

Pumpkin is just a Squash

Oh yeah.  Read more...

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