Hello Fall…

Fall has arrived. It is my absolute favorite season.

The air is crisp and it’s time to get cozy.

happy fall

The things I am most excited about are…

I love the touch of soft warm colorful hand-dyed yarns that are later handmade into chunky knits. (I’m a knitter.)

I love the feeling of a hot and steamy Bikram yoga classes.

I love running, running, and more running. I love seeing the trees which are colorful along the running trail, then hearing the leaves crunching under my running shoes at each stride.

I love tasting… Spicy soups, smoky chili, butternut squash, pumpkin everything.

pumpkin beer

First pumpkin beer… 2 years ago at October Fest!

I love the smell of… Gingerbread, cinnamon, pumpkin spice…

I love hot tea, chai tea, hot cocoa with coconut milk.

 

Those are a few of my favorite things… What are yours?

© 2014 sweat1xdaily

 

Pumpkin!

I know… Thanksgiving was soo last week.

But I can’t help it, I have to share with you, this amazing pumpkin pie I made, ate, and now keep wishing I still had some left.

It is funny, how the mind works… When I was thinking about what I was going to prepare for my portion of my family’s thanksgiving dinner, I kept thinking about the Oprah show.

Back in the day, I remember watching Oprah, and this amazing pie was made on her show. So I went to her website and with a simple search of the word pumpkin, there it was… I was so thankful the recipe was still there on her site.

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE

click here for recipe found on Oprah’s site.

INGREDIENTS – exactly the same from original recipe on Oprah’s site, except for those in bold text.

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. giner
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 large egg yolks, beaten
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used organic, or better yet make your own pumpkin puree with a real pumpkin.)
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
  • 1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust ( I did not store buy my crust, I made mine from scratch. I will teach you how below.)
  • Whipped cream for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Now this is how we do it…

Part 1 – Pumpkin

  1. In a pan, over the stove, combine gelatin, sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg.
  2. Then stir in egg yolks, milk, pumpkin.
  3. Cook over heat, until bubbles and thickens.
  4. Remove from heat, chill in fridge until it is partially set, no less than 1 hour.
  5. Remove chilled pumpkin mixture and give it a stir.
and this is what your pumpkin filling should look like so far.

And this is what your pumpkin filling should look like so far.

Part 2 – Whipped Cream

  1. Pour heavy cream into a bowl.
  2. Use an electrical better and whip it until whipped cream forms.
Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream

Part 3 – Pumpkin Filling

  1. Use a different bowl and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
  2. Add sugar until stiff peaks form.
  3. Combine both fresh whipped cream and egg whites and sugar with pumpkin.
  4. Fold ingredients together until totally combined.
  5. Pumpkin filling should be light and fluffy.
  6. Set aside.

Part 4 – Crust

In the recipe found on Oprah’s site, they used a store bought crust. I made my own. This is what I did…

  1. Take a box of graham crackers, remove two packs from the box.
  2. Crush and crumble graham crackers.
  3. Melt one stick of butter in the microwave, or over the stove. Whichever method you prefer. I quickly melted my butter in the microwave.
  4. Add graham cracker crumbs to a pie pan.
  5. Add melted butter to the graham cracker crumbs in the pie pan.
  6. Use your hands to mold the graham cracker and butter combo in shape of the pie pan. Making sure the bottom and walls of the pan are completely covered. Make your crust as thick as you want by adding more crushed up graham crackers. 

Part 5 – The Pie

  1. Pour pumpkin filling mixer into pie crust.
  2. Chill for at least one hour.
  3. Top the pie off with extra whipped cream when serving. TIP: If you put the whipped cream on to soon and it ends up sitting out the whipped cream may melt. So I always  just put the whipped cream on each slice when serving.
Pumpkin Pie! Yum! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie! Yum! Enjoy!

I hope you choose to make this pie. Enjoy it during your next holiday party!

My sister and I on Thanksgiving! Finally you can see me without my running clothes on.

My sister and I on Thanksgiving! Finally you can see me without my running clothes on.

Questions for You…

  1. What is your favorite holiday food?
  2. Is it pumpkin pie?

© 2012 sweatdaily

Pumpkin Soup

20121015-170746.jpg

Final photo of Soup made last night. Read the full post at http://sweatdaily.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/829

My whole house smells like pumpkin…

I have always had a love/ hate relationship with food. 

Let me explain…

Here is the love part: I love food. I have always considered myself some what of a foodie. When I was a child, I hated Mac & Cheese. I hated grilled cheese. I just wasn’t down with the kid’s menu. Instead, I always indulged with maybe a plate of hot wings, mussels, or a half dozen Maryland Bay Crabs. The point is I have always enjoyed unique food with big flavor. I am not scared to explore, and I am always open to try new foods from all nationalities.

Now here is the hate part: The problem with enjoying a variety of different foods, is that sometimes I feel that I have a hard time disciplining myself to eat a certain way. I would love to be vegan, and although I know eating a plant based diet is by far one of the healthiest ways to eat, I just can’t label myself. I’m not going to lie, some mornings I just want an iced Chai Lattes with skim milk. So for now, I am eating mainly plant based, and meat/dairy is consumed in moderation – some days are meatless, some days are dairy free. Plus I try to purchase all of my meat/dairy as organic, and on the rare occasions when organic isn’t available I go for kosher.

Some nevers and always: I rarely eat red meat. I rarely eat pork products. I never eat ground meats of any kind. I never eat processed meats or eggs. I never buy milk. I always buy wild caught fish.

More of the hate part: I don’t think I am a bad cook, but I am still learning, and sometimes my 30 minute meals takes two hours. So as you can see, cooking is time consuming. It also takes a lot of planning. You need to plan the meal, buy the ingredients. All of this is a struggle for me. Sometimes it is just easier to eat out.

My favorite types of Blogs

So my new obsession is actually health food blogs, especially vegan ones. I love reading them, and learning new ways to prepare veggies. One blog that I just recently came across is called Super Foodie Adventure. Last night, I actually made one of the recipes found on her blog and it came out awesome. The recipe is called  Beetroot and Pumpkin Dahl with smashed Avocado and Coriander.

Here are some pictures of my attempt of cooking this recipe.

chopped up onions, good in most meals.

3 garlic cloves, smashed up, way better than finely chopped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By cooking this soup, I got to use pumpkin for the first time. I never took a whole pumpkin and pealed it and cut it into cubes, until now. My whole house smelled lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

Also in my recipe I used golden beets instead of the purple ones used in the original recipe. This was my first time cooking and eating golden beets. They have less messy juice, and they taste a little less strong.

Everything in the pot cooking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really also love the Indian flavors used in the dish.  I also found it really shocking of how satisfied and full I felt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used this rice and lentil medley in the soup as well. Everything is very healthy, filling, full of flavor. When all ingredients are cooked you put the soup in a blender or food processor to blend and pulse the soup, then you top it off with smashed up avocado and cilantro.

Anyway, those are the pictures I have so far of the healthy ingredients I used for this recipe. I am really enjoying reading food blogs. It is making me try new food combos I would have never thought of trying. It is also educating me on healthy foods especially produce I would have never bought or cooked.

Always open minded, and pushing my limits physically and mentally. 

Questions for you…

  1. Who is your favorite food blogger?
  2. What is the most interesting veggie dish you have prepared?

© 2012