Another reason why fall rocks---more fall recipes

One of my best friends from home owns about a hundred (or more) acres of land which produces about 100 pumpkins every year. Whereas most people go out and buy pumpkins to celebrate the fall season, she’s doing everything she can to get rid of them. Last year she gave me 6 pumpkins just for decorating. Boy do I wish I was able to get my hands on some of those pumpkins this year.
For now, canned pumpkin will have to do.

I started out my day with a bowl of pumpkin banana pie oat bran. Pumpkin banana pie you ask? Yes. This was an ultimate bowl of oats. So good that I could only eat half of it. The pumpkin added a lot of volume.

It sucks to have to rely on my cell phone for pictures but this is better than nothing. Can you see the amazing pumpkin color in there?

Pumpkin Banana Pie Oat Bran

• 1/2 cup So Delicious Unsweetened coconut milk (or whatever milk you have/want to use)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 2 tbsp canned pumpkin
• 1/2 ripe banana
• Pumpkin pie spice (love it!)

I topped everything with my normal flax and PB but damn this was good. Pumpkin pie spice rocks.

Here’s another recipe that I actually have to say rocked as well. When it comes to baking, I usually find a recipe I like and stick to it…I find there’s not room to play around with baking. However, I found this recipe online and knew I needed to tweak it to make perfection. I won. Pumpkin aside, the real winner to this recipe was the use of White Whole Wheat flour.

I decided to give white whole wheat flour a try since Dennis hates whole wheat. According to their website:

Milled from white whole wheat, rather than red, unbleached King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour has all the fiber and nutrition of traditional whole wheat, with milder flavor and lighter color. Thus, white whole wheat is a great way to add whole grains to your family's diet.

I figured this would be a great way to use whole wheat without changing the flavor of my favorite baked goods. I think I see some homemade pizza dough in my future.

White Whole Wheat Pumpkin Nut Bread

• 1 & 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (or 4 egg whites or 1/3 cup egg white/substitute)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (you could sub more apple sauce for the oil but I didn’t want to mess with it too much and leave it dry)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. each of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350*. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl and pour into a greased (I use Pam) bread pan. Bake for 60 minutes. Cut and enjoy. SO good. Even though there’s no picture, believe me, it was awesome.

TIP: I have a really hard time baking because 9 times out of 10 most of what I bake ends up getting thrown out…we just don’t eat it fast enough. So, my mom suggested slicing the bread into individual pieces after it cools and freezing them individually. I wrapped each piece in aluminum and put them in a freezer safe Zip-Lock bag. This eliminates waste. Thanks Mom!

One last thing— does anyone out there have a heart rate monitor that they use to track their mileage/pace? I used mine today on the treadmill and I found that they were way off from one another. I’m not sure how accurate the treadmill is or how well the Garmin works while ON the treadmill but if anyone can help me out with understanding which of the two are more accurate I’d appreciate it. Do I follow the treadmill’s guide to mileage and pace or do I believe I’m running a 7:57 pace when the treadmill says it’s an 8:15? Help!!!