Posts Tagged ‘pumpkin’
Brunettes are cool.
Cooler than blondes, I think. But then again, I don’t want to anger any of you lovely blondes so I’ll say we’re equal. Is that fair? Good.
Then why is it than “blondes have more fun?!” I don’t think that’s the case. In fact, my hair is QUITE dark and I am a ton more fun that a ton of blondes I know. And smarter, of course 
(JOKING!)
Anyway, my point is — brunette, blondie, ginger, what does it really matter, anyway? It doesn’t.
Unless of course you’re talkin’ baked goods. Cuz that’s just a whole other story.
Don’t get me wrong, brownies are tasty. But blondies? Now that’s where it’s at! Maybe it’s because they’re less common, or perhaps the flavor combinations are more intriguing, but blondies have always won out over their brown-like counterpart.
After taking a twitter poll on Friday (pumpkin scones vs. pumpkin blondies), my fate was sealed with your tweets favoring pumpkin blondies. I don’t blame you –now if only twitter could affect your taste buds…
But never fear, you too can make your own pumpkin peanut butter blondies. With white chocolate chips, of course!
As much as I would love to take credit for this recipe, I simply cannot. But I can at least provide you with a link to the genius who did create it!
Heather’s Pumpkin Peanut Butter Blondies
What I can tell you is that I scoured the web for the BEST recipes and this one contained the least amount of butter and sugar. Plus, it uses whole wheat flour, and that makes it totally healthy 
In all honesty, these are some of the healthiest blondies out there and they are jam-packed with pumpkiny, peanut buttery flavor that will make your taste buds sing – I promise!
Good morning, friends!
First of all, I just wanted to quickly remind everyone that voting starts this morning for ROUND TWO of Project Food Blog. If you enjoyed my post on sexy Brazilian Cuisine, I urge you to support me in your voting! Click here and vote for me!
This morning I was feeling extra pumpkified and I knew I needed to take advantage of the LIBBY’S I had sitting in my cabinet (I stocked up last week!)
I threw together a fantastic pumpkin smoothie that you all need to make for yourselves STAT. In addition to being completely delicious, this smoothie is incredibly nutritious!
You’ll need:
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt (I used Stonyfield!)
- 1/2 cup skim or soy milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup ice
Throw it all in the blender and mix it up!
The fun placemat is optional, although highly recommended
Who hasn’t heard they should increase their fiber intake by now? We all know about the nutritional benefits, right? Just in case you’ve been living under a rock missed it, here are some great educational links that provide a general overview:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fiber/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033
The recommended daily dose of fiber (for women) is 25 grams. Anyone who is cognizant of their daily fiber intake knows that it could be tricky to reach those 25 grams.
Enter: FiberOne
This company confronts the popular notion that products higher in fiber can taste like cardboard with their tagline, “Cardboard no. Delicious Yes.” (Note: FiberOne is not as crafty as I, and the tagline is all in black text. I just wanted to spice things up for you all!) But how accurate are those claims? I’ve tried many of the brand’s cereals, and I LOVE the yogurt, but I had not yet branched out to the ‘baked goods’ product offerings.
I ran across the banana nut muffin mix on an impromptu trip to the grocery store (aren’t these always the trips where we mindlessly grab things we don’t actually NEED?).
Side note: I wonder why The Mister hasn’t put a ban on impromptu grocery store trips (maybe because I pay for the groceries? – HA! Take that Mister! – wait, why am I endorsing that I continue to pay for the groceries?)
Anyway, I grabbed the box thinking it would be a new addition to our lunches and a good option for snacks during the week.
Taking a glance at the nutritional label I was impressed with the stats:
Fiber One Nutrition Facts
My muffins were actually lower in fat and calories due to the substitutions I made. Why, you ask? Because I am an enchanted fairy and waved my glittery magical wand; that’s why.
Don’t worry, you don’t need magical powers, FiberOne does not discriminate against those without magical skills.
Just follow the ‘healthy’ directions on the FiberOne box. I reduced the water to 1/3 cup and used eggbeaters instead of eggs. The box suggested I substitute the oil for 1/3 cup of applesauce. I didn’t have any applesauce so I used 1/3 cup of pumpkin. If you are not a fan of pumpkin, GET OUT OF HERE! make sure to use the applesauce, because I could taste a hint of pumpkin (which I personally loved!) EDITED TO ADD: The Mister claims he could not taste any pumpkin (I must have more advanced palate, huh?)
With these substitutions, the nutritional info was as follows:
Calories: 140
Fat: 3
Fiber: 5
Protein: 3
Verdict?
These were delicious! No cardboard-taste/texture here! I think the added pumpkin made the muffins extra moist and I’d imagine the applesauce would have a similar effect on consistency. I loved the crunch of the real walnuts! It was great to have the varying textures.
Ever had that terrible artificial ‘banana’ taste? Ya know, that overpowering, potent grossness that tastes NOTHING like banana? (I’ll stop myself now before I get to artificial grape flavoring- the horror!) Not the case here. The banana flavor was spot-on and complimented these muffins quite well.
It also passed The Mister’s taste test. He loved the muffins and took a few to work for a snack. I also took a few to my parents (Hi, Mom and Dad!) and they both gave the muffins a ‘thumbs-up.’
In addition to eating these as a stand-alone snack, I think they’d work well with other healthy products and ingredients we all love.
Other muffin applications:
Crumble on top of oatmeal
Smear with some peanut butter for some extra protein
Mix into vanilla (or plain) yogurt
I will definitely be buying this mix again. While I love making muffins from scratch, sometime convenience wins out and for those moments, I’ll have FiberOne on hand.
Have any of you tried the apple cinnamon flavor? I’d be interested to hear how it measures up to the banana nut. However, since I’m such a huge banana fan I think the apple cinnamon mix would already be at a disadvantage!