crunchy pumpkin granola

a simple citrouille specialty.

 

Autumn.  The perfect mix of sweet and savory.  You simply get the best of everything at this time of year.  The sweet end of summer still keeping your toes warm eases into the first crisp of winter that starts to tingle your nose.  Pleasnt pastel dresses meant to cool you down thicken to sweaters with toasted hues to keep you warm.  Orders of refreshing iced teas change to fragrant spiced teas.  The green leaves even take their time changing to shades of auburn and yellow.  Its a transition from one extreme to the next and everything in between is fair game, SO there is no need for permanent change quite yet.  You don't need to keep your winter jacket out yet because you probably won't need it tomorrow and you don't need to put your shorts away because yesterday you were sweating in your corduroy pants.  A perfect time for someone as indecisive as myself...

BUT if you're constantly trying to decide what to eat, the best part about this season might be that there is no line between dinner and dessert!

Sweet potato, butternut squash, pumpkin, cranberries, apples all the fruits and vegetables that anyone cares about that are harevsted at this time of year can be swung either way.  Sweet or savory.

crunchy pumkin granola:

1½ cups plain rolled oats
¼ cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed and dried
¼ cup of pepitas/pumpkin seeds
¼ cup pure pumpkin purée
¼ cup pure maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp oil
½ - 1 tsp cinnamon
½ - 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
⅛ tsp salt

*be sure to use pure pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling

*feel free to add as much spice as you want, I'm a fiend for cinnamon so I added more towards the latter end of that scale... and pumpkin pie spice is an equal mixtue of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice so you can probably guess how much I put in mine.

Preheat oven to 325° F.  Rinse and dry quinoa.  Evenly spread quinoa and oats on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Toast for about 5 minutes, stir, toast for about 5 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a bowl.  Add pepitas.  Reduce oven heat to 300° F.

Now, for the hard part.  In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin purée, maple syrup, vanilla, oil, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.  Stir well.  

You think that sounds pretty easy, don't you?  Well, in some respect you would be correct... it is extremely easy to simply stir these ingredients together.  However, that is only if you can ignore the smell of this delicious concoction for long enough not to dip your finger in and TASTE IT!  Once you've opened that door... well, I wish you the best of luck completing this recipe.

Pour pumpkin mixture into the oats, quinoa, and pepita bowl.  Stir until everything is coated.  Spread evenly on the baking sheet again.   Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden.  Stir every 5 - 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  ENJOY!  Once cool, transfer into an airtight container.  ENJOY LATER!


I just couldn't get enough of that sweet pumpkin mixture so I whipped up some more with my leftover pumpkin purée.  I didn't do any measurements but I didn't add as much maple syrup this time because I figured I'd be eating it in larger servings... Make it however you want, put it in an airtight container and refridgerate for later.  

Breakfast idea:
Warm it up in the microwave, plop it on some yogurt and sprinkle some granola on top.  Throw some craisins, raisins, pecans, any nuts or seeds you have in there too! 


a healthful hint:

Pumpkin is a delicious vegetable that is low in carbohydrates but high in vitamins! It has one of the highest levels of vitamin A which is important for maintaining the integrity of mucous membranes which work as barriers to protect you from infection while also boosting your immune system. It also combines with the protein opsin to allow proper function of photoreceptors in your retina so you can see in dark or dim light. As you can tell but its colour, pumpkn is loaded with beta-carotene (which convert to vitamin A) and anti-oxidants that work to fight off free radicals that are related to macular degeneration and joint diseases like arthritis. Not only does the flesh have great nutritional benefits, its seeds do too! Pepitas are a great source of tryptophan that gets converted to serotonin which can reduce depression, and zinc which is important for immune reactions of blood cells and bone formation.  These little seeds are also packed with protein, fibre, iron, and phytosterols which are good fats that promote excretion and inhibit absoroption of cholestrol!

jello shooters

citrus celebration slices.

Everyone loves jello shots.  Everyone hates shooting them. Having to suck, slurp, and stick your tongue all up in those stupid little cups.  Such a cute idea at first. Colourful, delcious, jiggly shots that mask the alcohol flavour perfectly turns you into a disugusting, drooling dog-like creature trying to get every last drop. Anyways!  This version is cuter in presentation and participation.  

citrus slice jello shooters:

- 1 package of jello
- 1 cup of citrus vodka

- ¾ hot water 
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed fruit juice
- citrus fruit to match,  emptied peels

*we got creative and made three different jello batches with different combinations of flavours but these instructions are for just ONE batch.

Cut fruit of choice in half. Carefully scoop out contents of halved fruit and put them in a separate bowl.  Squeeze and strain the fruit flesh so you are just left with juice. Boil water. Mix jello powder with ¾ cup of water, 1 cup of vodka and ¼ cup of your fresh juice. Stir until all powder is dissolved. Fill fruit halves and put them in the fridge to set.  Once set, carefully slice the halves into wedges. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Some of ours melted. The lime ones were perfect though! AND verrrrrry limey. The recipe posted was the one we used for the lime ones.  With the other fruits we used MORE fruit juice (½ cup juice and ½ cup water).  We also had them sitting out of the fridge for a really long time on a very warm summer evening, so that definitely didn't help! SO just don't do either of those things. The juice definitely made them more delicious BUT if you want to play it safe just omit the juice completely and stick to 1 cup water and 1 cup vodka.

My best friend and I made these and popped some candles in to celebrate our friend's birthday and the end of a sweet summer. Make them, share them, and shoot them with friends!

a healthful hint:

You get a sweet serving of vitamin C from all the citrus fruit along with some stress relief and a goooood night  from the alcohol.  BUT that's probably the only healthful thing about these treats. I'd say they're still allowed in this nook because they're nourishing for... the soul.  We'll just stick with that!

pistachio nut butter

a perfect pistachio purée.

There's more out there then just peanut butter? Uhm, YES. This is a most delicious option for your toast! Get excited.  Those with arachibutyrophobia, BEWARE: this is much stickier than peanut butter.

Making your own nut butter is so, so, so simple.  Pick a nut, throw it in an electrical device and BAM, a toast topper!  I picked pistachios... mmm.  I found that pistachios taste excellent alongside, crushed on top and all up in fresh figs.  So when I was working through my surplus of fresh figs a couple weeks ago, I found myself munching many precious pistachios as well.  I just couldn't get enough of them.  Roasted, salted, crumbled on and in yogurt, granola, figs.  It just wasn't enough.  I wanted them on my TOAST.  So I decided the best way to achieve that was to SPREAD THEM.  I had tried making my own almond butter before...which failed.  BUT this time I learned the trick to making homemade nut butter...these perfect pistachios taught me patience.

pistachio nut butter:

- 1 cup of pistachios, roasted or raw, salted or unsalted

*use as many pistachios as you want depending on how much pistachio butter you`d like to enjoy. You could add salt if you want, I didn`t add any because I used salted pistachios. Its all up to you! I also suggest you buy pistachios that have already been shelled or you`ll end up with sore fingers and a big mess to clean up.

Put pistachios in device of your choice.  Let the machine do its work.  Pulse if you want.  BE PATIENT.  Use a spatula to scrape it off the sides constantly.  It will get crumbly looking.  It will be dry looking.  Just WAIT.  It will get clumpy looking.  It will form into a blob.  JUST WAIT.  It will eventually turn to a smooth, shiny, creamy, oily, spreadable substance that looks like it should.  It took about 10 minutes.  Scoop it all out of your device into a cute container.  ENJOY.

I ended up dirtying three different chopping, blending, processing devices.  The chopper thingy that is in the picture, a blender AND a food processor.  This is what I found out: the blender was too big and the blades were too small, it would just throw the blob against the sides instantly and didn't do its job of blending the nuts. The food processor worked well to get the pistachios to the dry clumpy formation, and chopper was taking a long time to get it smooth and it kept getting stuck underneath the blades at first.  If you use a bigger amount of pistachios the food processor would be best, for smaller amounts I'd say definitely use the chopper.  Make sure you stop the device and scrape down the sides constantly to keep the pistachio substance flowing.

Yes.  This will make your breakfast look like a ogre.  Shiny, green, smooth, orge toast.  Spread some on your toast and drizzle some honey over it... and I mean drizzle! Do NOT smother or cover your pistachio butter with honey or you won't be able to get the full pistachio flavour.  The drizzle just adds a delicious complimentary sweetness!

a healthful hint:
Pistachios make a great snack! Having to shell them slows you down so you don't mindlessly eat too many. BUT don't fret if you do eat too many (which isn't difficult because of their deliciousness) because they are one of the lowest calorie and lowest fat nuts out there!  They still have a high fat content like all nuts, but these fats are mostly unsaturated and good for you!  Pistachios are green and purple coloured because of high lutein and anthocyanin content.  Lutein (the green) is good for you eyes and anthocyanin (the purple) is said to be anti-inflammatory, and preventative of cancer and neurological disease.  These nuts also contain the highest levels of potassium, γ-tocopherol, vitamin K, phytosterols, and xanthophyll carotenoids. Alongside all these vitamins and antioxidants, pistachios are packed with protein and fibre!

grilled corn, tomato and black bean salad

smokey summer salad.

Om nom nom.  This is totally, completely, one hundred percent MY kind of salad.  No leaves.  The only problem I ever have with salads is the boring leaves!  I am not a dinosaur! Or a caterpillar!  Although my friends do tease me about eating like a rabbit but that is because rabbits eat veggies!  They stealthily sneak into gardens on a mission to munch vegetables... no time for the boring leaves.  Sheesh.  BUT this salad is a magnificent medley of Mexican inspired ingredients that you can eat as a side salad or for your main course.  Its sweet and citrusy with a hint of smokey-ness. Mmmmmm.  I must admit I got the idea for this salad from this recipe... I didn't think this up on my own but I did change the dressing slightly AND I can say that this was an excellent dish and a definite must-try!

Serves 4.
for the salad:
- 1 jalepeno pepper, grilled
- 2 cobs corn, grilled
- 3 tomatoes (use red ones to add colour but any will do!)
- 1 cup chopped spanish onion
- 1½ cup canned or cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3 tbsp fresh chopped basil

for the dressing:
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 4 tsp honey
- 1½ tsp sweet paprika (use more, less, or hot paprika depending on your preference)
- salt and black pepper to taste

Brush corn and jalepeno with olive oil. Grill on high for 12 minute. Once corn has some browned kernels and jalepeno skin is charred remove from grill.  Peel jalepeno skin then chop. Slice corn off cob. Dice tomatoes. Chop onion. Chop basil. Mince garlic. Drain and rinse beans. Combine all.  In a seperate bowl make the dressing.  Drizzle dressing over salad. Toss. ENJOY!
 

*amounts depend on the size of your vegetables, but all are delicious so do not fret!  There was a verrrry minimal amount of spice in this, my sister (who cannot stand any spice) enjoyed it.. so throw another jalepeno in or some hot paprika if you like heat!  Since there are no boring leaves this salad saves well and makes for delicious leftovers!

a healthful hint: 

The beans pack this salad full of protein BUT beans do not contain all the essential amino acids that make up a complete protein for bodily function and uses.  This corn and bean combo is great because corn contains essential amino acids that the beans lack.  Eating these together adds their amino acids to give your body all the essentials it needs!  Its also a good idea to use extra virgin olive oil when cooking. or in this case grilling at high heats.  It takes a higher heat to cause this oil to break down and smoke which can cause it to become carcinogenic and lead to negative health effects.

fig, ricotta and honey toast

food for fig fanatics.

I had never even tried a fresh fig until this summer.  As a child I would obliviously eat Fig Newtons without the slightest clue as to what that funny brown stuff in the middle was.  I ate too many at one point in time, got bored of them and haven't had one since.  BUT I started thinking about fresh figs at the very start of summer.  I didn't even know they were a summer fruit and when I could expect to find them.  I just had an extreme and mysterious curiosity, urge, CRAVING!  Figs were the forbidden fruit! ...until late July that is, then BAM! ffffiiiigggsssss, finally in season. Yum.  An immediate fruit favourite for me and I just cannot stop gobbling them up.

So I had some and wanted to do something extraordinary and came across this recipe idea.

fig, ricotta and honey toast:

- rye bread, toasted (or just something that gets crunchy like ciabatta would be yummy as well)

- ricotta

- salt and pepper to taste (a little saltier is great to compliment the sweetness)

- fresh thyme

- figs, sliced

- honey, drizzled 

*use quantities of each ingredient to your own desire!

Toast bread.  Spread ricotta generously.  Add salt and pepper on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves.  Cut figs into halves or thick slices.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle a pinch more salt on top if you please. ENJOY!

a healthful hint:

Figs are a fibre-filled fruit, great for maintaining regular bowel function and clean colons!  They are also richer in iron than many fruits which is important for oxygen transport in the blood. In addition to iron, figs by weight have more potassium than bananas and more calcium than a glass of milk!  SO paired with the light ricotta cheese (which keeps this combination low in fat and calories) you have a beautiful bone strengthening meal!