Sunday 30 September 2018

What to Cook This October

Cookie and Kate
What to Cook This October

Learn what's in season this month at cookieandkate.com!

Tomorrow is the first day of October and I’m ready to cozy up. Boots, scarves, candles, all of it. I’m on my way back from a relaxing yoga retreat in Greece with Abbi Miller. I’m excited to share some of my newfound Greek recipe inspiration with you in addition to some cozy fall staples!

I’m so ready to be home and take Cookie on long walks now that it’s comfortable outside. For now, here are some links that inspired me over the past month and a collection of seasonal recipe to make this October. What are you craving this fall?

Links lately:

12 Healthy Freezer Meals (That You’ll Actually Love) 5 New Kitchen Trends What Pinterest Taught Me About Myself Dealing with Decision Fatigue Some Real Data on Pesticides in Wine Fibershed and Regenerative Textile Systems (podcast) Apples

Trust me, no one will suspect that these fluffy cinnamon apple muffins are healthy! cookieandkate.com

Healthy Apple Muffins

Easily gluten free and easily vegan (see notes)

“Made them this morning with one Granny Smith and one Macintosh. Your recipe is fantastic! The rose so well, made a beautiful crust and were nice and tender inside. Taste was great!” – Pierre

More apple recipes »

Continue to the recipe...

The post What to Cook This October appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

A Sweet Pea Chef
Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream (Prepped in Just 15 Minutes!)
Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream (Prepped in Just 15 Minutes!)

You know what Fall tastes like? Pumpkin. And pumpkin spice. Or pumpkin spice ice cream. This homemade pumpkin ice cream is prepped in 15 minutes AND without an ice cream maker. Extra points: it’s vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

It’s that time of year again, friends.

When pumpkin takes over EVERYTHING and it’s so good and so perfect.

Let’s go over the goodness…

The wind starts having a little chill.

The leaves start changing.

The fireplaces start getting used again.

Fall is simply perfection, if you ask me.

I love moments in each season, but Fall just seems to have the most special moments, you know?

Like how pumpkin spice takes over everything, from pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin raisin bread to pumpkin cheesecakes to…ICE CREAM.

Yep.  Ice Cream.  I just had to.  I’ve made a pumpkin frozen yogurt before, but I wanted to create a new way to enjoy pumpkin in a cool, creamy, frozen way.

Ding Ding Ding: Pumpkin Ice Cream!

Plus, you know, Fall is the season of pumpkin spice so I figured pumpkin spice ice cream is totes appropriate.

For this homemade pumpkin ice cream, I used full fat coconut milk to get a creamy consistency and add more richness.

When you’re looking for it at the grocery store, I’m not talking about the coconut milk in the refrigerated section, I’m talking about the canned coconut milk — typically in the Asian section. There’s a big difference so please look for the canned, full-fat stuff, okay?

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

Because it’s practically canned magic – and can be used in so many ways.  Like this whipped cream and these creamy steel cut oats and these creamsicles and these cheesecakes. <— OMG those cheesecakes!

If you have about an hour, I totes recommend making your own pumpkin puree.  It’s crazy simple to make and adds so much flavor and goodness, compared to canned pumpkin puree. I’ll explain to you in a bit how to do it.

For those of you keeping score, besides being amazingly easy, this fresh pumpkin ice cream is ALL of the following:

vegan gluten-free clean eating refined sugar-free dairy-free no churn what dreams are made of

Just to make this bowl-o-ice-cream-yumminess EVEN better, I top it with candied pecans.

Sounds amazing, right?

I’m glad you think so because I have even better news: they’re super easy to make.  All you need is a fry pan, pure maple syrup, raw pecans, and about 10 minutes and POOF: candied pecans.  To see exactly how to do it, click here for my recipe.

Then, come back and make this vegan pumpkin ice cream.

Then, go out and enjoy the Fall – it’s here and it’s wonderful!

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN ICE CREAM

This pumpkin ice cream is super easy to make.  It doesn’t require an ice cream maker so no need to worry about that.  If you’ve got a freezer and a big bowl, you’re set.

As for the ingredients, you need the following ingredients:

coconut milk pumpkin puree pecans pure maple syrup vanilla extract pumpkin spice (basically a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)

You probably already have these ingredients in your pantry so all you have to do is to learn how to make pumpkin ice cream.

But before that, let’s take some time and discuss the health benefits of pumpkin.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PUMPKIN?

I’m telling you, pumpkin is amazing. So amazing, in fact, that it’s a shame we use it more for decorating our houses during Halloween than for the nutritional powerhouse it actually is.

Not that I have something against carving pumpkins. I don’t. I’m all for carving pumpkins. But I’m also all for fresh pumpkin recipes.

What about pumpkin pie?

Yes, pumpkin is also used in pumpkin pie. However, there are so many other things we can do with pumpkin. Things like soups, smoothies, and fresh ice cream.

Pumpkin…

is low in calories is highly nutritious is rich in vitamins (including vitamin C and vitamin A) is a great source of fiber contains beta-carotene contains potassium

So now you can see the health benefits of pumpkin, I’m betting you understand why I’m so hyped about it. So let’s get to it.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

WHAT’S IN PUMPKIN SPICE?

Ever wondered what is pumpkin spice or what’s in pumpkin spice?

I have the answers!

Pumpkin spice is a mix of spices traditionally used in pumpkin pie. However, pumpkin spice flavors are everywhere nowadays during Fall months. Coffee drinks, desserts, and, of course, in my pumpkin spice ice cream.

So what’s in pumpkin spice?

Pumpkin spice usually contains a blend of:

nutmeg ginger cinnamon allspice cloves

Simple spices. But what amazing Fall flavors. Am I right?  So many people just buy pre-made pumpkin spice blend, but I like making my own because I can control the flavors.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

HOW TO MAKE FRESH PUMPKIN PUREE

While you could use organic canned pumpkin puree, I make my own pumpkin puree, which is super easy and awesome to have around during Fall.

Is canned pumpkin healthy? Yes. But only if has just one ingredient. That ingredient should be pumpkin. Nothing else added, ok? Stay away from pumpkin pie mix since that contains a lot of sugar. You might be tempted to get it since it’s usually near the canned pumpkin in grocery stores but please don’t.

That being said, promise me you’ll try my pumpkin puree recipe.

If you haven’t, it’s like the easiest thing EVER and it makes a huge difference in your pumpkin recipes.  The flavor is sweeter and oh so yummy.

So, spoiler alert, here’s how to make fresh pumpkin puree:

slice open the pumpkin clean out the seeds pop it in the oven Remove the skin of the pumpkin Puree the cooked pumpkin

Told you it’s super simple.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANNED AND FRESH COCONUT MILK?

Canned coconut milk is full fat coconut milk. The refrigerated carton coconut milk is actually a coconut milk drink.

What’s the difference between the two?

Water, mainly.

Canned coconut milk is the full-fat, fresh coconut milk you’ll want for cooking.

The carton coconut milk is coconut milk blended with water and some vitamins. This is a good beverage option (if it has 0 sugars added) but it’s not creamy for cooking because a lot of the fat has been removed.

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef

3 MORE HEALTHY PUMPKIN RECIPES

I love this vegan pumpkin ice cream a lot. Like a lot, a lot. But there are other pumpkin recipes I love, including fresh pumpkin recipes. Yes, I have a pumpkin addiction. But who doesn’t during Fall? Right? Right. I couldn’t help it so I made a list of 3 healthy pumpkin recipes for you. Here they are:

HEALTHY PUMPKIN BREAD WITH RAISINS

This Healthy Pumpkin Bread With Raisins is the epitome of Fall flavors. And it’s comforting and ready in less than 1 hour.

Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Raisins | This super easy Healthy Pumpkin Bread is moist, healthy, and so easy to make. Perfect Fall flavors, with or without raisins, and ready in less than an hour! | A Sweet Pea Che

Can you make healthy pumpkin bread? Yes, you can. Just try my recipe. Oh, by the way, if you don’t like raisins, you can leave them out. Get the recipe.

PUMPKIN PIE OVERNIGHT OATS

You know how much I love my overnight oats. So I gave them Fall flavors and transformed them into Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats.

Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats | pumpkin spice + oatmeal for a wonderful Fall breakfast. | A Sweet Pea Chef

What you get if you try the Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats – a quick and easy make-ahead breakfast + comforting Fall flavors. Get the recipe.

HEALTHY PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

Do you love the Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks? Who doesn’t right? What I don’t love about them is the ton of sugar in them. So, instead of going to Starbucks, I make my own Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte | Low calorie, high in protein, low carb, cream-free pumpkin spice latte without an espresso maker! www.asweetpeachef.com

You can do it too. The homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte is cheaper, healthier, and more delicious. Get the recipe.

 Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream | Smooth, creamy, sweet, vegan, and clean eating pumpkin ice cream. So much goodness. | A Sweet Pea Chef
Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream

Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream

You know what Fall tastes like? Pumpkin. And pumpkin spice. Or pumpkin spice ice cream. This homemade pumpkin ice cream is prepped in 15 minutes AND without an ice cream maker. Extra points: it’s vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

1 can full fat coconut milk, (refrigerated) 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree 1/3 cup pure maple syrup 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1/8 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1/8 tsp ground allspice candied pecans, (optional topping)
Line a loaf pan with wax or parchment paper and then set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, sea salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground allspice and stir well. in a separate large mixing bowl, add a can of full fat coconut milk and beat using a mixer until soft peaks form. Add the whipped coconut milk to the pumpkin mixture, folding it in gradually, and stir gently until smooth. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and then place in the freezer for 4-6 hours, or until solid enough to scoop. I like to sprinkle some candied pecans over the top with this delicious pumpkin ice cream all Fall long.

While you could use organic canned pumpkin puree, I make my own puree which is super easy and awesome to have around during the Fall. To make it, check out my easy recipe.

This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.

The post Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream (Prepped in Just 15 Minutes!) appeared first on A Sweet Pea Chef.

Ambitious Kitchen
31 Cozy Recipes to Make in October

Delicious, cozy recipes to make in October! Stock up on extra pumpkin, winter squash, apples, brussels sprouts and more to make these 31 seasonal recipes. Happy Sunday loves! Feeling all of the cozy vibes here in Chicago where a high of 80 degrees just turned to 50. Fall is here and I couldn’t be more [...]

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