Author: In a Tizzy

The Pumpkin Challenge has reached an approximate 2/3 completion, and the majority of the last 20 days have consisted of baked goods. They have been delicious, they have been vegan, they have been relatively healthy in comparison to the average baked good.

This soup was one of those grab-what-you-think-tastes-good out of the fridge kind of deals, so I grabbed a few items that didn’t seem like they would strongly disagree with each other being in the same soup: Pumpkin (obviously), almond milk, vegetable broth, snap peas, ginger…. Hm, it seemed that I was missing something, something that would satisfy my craving to chew that I was experiencing.

Search the freezer, where all random and useful food items are stored…

Ah! Vegetarian thai chicken from my favourite Calgary Farmer’s Market stop: Heart’s Choices!

I thew it all into a slow cooker and left it for less than an hour, and – as I had hoped – the chicken became very tender, like pulled pork, and offered up a lovely texture to make the meal feel more substantial and satisfying.

After so many baked goods, this was just what I needed for my end-of-day meal and pumpkin item!

Sundays seem to carry a reputation (at least in my mind) for being good days to bake, and the completion of one of my school assignments felt like reason enough to take on a new pumpkin recipe that I had been eyeing for a few days.

Today was full of studying, apples, and good company, so some sweet and sugary vegan sugar cookies seemed like an appropriate way to capture the sweetness of the Sunday.

This recipe comes from a blog I am fond of, called Minimalist Baker, and these cookies are simple and fluffy and sweet, but not overbearingly so.

I hope that today is a sign of a good week ahead – because it was a heart-warming sort of day, and it would be nice to feel full of goodness at the end of the week as well!

Excited that Friday had (finally) arrived, I took on a recipe that I had been looking at almost every day for a week – Friday felt like the right day to take it on.

This recipe was from a website called Averie Cooks, and the recipe was for vegan pumpkin bread with streusel crust. While I had not made anything of a streusely nature, the recipe looked so easy that I had to give it a shot!

Successful? Yes. This recipe was consumed over the course of two days, mostly by me and him, with help from the roommates. It turned out so beautifully fluffy, not overly dense, and the streusel was a lovely additional texture on top of the bread.

Almost Friday.

One more big push before the freedom of Friday. Not enough sleep, an emotional hangover, and a need for something to get me through the morning – what could help with all of these conditions?

Pumpkin pie in a bowl.

Another beauty from Chocolate-Covered Katie.

 The original recipe did not specify making it warm, but in her pumpkin recipe post, CCK listed this item as “hot pumpkin cereal”, and that is how I chose to consume mine! It was a very simple procedure of blending the ingredients together and letting them sit in order to thicken – my cereal of choice was fairly textured and filling on its own (it’s Edge Protein, in case you’re wondering), so this pumpkin number was just the ticket to get me powered up for the morning – I didn’t even finish it in one go! I came back to finish it later once I became hungry again.

I am happy to say that I survived this day despite the fatigue that constantly threatened to wipe me out – waves of energy and inspiration hit me here and there, and that is a sign that my attitude is at least in a good place, even if stress sometimes gets to me.

Something that the pumpkin challenge has offered me is the knowledge that pumpkin things can usually relieve stress.

A day late! Clearly, I am not on my pumpkin posting game.

These cookies turned out way better than I had anticipated! I accidentally left them in the oven for a bit too long, and yet when I pulled them out and observed their condition, they were perfectly cooked and had risen a little in the oven (something I often find doesn’t happen with my vegan baking).

Once I had the opportunity to try them after they had cooled, I was even more delighted to find that they were not overly chewy and were soft and chocolatey to bite into. They were very pumpkiny and looked beautiful amongst the brownies and cookies that were piling up in our little kitchen.

My energy levels have been waxing and waning fairly rapidly in the last little while, and yesterday was much more of a “waning” day – so for the pumpkin challenge, I took to the Tassimo machine.

I mixed up a combination of pumpkin, homemade pumpkin spice, and soy eggnog (‘TIS THE SEASON!) with half of an Americano to offer me a little bit of energy to power through a couple more hours of studying during the latter part of the day.

These sorts of drinks will likely creep into more of my days as the rain continues to fall – I enjoy the gloomy weather, to a degree, as it allows me to indulge in those gloomy practices that are actually (for me) somewhat enjoyable. Things such as warm drinks, fuzzy socks, sitting by a window to watch the clouds roll around, and even taking a few moments to be melancholy every so often.

Pumpkins seem destined to be made into warm treats, and I will use this to my advantage during these rainy October days.

Ahhhh, the long weekend has finally arrived.

With haste, I made my way home today to take part in a bit of decompression and relaxation away from the bubble of school and work. I knew that pumpkin purée was at my disposal, but I was not sure what I would be making for the challenge today – in a lovely coincidence, someone allowed me to take a break from pumpkin-item creation by bringing over a Thanksgiving treat for my family.

The surprise treat that took pumpkin responsibility off of my shoulders? 

Pumpkin cake.

Dairy-free!

The experience of eating this cake can best be described, I believe, as what eating a fluffy pumpkin pie would be like. A fluffy pumpkin pie sprinkled with raisins and accents of citrus, as it was lightly flavoured with orange zest. An aroma of cinnamon and citrus notes emanated from the dish every time the lid was lifted off of it.