In a Tizzy

Author: In a Tizzy

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Days 9 and 10

    The last couple of days have been demanding, so the Pumpkin Challenge was not updated accordingly – HOWEVER, I always make time to include pumpkin in my October days! Thusly, there is an update for each day.

    Thursday was a busy day, so I sought out an easy recipe that happened to coincide with my plain, leftover pasta – vegan. pumpkin. mac n’ cheese.

    What?

    I could not believe it, but it was delicious. As always, a thank-you to Chocolate-Covered Katie for this unique and healthy vegan twist on a classic snack/meal. It was very filling, but in the nutritious sort of way – have you experienced the difference I am speaking of here? There is a difference between filling = too much food, and filling = your body has taken in what it needs (in my experience, at least). This pasta did the latter sort of filling for me.





    Today – FRIDAY. It felt like one of the most necessary of Fridays this term so far, and my craving for a cookie-esque treat was piquing around 8PM. To satisfy this craving, I chose to go with a no-bake pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe. Quick, easy, and did not require the oven (which was occupied by a butternut squash being roasted with cinnamon!).



  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 8

    Halfway through the week, the sun out after a nice, cool morning, and hosting a music exchange event felt like a good day to share more than just good music – it felt like a day to share pumpkin muffins.


    In a Pumpkin Challenge plot twist, I did not use a CCK recipe today! I altered a “Skinny Pumpkin Muffin” recipe to make it vegan. I made a batch of mini muffins and used leftover batter to make two small pumpkin “loaves” (though they were not very bread-like in their density – much more like banana bread!).


    I quite enjoyed this recipe, and would likely return to it – the smell of pumpkin in the kitchen and the aroma that followed me and my freshly-baked goodies was enough to make me want to make it at least three more times.

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 7

    A busy Tuesday called for a simple recipe for today – so simple, that it took about 2 minutes to create!

    Pumpkin cream cheese (vegan) was the chosen item, and upon sampling (yes, with a spoon), it will be a breakfast item for the next few days!

    Thank-you Daiya Foods for your contribution to today’s pumpkin piece.


  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 6

    Chocolate.

    Chocolate.

    CHOCOLATE.

    Chocolate.



    This is an approximation of my resting thought pattern throughout the day. Unable to neglect my craving any longer, I scoured Chocolate-Covered Katie for a recipe that would be both chocolaty and fairly healthy, so as not to leave me feeling empty even after consuming the chocolate.

     I found The One after a pumpkin-focused search: Vegan Pumpkin-Pie Brownies.

     These brownies are distinctly chocolaty and pumpkin-pie-esque at the same time, and the combination is oh-so beautiful. It makes me wonder if I could do some sort of pumpkin-spice mocha or a pumpkin-spice hot chocolate with successful (i.e., delicious) results.

    I went for the two-bite brownie style of snacking, rather than the more traditional square brownie – I wanted to easily share them with my advising team, and my mini-muffin pan has an almost-perfect amount of space for this purpose!


    Where might tomorrow take my taste buds?
    I suppose we shall have to wait…

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 5

    For the last two weeks, I have found that no day feels like any particular day of the week. On a given day, I could wake up and easily believe it was Monday, Friday, or some time in the weekend. Today, however, was different – today felt like a Sunday! 

    With a sense of it being Sunday comes the feeling of flexible mornings and easy, productive afternoons (in my personal experience). In it being a Sunday, that meant that my October food challenges were pushed towards the afternoon and evening of today, resulting in a bit of a rush on my pumpkin item!


    It was about 9:45PM and I still didn’t have a pumpkin item made – and I had just played football and was already on my way back out the door! Protein was in order, but so was pumpkin. THUS, I took T.I. up on a pumpkin smoothie recipe tip, and took on the not-so-daunting task of blending up a protein smoothie before dashing out the door again.

    A few ingredients were left out of the smoothie, but it was deliciously smooth, creamy, and full of protein to help get my legs healed up after sprinting off and on for an hour!


    Another pumpkiny success – 1/6ish of the way through the challenge!

    Until next time…

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 4

    I encountered a dilemma today –

    I had not yet had my green smoothie for the Green Smoothie Challenge, nor had I had a pumpkin item for the Pumpkin Challenge… Yet I was too full to consume two things before I went to work, after which I would be unable to get creative with either of those demands.

    A handy Internet scouring led me to the very website where my green smoothie recipes come from – and they have a PUMPKIN GREEN SMOOTHIE! Perfect.

    A novelty red banana purchased to see if they differ
    from their more common yellow cousins (they do only
    ever-so slightly, a bit sweeter.)

  • We Be Jammin’ ("Preserving by the Pint")

    For my birthday this year, I requested a book on how to jam/pickle/jelly foods so that I could explore a new hobby that would be mostly inspired by my aunt’s amazing grape jelly (family fights almost break out each time she makes a batch). Answering my call for preservation guidance, I received this book:

    “Preserving by the Pint” by Marisa McClellen,
    author of “Food In Jars” blog and cookbook.
    Not only does this book have the basic guidelines for at-home jamming, but it is specifically tailored to individuals who do not want/have the space to make big batches of jam or preserved items! For me – sharing a flat with five other individuals while at school – is ideal.

    The book contains many recipes with unique twists to them, rather than simple and basic recipes (which I had expected). While this did throw me for a bit of a loop, I think it will be a good opportunity to try some new herbs and flavours and explore my creative side a bit.

    For my first attempt, I chose the most simple recipe I could to cater to my personal tastes: Honey-Sweetened Strawberry Jam. I replaced the honey with agave nectar, and off we went! 



    P.S. It tastes as good as it looks.

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 3

    Today felt like a day for sharing.

    In spite of my fatigue, the glorious feeling of being free of two midterms in a two-hour span inspired a batch of cookies for today’s pumpkin item!

    The recipe these were pulled from Chocolate-Covered Katie (again, as usual, forever), but instead of leaving them raw, CC and I decided to bake them – because who doesn’t love melty chocolate chips in their cookies? (It’s okay if you don’t love that, but I cannot understand it.)

    The cookies were described by a friend as a “pumpkin spice latte in a cookie”, which sounds like a really excellent compliment to me. Dairy-free, soy-free, whole-wheat and oaty – even almond-free! I used a quinoa-rice milk, and have been really enjoying the results of it in my baking this last week; these pumpkin cookies were no exception.







    We were all over the kitchen tonight – pumpkin cookies were one delicious outcome, and another post will describe another adventure that was taken on for the first time ever!

    Until then,

  • Pumpkin Challenge: Day 2

    I find it challenging to successfully multiply the quantities of a recipe by more than two; So taking a single-serving recipe from Chocolate-Covered Katie and making seven of them did not go perfectly.

    However… Chocolate makes everything okay. Always.

    Chocolate-chip pumpkin cupcakes.


    I pulled this recipe (as I will many more times this month) from CCK, and having never done it before, was pleased with my results! My most likely culprit in the cupcakes not behaving was an incorrect ratio of liquid to all-other ingredients, and I knew as I put the batter into the tins that it would not turn out as a normal, fluffy cupcake.









    HOWEVER, I was not incorrect in believing that chocolate would solve my problems once again – because it did! I threw them in the oven, pulled them out, found that the consistency was not as awkward as I had expected, and then added Daiya Foods cream cheese and enjoyed!

    Day 2 was mostly successful.