Pumpkin Madness!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles!

A new post? Shocking, right-- seeing as I've been completely AWOL for a very long time.... sorry about that. This week I got caught up in the fall pumpkin-everything craze!  It started with pumpkin snickerdoodles and then progressed to pumpkin-sauce pasta. I still have some pumpkin left in the can... so there may be some pumpkin pancakes in store for tomorrow morning.

I still have been being food-lazy, so I mainly used other peoples' recipes for these creations.  I made the pumpkin snickerdoodles using the awesome recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet.  They are definitely some of my favorite cookies ever!! The pumpkin gives them a delightfully fluffy texture.

In the recipe, I used coconut sugar for the sweetener.  For gluten-free flour, I used 1 cup millet flour, and 1 cup of mixed garbanzo flour and brown rice flower.  I also threw in about 1/4 or 1/2 tsp guar gum for good measure.  I also added Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to half of the batter...... but those do have cane sugar in them. (I was feeling adventurous!)  I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but these cookies were so good they barely needed the addition.

Pumpkin (sauce) pasta

Now, for the pasta, I cooked up some gluten-free brown rice penne and twisty things (don't know the proper pasta-name!) and whipped up some pumpkin sauce with the left-over canned pumpkin.

I really just made the sauce by taste, and followed the basic seasonings listed here. The base was pumpkin, olive oil, almond milk, and pasta water.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  It ended up having a great blend of savory taste, plus the implied sweetness of the touch of cinnamon.  Definitely also a winning creation.

Happy fall! Now the big question.... what are you being for Halloween???

EWG Cosmetics Database

"HEY GRRL! My makeup's probably toxic!"

Here's a useful site that you can use to look up cosmetics and toiletries to see whether their ingredients pose heath risks. It's created by the Environmental Working Group, and rates products from 0 (good) to 9 (bad!), and includes a breakdown of what ingredients pose specific risks.

EWG Cosmetics Database 

You might not WANT to know the risks of the products you're using... but it's good to know that this site exists!

I looked up a few of my favorite items, ranging from....

Ocean Potion SPF "XTREME" Tanning Oil  --- rated 7 (that's bad), with a high risk of "Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity"

 - Honestly, that's no big surprise. Nothing about this stuff looks healthy to begin with. It is "XTREME," after all!


to...





Hugo Natural's Volumizing Shampoo --- rated 1 (that's good!)

- Granted, 75% of the time I wash my hair I use my Pantene 2-in-1 (rated 4)... but I did at least buy the Hugo's to go in the right direction!

Chocolate Easter Bunny

Yes, it's belated. But pour it into a different mold, and it can be chocolate whatever-you-want!

Hi, I'm cute! Also, delicious!

 THE RECIPE:

2 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
1 tbs coconut oil  (I used the kind that doesn't taste like coconut to make it more standard-chocolate-y)
1 tbs agave (or stevia to taste)

Melt and mix - then pour into a candy mold!
If you're feeling fancy, try to temper your chocolate... I wasn't, so I didn't.

Almost-deaf.

Also: Two Cool Things

 
#1 - Earthing.    http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/291541/ . 

Ever noticed feeling brighter after walking outside barefoot? (Or do you even go barefoot anymore?) - I know it always helps me to gain energy by "reconnecting" with nature and the Earth.  This research is really interesting to me, and is producing a whole new idea of "Earthing" -- purposely grounding one's body by connecting into the electrically grounded surface of the earth.

When I google "fitness," this is the first image that comes up. ...ironic?

#2 - SlimKicker!   http://www.slimkicker.com

This is an awesome website that helps boost motivation for reaching health goals- in nutrition, exercise, and emotions. You "level up" as you earn points by logging your progress and completing health challenges.  It's just what I need to get my competitive spirit engaged!  Super easy to use, fun to get your friends to do it with you, and helpful to track nutrition stats!  (friend me on it- I'm mcphilli!)