Pumpkin Smoothies

Mmm... smoothies. The Pumpkin Spice Bread will leave you with some extra canned pumpkin. This is a great way to use it.

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk or vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. brown sugar
4 ice cubes

Combine ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

I realize that I'm severely out of season with this one - but I bought the canned pumpkin last fall and never got around to making it. So here it is. I made this sometime last week and have been bringing it to work for my morning snack - healthier than cereal bars and much more filling. Pumpkin is also a great source of Vitamin A and beta-carotene.

Use canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix in this recipe; the latter contains added sugar and more than twice the calories.

Serves 8 to 10
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 55 minutes

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1⁄4 cup molasses
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1⁄2 cup nonfat yogurt
1⁄4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons shelled pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spritz a 9" x 5" loaf pan with vegetable-oil spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the molasses, brown sugar, pumpkin, egg, yogurt, and oil.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir with a wooden spoon just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before turning bread out of pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Nutrition score per serving

(one slice): 283 calories, 9 g fat (30% of calories), 1 g saturated fat, 44 g carbs, 6 g protein, 3 g fiber, 93 mg calcium, 3 mg iron, 176 mg sodium

Recipe notes: I used all whole-wheat flour so it would be healthier and it was a little grainy.

Sweet Potatoes

Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to stuff myself and stayed far away from the turkey until it was nicely carved and bearing no resemblance to any type of bird (as to avoid a traumatic experience akin to that of "Chicken Noodle Soup").

I made the sweet potatoes for our meal. I chose sweet potatoes because no one really likes them anyway - so I wouldn't be too stressed out if I messed them up. Blake's aunt made the most amazing sweet potatoes last year and I was hoping to replicate. Alas, mine were only average. I think the key is using grated ginger root - but you're supposed to use 6x as much fresh ginger as you would ground ginger. I might try more fresh ginger and less orange zest. They were a tad on the citrus-y side.

Stay tuned... I promise brilliance next Thanksgiving.

Source: lowfatcooking.about.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

PREPARATION:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. Drain sweet potatoes; add orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Mash until smooth.

Serves 6.

Per Serving: Calories 180, Calories from Fat 4, Total Fat 0.4g (sat 0.1g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 21mg, Carbohydrate 41.3mg, Fiber 4.7g, Protein 2.7g