Pumpkin! Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Smoothie and Pumpkin Chili

The nights are getting chilly and days are getting shorter which can only mean one thing...it's PUMPKIN season.  Seriously, I am a little sad that summer is over, but I am pumped about pumpkin flavored everything (and about cozy sweatpants, fluffy socks, and being a human burrito wrapped up in warm blankets...I digress).  So let's start the morning off with a pumpkin pie smoothie, then watch some football while eating pumpkin chili, and finally crunch on some pumpkin spiced almonds for dessert.

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 frozen banana 

2 tablespoons of oatmeal (the quick cook variety breaks down the best in the blender)

2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree

1 cup of non-dairy milk

1 tablespoon on maple syrup

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

4-5 ice cubes  

Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a large glass (or beer stein, don't judge) and top with some walnuts, pepitas, cinnamon, or whatever and enjoy!

Pumpkin Chili 

Again my homeys from Thug Kitchen get the credit here for the recipe...they have no idea who I am by the way, I just pretend that we are homeys.  

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 carrot

1 bell pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno

2 teaspoons of soy sauce (I used Bragg's liquid aminos)

2-3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 can of diced tomatoes, no salt added

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups vege broth

3 cups cooked beans (black and kidney used here)

juice of 1 lime

Dice the carrot, bell pepper, and onion and then mince the jalapeno and garlic.  Now you are ready to get cooking.  This is super quick and easy to put together.

Grab a large soup pot and put it over medium high heat.  Throw in about 1 teaspoon of olive oil followed by the carrot, onion, peppers, and garlic.  Cook those down until they are tender, the carrots will take the longest...in case that wasn't obvious.  Then in with the oregano, chili powder and cumin...mix that up really well.  Now put in the vege broth, pumpkin puree, and tomatoes and mix it up again.  Finally gently fold in the beans, don't smoush them up too much.  Put the lid on, turn the heat down to medium low and let it simmer for a good 15-20 minutes.  Finally squeeze in the lime juice and you are done.   

Throw on a few toppings and then eat it!

Avocado, tortilla chips, nutritional yeast, cilantro, limes, etc all make for good toppings for your chili.  I am anticipating your burning question of "what is nutritional yeast?"  Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast (you know, like they use in bread dough), usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae that comes in the form of a flake.  It has a cheese-like taste to it and is one of the only non-animal sources of vitamin B-12.  My homeboys at Bob's Red Mill sell this product so it is easily available in most grocery stores (again check out the "healthy food" aisle).  

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Pumpkin Spice Almonds

I found these little almond friends in the grocery store too...awesome. 

Thanks Blue Diamond Almonds people for making these so I didn't have to.  

I just eat them out of the can, but I am sure they are awesome chopped up and sprinkled on some vanilla frozen banana "ice cream", click the link to check out that post.

Enjoy pumpkin season!

Happy eating and best health,
Dr. G