Quick Ideas Day 3: Pumpkin Yogurt Parfait & Pumpkin Oatmeal

I have an obsession. An obsession with pumpkin. I love everything made with pumpkin. If it isn’t made with pumpkin, I’ll add it. (I’m exaggerating a bit, just a tinsy bit.) 

What I’m not obsessed with: eating pumpkin straight out of the can. Gross. I like my pumpkin sweet.

Pumpkin Yogurt Parfait

Quick steps:

• Start with a few heaping spoonfuls of yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt for this gal.
• Add one or two large spoonfuls of the star ingredient. Yes this would be the pumpkin.
• Top with agave nectar or honey, cinnamon, and granola. One can never have too many toppings.
• [Side note: If you’re feeling fancy, you can make multiple layers.]
• Stir together and swoon.

Mmmm… good brain food!

 

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Quick steps:

• Cook your favorite oatmeal. I’ve used quick-cooking oats and steel oats, but it’s amazing with Chai spice-flavored oatmeal.
• Add a dash of milk. I like vanilla soy milk for extra flavor.
• Add a large spoonful or two of canned pumpkin. You want more oatmeal than pumpkin.
• Top with sweetener and spice of choice and sprinkle with a few nuts for good measure. I like Agave nectar or brown sugar, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, walnuts, and sometimes a dash of ground flaxseed.
• Mix ingredients together and enjoy!

One can of pumpkin lasted me a little over a week, kept covered in the fridge. Only because I’m not tempted to eat it right out of the can, unlike some other things… but that’s for another post.

Question: Pumpkin — Love it or hate it? (Gasp, if it’s the latter). To what other everyday foods do you add canned pumpkin?

Monster Cookies for two very special care packages

We all have special people in our lives and want to show them our love in special ways. If you’re reading this blog, you probably like to make food for those you love. For me, I wanted to show my two younger brothers just how much I care about them while they are away from home serving our country.

When deciding which cookie to bake for my military brothers, naturally I leaned toward the classic chocolate chip. But after some research, I found that Monster cookies are a better choice because: 1) they are sturdier for shipping and 2) you can easily swap out the chocolate chips for M&M’s, which don’t melt as much in the hot weather overseas.

Also, my brothers were little monsters when they were growing up (Oh, do I have stories) so it seemed fitting, but we don’t have to share that with them… okay? Okay.

Monster cookies—everything cookies or kitchen-sink cookies, as some of you may know them—remind me of childhood. I remember making them with my mom and always throwing in lots of extra M&M’s… in the batter, sure, but mostly in my mouth. 🙂

I hope the Monster cookies will remind my brothers of home and let them know how proud I am of their service and bravery. Plus it’s my one brother’s birthday soon, so I wanted to surprise him with a homemade treat.

What’s great about this cookie dough is you can mix-in whatever you like and create separate batches with different mix-ins. You could try nuts, various types of chocolate chips, or other candies. Be creative, but be sure to half the mix-ins or else it will be all treats and no cookie (yes, that is a bad thing in this case!).

I made two separate batches: one for the birthday boy overseas with a ½ cup regular M&M’s and ½ cup peanut M&M’s (no chocolate chips due to the warm climate) and another for the brother in the States with a ½ cup regular M&M’s and ½ cup chocolate chips.

I doubled the recipe making about 140 cookies or almost 11 baker’s dozen. That’s a LOT of cookies.

140 cookies = one large container plus several small baggies for each care package + PLENTY of leftovers to snack on for the week and freeze for future cravings, which I wasn’t complaining about…

Obviously!!! 😉