Pumpkin Spice Latte (Vegan)

It's Fall!  The best time of year for cozy warm lattes and good books.  This is my favorite season.  

Here is a delicious recipe for a healthy pumpkin spice latte made with almond milk.

You will need: 

1 cup Almond milk (Soy or Coconut milk would be fine too)

1 Tablespoon pumpkin puree

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (optional)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 cup of brewed coffee

Brew your coffee and set aside.  I used my french press.  You can brew it however you would like. 

Add the almond milk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and maple syrup to a small pot.   

Cook on medium heat and whisk the ingredients together, stirring frequently.  Take off the heat once it starts steaming.   

Whisk or froth the milk.

I love my milk frother.  Makes my milk super fluffy like whipped cream, but without the extra calories.   If you don't have a frother, just use a whisk.  

Add the coffee to your mug, 

Then the frothed milk.

    Top with ground nutmeg.   

Drink in a cozy place with a good book.  Take time to enjoy. 

A Weekend Of MaryJane's ChillOvers and Benches

It was a fun weekend cooking up MaryJane's ChillOvers

 and crafting a beautiful bench.  

I recently purchased MaryJane Butters ChillOver powder since she makes it look so good in her books.  Her ChillOver Powder is like gelatin, but is cruelty free and made with a variety of sea vegetables.  Thank goodness for her persistence in perfecting the ChillOver powder because it makes amazing desserts!  

 This is my ChillOver tea party.  I set it up in my Longaberger sewing basket. :)  It's made with ChillOver powder and Izze Sparkling juice.  The carbination stays in the ChillOver tickling your tongue when you put it in your mouth.  It's amazing!  It set up in tea cups.  Makes for a perfect "Chilled" tea party on a hot day.  It was a huge hit!  

 

If you want to purchase some of her ChillOver Powder for yourself, click here. 

This is another ChillOver chocolate dessert I made this weekend.  My family said they want me to make it for every birthday and family party. 

 I think they liked it ;) 

My beautiful, sweet mom is in the pink.

I also made an adorable bench during the weekend with the help of my dad and his shop.

(This is a photo of the worlds best dad and cutest nephew)

   The instructions are in "MaryJane's ideabook, cookbook, lifebook" on page 365.  It made me feel very accomplished after making it, and only took a couple of hours.  

I could read MaryJane's books everyday and not get sick of them.  They make me feel at home.

She grew up in Utah, the state were I live, and she grew up on a farm.  

I am a farm girl at heart and dream of living on an organic farm with a big tractor.   

Someday...... 

Thanks for reading!

Cast Iron Mini Rhubarb Crisp (gluten free, vegan)

This is a delicious recipe for mini rhubarb crisp cooked in a cast iron muffin pan.  It's also vegan, gluten free and picked from my grandma's garden with lots of love.

My grandma is almost 80 and keeps this garden up on her own.  The love of her life started this garden about five years ago.  They were thinking about getting married, but he died in a car accident before that could happen.  She now keeps it up for him and calls it "Michael's Garden."   I think he still helps her from up above.  Her veggies are out of this world!

   

This is what the rhubarb plant looks like.

 Plucking rhubarb:

I think rhubarb is beautiful!

Can't wait to take it home and put it in my dessert!

Rhubarb filling:

 Clean and trim off the greens.

 Cut into half inch slices.  Add one tablespoon lemon juice and 1/4 cup organic cane sugar.

Topping:

 1/4 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup vegan butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oat flour

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

pinch of salt

cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Add the mashed banana, butter and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Use a pastry cutter or fork to blend.   Stir in the flour.   Mix in the oats until the batter is clumped together.  Add the oats slowly.  You may need less or more than 2 cups. 

Grease the bottom of cast iron muffin pan.  Add the rhubarb.
 
Sprinkle on the topping.

Place in an oven heated to 350F for about 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.  

Let this cool for a couple minutes.  

Serve and enjoy! 

 It has the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.  A delicious dessert for anytime of the year.

Spiced Applesauce with Ginger and Fennel Seeds

Yesterday was such a beautiful day!  I went for a walk with Matt and Dorothy (my dog) to admire the blooming yellow sage and fluffy white cotton.  

 

 My favorite part of fall is the smell of warm cooking in the kitchen.  It was huge treat to come home to the sweet scent of homemade applesauce. 

For this applesauce, I used:

4 lbs Washington Apples

3 cups water

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. freshly ground ginger

ground cinnamon, plus two sticks of cinnamon 

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Gather and wash the apples. 

Peel, core, and slice the apples.

I saved the apple peels to bake for a crispy garnish.

Slice the cored apples in half.

Immediately put the sliced apples in a bowl, and squeeze lime juice over the apples to prevent them from browning.

 Gather the rest of the ingredients.  

(Fennel seeds, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and brown sugar)

Add salt,

brown sugar,

 fennel seeds 

(these add a mild, sweet licorice flavor),

ground ginger, 

 and cinnamon.

 Then add three cups water. 

Stir the ingredients together.

Cover and cook on low for five hours.

Five hours later.....

Uncover and stir the cooked applesauce. 

 I had extra juice, so I scooped out the juice with a measuring cup to save for later. 

 Scoop the applesauce into a glass container.  

Store the applesauce in the fridge until you are ready to use and eat. 

I baked the apple peels in a 200 degree F. oven for about 45 minutes, until they were crispy.  They make a beautiful and delicious garnish for the applesauce. 

Enjoy!