Pumpkin Challenge: Day 14

My energy levels have been waxing and waning fairly rapidly in the last little while, and yesterday was much more of a "waning" day - so for the pumpkin challenge, I took to the Tassimo machine.

I mixed up a combination of pumpkin, homemade pumpkin spice, and soy eggnog ('TIS THE SEASON!) with half of an Americano to offer me a little bit of energy to power through a couple more hours of studying during the latter part of the day.

These sorts of drinks will likely creep into more of my days as the rain continues to fall - I enjoy the gloomy weather, to a degree, as it allows me to indulge in those gloomy practices that are actually (for me) somewhat enjoyable. Things such as warm drinks, fuzzy socks, sitting by a window to watch the clouds roll around, and even taking a few moments to be melancholy every so often.

Pumpkins seem destined to be made into warm treats, and I will use this to my advantage during these rainy October days.

Pumpkin Challenge: Day 13

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See previous post.

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Pumpkin Challenge: Day 12

Today was the day of my family's Thanksgiving dinner, which made it an excellent day to celebrate pumpkin in one of its most famous forms.

I purchased a special slice of heaven from Aphrodite's Organic Cafe and Pie Shop for my 12th pumpkin item - gluten-free and vegan, it is somewhat pricey but delicious and worth it 100% of the time.

Pumpkin pie was not the only delicious thing I consumed on this day. I tried a new Gardein product for my turkey "replacement" at dinner, the company's "holiday roast" filled with rice and veggies. It had great texture and one thick slice filled me sufficiently! Alongside my "turk'y", I had a medley of cranberry sauce, potatoes (sweet and regular), brussels sprouts, peas and corn, and vegetarian stuffing - all drizzled with Tofurkey gravy! My mom has been really great in supporting my diet and always makes sure I have many options at dinner time.

Grandma makes the best pies, and contributed two
pies to our collection of dessert options.

 The star of this post, however, made its debut once all of the entrees had been consumed - vegan, gluten-free pumpkin pie. You really cannot differentiate much between this pie and its "regular" counterpart - Aphrodite's is highly skilled in the art of pie production that can cater to many diets.

I chose to pair mine with coconut-milk vanilla ice cream - beautiful combination. 

It is quite possible that this will be a returning star for the pumpkin challenge, as tomorrow marks round 2 of dinner! Sometimes leftovers almost seem more exciting than the first round - I don't quite know why that is, perhaps they are both equally exciting in their own unique ways.

"Pie" for now!