What do pumpkin recipes have in common with sports? Not much except they both combine to make fall my favorite season. What’s not to love? Football has started, baseball is entering the post-season, and pumpkin-flavored everything is everywhere!
Unfortunately, most of the pumpkin fare offered by restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops is pumped full of sugar. Pumpkin by itself is relatively healthy. According to the site where I snagged one of my recipes,
Pumpkin is known for being high in fiber and low in sugar, but still giving lots of flavor. 1/2 a cup of pumpkin is only 40 calories and 9 carbs, 5 of which are fiberous which leaves you only 4 net carbs!
So, this fall I’ve been on a mission to find pumpkin recipes I can enjoy guilt-free. Since I know many of my friends and followers love pumpkin as much as me, I wanted to share the recipes that have worked out for me.
Pumpkin Cake Pancakes
Pumpkin Protein Shake
Crock Pot Pumpkin Chicken
Here are the recipes…
Pumpkin Cake Pancakes
These are my very own creation. Chadd and I love pancakes, but we rarely eat them away from home, because most places add sugar in and on top of them. So, yesterday morning I set out to make my own pumpkin pancakes… and they were delicious! I’m a terrible cook unless it involves a crock pot, so I assure you this was super easy.
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 cup multigrain pancake mix (from the organic section of grocery store)
- 1 scoop cake batter protein powder
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- sprinkle of pumpkin spice
I added the cinnamon and pumpkin spice last and just taste-tested a little batter to see if I’d added enough until I got the taste I wanted. Then I dropped two spoonfuls of batter on a flat-top indoor grill heated to 375 degrees. I eyeball it, but it generally takes 2 minutes per side. We don’t add syrup on top, so these are about as healthy and protein-packed as pancakes get!
Pumpkin Cake Protein Shake
I got this recipe from FitSugar and then modified it slightly to fit my taste. I found their recipe came out tasting too much like banana and not enough like pumpkin. It was also a very small serving.
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1/2 scoop (or approx. 2 T) cake batter protein powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- pinch of ground ginger
Blend everything together in a blender and there you have it!
Crock Pot Pumpkin Chicken
This is cooking in my house as I write this post, and it smells like a pumpkin pie is baking! I got the recipe from Staggs Fitness and modified it slightly.
- 4 lbs skinless chicken breast (cut each breast into thirds)
- 2 cans pumpkin puree
- 2 apples (diced)
- 1 cup water
- 5 packets Stevia
- cinnamon
- pumpkin pie spice
- nutmeg
Combine everything in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. For the spices, I added them in last and just sprinkled a thin layer of each on top of the pot. If I had to guess, I’d say I did 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Basically, I guessed and hoped for the best. Just before serving, taste test your creation and see if you need to add more of one of the spices.
What do you think?