On the bandwagon

Fall.  I love fall and all that it has to offer - sweater weather, football and of course warm comfort food.  And then there's pumpkin spice.  It's EVERYWHERE.  I admit - I am not a huge pumpkin fan.  I don't drink pumpkin lattes, not a fan of pumpkin beer and I don't really love pumpkin pie.  But as you are gasping and wondering HOW?  WHY?  IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HER? I broke down and bought this:

 



This inspiration for this purchase came from - wait for it - Pinterest.  I have had many a Pinterest fail.  Like the time I painted these letters for a Christmas craft that spelled "NOEL" and the "O" was a wreath and my husband asked if the boy made it at school.  He was 6.  But this looked Pinterestfailproof.  And gluten free.  Bonus. 

 

Three Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookies:

http://www.thegunnysack.com/2014/10/three-ingredient-pumpkin-spice-pudding-cookies.html

 

• ½ cup pumpkin spice peanut butter
• 1 package vanilla pudding (3.4 oz instant pudding)
• 1 egg
• Optional: orange sparkling sprinkles and/or Hershey's Kisses (I used the Kisses - because chocolate)Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together pumpkin spice peanut butter, vanilla pudding and the egg.
1. Use a small cookie scoop (mine was the 1 tablespoon size) to form balls.
2. Optional: Roll cookie dough balls in sparkling sprinkles.
3. Place on a cookie sheet covered with a silicone baking mat (or parchment paper).
4. Use a fork to make a crosshatch on each cookie. Or if you plan to add Hershey’s Kisses, leave them as a ball without the crosshatch on top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
6. Optional: Press a Hershey's Kiss into the center of each cookie right after they come out of the oven.

These were sooooo good!  I doubled the recipe and added a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness.  Boy was in pumpkin-love-heaven.

 

 

 



And because it's been one of those days, I needed a little chicken soup for the soul so I made this:

Orzo Chicken Soup with Kale

So easy and so good.  I'll do my best to recount how I made this:

In a medium stock pot, sauté carrots, onion and celery (AKA: the holy trinity) in a good dose of olive oil - about 2 tablespoons. Add a pound of raw chicken cut into chunks, salt and pepper and garlic (about 3 tablespoons or 4 cloves diced).  When chicken is cooked, add kale - separated from the rib - about 2 cups (this really cooks down).  Then add a little more salt, pepper and 2 large containers of GF chicken broth.  I added a dash of red pepper flakes, Italian seasonings and whatever else I thought would be good - I love a lot of spice.  Cook for about 2 hours and then add the gluten free orzo.  My awesome mother-in-law got me this: 

And this stuff is GOOD!  She found it as Sam's Club.  And it's a dead ringer for the "real" stuff.  I can't wait to make Orzo pasta salad with it too! 

Once the pasta is cooked, dish up and serve.  Ah.....so good. 

So now that Halloween is about 25 days away, the Christmas goodies are already (grrr...) making an appearance and we will be ready for peppermint mochas, lattes, cookies and so on and so on.  But until then, I hope you enjoy the remaining pumpkin spice days of Fall!