Bewitchingly Healthy Pumpkin Bites ‘n Sips

Pumpkins have to be one of nature’s most fun foods. You can stick sharp objects in it, scoop it, smash it, eat it — how fun! Even better, these carve-able, crave-able stem-topped beauts are chockfull of all kinds of healthy voodoo like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, the antioxidant beta-carotene, more potassium than a banana (565 mg vs. its yellow, peelable counterpart’s 422 mg), and more — Get the full scoop on pumpkin health benefits here
So as you sharpen your knives and get ready to go to work on your scary creation, remember that just about the entire pumpkin can be consumed.

Here are some bewitchingly delish pumpkin recipes you can sip and sink your teeth into:
First, start with a nice, fresh pumpkin base with The Pioneer Woman’s Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Nothing beats the real deal when it comes to infusing your favorite pumpkin recipes — from muffins to pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin smoothies, well, anything you want to punch up with pumpkin.
Ingredient Lineup
Pumpkin (The Pioneer Woman — Ree Drummond — dishes advice on picking the tastiest pumpkins!)
Click Here for the Full Pumpkin Puree Recipe from The Pioneer Woman
 
Roasted Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds from Simply, Taralynn
Conjure up a batch of pumpkin seeds and scare off all kinds of bad stuff in your bod. These little vitamin and antioxidant powerhouses are loaded with all kinds of good — manganese, zinc, copper, magnesium and more
What we like about this recipe added antioxidant addition of cinnamon. Pumpkin + Cinnamon = Ultimate Fall Flavor
Ingredient Lineup
Washed pumpkin seeds
Olive oil
Truvia Baking blend (or your choice of sweetener)
Ground Cinnamon
Get the Full Recipe from Simply, Taralynn Here
 
Pumpkin Baked French Toast from Chocolate-covered Katie
Get ready to be addicted. But it’s okay, this fall breakfast delight has undergone a nutritional makeover.
Ingredient Lineup

• Cubed bread
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Pumpkin pie spice (or just add a little extra cinnamon)
• Sweetener of choice
• Milk
• MoriNu silken-firm tofu, or 1 cup yogurt of choice (240g)
• Vanilla extract
• Pumpkin puree (that you have handy in your freezer courtesy of the Pioneer Woman!) or canned

optional: handful of raisins
Get the Full Recipe Here from Chocolate-covered Katie
 
Pumpkin Pie Green Smoothie from One Hundred Days of Real Food
Sip some pumpkin goodness
Ingredient lineup
You’ll need your healthy pumpkin puree for this one and…
Ripe bananas
Fresh spinach leaves
Cinnamon
Milk
Plain yogurt
Get the Full Recipe from One Hundred Days of Real Food Here
 
Healthy PSL (coffee craver acronym for pumpkin spiced latte) from Wellness Mama
Noticed the lines at Starbucks are a tad longer this time of year? Blame it on the PSL. They are addicting, but we found a cheaper, healthier (way less sugar!) version you can brew up on your own. We double love this recipe because it requires the CrockPot – the best invention ever.
Ingredient Lineup

• Unsweetened Coconut Milk (or 2 cans of coconut milk)
• Pureed pumpkin or canned
• Natural vanilla extract
• Pumpkin pie spice ( or ½ tsp cinnamon and a sprinkle of cloves and nutmeg)
• Strong coffee or espresso
• Heavy cream for whipping

Get the Addictive Recipe Here courtesy of Wellness Mama
Thank you, pumpkins, for being one of the coolest, healthiest, funnest foods out there!
Happy Halloween, everybody!