I love pumpkin bread, no matter the season :)

I found some pumpkin puree in my freezer that I need to use this morning, and I got excited because this gives me an excuse to make pumpkin bread! To me, waking up to some warm pumpkin bread and coffee is  like Heaven shining down on me with all of it's radiant glory. I can't let myself really enjoy it though unless I make it my way, which is a slightly healthier version of your everyday pumpkin bread. It is made with whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, baking powder in place of baking soda, apple sauce and turbinado....and it's so moist if you can believe it! So, without further ado, the recipe!

Not so guilty pumpkin bread

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
7 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder (or 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp bp)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups turbinado
1 cup of organic no sugar added apple sauce
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups solid packed pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two loaf pans.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, flax seed meal, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves with a wooden spoon or whisk.
3, In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend turbinado, apple sauce and eggs. Stir in pumpkin puree. Slowly blend in the flour mixture to your wet ingredients. While blending the mixture, add the water incrementally.
4. Pour the batter into the two greased loaf pans and bake for about 90 minutes. Let cool on wire racks for ten minutes before removing from pan.

An that's all folks. Hope you enjoy it!

UPDATE!

So I did the "Serenity diet" for two days, and I thought I was going to starve to death. I was not getting enough food to be full and the only things I could eat that were filling were starchy carb loaded foods, which would have only made me gain weight. Starving yourself is not a good way to lose weight at all. Your metabolism is like a muscle, when we eat we "work it out" and a healthy active metabolism will burn your food up when you eat, like it is suppose to. If you starve yourself your body actually stores your fat and your metabolism is weak in a sense and not active therefore causing it to not be able to burn up the food you intake. I could go on, but I won't ramble. The best thing to do is eat, frequently, just healthy foods. Eating when you wake up is the key to kick starting your metabolism for the day, so don't skip breakfast, it really is the most important meal of the day!

The Experiment

As many of you know, I have a nine month old daughter. I am very consciences of what I feed her. I am always saying to my husband "if we ate like her we we would be so healthy and skinny". I also have been feeling so tired and drained laltely that even coffee isn't working anymore, and after two kids, my body could use a little bit of work. SO, I came up with this idea, it's either genius or psychotic, I'll know which one soon enough I guess. I am going to do a little experiment. I am going to go on the "Serenity" diet. Whatever she eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner is what I will be eating (just maybe a larger portion), excluding breastmilk of coarse. I will be replacing that with soy milk, since I can not drink regular milk plain. I will blog about it daily and track how much weight I lose, but more importantly, if I have more energy on this experimental diet. I LOVE to eat, and bake...so this is not going to be easy task for me, especially since I will still have to make regular meals for my boys, but if I feel and look better, than it will be well worth it! Here we go.... to flatter bellies and more energy! (I hope)

New beginnings!

     Congrats to my cousin Randi!! Her and her husband welcomed their first daughter, Ilah Elizabeth   Chaney, 7lbs. 9 1/2 oz 20 in long! And she is adorable!

My other cousin (Randi's brother) Isaiah left for basic training today! Keep him in your prayers! Love you Isaiah!

Obsession is a strong word...

These are hoosier cabinets:

Basically, I NEED one of these in my house, in my kitchen in my life. The husband doesn't see this as an immediate necessity. It's a problem. Do not fret, though I may not get my hoosier cabinet today (insert sad face), one day I will have one, and that day will be a glorious day.
p.s. I do have a birthday coming up :)