Pumpkin: It's That Time of Year!

Pumpkin: pro or con? I think I might be both. I love this time of year because you can find pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING. But I agree with many people that it can get a little ridiculous and overwhelming. There are some pretty random things that they make that are pumpkin flavored. Here are just a few odd ones that I have come across: Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips, Pumpkin Pie Kettle Chips, Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Bark, and Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice. Personally, I like to stick to the classics...bread, pie, cupcakes, cheesecake, and cookies. I will taste some of these other odd creations unless they sound TOO weird (I'm talking to you Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips). 

Last weekend I had planned on making a new recipe of raw vegan pumpkin no bake cheesecake bars for my friends Jenn and Elijah. How yummy does that sound? Unfortunately, the day I was to visit them, I forgot to soak the cashews so no cheesecake for them. (Sorry Elijah!) The next day I woke up with two cans of pumpkin in my cupboard calling my name. So I went to the Internet for an easy gluten free, dairy free, egg free pumpkin bread. I found the perfect recipe! (original recipe here courtesy of dontmesswithmama.com)

Per usual, I made some modifications to make it perfect for me. 

Ingredients

• 1 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp organic coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (I use Ener-G)
• 1 cup baking sugar (you can use coconut sugar or raw organic sugar)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 1/3 cup filtered water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

-Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk in large bowl.  

-Mix up your egg replacer in a separate container. I prefer to use a whisk for this to get the powder completely mixed with the water.

-Mix all wet ingredients together (make sure coconut oil is in liquid form before mixing. I did not do this and it came out a little lumpy).

-Add egg replacer to wet ingredients mixing well.

-Now incorporate dry ingredients to wet ingredients without over mixing. **You want to make sure it is completely mixed, but if you over mix the batter, the bread can come out a little tough versus soft and moist.

-Scoop batter in to loaf pan that is completely greased (I used dairy free butter in a glass loaf pan and it worked extremely well).

-Place in the oven and bake for 60 min and then test with toothpick. Can be baked for up to 70 min depending on oven.

After removing from the oven, let cool completely before taking out of pan. Gorgeous!

Gluten free baking is an art. This is a fairly easy recipe if you don't over-mix the batter. It came out moist but a little crumbly. Such is gluten free baking. The only thing that the original recipe did not mention is the addition of xanthan gum which helps bind gluten free items. My gluten free flour mix did not have it already in the blend. Next time I would probably add a tad bit of xanthan gum. However, I was surprised at how well this worked without it. So if you are not a fan of gum additions, you could probably leave it out like I did and be just fine. 

So if you are looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free recipe for the holidays, this is a great idea! You can add chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries if you so desire. This recipe can also be put in individual size loaf pans or a muffin tin. Baking time would be a lot less, so adjust accordingly.

Happy Baking! Today I made a Gingerbread Paleo Granola. Keep an eye out for that entry soon!

Halloween Crafting: A Glitter Mania

I don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me want to craft. With glitter. Messy, sparkly, stuck to your butt for a week glitter. The beginning of the holiday season reminds me of sparkles, I guess. I will find any excuse to make and decorate with it. This brings me to this weekend. CRAFTING! I made only a couple of items for Halloween, but there is now glitter all over the house. (Shhhhh....don't tell anyone. Maybe they won't notice).                          

Michaels is my favorite place for easy, DIY projects. You can buy items and do everything complete from scratch, or you can buy semi-finished items and add your own touch to them. My choice usually depends on how much time and money I have. This year I went the easy route. I bought three wood items that were in various stages of finished. The first is the BOO sign. You can pick up the letters unfinished or you can do what I did and purchase the BOO already attached together and painted black on one side. All it needed was a little embellishment... and glitter! The small glitter pumpkins are scrap booking stickers. I am sure you can purchase wood pumpkins and decorate yourself. The next step is the fun part!

First, gather all of your supplies:
Newspaper
Craft glue that will work on wood
Small paintbrush
Container of glitter color of your choosing 

I like to lay the newspaper out so the glitter can be gathered in to the crease when I am done for easy pouring back in to the container.

Take the small paint brush and dip it in to the craft glue and brush it on generously to desired area.

Liberally pour the glitter to the glue-brushed area (make sure you are doing this quickly so the glue doesn't have time to dry).

Let sit for a minute or two and then tilt piece and tap to remove excess.

Voila! Done!

I may still go back and glue on some spiders but I think it turned out pretty cute. 

The next item is a simple Happy Halloween sign with the same technique as the spider webs inside the BOO. However, instead of glue, I used acrylic paint in relating colors to make the glitter stick.

 

 

The last project involved a little more effort. However, it's a cute light up pumpkin decoration that is perfect for the front window. Since I am new to this blog thing, I forgot to take a picture of it completely unfinished. 

Supplies: 

Various sized paint brushes

Acrylic paint in desired colors

Recollections fine glitter in desired color (link to glitter I used)

Newspaper

Craft glue (optional)

I decided to do three different colors, one for each pumpkin. I love using acrylic paint because it is smooth and inexpensive. My number one tip when using acrylic paint on porous wood is to do thin coats. Each color has a different opaqueness so some colors (mainly yellow and orange) require more coats. When working with acrylic paint it is easy to get it clumpy, so work quickly with those thin coats. 

There wasn't much to this piece. I painted each pumpkin a different color and let it dry. Once dry, I used the black acrylic paint as glue and painted the stripes and pumpkin top and sprinkled with glitter with the same technique as the above projects. 

The second picture is finished with the light feature turned on. To be honest, I wasn't completely thrilled with this one. If I could redo it, I would choose one color, most likely black, and I would do the teeth and eyeball pieces with different colors or glitter. However, it was a fun and easy way to make our front door area more festive.

Tip: If you are going to put these projects outside, be sure to spray with sealer or shellac so the morning dew or rain does not ruin your masterpiece.

Hopefully this has sparked your creativity. Even those without artistic abilities can do these projects! These are easy ways to make your space more festive for the holiday. Happy crafting!