Fall is in the Air!

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  Awe, I just cannot get enough of Fall. Can you smell those crisp leaves falling and the pumpkin spice candle burning?! Yummmm....


  Fall use to be my least favorite season, but now, along with Christmas of course (for Christmas is it's own season!) is definitely my favorite.... I love fall due to the steaming hot Pumpkin Spice Lattes, reading a great novel by the fireplace, and making delicious pumpkin and cinnamon goodies (which I will include a clean Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bar recipe at the end here....). But I truly love fall because six years ago, I fell in LOVE. 
  I cannot believe Aaron and I met over six years ago. It has definitely been the greatest, most enjoyable six years of my life. I won't lie, it hasn't been easy, but by the grace of God, and I truly mean GRACE of God.... AMAZING! Better than I could have ever won in a game of M.A.S.H. growing up.




However, this fall has been unusual. My man is not around quite as much to go on walks with, or to sit by the fireplace reading a novel,(there is definitely a lot of reading going on though). Even though it has been difficult, it has been good. God is teaching me how to be more independent, but still know when I need Aaron to lead me and support me. I have spent more time making friends and God has made me appreciate and respect my time with Aaron a whole lot more! 
  For one of our days together, we decided to go to a pumpkin patch to continue on with one of our favorite fall traditions. (No need for rain boots or a jacket here though!) We found this fabulous farm called, "Bill's Berry Farm" which had Pumpkin donuts, music, a corn maze, a HUGE pumpkin patch
and a new tradition...squeezing our own apple cider! We had a great little adventure about  50 minutes outside of Yakima.



I have been busy with making lots of pumpkin delish! A few things I made this week....

Black Bean Pumpkin Chili


 
Tastes better than it looks...Promise!

Baked my first cake for my cake decorating class!! Cake turned out perfect, but it looked ugly by the time I was done making all of my frosting squeezing mistakes. Sorry, no photo.
Too embarrassed..Next week is cupcakes though. Hopefully they look prettier so I can post.

And....
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars



Only 50 calories per slice!!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
(These can be gluten-free!)
  • 1/2 cup spelt flour (or white flour, oat flour, etc.)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg of choice (flax, chia, I used 1 tsp energ. If necessary, you can omit completely.)
  • 3 T brown sugar (or agave)
  • 2 packets NuNaturals stevia (or 2 more T sugar)
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or cooked, pureed pumpkin)
  • 2 T nondairy milk
  • 2 T oil (coconut oil is really good, but veg oil is fine)
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add in wet. Spread into an oiled 8×8 pan and cook for 20 minutes. Note: You can sub agave for the sugar; they’ll just be fluffier/cake-ier.

Cream Cheese Frosting (I do warn, do NOT try this by itself... I was a bit doubtful of how these bars would taste once nibbling the frosting. However, on the bars, the frosting is DELIGHTFUL!)

Cheesecake Mousse

(or Healthier Cream Cheese Frosting)
  • 1/4 cup silken-firm tofu (I use Mori-Nu)
  • 2T plus 1tsp Tofutti non-hydrogenated cream cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or more)
  • stevia or other sweetener to taste
Blend the tofu until smooth, then add the other ingredients and blend again.

Thanks Katie for your awesome healthy dessert blog! www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com

My goal is still to blog once a week. The past couple of weeks have just been a bit tricky... Looking forward to blogging next week, though. Until then, enjoy this...














































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