With the arrival of Fall I have been craving pumpkins. Mostly I want some of my mom’s homemade pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting but me left alone during the day with that cake is a recipe for disaster. So I got creative and adapted my post workout shake to make it pumpkin flavored instead. Delish!

Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake

I used banana because I almost always choose fruit to sweeten stuff before using a processed sweetener but I could have used coconut sugar in this. I couldn’t even taste the banana though, so it worked for me. I also  highlighted that I chose a no soy protein powder. It has nothing to do with taste… I just detest unfermented soy products. Most protein powders have soy, so be on the lookout if you also avoid soy. Enjoy!

When the weather is warm and I am not in the mood for a green smoothie I make the next best thing… a milkshake. Nosh on some chocolate on the side and I am heaven sent. Yum!

This is a raw, vegan “mylkshake” made from unsweetened almond milk. I added a bit of Thai coconut sugar, a ripe banana, some vanilla, and ice cubes. It is frothy and delicious. I think the Ball jar and glass straw just add a little something too.

In the bowl is handful of Nativas Naturals Cacao Goji Power Snacks. I have long liked the brand for their raw, vegan, organic offerings. They sent me this bag and and a bag of Citrus Chia snacks. The chocolate ones are killer. The Chia Citrus ones tasted like soap. I did not like them at all. My husband, however, devoured the whole bag in about 30 minutes. Guess they don’t taste like soap to everyone.

Now I am powered up for errands and laundry!

What are you snacking on?

Healthy eating is such a subjective thing. Or is it? Everyone has their own ideas of what is healthy. Many swear by tofu and I think it is a bad idea. Others think that fat is the devil and I think no such thing. Can we ever agree? Well, I do happen to agree for the most part with Real Simple magazine’s list of 30 healthiest foods… not that they are the healthiest per say but it is a pretty good list of healthy foods. I thought it would be fun to go through their list and see how regularly my family is eating these foods.

1. Mushrooms – Eating these weekly. This week it was baby portabellas and oyster mushrooms.

2. Walnuts - Monthly at best. My kids eat them more than I do.

3. Peanut and Almond Butters – No peanut butter but we do have almond butter and sunflower seed butter. My kids eat some daily usually. I may have a spoonful once a week.

4. Quinoa – Used to eat this weekly but since going grain free I have eliminated it. I really miss it though!!!

5. Almonds – We used to make homemade almond milk several times a week but have fallen away from that now that we have local, fresh cow’s milk available to us. But we do have the almond butter.

6. Blueberries – Weekly. I put a small bit in our green smoothies and my 5 year old eats frozen blueberries like M&M’s. I had to go out this morning to buy some in fact, because I knew he would request them first thing. In the summer we will have fresh blueberry compote for breakfast a couple times a week.

7. Eggs – We eat about 2 dozen a week from our local farm delivery service. They are pastured eggs with deep orange yolks… yum!

8. Spinach – Weekly. I put at least a cup of spinach in our smoothies.

9. Wild Salmon – Yes, once a week usually.

10. Chicken Breast – Sometimes. Good on salads but I usually eat wings or drumsticks when I eat chicken, with the skin on.

11. Avocado – Not very often and in the summer only. My kids don’t like avocados much unless I mix it with cacao and make chocolate pudding. I want to eat more though.

12. Sweet Potatoes – Only in winter but we do have them a couple times a month during that time.

13. Barley – No

14. Whole Grain Pasta – No.

15. Oatmeal – No.

16. Skim Milk – Nope. I usually buy 2% or full fat. Unless it is in kefir or yogurt the kids are the only ones who drink it. Skim milk should not be on this list either.

17. Lentils – No, don’t like them much either.

18. Bulgar - Nope.

19. Sardines – On occasion.

20. Kiwi – A couple times a year maybe.

21. Olive Oil - Sometimes. We usually use coconut oil.

22. Kale – Weekly in smoothies. I alternate between kale, chard, collards, turnip greens, and wild greens.

23. Kidney Beans – No.

24. Chard – Weekly in smoothies.

25. Edaname – Nope.

26. Pumpkin – In the fall only.

27. Oranges – Weekly usually. The kids love them.

28. Non Fat Greek Yogurt – Yes to Greek yogurt, no to non-fat. I eat 2% or full fat Greek yogurt every single day, first thing in the morning. Once a week for my kids.

29. Broccoli - Weekly.

30. Black Beans – No.

I would add carrots, green beans, snow peas, more greens, blackberries, and coconut oil right off the top of my head.

How did you do? See anything you would remove from this? Or Add?

Here is a time tested and much loved product for ya. We started buying up these lucious leg warmers when my two youngest were pretty darn young:

Now… nearly 4 years later we STILL love our Babylegs. Yesterday my daughter wore organic wool babylegs under a skirt to school. Today is an off-school day for her but she still came out sporting the babylegs… this time to keep her arms worm with a short sleeve tee. The color is called Mossy and they are organic too. I love that any of my kids could wear these… boy or girl, and they do.

For breakfast: Bear Naked Granola, almond milk, and deydrated strawberries and blueberries.

And remember that adorable babe in the top photo… well that little guy still wears his too. Although for this photo he was wearing mismatched ones since it was wacky Wednesday at school.

This morning I made some raw almond milk. It is still a living food, its vegan, and is very good for you. My two boys love to drink it straight up…my daughter would rather have raw cows milk I think. But none of them mind when I use it in cereals or in homemade raw ice cream. We also use it to make chocolate milk and banana milk which they all love. Check out my Raw Kids Recipes book for recipes. :)

It is super easy to make. Other than the 12 hours I soak the almonds first it only takes about 5-10 minutes to actually make. This morning I used my Vita-Mix 5200 of course and it gets it so smooth you won’t find a single nut chunk.

I strained the milk through a cheese cloth to get it smooth enough for drinking straight up… otherwise it kind of resembles a smoothie and I leave the brown seed casing on so that gets strained as well. After I squeeze all the milk out of the cheese cloth I spread the almond pulp on a dehydrator sheet and I use my Excalibur dehydrator to dry it out. After it is dry I will ground it into almond flour for pie crusts or raw cookies.