Mama's Pumpkin Bread

By Lindsey Riley (The Crafting-Challenged Blogger)

Hey everyone! I know that I typically post on Fridays but due to sickness, I missed posting last week. Sorry about that.

Ball State students were on Fall Break this week past weekend and earlier this week. The four-day weekend typically comes after midterms in the middle of October.

As a resident of the Chicagoland area, I never had a Fall Break. When I came to Ball State, I did. From what I understand, the reasoning behind the extended weekend is to give students the chance to go back to the farms and help with the harvest. There are probably very few students on the campus that actually go home and do such a thing! :D

Over my Fall Break, I went back home to try to get over all the sickness I've been going through. I did, however, talk my mom into making me some of her amazing pumpkin bread. And then I talked her into letting me film her making it so all of you can can learn how to make the fall treat.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Smash Smoothie

By Lindsey Riley (The Crafting-Challenged Blogger)

October is just a few short days away, and that means popular fall entrees and goodies are becoming available at various restaurants and coffee shops. Like Mallory mentioned earlier this week, pumpkin flavored snacks and drinks have already made their way onto menus and have caused a war of pumpkins.

Photo: Property of Jamba Juice

There's still one contender waiting to join this battle. Next week, Jamba Juice is bringing their Pumpkin Smash smoothie back to the menu for a limited time. For those who have no idea what this is: Imagine taking a pumpkin pie and throwing it into a blender until it was in liquid form.

Personally, I am beyond excited to drink pumpkin pie from a Jamba cup but if it weren't for my campus meal plan, I wouldn't be able to afford to drink this smoothie a few times a week. Also, while Jamba Juice is healthier than some drinks, there's still quite a bit of sugar mixed with those vitamins.

So how can we be friendly to our health and wallet and still consume this wonderful fall beverage? Well, we can make it ourselves of course! I found us a good recipe through Skinny Kitchen with Nancy Fox. This is a Weight Watchers friendly recipe (only worth four points), and it has half of the calories and sugar that the Jamba drink has.

All we need is:

• A blender
• 2 cups fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt
•  ½ cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup light vanilla soy milk or reduced-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups ice

Now what?

• Add all of the ingredients into the blender. Blend on high until smooth. This should only take you five minutes, if that, to create.
• Consume beverage with a smile!

I am better at cooking than crafting, but I still like these quick and easy recipes. I felt like this drink tasted the exact same as Jamba's but for the sake of tradition, I'll probably end up in line at Jamba to get one of their own.

And now that you have an easy recipe to follow, you can make this drink all year long! #winning <- ;D

Let us know what you think of this recipe!

Pumpkin Spice Frenzy

By: Mallory Jordan, Moderately Crafty

Fall has begun and the pumpkin spice flavors have arrived. Starbucks is known for having a pumpkin spice line every fall, but now the coffee shop might have a competitor.

Dunkin' Donuts has introduced their own pumpkin spice line including pumpkin lattes and pumpkin muffins. Although many people are already hooked on the Starbucks pumpkin line, Dunkin' Donuts seems to have started off with more ideas and more product.

Einstein Bros. have pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin bagels and pumpkin muffins as well, which would affect Dunkin' more than Starbucks. I suspect many will flock to Starbucks for the traditional pumpkin spice latte that coffee lovers are so accustomed to now. But, since Starbucks only has the pumpkin cream cheese muffin and scones, the extensive pumpkin food line at Dunkin' and Einstein could cause some customer trade offs.

Could this turn into a pumpkin war? Or will Starbucks junkies and Dunkin' lovers stay true.

If it is just too difficult to decide, there is a solution to this pumpkin battle problem: make your own pumpkin spice latte!

Note: This is gluten and vegan safe, so anyone can enjoy the comfort of a pumpkin latte. And, it serves two so you can share!



You will need:

Coffee
1 c milk (almond milk or half and half work well too)

2 tbsp pumpkin puree (aka pure pumpkin in a can
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp sugar at the end
Optional: pinch of other spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon to add to taste

First, start brewing your regular or decaf coffee. Make it a little stronger for this recipe than usual.




Combine all of the ingredients besides the regular sugar in a bowl and mix. Using a blender would give the best results because you will want to whisk well. Not all of the spices will dissolve, though.

The mixture will look pale and slightly milky. You can add more spices (nutmeg and cinnamon) to taste. Other recipes include those spices, but I prefer the recipe without.

Once it is whisked or blended well, pop the mixture in the microwave for one minute.




Split the pumpkin spice ingredients in the bowl between the two mugs, then pour in the coffee. Add in 2 teaspoons of sugar to bring out the flavor.

Again, to keep it to taste for people who enjoy coffee more, add more coffee and put in less of the pumpkin spice mixture and you can save some of that mixture for later.

Feel free to add any kind of whipped topping and sprinkle some pumpkin spice or nutmeg on top of that to make it just like Starbucks or Dunkin'.

Now you have delicious, homemade pumpkin spice lattes without ever having to go out into the cold!

To quote Kim Bhasin from Business Insider, "That's a lot of pumpkin."