Pumpkin Tea Lattes

Happy Friday all!  It's been a long week, but it's finally the weekend. 

So, if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm a bit of a coffee addict.  Specifically, I love pumpkin coffee this time of the year.  I look forward to it every morning and used to drink a minimum of 2 cups in the morning and perhaps another in the afternoon.  I've weaned myself down to 1 cup in the morning, most mornings of the week, and another in the afternoon if I have to work at night or it's just been a super long day and I need to work out yet.

I recently saw a drink called a Cinnamon WarmUp the Door County Coffee & Tea's Facebook page.  It looked good and had cinnamon tea, vanilla syrup, and whole milk.  I decided to recreate this to be a bit healthier using apple cinnamon tea and frothed vanilla soy milk.  It was pretty good but it also got me thinking that it would be a whole lot better with pumpkin tea!

Enter this morning.  I didn't have to be to work early so I had a little extra time to play around with making a pumpkin tea latte this morning.  In the end, it was fabulous (though I was missing my caffeine kick this morning)!  It would be a perfect holiday drink for those looking for healthy alternatives as there is no alcohol or caffeine in it.  I bet adding a tablespoon of pumpkin coffee creamer would make this extra special on Thanksgiving!

Making a Pumpkin Tea Latte is super simple:

Heat 8 oz of water.  I have a Cuisinart Single Serve Brewing System (basically a fancy Keurig) that can spit out water for tea in 1-2 minutes so this is definitely something I could do every morning.

Steep pumpkin spice tea (I used Bigelow) for 5-10 minutes, depending on how strong you like your tea.  I like strong tea in general and you'll want it a little stronger than normal because you'll add milk to it.  I let it go for 10 minutes.  Remove tea bag.

Measure out 1/3 cup milk of your choice - place in a narrow bottomed cup.  I used vanilla soy milk.  Microwave for 30-45 seconds.  Using a milk frother (I have an inexpensive BonJour frother that works well), froth the milk for 10-15 seconds.  Note - if you have a way to steam milk, use that!  I'm sure that would be better!

Add frothed milk to the tea, sprinkle on a little cinnamon, and drink up! 

The next week is going to be crazy, so if I'm not back to post again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Risotto

Although it is technically still fall, we woke up to this last Wednesday:

I love snow.  Well, it's a love-hate relationship.  I love watching it fall from my nice, comfy couch, all curled up with my kitty.  I hate, hate, hate driving in it.  I didn't use to be so bad.  Two years in Tennessee for grad school turned me into a wimpy driver!  On the upside this year, I walk to work, so no daily winter driving required.  On the downside, I am a total klutz, so I'm not sure this is any better.  Let's all cross our fingers and knock on wood that I don't slip and break a bone this winter!  :/

The weather has turned around and, happily, I was able to get out for some good walks this weekend, which I was sorely in need of!  I trekked 4.2 miles yesterday in 57 minutes, which is my fastest time ever!  Today, I was super achy and only managed 3.7 miles, which I did not time, but felt super slow.  Oh well, going for a slightly slower walk is better than no walk at all!  I see a rheumatologist during Thanksgiving week, so hopefully, we can figure out what's causing all this crazy achiness!

Since it was a bit warmer (and not at all snowy) today, I decided to make my favorite fall supper: pumpkin risotto!  This recipe is based off of a Rachael Ray recipe, but I make it risotto style because it's less work and it cuts down on calories and fat considerably while still giving you that creamy, pasta-y taste that made the original dish so good.

People always say that risotto is so hard to make.  It's actually very simple, you just have to have a little patience and stay near the stove for a while.  I have no interest in standing over a stove all day and I have no patience and even I can make this!  So easy.  So good.

Some general tips that I have found that create good, creamy, and healthier risotto:

1. Toast your Arborio rice before adding liquid.
2. Use unsalted stock!  Since you are concentrating the flavor of the liquids you are adding, I recommend using unsalted stock.  Salted stock could make your risotto super salty.  It's smarter to just salt it to taste.  I will usually use 3 cups of stock and then water after that if the rice needs more liquid (and it usually will).
3. Wait until the rice has fully absorbed the previous addition of liquid before adding more.  Patience pays off!
4. Stir, stir, stir.  Be sure to fully stir the rice every time you add more liquid.  Go back and stir at least once between additions of liquid.  Stirring is what makes it creamy without the cream!
5. Instead of melting and mixing cheese in, sprinkle a little bit on top.  You get the same cheesy bite without all the calories.

When I make this for my mom, I will typically add 2 links of turkey sausage.  I like it both with and without it, so when I make it just for myself, I don't go through the trouble of breaking out the meat and instead add mushrooms.

Pumpkin Risotto

4 servings

Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely chopped

3/4 cup portabella mushrooms, chopped, -OR- 2 links turkey sausage, browned, drained, and set aside

3/4 cup Arborio rice

1/3 cup dry white wine

3 cups chicken -or- vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried sage

Nutmeg

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

Add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms (if using) to a pan and sauté on medium heat until soft. 

Add Arborio rice and let toast for a few minutes.  When you start to smell the rice and see that the grains are slightly browned, add in the wine.  Note:  I only had a sweet white and red on hand, so I had to use this, which makes the risotto a little sweet, but still delicious:

Let the wine cook out completely and then add 1ish cup stock.  Add bay leaves, sage, salt, pepper, and browned sausage (if using).  Stir thoroughly.  Allow the stock to cook out.  Once the stock is absorbed, add another cup of stock and stir.  Make sure you go back and stir at least once between each addition of liquid.  Continue this process (using water or additional stock as needed) until the rice is soft and creamy.

Wait until liquid is absorbed before adding more!

Remove bay leaves and add pumpkin and a small amount of water to keep the risotto from becoming too thick.  Add a few sprinkles of nutmeg and additional salt and pepper, if needed. 

Cook for 2-3 minutes and serve!  Top with Parmesan cheese for an extra kick of flavor.

Enjoy the last few weeks of fall!

Food Rules

Good chilly evening to you!  Over the weekend, I picked up the newest copy of Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual.  Now, I love Michael Pollan.  If you've seen Food, Inc., you probably know who this guy is.  He also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defence of Food, both of which I highly recommend reading if you are interested in where your food comes from.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through Food Rules and it has really gotten me thinking about how I have been slipping on eating healthfully.  Food Rules gives you easy rules of thumb for healthy eating under three categories:  "What should I eat?," "What kind of foods should I eat?," and "How much should I eat?"  Most of this stuff we probably already know, but having it in short, memorable phrases makes it easier to remember in my daily life.

I have been focusing way too much on how many calories I am eating and not enough on the quality of foods I am consuming.  While I am still eating plenty of fruits and veggies and have been cutting back on chicken and turkey, I am (was?) still eating more than my fair share of candy (Reeses are my weakness), chips, etc. 

So, I am working on cutting back on the unnatural "foodlike substances," as Pollan calls these types of foods, and replacing the "foodlike substances" with whole and natural foods.  This is really not that hard, I just need to be more diligent.  In fact, instead of being hard, it is very tasty.  My new favorite snack is olives with tomatoes and cheese (see below)!  Tonight, I also made a "taco" and rice plate (I really need to come up with better names here....).

My "Mediterranean Fix" Snack

Perfect bite!

I'm slightly obsessed with my local pizza place's Mediterranean Gluten Free pizza.  It is so good but I really can't eat like that very often.  I had their Greek salad last night, which is what inspired this snack today.  This is just mini-heirloom tomatoes cut in half, kalamata olives, and fresh mozzarella.  So good and satisfied my salty tooth today.  Plus, a handful of tomatoes + 1 oz mozzarella + 7ish Kalamata olives = 95 calories.  Score!

"Taco" and Rice Plate

As a way to eat less meat on the times when I actually want to eat something meat-like, I add in tons of veggies to fill out a dish.  So, in the pot, I had a small zucchini, 1/2 an onion, a small carrot, 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans, and 3 servings of extra-lean ground turkey.  Once all of this cooked and was softened, I seasoned the mixture with salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, chili powder, cumin, and cilantro.  Such a good mixture - better than packaged taco seasoning!  I split this into 4 portions.  I also made 2 servings of brown rice to go with the turkey and veggie mixture.  I tend to only eat a 1/2 serving of rice with dishes like these.  Topping this with salsa and sour cream really jazzed it up.  The best part?  Lunch leftovers for three days!

Stay warm (and healthy!) tonight!