Healthy Life Lessons

Looking to get healthy in 2014?  Well your mother was right: You gotta eat your greens! Lucky for me, I'm the Queen of Greens.  I absolutely love veggies, especially leafy green ones.  So I was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Complete Leafy Greens Cookbook . Whether you are a leafy green newbie, or you think you're an expert like I did, I guarantee you will learn a lot from this book.  It has sections on 67 different varieties, a whole heck of a lot I'd never even heard of before, and 250 recipes. The recipes range from classic to innovative and author, Susan Sampson, provides a wealth of information on nutrition, taste, storage, prep and equivalents/substitutions.  All recipes are vegetarian and/or vegan or have vegan variations. Recipes include salads, side dishes, pastas, stir-fries, beverages, condiments and dressings.  Some of my favorites include: Ethiopian Collard Stew Sesame Shungiku Salad Chinatown Takeout Curry...

Source Hello!  I hope you had a nice holiday.  If you live in the Toronto area, you might not have, unfortunately.  There was an ice storm just as we were leaving for Florida on December 22nd, and when we got there we heard power got knocked out for most of the city.  Our neighbours emailed us and said we were fine, thankfully, but many of our friends were not so lucky. We got back from Florida and saw a ton of broken trees as we drove home from the airport.  When we stopped to pick up some groceries, most of the stores had empty shelves because they'd all just recently gotten their power back.  It was surreal. Apparently our power was only out for 3 hours, but Adam's parents' was out for many days, so this past weekend, Adam had to go over there and empty their fridge and freezer (they are still in Florida). Man, we feel so lucky.  We were enjoying warm weather, swimming and shopping while the rest of the city was in complete chaos....

  It's time for a little R&R around here, and for me, that includes a blogging break.  Given that Little A has been sick this week and we are expecting a huge snow storm this weekend, I'm a bit skeptical that everything is going to go as planned.  But isn't that how life works? But I'll be back on December 30th.  No matter where you are or what you are celebrating, have a great week!

  We were recently sent some samples of Pro Balance Inc.'s The Original Protein Shot to try.  I am definitely not deficient in protein intake, I love my protein.  I also don't like drinking my food (I don't even like juice or smoothies), so I passed these along to Adam who is a bigger user of protein supplements than I am. He was very excited over the flavour with caffeine because he saw it as a nice alternative to cola or tea (he is not a coffee drinker), and he said that all of them tasted fine.  Adam found that the shots were not filling, which is no surprise because research consistently shows that liquids, on their own, are not satiating like solid foods are.  But he didn't really understand the purpose of them, particularly those without caffeine because, "Protein is tasty, so why would I want to consume my protein in this form?  I guess it's convenient." His reasoning is that he would rather eat real food forms of protein, ...

Big A made this recipe (using regular sugar sweetened chocolate) at school with a friend's mom and has been asking to make it with me ever since.  Of course, I wanted to healthify it a bit so I removed the sugar and sweetened with stevia instead.  If you want them to be 100% sugar free, you'll have to skip the crushed candy cane on top, unless you can find sugar-free ones.   Another option is just sprinkling cocoa nibs on top to provide some crunch.  Or maybe you could take unsweetened coconut and mix it with some liquid stevia and peppermint extract before lightly toasting it instead. Sugar-Free Peppermint Bark 350g unsweetened chocolate 2 tbls coconut butter or coconut oil 1/2 tsp peppermint extract 1 dropper full of peppermint stevia (or to taste) 1 dropper full of plain stevia (or to taste) 1 candy cane, crushed (optional) Melt chocolate and butter/oil over simmering water.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients except candy...

I am still fascinated by the whole plantain instead of flour baked good thing.  It's so cool.  Not to mention simple.  It takes so few ingredients to bake with plantain, it couldn't be easier. 1 large plantain 1/2 cup egg whites 2 tbls cocoa powder Pinch of cinnamon Pinch of cayenne pepper Pinch of salt Puree plantain in food processor.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until mixed.  Pour into 2 parchment-lined mini loaf tins (or some muffin tins) and bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes.  Let cool completely before removing from parchment.  2 mini loaves.

It's Friday!  So I thought I'd finish the week off with a little rant about the weather.  Seriously is it too much to ask to live in a climate that isn't at one extreme or the other more than 300 freakin' days of the year? Our summers are blisteringly hot and humid.  Our winters are ass-kicking cold.  Both suck big time. The problem is that while I have always hated the heat, as I've gotten older, I've gotten less and less tolerant of the cold.  I feel like I am turning into a big wimp.  I just can't bring myself to bike in the cold anymore and instead force myself to endure the misery of riding the subway. On Tuesday, I tried to get on the subway on my way home from work just before 5pm.  Ha!  What a total nightmare!!  I stood on the subway platform for 30 minutes while train after train stopped in the station but was too packed to pick up any more riders.  Eventually, I went back up to the ticket agent and asked for my money ba...

Good Monday Morning!  How was your weekend?  Ours was lovely thanks.  I worked Friday night and Saturday and then we had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon.  I also had one client I had to fit in on Sunday.  Fortunately, work is a bit less busy this week.  Not good from a financial perspective, but good from a giving me time to get other things that I've been putting off kind of way. Last week I didn't manage to fit in a single yoga session and I thought I was okay, but by Friday I felt like the tin man.  I was so excited to have some time today to get back to my practice before seeing clients but, now I'm not sure that will happen as Little A woke up last night with the stomach flu.  Ain't that always how it works?  I just hope if this bug is going to rip through our house, it does it before the holidays. It's almost time for our annual trip to Florida.  We stay at my in-laws time share at the Vistana Resort.  We ar...

Adam and the girls are avid gum chewers.  Me? Not so much.  I only like cinnamon flavour, and I only chew it on occasion if I can't brush my teeth and have just eaten something potentially odorous, I have a dry mouth, or am nauseous. The rule in the house is sugar-free only, but the conventional brands all contain a host of undesirable chemicals. Fortunately, a number of companies have started making sugar-free gum sweetened with xylitol.  Xylitol is an all natural sugar alcohol.  It is less likely to cause intestinal discomfort than other sugar alcohols like maltitol, mannitol and sorbitol.  It has about 1/3 fewer calories than regular sugar, and chewing gum sweetened with xylitol has some health benefits including decreasing risk of ear infections and tooth decay.  Personally, I like erythritol even better because unlike the other sugar alcohols, it is calorie-free (and also does not usually cause intestinal distr...

Making the gingerbread house for the daycare fundraiser was so much fun!  Unfortunately, it left me with a whole lot of candy crap hanging around the house.  Nothing I'm tempted by, but the girls kept asking me over and over what we were going to do with all this left over candy so I knew I had better get it out of the house. Since we were also having a bake sale at the fundraiser, I decided to take everything I wanted to get rid of (and out of the girls' clutches) and make one big sugary treat that could be sold off to help us raise more money.  I've become jaded about trying to use healthy things for fundraising.  It just doesn't work.  People only seem motivated by crap.  If I sound bitter, I am.  As a society, I feel like we may be past the point of no return.  North Americans are going to eat themselves to death with all the bacon, sugar and whatever other garbage they gorge on.  Sorry, okay, my rant is over. Now, should you want ...

  I don't really eat red meat anymore.  In case you haven't heard my story, I gave it up originally in 1998 after my mother's breast cancer diagnosis.  It was on the list of foods/substances that came up as carcinogenic when I started exhaustively researching the link between nutrition and health. Then when I got pregnant with Big A I had insatiable cravings and red meat was back on the table.  This continued, to some extent, between pregnancies, and then during my pregnancy with Little A as well.  But since then, those cravings have completely dissipated.  I would be happy if I never eat it again.  But the same cannot be said of Adam.  Nevertheless, because of his cholesterol issues that he inherited from his dad, he is supposed to avoid saturated fat as much as possible.  So when I found ground bison at the grocery store, I decided I'd treat him.  It is extremely lean for a red meat and very low in satu...

  Wow, it's Monday again!  We had a great weekend, but it went by way too quickly.  And we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere.  It looks pretty now, but in a few hours it will just be a big slushy mess I'm sure.  I think this is a take the subway and leave my bike at home day.  Anyways... After the success of the plantain bread, I decided to try making something a little fancier.  These were my latest lunch box treats I baked for the girls.  They love them!  And I love that they have no oil or sugar in them and are super quick and easy to make.  Since they have oats in them, they aren't for cavemen, but they are gluten-free if you can't have gluten. Chewy Cocoa Cranberry Plantain Cookies 1 semi-ripe or ripe plantain 2 eggs (or flax eggs*) 1/4 cup powdered stevia or coconut sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup cocoa powder 2 cups oats (gluten-free, if necessary) 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup dried cranberr...

It is kind of interesting to me, that today, December 6th, 2013, we are commemorating the Ecole Polytechnique massacre of 1989, as well as the life and death of Nelson Mandela. It is so easy to become fixated on all the bad in the world, and in our own lives and sometimes seems much more difficult to see the good.  But there is good.  And beauty. And love.  You just have to look a little harder to find it sometimes. The massacre is, of course, one of many horrors in human history, but Nelson Mandela and the legacy he has left is proof of just what a huge difference on person can make. There are psychological theorists who believe that the cause of much human suffering is a lack of engagement and sense of meaning in our lives.  I do feel I see evidence of this in my practice as a counsellor.  What most people seem to need and want is a sense of purpose and belonging.  Of course, this is what changed my own path in life.  I spent years absolut...

I have been meaning to review the Asylum Workout program I got for my birthday this past year, but since right around the same time I switched to doing a less cardio/more strength based routine, I didn't get around to trying them all until now.  I've been squeezing one in for the last few weeks on Saturdays, which is my DVD day. The set includes: Athletic Performance Assessment Speed & Agility Vertical Plyo & Relief Strength Game Day & Overtime Back To Core Okay, this program is definitely more intense than Insanity, and likely one of the toughest fitness DVD workouts out there.  I do not recommend trying it if you have a serious musculoskeletal injury or vulnerability, or are not already highly conditioned.  That being said, some of it is adaptable but even if you choose the easiest variations, they certainly are not easy.  There is lots and lots of jumping (plyometrics, skipping, etc) so if that's not for you, than this system is definitely...

  Sorry if I offend anyone, but the whole 'Paleo' diet movement really irritates me.  It's based on faulty reasoning and pseudo science.  That being said, I get it that it may be a very enjoyable and effective way for some people to lose weight and/or improve their immediate health.  The problem is, I think long-term health may not be maximized.  Why?  Because research links consumption of animal protein (which is a big part of the paleo diet) with chronic illness.  Beans and WHOLE grains, on the other hand are associated with lower risk of chronic illness. Frankly, I think its just replaced the Atkins, and no doubt is at least an improvement on that, since it focuses on unprocessed foods and natural, uncured meats, but still.  I don't believe its a magic bullet for all our health whoas. Anyways, I do think some great culinary ideas have come out of the Paleo movement.  One is the use of the plantain in baking.  I lov...

Recently Seabuck Wonders generously sent me some of their Omega-7 pills and body lotion to try out. Although I had heard of Sea-Buckthorn before, I really wasn't sure what it is.  Apparently it's a fruit, but one that contains high levels of omega-7, an unsaturated fatty acid.  In fact, it is one of the only rich sources of omega-7, along with macadamia nut oil. Sea-Buckthorn isn't supposedly very tasty as a fresh fruit, but it is extremely high in antioxidents.  There are not yet many human studies linking it to health outcomes, but studies on mice have demonstrated anti-carcinogenic and anti-obesogenic properties. The lotion couldn't have come at a better time.  As the summer heat quickly gave way to the cold, dry late autumn weather, my skin seemed to get itchy and scaly almost overnight.  Usually I use a heavy moisturizer in winter, like a body butter, so I wasn't sure this light, grease-less lotion would do the trick, but it's amazing.  It has ...

       Good Monday morning!  How are you feeling today?  I feel great, thank you very much.  I was looking forward to this weekend for a long time.  Partly because it was packed full of fun events, but also because I knew it would be my first opportunity to really relax after all the build up to the fundraiser last week. Part of relaxing meant having a drink or two.  I have said many times, alcohol should be considered a treat, not a regular part of ones daily routine.  Too many of us have convinced ourselves, thanks to flawed research and inaccurate reporting in the media, that alcohol consumption is healthy.  As a counsellor, I also see it being misused by people all too often as a coping strategy.  Alcohol, along with food, drugs, etc, are frequently used to self-medicate, and are considered to be avoidant coping strategies, by us folks who work in the mental health field.  This means, they temporarily help us cop...

Have you heard they now have laugh yoga?  It may sound absurd, but it makes complete sense.  Laughing is incredibly therapeutic and most of us don't do it enough.  Its not new information, but I was reminded of this one day last week when I was feeling particularly stressed out.  I started reading one of those top autocorrect mistake posts like this one .  Because of my silly sense of humour, this kind of shit makes me hysterical.  In no time I was laughing so hard I was crying and I had to put my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't disturb the other therapists in the office working with their clients.  But it felt fantastic.  And I sat there wondering why we don't spend more time laughing.  There are lots of funny things out there!  Similarly, it hit me the other day how weird it is all the things we stop doing when we become adults.  Like cartwheels.  Why do we stop doing cartwheels and hanging off monkey bars?  If we...

So Jamie Oliver has apparently partnered with Sobeys , "... On a mission to bring better food to Canadians ." I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when I heard about this, but given his commitment to get folks eating better, I was optimistic that this could mean good things to come.  We have a Sobey's in our neighbourhood and go there quite a bit for various staples (I actually think they are even better than Loblaws for fresh fish and seafood!). The first evidence of this new partnership was displays of his pasta sauces and pastas and cook wear and serving dishes.  I didn't really pay much attention although I did note that it was a bit weird that all his pastas were made from processed white flour given his commitment to better nutrition. It was the flyer we got in the newspaper this weekend that really shocked me.  It featured all his new products that are now available at Sobeys stores.  He now has his own line of frozen foods exclusively available at...

The fundraiser is over and I am physically and mentally exhausted.  We had an amazing turn out and the bouncy castle and games were a huge hit with the kids.  Believe it or not, I won ALL 3 baking contests!  Mom Who Runs cookie recipe really is the bomb.  There was only one other pie entry to be honest, but hey I'll take 1st place!  I gave the trophies to the second place winners.  The gingerbread houses were sold off at the end. But seriously, stress is so toxic.  Really its so stupid that we all get worked up over what is really such insignificant stuff.  I'm as guilty of it as the next person.  I constantly need to remind myself to put it all in perspective.  But I'm pleased with how it went and am looking forward to a quiet weekend.  Oh wait, its only Wednesday.  Oh yeah, and our upcoming weekend is like insanely jam-packed.  Sigh! Moving on to food. One of the things that is fairly consistent among ...

Tonight is the daycare fundraiser.  I have had butterflies since I woke up yesterday morning.  But now I'm freaking out about something else: One of the board members, and a good friend of mine, was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery yesterday!  Nothing like something like that to put things into perspective!  So what the fuck if the whole thing bombs tonight???  I just hope she's going to be okay.  But it does mean that she and her wife will not be able to come to the fundraiser.  Sheesh, if they didn't want to come, there are easier ways to get out of it.  Ha ha! Anyways, I have had lots of great people helping me so I think just maybe we will be able to pull it off. And in the midst of it all, I was able to bake stuff for the contests.  Along with the gingerbread house, I made these cookies.    I used Mom Who Runs' favorite recipe and just swapped out white flour for whole spelt and brown sugar for coconut ...

Wow, the weekend went fast.  Too fast.  And now it's the day before the fundraiser and I feel like there are still a million things to do.  On the bright side, it's gotten super cold here so the fact that I took the day off work and am stuck at home can easily be appreciated with some hot tea and cosy slippers. At least I got some of the baking done.  Worried that no one else would step up, I signed myself up for all 3 baking contests.  Today the pies get made.  Yesterday I finished the cookies and last week I put the finishing touches on the gingerbread house.  Since all these things were for OTHER people to eat (although my kids are begging to try all of it), I put no thought into the health factor.  That being said, I couldn't resist using spelt flour in the cookies, instead of white, and coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.  Whether those swap outs will make me lose the contest or not I don't know.  In any case, it's all for ...

Its been another nutty week.  Adam was away in Tampa at a conference for a few days, work was busy, I had to shuttle the girls to their various activities, and I've also been trying to make sure that everything is going smoothly in preparation for the daycare fundraiser I am organizing next Tuesday.  This week we started selling tickets and thankfully, they've been selling really well.  This thing might be a success after all! Things are not going as smoothly at home.  The girls won't stop fighting with each other.  It's constant.  They can't even look at each other without starting to bicker.  We've tried all the things the experts suggest and nothing seems to work. One of the things we are auctioning off at the fundraiser next week is a $250 gift certificate for the services of parenting expert, Nanny Robina ...I am thinking that I have to win that thing and get help with these kids!! So there isn't going to be much relaxation this weekend....

Okay, I've really been falling behind in getting out some posts I've been working on, butt I really thought I should squeeze this one out. For some reason, people really don't like talking about anything to do with their butts.  Butt , what's going on down there can be an indicator of your overall health. Most of us know that if you have blood in your stool, you should get it checked out.  We also know that we should start getting screened for colon cancer at some point (depending on family history/personal risk factors). There can also be issues with discomfort while pooping from either hemorrhoids or fissures.  This is no joke man, I can tell you from personal experience.  After both my girls were born, I developed serious fissures that made it feel like I was passing razer blades out of my butt anytime I had to poop.  I thought this was weird since I had 2 C-sections, but my OB said it's not uncommon due to the constipation caused by the h...

Oh yeah, that's no typo...Pineapple Chocolate Chili.  Wait!  Before I lose you, seriously this is SO GOOD!  I mean think about it.  There is chocolate in a mole sauce and if I said I'd made, say, chicken in mole sauce with a side of pineapple salsa, you'd probably think "Yummers!"  Well this is yummers too, I promise. The idea came to me because my mom bought this spicy chili chocolate bar and gave it to Adam because she found it too spicy.  Adam tried it and even HE found it too spicy so he suggested I cook with it.  I thought it would dress up what would otherwise be a pretty standard vegetarian chili and it worked magically, elevating it to out of this world.  The pineapple adds a lot of sweetness, the chocolate more of a complexity to the overall flavour.  A bit of cider vinegar, smoked paprika, cumin seed and chili powder round it out.  Adding additional cayenne pepper to boost the heat factor is optional.  By the wa...

For the past few winters I have been wearing the same coat.  I like how it looks well enough, but it really isn't sufficiently warm.  I always ended up layering on sweaters and vests underneath and even then would end up cold on really bitter days.  After all, weather permitting, I often ride my bike to work and when it is really freezing and/or windy, it's not pleasant.  So I finally decided I should invest in a good coat for winter.  But I also wanted it to look good.  Frankly, I am tired of huge, puffy coats  that make my look like a weeble. I did some research and finally decided on a North Face coat, which I purchased from Sporting Life online.  Supposedly water and windproof, but also pretty streamlined, I loved the way it looked. When the small, light box arrived, I was dismayed.  I unpacked the tightly folded up jacket and thought I had made a huge mistake: There was no way such a thin coat could be warm enough for w...

Food is subject to fads much like fashion.  Certain things go in and out of style.  Gluten-free food is very popular right now, but if one more person asks me to review a gluten-free cookbook, I'll scream.  Quinoa too.  Been there, done that.  I really am only interested in things that are new and different. One of the hottest food trends right now is Greek Yogurt.  The appeal is obvious.  Even low-fat versions are thick, rich and creamy and it contains significantly more protein than regular yogurt, which means it is generally more satisfying.  When I was asked to review The Greek Yogurt Cookbook by Lauren Kelly, I was pleased to FINALLY see a cookbook offering something new and different. Admittedly we don't by Greek yogurt very often, mostly because it's really expensive.  Actually, it's super simple to make yourself, I've done it before...and come to think of it, I should really do it more often!  All you do is take some...

Holy cow have we been having major mood swings in this house...and there isn't even anyone close to hitting puberty yet! Wednesday morning Little A woke up in quite a state.  I haven't seen her in such a snit in a very long time.  Basically everyone and everything made her furious and she wailed almost non-stop from the moment she got up until I dropped her at school.  Of course, her teachers reported that she had a great day after I left.  Not sure what was up with that, but when I asked, she simply said, "I was grumpy."  Yeah, well I was left with PTSD after that kid! Likewise, last night, Big A, who was otherwise behaving great yesterday, had a massive tantrum right after Adam left with his dad to see a concert.  It was like she was 4 again, I couldn't believe it.  Of course, when one kid is having a melt down and getting into trouble, the other kid is sweet as pie...and enjoying every minute of the other's downfall.  I'm telling you, I t...

Among the foods I love the most, cinnamon definitely ranks up there.  It can transform the ordinary into extraordinary, if you ask me.  One of my favorite things to do is roast or simmer fresh fruit with cinnamon.  It ends up tasting like candy.  Even the girls have a weakness for apples, plums and peaches prepared this way.  Of course, cinnamon is also awesome in oatmeal, French toast and baked goods.  Cinnamon raisin bread is a favorite in this house.  Unfortunately, it is really darn hard to find a healthy version at the grocery store.  Most have refined flour in them and they all seem to be full of sugar.  So here is my version.  Not only is it sweet, moist and aromatic (the whole house smelled heavenly after I baked up this bread!), but it also happens to be gluten-free and sugar-free.  You can eat it plain, like you would a quick bread, or you can slather it (toasted or untoasted) with nut butter, jam, honey or your ...

As I write this review I feel like I'm going to barf.  Why?  Because of the revolting stench of Spray Thin's 'savoury' spray . In all honesty, when they asked if I wanted to try it, my plan was to use Adam as my guinea pig because he always complains about being hungry all day at work.  He often snacks so much he can barely eat dinner.  Unfortunately, I forgot that he doesn't have a very good sense of smell (he thinks its from breaking his nose during rugby as a kid). So I decided I'd give it a try.  The Globe and Mail nutrition expert recently wrote about these products and concluded that there are far better ways to control your food intake.  After my experience I have to agree! There are a few studies showing that certain scents seem to make people eat less. They come in 2 scents: sweet (strawberry) and savoury (cheese).  I sprayed a bit of the sweet on my oatmeal one morning.  Can't say it had any effect at all.  I don't really li...

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Hey man, how was your weekend?  Ours was pretty good.  Went by too quickly though.  I am pleased to say that as of today, I still have straight hair!  I can't believe how much easier and faster it is to do my hair now.  Yay! You have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the antics of our total moron of a mayor.  If you are flabbergasted that such a man could get into office, believe me, many Torontonians feel the same. On some level it makes sense though, if you know some of the political, economic and demographic history of the city.  Adam gave me a book called, Some Great Idea to read, written by a Toronto journalist, Edward Keenan.  If you are interested in Toronto politics, I highly recommended, it's fascinating. Crazy busy week so I gotta get moving.  In fact, I apologize for this, but things are so busy, I may only post a few times a week for the next few weeks.  In any case, have a fabulous Monday.

So I did something purely for vanity yesterday: I got a Keratin hair straightening treatment!  After my failed attempt several months ago to embrace my curls (it's just never going to happen folks!), I resigned myself to spending every morning blow drying my hair as straight as possible.  Unfortunately, for some reason, my hair holds water like a kid holds candy, and if my hair has any moisture left in it, it just curls up again.  This means that it takes a long time to dry it.  I have to towel dry it very well and then let it air dry for about an hour (no joke!  I usually walk the girls to school with wet hair THEN come home and blow it dry) before I attempt to blow it dry (which takes at least another 5-10 minutes depending on how damp it still is).  Then, of course, I have to apply like 6 different oils, conditioners and potions.  If there is any humidity in the air, I have to put on a hat when I go out initially until the straig...

This was one of the recipes I used the pumpkin butter in...mmm, these are AMAZING!!  Just keep in mind they are delicate, so remove them carefully from you waffle maker (and make sure you've oiled/sprayed your waffle maker well beforehand). Pumpkin Oatmeal Waffles 2 cups oat flour (gluten-free if necessary) 1 cup large flake oats (gluten-free in necessary) 2 tbls stevia baking blend or powdered stevia 2 tbls baking powder 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups pumpkin butter 10 egg whites (or flax eggs) 1.5 cups water Whisk all ingredients together and then let sit for 15 minutes.  Make according to directions on your waffles maker.  This recipe made 5 large round waffles, but it depends on the size and shape of your waffle maker.  Extras can be frozen. This recipe has been shared with Gluten-Free Friday and Wellness Weekend .

The girls had us buy them massive pumpkins for their Jack-o-lanterns this year.  I felt we couldn't just toss them out, so after Halloween was over, I chopped up as much as I could (before arm fatigue set in) and cooked it down into pumpkin butter.  Oh my, this stuff is so good!  I think I'll be doing this every year! This stuff can be used as a topping for pancakes or waffles, as an ingredient in baked goods, smoothies, oatmeal, or just spread onto bread.  Already I've made pumpkin cranberry chocolate chip muffins and pumpkin oatmeal spice waffles with it.  So freakin' yummy! If you don't have so much pumpkin, just half the recipe or reduce as needed. Pumpkin Butter 16 cups peeled, cubed pumpkin 2 tbls lemon juice 1 cup water 2 droppers stevia (vanilla or plain) 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp sea salt Place ingredients in a large pot and cover with lid.  Cook over med/med-low heat until pumpkin is falling ...