I love the fall!! I love the feeling in the air, the piles of leaves, the back-to-school sales, storms, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and pumpkin pie. I love pumpkins so much that I decided I might try to make a pumpkin smoothie in my new blender.
I wasn't happy, however, with the options I found for recipes on the internet; many had a lot of added sugar and all called for canned pumpkin. A pumpkin milkshake would be easy because you could use ice-cream for both the freeze factor and the sweetness, but I really wanted to have a healthy breakfast or post-workout drink.
The key was honey - yes, I know that counts as sugar, but I like being able to control the amount on my own and its also a less processed source than table sugar. You could use maple syrup or molasses, but I like the light flavor honey adds to this recipe. If you love pumpkin, give it a try - and if you are feeling up to it, bake your own pumpkin instead of using canned!! (I won't judge you if you decide to use some organic canned to save time)
Besides being delicious, pumpkin is an excellent source of:
folate, potassium, vitamins A, C, and B (3,5,6)
It also contains phytonutrients which may have added health benefits beyond the vitamins and minerals...
Pumpkin-Pie Smoothie
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
1/2 c pumpkin (make your own! - see below)
1 whole banana
dash cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger (to taste)
2/3 c milk
6-7 ice cubes
1 T honey
*cut a small sugar pumpkin in half and remove the stem and seeds. Cover it in foil and bake it in the oven on 350 for an hour. Once cooled, the pulp will easily release from the skin. I used about 1/4 of the cooked pumpkin for my smoothie and froze the rest for later.
makes about two 12 oz smoothies
great for breakfast, a light snack, or post-work out.
Hi Ginger,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds yummy! Will have to give it a try. I've recently started using my Vita-mix more, and am loving it. So, will give this smoothie drink a try. But got a dumb question for you...is a "sugar" pumpkin different from just a regular pumpkin? Showing my ignorance here, I know. If they are different...and I can't find a sugar one locally, can it be substituted with a regular pumpkin?
Hey, and love the model you've got there for your demonstration picture. =) Way to go Trevor! xoxo ANance
Not a dumb question AT ALL! A sugar pumpkin is one of those tiny little round pumpkins. They are better for cooking with flavor-wise. The big pumpkins that we carve don't have the best texture. However, if you are putting 1/2 cup pumpkin in a smoothie with other ingredients, I'm not sure how much the varietal will matter...check out this great description:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ochef.com/847.htm