Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, I'm not American & I don't celebrate Thanksgiving...although I do think it's a pretty cool idea. But I do like the flavours of pumpkin pie - that mix of sweet (but not too sweet), savoury, and warm spices - so I made up a primal one a little while ago. I never got around to posting it though, so now seems as good a time as any! Unfortunately, I wrote down the ingredients but forgot to note down what I actually did with them, so I'll just have to do my best to remember...

Primal Pumpkin Pie

For the base
2C almond meal
1/2C dessicated coconut
25 dates
1 Tbsp almond butter
A dash of cold water

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until it forms a sticky dough. If it's too crumbly, add a little more water and mix again until you reach the right consistency.

Press dough into a greased flan tin (with removable base). Refrigerate until filling is ready.

For the filling

3C pumpkin, cooked & mashed
1C coconut cream
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1 ½ tsp mixed spice
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground vanilla
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp chia seeds

Beat all ingredients except the chia seeds together (I used a cake mixer for this), then stir in the chia seeds.

Chill for a while! (I would suggest at least an hour, so that the chia seeds absorb some of the moisture. Longer is better).

Once the filling has begun to thicken, pour into the base and cook at 180 degrees celcius. I think this took about 20-30 minutes, but you want the base to be golden and the filling to be set.

If you're feeling particularly naughty, this tastes great with cream whipped with maple syrup!

It also works well as little tartlets (using a muffin tin instead of a flan tin).

Excuses, excuses

I'm good at pushing myself, good at challenging myself, good at exercising self-control. But recently, I've discovered I'm also really good at excuses.

I've had a lot going on lately - I've been sick; I've been making some major life decisions; I've been stressed about money; I've been worrying about family, friends, and strangers down in Christchurch; and I haven't been getting enough sleep. That hasn't left me with a whole lot in reserve to fight those moments of dietary weakness. And so I haven't.

Instead, I've justified the choices I've made. I've told myself that it's ok because I normally eat so well, that it's ok because it's a special occasion, that it's ok because I'm celebrating, that it's ok because I'm tired, or stressed, or down...the list goes on. And so I've eaten a dessert here, some chocolate there; an icecream with a friend, a piece of birthday cake with Mum. And I've felt justified in doing so. For a few minutes.

But then I just become more tired, more sick, and in more of a low mood...and I feel like I've let myself down.

Of all the excuses I come up with, my favourite one seems to be "I deserve this". Deserve what? To be more sick and more tired than I already was? I might have convinced myself I was being kind to myself, but I wasn't. Not at all. So now I'm going to start.

It's time for the excuses to stop.

I've been meaning to put this recipe up for a while, but I've been too busy, too tired, too...you get the idea....

Roast Pumpkin and Bacon Soup

1 butternut pumpkin, chopped and roasted
1 whole garlic, roasted
2 onions, roasted
Olive oil
350g bacon
Butter (measure if Zoning)
3 carrots
2 red chilis, chopped
A few lumps of fresh ginger
Salt & pepper
Thai basil leaves

Roast the pumpkin, garlic, and onions in olive oil and a bit of salt.

Chop the bacon into small pieces. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the bacon, and the roasted onion and garlic (peeled).

Add chopped carrots, roast pumpkin, chilis and ginger. Top up with enough water to cook everything in (probably so the level's about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up all the vegetables, but you might need to add more as you go). Season with salt and pepper. Cook until all the vegetables are soft, then add some fresh thai basil (or you could probably use standard basil) and cook for a little longer.

Blend with a stick blender (you might need to add more water).

Serve with a spoonful of sour cream & some chopped fresh thai basil sprinkled on top.

According to Bear, this is the best thing I've ever cooked for him. Not bad for something that was thrown together to use up some pumpkin we had in the fridge!