rachelrisden

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although Aaron isn’t the biggest lover of pumpkin, but I have to get my pumpkin fill in as many ways as I can during the fall. One of my favorite ways to use up my stockpile of canned pumpkin is to make a healthy and refreshing pumpkin pie smoothie for breakfast. It’s one way to sneak in a few fruits, some omegas, and lots of antioxidants via spices like cinnamon and ginger.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Thievery — Freddie enjoying my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie on Thanksgiving morning.

I try to whip one of these bad boys together in the time after I drop Freddie at daycare and before I head to work. If I don’t schedule my smoothie making like that, Freddie tries to drink it all. Him having a smoothie isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he’s a pumpkin hog.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup nondairy milk (we use soy)
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup canned puréed pumpkin
2 Tbsp oatmeal
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
3-4 ice cubes

Put everything in a blender or food processor and blend. Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie — Dessert in a glass

Fall Festival Time!! Part Deux…

This weekend Pug Daddy’s parents were visiting. That’s right, the INLAWS!!! Noooo! Instead of the usual gathering around the television and addictively watching Fox News like they typically like to do, we decided to take them on a trip to a local farm to enjoy a bit of the Fall Festival season.

I was pondering going to Trax Farm, which is about 30 minutes from our house and located directly off of Route 88. I heard through the daycare-parent grapevine that Trax allows fracking on their property. Yuck!

Instead, we thought that we would try out Simmons Farm. This farm is located in Peters Township, sandwiched in between mega mansions. It’s very spaced out and makes good use of the apple orchards, pumpkin patch, and small stores that are all on the property. I have to say that this farm takes fall decorations very seriously.

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Freddie’s favorite part was definitely the small field where the farm had several animals. His favorites were the goats and sheep.

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We did pick a few apples and it seemed like the hike to ripe apples was a long and sweaty one. I’m not sure why I thought carrying a bushel of apples, with a toddler, walking uphill, on a 75 degree day, was a good idea.

4C70855F-EEA1-4580-958B-955FF8CB7760 — …And the rope just keeps going…

Overall, Simmons Farm was a very nice trip. It wasn’t too far away and we didn’t have too much trouble with Fall Festival overcrowding. Next time I might take Freddie on a Friday morning when his daycare is having a day off so that we can have more of the farm to ourselves. Excellent option to entertain the in laws.

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It’s Fall Festival Time!!!

It’s Fall Festival Time!!! That means corn stalks, apples, and my favorite PUMPKINS! This weekend Pug Daddy, Freddie and I took a drive out to a local orchard; Soergel’s, to take in some of the fall season. Little did we know that it would be 80 degrees outside and so packed full of people that we parked really far away and had to hike across a pumpkin patch just to get to the main part of the festivities. We, of course, had Freddie riding in his aquamarine City Minnie stroller and pushed him “off road style”.

Risden Family at Soergel’s Orchard, October 7, 2017

I believe everyone in the Tri State area had the same idea because there were sooo many people there. We popped into the farm stand style store for a quick drink and we had difficulty moving around. Pug Daddy may have accidentally run into a handicapped woman’s walker on accident (oops!). Long lines combined with a ton of children made quickly doing anything very unrealistic.

Despite the uncomfortable heat, and crowds, we did get to see the rows of apple trees, pumpkin patches, and fall wildflowers. We took a few obligatory pictures and popped our heads into a few shops to see what Soergel’s had to offer. I was super excited about the local Arsenal Cider House that was selling jugs of adult cider. It was the perfect drink for a warmer than expected day. I was also pleasantly surprised to find dairy-free ice cream being offered right next to the plain old cow’s milk ice cream. Freddie wasn’t really feelin’ the orchard after about an hour, but a soy root beer float would have been oh so delightful.

We had a pretty nice time overall, but I would also like to check out other fall festivals in the area. I’m hoping that we are able to go to one that isn’t’ quite so congested. Hopefully we will actually try the soy ice cream too.