Pumpkin Protein Drink Recipe

I think if he could, my husband would drink pumpkin pie. He already inhales it every Thanksgiving! So this pumpkin protein drink is about as close as it gets to making his dreams come true. It's an ultra easy breakfast to make when you're on the go, and it’ll get you in the mood for the soon-to-be holiday season.

The drink is packed with vitamins, protein (I added soy protein) and calcium, making it markedly healthier than the real deal, and perfect for vegetarians like my husband Lulu.

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Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe: How You Should Be Starting Your Monday

The weather has been getting chilly here in the Bay Area, and it’s really starting to feel like fall. With Halloween and Thanksgiving coming very soon, I thought I'd make a breakfast dish that captures the tastes of autumn. To accomplish this I served oatmeal flavored with pumpkin purée, cinnamon, ground ginger and maple syrup.

Oatmeal is great at any time of the day. In fact, it’s our favorite evening snack. It's a quick and easy way to fulfill our late-night cravings. There is literally an unlimited number of ways to flavor oatmeal, making it a perfect palette upon which to test out ingredient combinations.

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Fruit and Yogurt Parfait Recipe (Grapes and Granola Parfait)

Fruit and yogurt parfaits are a great breakfast food or late-night snack. They’re very filling and are easy to make. You can use pretty much any fruit you have on hand. For this particular parfait, I used Kyoho grapes. The sweetness, meaty flesh and softness of the fruit contrast well with the crunchy granola. I added Concord grape jelly to repeat the same flavor and condensed milk to give the yogurt a velvety texture.

The result is a tasty, yet still healthy treat. I can't get enough of it. We're stilling make our own yogurt weekly, and the girls just helped me make granola last weekend, but we're already running our of both. Our family is addicted!

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How to Make Granola

Granola is a fabulous breakfast food and snack our family enjoys a lot. Making granola is incredibly easy and is a great way to get children interested in cooking. The basic ingredients for granola are rolled oats, nuts, dried fruits and sweeteners. The girls decided to add puffed rice and bake-dried bananas. The little ones stirred the grain mixture and the big girls baked it until crispy.

It will come as no surprise to regular readers, but our family loves to eat. To satisfy our appetite between meals, we always have sweet or savory snack available in the kitchen. Granola makes a healthy and flavorful snack that everyone in the family enjoys. It’s packed with folic acid, which is especially beneficial for women. Plus, you can pack the granola in zip-top bags for your children's school snack or when you're on-the-go.

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Fresh Kyoho Grapes

Kyoho grapes [pronounced kee-oh-ho] are large, seeded, extremely sweet and juicy with meaty flesh. Like the Concord variety, this specialty grape is powdery and thick-skinned with a blackish purple color. I absolutely love Kyohos. There are several ways to eat them. You could peel them with a small paring knife because they are large enough but I think this method waste a lot of the precious juice inside. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy the fruit is to simply place a grape between your index finger and thumb, lean your head a little backward, gently squeeze the fruit until the flesh pushes through the skin, along with a generous amount of fragrant, sweet juice. Remove and discard the few seeds embedded in its flesh, and repeat.
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