Tried & True: Recipes From Pinterest You Need to Make {Pumpkin Edition}

I feel like the love for pumpkin flavoured goodies dies out sooner in Canada than in the States since our Thanksgiving happens so much earlier. When does "all things pumpkin" come to an end? End of November? After Christmas? I really don't know, but in case your still in the mood for some yummy pumpkin infused recipes, I've got you covered. This past month I made over a handful of different pumpkin recipes and today I'm sharing the best of the best with you. (If you want some actual meal recipe ideas, then be sure to check out last month's Pinterest roundup!).

*****

Easy Pumpkin Pie Bites: Pinned over 327 THOUSAND times!

You know what I find interesting (and frustrating) about Pinterest? The fact that a recipe can be pinned hundreds of thousands of times, yet there are no comments on the pin itself, and the blog post sharing said recipe has minimal to no comments on it as well. I for one, like to see what people have to say about a recipe: what worked for them,what substitutes did they make, did they love it...etc. This is why trying recipes on Pinterest are so hit and miss!

Thoughts: Anyway, thankfully, despite the lack of comments on this one, it was a winner. I made these for Thanksgiving dinner, and while my two younger nephews aren't a fan of pumpkin based desserts, it just meant the adults got to indulge in more! I made them the night before and didn't put the whipped cream on them until we were ready to eat them. I would recommend eating them within a day or two of making since the pastry does start to dry out, but they were still delicious!

Verdict: I loved the two-bite, cuteness factor. Although, I'm pretty sure I ate WAY more of these little bites than I would have of regular pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving dinner calories don't count, right?

*****

Healthy One Bowl Pumpkin Banana Muffins: Pinned 715 times

Thoughts:  I wanted something my husband could throw in his lunch for a snack, and something I could grab on my way out the door. These were both delicious and filling. The pumpkin flavour is not strong in them at all - I would probably use pumpkin pie spice next time to amp it up, but otherwise, these would be a great year round muffin to make!

Verdict: These were a big hit with both myself and my husband. Even my toddler, who is funny about muffins, would eat about half of one before declaring "I'm done!". I think the chocolate chips helped.

*****

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Pinned over 103k times

Thoughts: The texture and chewiness was so different than your average cookie, but my husband and I loved that about them!  I'd probably try and cut down the sugar next time I make them, but they were still really yummy. The dough is definitely a bit odd to work with, and make sure you listen and chill your dough for the recommended amount of time! I ended up pressing my chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies before baking as it just seemed easier this way than trying to mix them into the sticky dough. (These got eaten up before I thought to take a photo!)

Verdict: I really, really loved these cookies. And my toddler ate them too, so that's always a win! They reminded me of a nice, chewy molasses cookie, but with a slight pumpkin flavour.

*****

Pumpkin Pie Spice Chex Mix: Pinned 30 times

Thoughts: Okay, this one is a little self-promotion here because this is a recipe I posted the other week, but seriously, if you missed it, you need to make this one! It's the perfect holiday snack, whether it's for Friday movie night or a party. It's easy, delicious and a great way to have your pumpkin pie spice without using any actual pumpkin.

Verdict: Obviously, make it!!



Over to you:

Pumpkin desserts: love 'em or hate 'em?

Favourite pumpkin snack/dessert? Share your recipe in the comments! 

Tried & True: Recipes From Pinterest You Need to Make

Pinterest gets a bad wrap sometimes. Yes, I see how it can be the rabbit hole of pinning DIY projects you will never, ever make, ridiculous recipes you will never cook, or hairstyles your arms will never allow you to attempt. So what's the point, right?

If used correctly, I think Pinterest is pretty awesome. I've utilized it for fashion advice when I'm not sure how to style a certain pair of boots, I pin hair inspiration photos for my hair stylist, recipes for meal planning, and realistic DIY crafts that not only have I made, but didn't break the bank either.

I don't spend a lot of time on it, but the one thing I use it for almost daily, is meal planning. When I'm reading blogs or articles that share recipes that sounds like something I will make, I will pin it to my "yum - recipes to try" board. Or, if I'm looking for a certain type of recipe, I will search for it on Pinterest.

This is where things get overwhelming though. Recently, I realized I had over 250 recipes pinned in my recipes to try board. That's an insane amount of pins to scroll through each week I'm meal planning, or when I'm trying to find a particular recipe I've already made and want to make again. So, like I mentioned in this post, I organized my boards into recipes to try and tried & true boards. This way, at least the recipes I've already tried and will definitely make again, I can move over to one of my tried & true boards. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it is to have such organized boards! I also always make comments underneath the pin on any changes I may have made to the original recipe so I don't forget for the next time.

The other thing I find can be overwhelming or intimidating about using recipes on Pinterest to meal plan is, how do you even know said recipe is worth making? I mean, there are literally a billion pinned recipes on there. Some have tens or hundreds of pins, while others have thousands. But here's the thing with Pinterest - A LOT of people just pin for the sake of pinning, and never make a single meal they pin. So while I like to believe that a muffin recipe with 5 thousand pins is going to be a good one, sometimes you just don't know for sure.

That's where I come in! I use my Pinterest recipe boards almost exclusively for meal planning. I do have my favourite cookbooks, but overall, I just find it easier to use Pinterest if I can. For the most part, I'd say I've had a pretty good success rate with the recipes I've made from Pinterest. There have definitely been more than a handful of ones I would never make again though, and those I just delete off my boards right away.

Anyway, consider me your guinea pig if you will! I thought every month, I'd recap the recipes I've made from Pinterest that were big wins in our house and that I think you should make too. Essentially, I'm taking the guess work out of it for you ;)


DINNER RECIPES

Crock Pot Chicken Soup: Pinned only 6 times

Thoughts: I discovered this recipe thanks to Carly and I loved the simplicity of it over baking an actual chicken pot pie. I used leftover rotisserie chicken and just threw it in in the last hour of cooking or so. I know this easily could have been done on the stove, but it's nice to just throw things in the slow cooker and forget about it. This was huge hit with Sully. I knew I would want the comfort of the crust found in traditional pot pie, so I made some quick Pillsbury biscuits to go with it.

Verdict: Comfort food at it's finest. and this literally took minutes to throw into the slow cooker. Perfect for those cold days and when you don't have a lot of time. If you use raw chicken, then you will need to give it more time to cook.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Potatoes: Pinned over 7k times

Thoughts: I also snagged this recipe from Carly, and I was intrigued because I love pot roast, but I've never done it in the slow cooker before. It was super simple and smelt amazing while cooking. Unfortunately, I wasn't really thinking and I bought a higher quality cut of roast since it was the same price as the lesser quality, so this meant my cut was way more lean and wasn't as tender as I like a roast to be. That being said, had I been thinking, I could have cooked it for a shorter amount of time and it may have come out more tender. Lesson learned!

Verdict: Definitely a must make. The leftover juices make for a delicious gravy or Au Jus. Consider choosing a fattier cut of roast so yours doesn't dry out like mine did.


BAKING RECIPES

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread: Pinned over 50k times

Thoughts: I had a ton of zucchini last month to use up from my grandma's garden so I knew I wanted to bake with it. I perused a bunch of loaf recipes before deciding upon this one. I liked that I already had everything on hand to make it and that the only sweetener it called for was honey. It did call for white whole wheat pantry which I didn't have (and didn't even know was a thing), so I took my chances and used all-purpose flour with good success.

Verdict: You guys, this was THE BEST loaf I have ever made. So delicious, and moist! We gobbled it up in just a few short days. I'm not sure I'll ever make another loaf again.

Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins: Pinned 7.5k times

Thoughts: Figured these would be a hit with the toddler, and I was right. I used coconut oil for the oil and brown sugar, but half the amount the original recipe called for and they were still moist and sweet. We topped with sprinkles instead of sugar as well.

Verdict: Definitely a fun way to disguise zucchini in chocolate. Super moist and Sully asked for one every single morning until they were gone.

and last but not least...

5 Ingredient Banana Almond Butter Muffins: Pinned 12.5k times

Thoughts: Super easy to make and ingredients I always have on hand and I liked that the batter was blended in a high speed blender for a really smooth consistency. I added peanut butter chips to my batter and baked in a mini muffin tin for about 9 minutes.

Verdict: I loved these, as did Jim, but for some reason, Sully was not a fan. I thought they were the perfect little snack for me throughout the day as I found just one or two very satisfying.


Over to you:

Do you love or hate Pinterest?

How do you like to use it? Do you make recipes you pin on there?

Thinking Out Loud {#11}: Tiny Houses, Figs & Pinterest

So you might remember from this post that my mom has been visiting us again, and this morning she left after two wonderful weeks here. I'm not sure who's going to be more upset when they wake up tomorrow morning: me or Sully. I decided to leave the house this morning around the same time my mom was taking off so that it didn't feel as much as goodbye, although I still started crying as I pulled away. After the library and a bunch of errands, we got back in the car to head home and Sully goes "LET'S GO SEE GRAMMA!" Gah, heartbreaking. I told him that Gramma wouldn't be at home and that we wouldn't be seeing her for a little while. "Well, let's go get her, Mama!". Sigh, I wish we could, little man, I wish we could.

{at Elbow Falls with Gramma}

I meant to get this post written up last night and posted this morning, but I figured it was better to spend my mom's last evening here with her.  Watching Season 6 of The Walking Dead of course. No spoilers since we are a whole season behind, but my goodness, the first few episodes are SO frustrating! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I much prefer to watch a show in which I can binge watch it, because I don't know how people wait a whole week (or more!) in-between episodes!

Speaking of shows...I was at the dentist earlier in the week for a cleaning and the TV was tuned to HGTV. Tiny House Hunters was airing and I was immediately engrossed (and I usually find TV incredibly annoying to try and watch while someone is blocking your view while scraping your teeth). Anyhow...this show! I'm mildly obsessed (I may have gone home and recorded the whole series) and yet, I can't fathom wanting to live in something that's about as big as the shed in our backyard. I get the whole minimalist fad and the desire to pare down the things you own, etc, but I could NOT live in 150 square feet. I don't even think I would feel safe sleeping in such a small space. I mean, if we had a playhouse in our backyard of roughly the same size, even if there was a lock on the door, there's no way I'd sleep out in it!

{source//this literally makes me LOL}

OK, so, in my post on nesting, I mentioned briefly that I meal planned for this week (which is going awesome by the way), and I'm really hoping that I can keep this up for the rest of my pregnancy. I know, meal planning - it's nothing new, everyone does it - but for some reason I have a hard time being consistent with it. I'm even trying to bake one new "treat" each week, and I've had some pretty good success with my recipes considering I'm not a baker. I utilize Pinterest a lot for recipe ideas, but my recipe board on there was getting a little bit out of control. I had every single recipe that I either wanted to try or had already made pinned to the same board, and it was getting time consuming to go through it for meal planning inspiration or to remember something I wanted to make. So, last weekend I also organized my recipe boards into "RECIPES TO TRY", "DINNER RECIPES TRIED & TRUE", "BAKING RECIPES TRIED & TRUE", "BREAKFAST RECIPES TRIED & TRUE", and "SNACKS/APPETIZERS TRIED & TRUE" (the links will take you directly to each board). Anyway, I'm already loving this little bit of organization and if you want to follow any of the boards please do! Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by Pinterest recipes because there are a billion out there but how do you know for sure something is actually worth making? Consider me your guinea pig! ;) I also add comments/notes into the comment portion of the pin on my tried & true boards so that you can see what I thought or any changes I may have made to the original recipe.

One more thing about food. FIGS. You guys, until last week, I had never eaten a fresh fig in my adult life. I would say my entire life, but my mom promises me that I ate them as a kid. We were at the farmer's market two weekends ago and my mom bought a flat of figs for us. It was one of those things were I was like, these are SO delicious, but I also kind of wish I hadn't tried them because now it's all I can think about. Unfortunately, fresh fig season is short and they are really hard to come by in stores! I've spent more time this week than I care to admit, trying to track down fresh figs. Thankfully, the Italian Store came through for me today and I made sure to get down there and buy two clamshells. I choked a bit at the price at first (almost 10 dollars a pound), but then I thought, "wait a minute, why do we freak out at buying something expensive that is delicious and healthy for us, but it's no big deal to go buy a case of beer or a bottle of wine?!" And considering I can drink neither of those right now, this mama bought herself $20 worth of figs today. I do not plan on sharing!

And lastly...I'm sorry...I clearly have a lot I want to talk about today!...yesterday I had my second doctor's appointment with my OB team. There's only 3 more months to go before this baby comes and I'm finding that crazy to think about! I'm also at that point where I can't imagine my belly getting bigger or stretching anymore, even though I know it will. I remember in my first pregnancy dreading being weighed at each doctor's appointment. This time around, I don't care. In fact, I didn't even take off my boots on the scale, that's how little I care about the number that shows up. I may have gone into this pregnancy weighing more than I would have liked, but I don't feel like I've been eating out of control and my weight gain has been very slow so I'm comfortable with where my body is at. I'm still trying to get to BodyFlow at GoodLife Fitness when I can because I know it's worth the effort to get myself there. Also, I passed my gestational diabetes screen, so yay for me!

If you're still reading, then you deserve one of my figs! ;)

Happy almost Friday everyone!


Questions for you!

Figs: love 'em, or hate 'em?

Tiny Houses: could you live in one?

Linking up with Amanda from Running with Spoons for Thinking Out Loud! 

*This post was written as part of the GoodLife Fitness Blogger Ambassador program, 

however all opinions expressed are my own.