Noshtopia

Things To Make With Leftovers: Verde Turkey Shiitake Chili

  

During the holidays, it's a pretty safe bet that many people will have left over turkey in the fridge. I was at Trader Joe's the other day and strolled over to their sample counter because of this warm delicious smell that wafted in my direction.

The woman behind the sample counter whipped up a batch of Verde Turkey Chili, and I was so happy with my little sample cup of chili, that I knew I had to go home and make my own batch.

 

The basis of this recipe uses Trader Joe's products, but you can modify and use other brands you like. This recipe is pretty simple to make as well, and it not only makes for a wonderful dish to make with turkey left overs, but it's nice warm and filling eats, perfect for cold rainy or snowy winter days.

Ingredients (serves 4):

 

• 1 lb. Left over turkey cut into cubes

•  1/2 lb. ground turkey (you don't have to add this but I like adding a second meat texture, and the ground meat gives this dish a more traditional chili look.)

• 1 large Shiitake mushroom diced (I added the mushroom in because I had a left over one in the fridge. The shiitake added a nice gourmet twist.)

• 2 Cans Trader Joe's Cannellini Beans
• 1 Jar Trader Joe's Salsa Verde
• 2 Cups Trader Joe's Chicken Broth

• 1/2 White or yellow onion chopped

• 3 Cloves of garlic chopped
• 3/4 tsp ground Cumin
• 3/4 tsp ground Oregano
• Olive Oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Worcestershire sauce

Let's Get Cookin':

 

• In a 3-Quart saucepan on medium heat, pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil, and saute onion and garlic for about a minute, then add in ground turkey. Season to taste ground turkey with salt, pepper, and about 4-5 squirts of Worcestershire sauce.

 

• Stir ground turkey in the saucepan until cooked about 2 minutes. Add in the diced shiitake mushroom pieces and cook another 1 minute, just long enough to heat up the mushroom.

• Add in the chicken broth, the whole jar of salsa verde, and the two cans of Cannellini Beans. Stir in with ground turkey.

 

 

• Add in the cumin and oregano, and thoroughly stir in. I also added in a 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to give my chili a kick of heat. You don't have to because the TJ's verde salsa has a nice flavor to it.

• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.

 

• Add in the turkey cubes, stir thoroughly in, and let the chili simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir occasionally.

• Be gentle when stirring the chili because the Cannellini Beans can break up into pieces.

Take chili off burner, and let it sit for about 20 minutes to cool down before serving.

Enjoy!

  

Holiday Fare: What I Cooked and Ate For Thanksgiving

 

For my first Thanksgiving as a Phoenix resident, one of my closest friends @dianev came to spend the long weekend with me. I dropped her off at the airport this morning at 5am so she could head back to SFO.

Originally, the plan was to go to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, but the morning of, I woke up and just didn't feel like going to a restaurant. My stuff which was being shipped from the Bay Area arrived 3 days early, so I was able to get my new place all fixed up and homey. I was in the mood to just hang out at home with red wine, yummy nosh, and good convo with Diane.

Yay! Whole Foods was open

And thank goodness, not only was Whole Foods open, but they had a bunch of pre-made Thanksgiving foods which I could just personalize or heat up and throw in a bowl.

As for the food allergies, I tried to stick to my daily eating as possible, but some stuff just tastes better with butter, and I had to have cheese with wine as my cheese fix for the Quarter kinda thing. I did however manage to avoid eating any eggs.

Here was the menu for Thanksgiving day

Diane's flight arrived at 2pm, so we got to my place around 3pm and started off with some afternoon snackage of:

• Green grapes
• Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew hummus with crostini. Diane wanted to taste it since I blogged about my hummus recipe concoction.
• Assortment of green and black olives
• Pecan crusted Jalapeno cheese ball
• Red Truck Shiraz wine

Here are the pictures I took from my iPhone of all that yummy snackage.

Thanksgiving dinner:

 

• Apricot glazed turkey which sounded very Martha Stewart. I bought 1.75lbs from the pre-made deli counter. To re-heat, I put the turkey in a glass baking dish, added 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and then covered with aluminum foil and heated in the oven for 20 minutes at 350.
• Tossed mixed green & spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette
• Baked sweet potato topped with pecans caramelized in organic brown sugar and butter.
• More glasses of Red Truck Shiraz wine

 

• Vegan mushroom gravy. I got 1/2lb of the gravy from the pre-made deli counter. I thought this vegan gravy tasted better than their regular turkey gravy.
• 1 can of whole cranberry sauce
• Stuffing: Shiitake mushroom, walnut with sauteed garlic and onion. I've really been into shiitake mushrooms lately. The stuffing was probably my favorite dish of the whole meal.

 

• And my surprise twist of the evening, which was super easy to make, was Green Beans with ground Chorizo. I'll follow with the recipe tomorrow.

And for dessert, we noshed on vegan pumpkin pie. The whole meal took me an hour to prep and get on the table. I love it when cooking happens that fast!

Thanksgiving 2009 was really wonderful, and I was very happy that I got to spend my holiday with Diane. I have much to be grateful for :)

Party time: Semi-homemade Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew Hummus Dip

 I really enjoy traditional hummus, but sometimes you want to dress it up and take it out dancing. Well, okay, you can't dance with a chickpea dish, but you can dress up the hummus for a party.

On the menu for my first catering gig, a 9-person book club meeting, I made this Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew Hummus dip. What's great about this hummus combo is that the edamame gives the dip some added texture, and combined with the sweet pepperdews produces an experience similar to a chunky cheese spread. 

 

One of the vegan guests at the book club thought that the hummus had cheese in it which I took as a high compliment because it's not easy to replicate a cheese-like experience.

To make the dip even easier to make, I started by just buying a tub of traditional hummus at the store. No need to to start from literal scratch. We're all about fast & simple here at Noshtopia.

Ingredients:

• 14oz. tub of Traditional hummus (your favorite brand)
• 1 cup frozen shelled edamame (I used organic. Frozen is cheaper, but you can use fresh. Trader Joe's has fresh ready to eat edamame)
• 8 Sweet Pepperdews (these are usually available in the olive bar in the deli section of a grocery store)

Let's get cooking:

 

• Soak the frozen edamame in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes. The instructions on the bag typically say to microwave the edamame to heat it up, but I try to nuke food as little as possible to retain as much of the nutrients. The warm bath is much friendlier to the edamame (in my opinion).

• Pour the tub of hummus into a mixing bowl.

• Take the pepperdews and put them in 3-cup food processor and grind them up until they are as fine as you can get. I ground the pepperdews for about a minute. Pour the ground pepperdews into the mixing bowl with the hummus.

 

• When the edamame is thawed, drain the water, and place the edamame into the 3-cup food processor and grind until it's fine chunky.

• Pour the ground edamame into the mixing bowl with the hummus and pepperdews. Mix all ingredients together until you get a nice even blend.

Pour the Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew Hummus dip into a pretty serving bowl, and compliment with pita bread, pita chips, vegetables, or crackers. Enjoy!

I'm Exposed: Feeding the Body Gratitude

In celebration of Thanksgiving, this post is about gratitude for....the body. This is about feeding ourselves with gratefulness for the body we have and all it's wonder.

Michelle the blogger behind Eating Journey, wrote this post called "Exposed" where she took a close up body picture of herself and wrote in what she loved and appreciated about her body. She tweeted me on Saturday 11/21, and got me exposed to her courage and authenticity. I loved it! Her post was an exercise in body gratitude, and she asked other women to join the body love and be exposed.

So here, "I'm exposed."

 

There is a synchronicity in this story which is why I felt brave to post a picture of me practically naked. Almost everyone I've seen do an exposed post has posed in a sports bra, bra, tank, panties, shorts which I would have done too.

I chose this particular picture because coincidentally I had already been doing some body loving/acceptance involving simply feeling comfortable and safe in my own skin.

This is a self portrait I shot on the morning of October 29 right out of the shower after a workout wearing nothing but a pair of white panties. No makeup. No hair products. It's just me au naturale in the morning sun light in the mirror. Before, to look at my body in the bright morning light was always a never type of thing because the light acts like a spotlight on the flaws. It's almost like basking in 7-Eleven lighting.

Standing in front of a mirror naked (by myself) has nearly been impossible for me to do...ever, but I've started doing it since I moved to Phoenix 2 months ago as a way to start feeling more comfortable in my own skin, and as a way to take my body back.

Moving back into our body

For those of you who read my now retired healthy living blog Back in Skinny Jeans, my life with my body had been one filled with much pain and trauma related to rape, sexual harassment, going on a 3-month medical leave for an emotional breakdown, an eating disorder, yo-yo dieting, depression, and perfectionism. 

Prior to 2005, I'd spent the majority of my life not really living in my body because after awhile I learned that living in the body I was given was nothing but suffering. I never felt like I was allowed to feel enjoyment, desire, or pleasure in my body. It's much easier to be mean and abusive to your body when you've mentally and emotionally checked out of it. I've always hidden my body with layers of clothes or pounds of protection. In fact, up until recently, I never even owned a bathing suit.

I've spent almost the first decade of the new century in a journey to heal my past, the damage, and the pain. It was a very hard long journey, I won't sugar coat that, but it was worth it.

Where I find myself today....

Fresh & Easy Recipe: Sauteed Sweet Potatoes with Spinach

 

Last week, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, held a Phoenix blogger cooking event at Sur La Table, a kitchenware heaven in my book. The theme of the evening was healthy dish recipes for Thanksgiving. The recipes featured included:

• Turkey Brine
• Roast Turkey (Full bird)
• Toasted Almond & Cranberry Stuffing
• Cranberry Spinach Salad with Spiced Pecans and Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Classic Green Bean Casserole
• Sauteed Sweet Potatoes with Spinach

I'm going to share the Sauteed Sweet Potatoes with Spinach because it's a perfect Noshtopia type dish: super simple to make and vegan.

 

Ingredients (serves 12):

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves sliced garlic
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 2 bags 16oz each, Fresh & Easy chopped spinach or any fresh spinach brand you like
• Salt & pepper to taste

Let's get cooking:

 

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

• Saute the sweet potatoes until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer everything to a bowl.

• Toss the bell peppers into the skillet, add the nutmeg, and saute for about 2 minutes.

 

• Now toss in the spinach into the skillet with the peppers, and cook until the spinach is just wilted.

• Add the cooked bell peppers and spinach to the bowl with the sweet potatoes in it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.Toss bell peppers, spinach and sweet potatoes until combined.

• Place on serving plate and enjoy!

Just to share some of the evening here are some pictures I took.

After everything was cooked, we each got to enjoy a full plate of food with glasses of red wine. This is my first official Thanksgiving meal of the holiday season.

 

Here are the food bloggers ooooing and aaaahhhing as Chef Cindy dazzled us with her cooking demos.

 

For dessert, we noshed on pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, and some Fresh & Easy signature chocolates.

 

All the folks with Fresh & Easy Market were so wonderful and I had a great deal of fun. I do have to mention that the parting schwag bag they gave us was one of the most impressive I've ever gotten. It had all kinds of goodies in it but mainly one of my favorite indulgent treats behold....

 

My First Catering Gig: 9 Person Book Club

 

Since 2002, thoughts of catering float in and out of my brain. Instead of continuing to imagine what it would be like to cater an event, I decided it’s time to actually do it. Wishing something is great but nothing really happens until you take some action, so I had an opportunity to get my chops wet and cater pal @halfacat’s book club meeting for 9 people at his house. Seven people showed, so it was a nice turnout.

The opportunity to cater this event is also made possible by Viva Paper Towels who is sponsoring this post.  The folks at the book club thought it was cool that their meeting was sponsored by a major corporation. This is one of the beauties of being friends with a food blogger. For some fun, fork-free recipes including videos and snappy entertaining ideas, check out the VIVA® Diva Café.

The menu theme

I based the menu around the theme of the book which was Bonk by Mary Roach. It’s a fascinating book about the Science of Sex.  I enjoyed how Roach took not only a matter-of-fact take but she added a whole lot of humor and ease. To me, the tone was very much like if Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love were to write the book.

For the attendees of the book club, I also had to consider vegan and food allergies to dairy and eggs. I also made mostly finger foods to add some sensual flair. The menu contained 4 appetizer type dishes and one dessert:

Turkey and shiitake mushroom meatballs with panko, sautéed garlic and onion in an organic marinara sauce. I used no egg or dairy in the meatballs.

 

Mushroom caps stuffed with eggplant sautéed with garlic, onion, olive oil, Dave’s Honey Habanero mustard, and a secret ingredient. Here's the recipe. On half the mushrooms, I topped with parmesan cheese, and the other half I left the cheese out to make it vegan.

  

Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew hummus with sesame pita chips.

 

A bread plate with Rosemary garlic bread, St. Andre’s cheese, prosciutto, fig spread, red grapes,  ground pistachios, and some Dave’s Honey Habanero mustard. I love to top cheese with fig spread, and ground pistachios.

  

Scharffen Berger dark chocolate dipped organic raspberries and blackberries. I thought it would be decadent to eat fruit dipped chocolate with the fingers couple with the red wine.

  

I will follow up this post with the recipes for the meatballs, mushroom caps, and hummus. All the noshy food by the way was pretty simple to make.

Everyone brought some wine, and Roger had this very sexy decanter which is believe it or not $10 at IKEA. Yes, cool holiday gift idea, I’m thinking.

  

The book club was so much fun! We drank red wine, noshed on tasty sexy food, and discussed the book along with everything from Cougars to Roger’s how-to tips to communicate to a guy about what you want in bed, very enlightening to get the male point of view. Plus, Roger is such a sweet and modern guy, so I find his take very refreshing.

The best part of book club

Everyone enjoyed the food which was a huge relief for me. Now that I catered my first event, I can say that I really enjoyed coming up with the menu, that by far was the best part for me as I got to really use my creativity. I didn’t enjoy so much all the shopping, prep, and clean up. The jury is still out on whether I will get into catering or not. Perhaps, I will do it just for small parties because I do like the 10 and under number.

Overall, the best part of the book club was all the new friends I made. Being a Phoenix resident now for 2 months, I have to say that I’ve met so many wonderful and friendly people. Moving here was one of the best things I have ever done.

For next month, the book we’re reading is Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Now, that book will be a fun read for us noshers!

Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Eggplant, Garlic, Onion and Honey Habanero

 

One of the appetizers I made for a book club I catered were these delicious mushroom caps stuffed with eggplant and sauteed garlic and onion with a kick of honey habanero mustard and a secret ingredient. The stuffed mushrooms had a nice zest without being hot.

For the guests, I had to take in consideration vegan and dairy, egg allergies. This appetizer is vegan, but on half the mushrooms, I topped them with some Parmesan cheese. You could also use Vegan Parmesan.

 

Ingredients (makes 14 mushrooms):

• 14 large button mushrooms
• 1/2 large eggplant
• 1/4 onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp Dave's Habanero & Honey mustard
• Parmesan cheese or Vegan Parmesan
• (optional secret ingredient) 1 tbsp Paradise Bakery Tomato Pineapple spread mixed with 1 tbsp mandarin orange or pineapple juice

Let's get cooking

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

• Dice the onion and garlic. Cut up the eggplant into 1/2 inch pieces to make it faster for the eggplant to cook.

• Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems.

•  Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and heat on medium. When hot, saute the garlic and onion until they're sweaty, and then stir in the Dave's Honey Habanero mustard. If you want more heat (spice), add more of the Dave's mustard. I used about 3/4 tbsp.

• After stirring in the Dave's mustard, toss in the eggplant and stir until the eggplant cooks. You might have to add another 1 tbsp of olive oil or 1 tbsp of water to help cook the eggplant. The eggplant is pretty absorbent. The cooked eggplant should be soft but not mushy.

 

• Take the eggplant off the burner and put into a bowl to let the mix cool down for about 20 minutes.

• While the eggplant is cooling, massage the mushrooms with olive oil. Place a Silpat on a baking sheet, and and bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees for 3 minutes to soften them up a bit but not too much.

 

• Take the mushrooms out of the oven to cool down, and then turn up the oven heat to 400 degrees.

 

• When cool, put the eggplant in a 3-cup food processor and blend until chunky. Pour into a bowl and mix in the Paradise Bakery Tomato Pineapple sauce. You don't need to use this special ingredient Paradise Bakery spread, it's just my personal twist. In fact, you might want to try a little marinara sauce mixed with pineapple juice.

• Stuff each mushroom with the eggplant mix.

 

• Put a Silpat on a baking sheet, and arrange the mushrooms about one inch apart. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the mushroom caps or leave the cheese out.

• Bake the mushrooms at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

• Take the mushrooms out of the oven and cool down about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Say Hello To Nosh's Mini-Me, The "Noshtopia iPhone Food Pics" Blog

 

Okay everyone, I have something really fun to share with you all in an effort to expand Noshtopia's deliciousness. On the right sidebar, you will see a button that says, "Noshtopia iPhone Food Pics" Gallery. What that button links to is a new micro-blog featuring food pics I take with my iPhone 3GS.

It's no secret that I LUV my iPhone, but what blew me away is how good the camera can take pictures also considering that it's a mobile phone. Of course, I won't be taking DSLR quality pictures, but for on the go, it's pretty darn good and the quality gap is shrinking.

Looking at Noshtopia from a Pro blogger perspective

I wanted to separate out the iPhone pics from Noshtopia the main blog for these reasons:

• I take LOTS of iPhone pics, and I would like to post all of them all the time, and if I did that on Noshtopia it would just get obnoxious because most times, it's just a picture I want to post and say, "Hey isn't that cool." Giving the iPhone pics it's own place, gives you my readers breathing room and choices.

• Instead of posting pics on a third party picture hosting site like Twitpic (no offense guys), I'd like to get the traffic for my blogs. When I tweet, I like to attach pictures which again may not be appropriate for Noshtopia. On the new micro-blog, I can post whatever I want and get people to come visit a Noshtopia blog.

• I can talk more about photography tips and things I learn without infringing on the food. I'm really getting into photography particularly telling visual stories.

• The idea of being one of the best iPhone food photographers sounded like a really fun idea over a bottle of Shiraz one Saturday night. Hey, I became famous on Twitter because of a hydration nudge, so why not become famous for taking awesome food pictures on an iPhone? My whole social media career started because I wanted to wear my skinny jeans again. Sillier things have happened which is why I <3 being a blogger.

  

TypePad comes to my aid thanks to synchronicity

I've been thinking about doing the iPhone Food Pics gallery for awhile now, but wasn't sure how I was going to tactically do it. Perhaps the universe heard me because a solution arrived in the form of an email from @miz_ginevra, TypePad's Community Extraordinaire.

Today, Six Apart announced a new service called TypePad Micro. I got in a bit early because I'm an avid TypePader.I started playing with TP Micro and created Noshtopia iPhone Food Pics literally in less than 24 hours...minus some snooze time. It was really easy, not perfect, but very low on the stress.

Normally, I don't use pre-canned themes because the artsy in me wants to do something original, but I like the Chroma design because it's easy, and I like the look and feel. When I can figure out how to do some CSS, I will change the background of Noshtopia iPhone Food Pics to match Noshtopia.

A couple things about using the Chroma theme with TypePad Micro:

• The theme will generate a 3-choice color palette based on the color theme of the picture you upload to your banner. At first I was confused on how the palettes worked because I wanted to change it and couldn't figure out how. So, to get a background color that matched Noshtopia, I had to find a picture that had a similar shade to the Nosthopia color theme. Thus, I picked the raspberries.

• You don't have to use Chroma to create a Micro blog. You can just start from scratch and create a customized blog, and use the Micro features. Micro using Chroma is basically another way for those new to blogging or for those wanting to take their "socializing" to another level somewhere between blog and tweet.

One day, I may do the custom Micro, but for now, I'm good with Chroma because you can do some CSS an get creative. You just need someone to help you figure out what CSS you need if you're like me and don't do code. I'm a cut & paster.

• In Chroma, I like how the community aspect is built in. Now I can tap into the wider TypePad user community which I haven't before.

Noshtopia iPhone Food Pics will have its own RSS feed, and it's own url which is basically a subdomain of Noshtopia. I hope you enjoy the new micro-blog, as I will be posting pictures like crazy!

And as usual, please let me know your thoughts and suggestions :)

Smashing Bite: Guacamole, Jalapeno SmashBurger with Rosemary, Garlic Fries

 

Friday's are typically my "Freebie" day, the day when we can eat whatever tickles our fancy. On Freebie day, one of my pleasures are burgers and garlic fries.

Last week, I was invited to come nosh by the folks at SmashBurgerin Tempe, their first restaurant in Arizona. Can I tell you that their SmashFries tossed with rosemary, garlic, herbs, and olive oil was phenomenal. No trans fat here. I was really in fry heaven. I particularly reveled in the rosemary because it was subtle yet added a unique twist especially for chain restaurant fries.

These SmashFries rank up there with Gordon Biersch garlic fries, and we all know how much I LOVE those fries. Here's a glimpse of these crispy savory SmashFries.

 

I believe that it's not possible to eat clean and perfectly every day or all the time especially when you live in a culture that bombards us with a plethora of choices. Life is too short, and you should be able to enjoy the foods you like even if they are junk or processed.

The key to balanced eating is moderation, and eating a diet that predominately contains foods that benefit your health and well being. On Freebie day, have a burger and enjoy it, guilt-free.

At SmashBurger, I did a Create-Your-Own burger containing: 1/3 lb burger, grilled onions, guacamole, fresh jalapenos, leaf lettuce, tomato, and mustard on a spicy Chipotle bun. The burger is big so, I'll eat half, and take the other half home and eat for lunch the next day.

 

The cool part of visiting SmashBurger was that they let me go back in the kitchen AND take pictures. The "Smash" in the SmashBurger name comes from the fact that the beef (before it's cooked) is rolled into balls, and then smashed like so on the grill.

 

And here is a glimpse of burgers being assembled once the burger is cooked. I thought it was fun to be in the trenches watching the food being made.

 

One of the things I would love SmashBurger to add is a Veggie burger. They do have a chicken burger, but if you're a vegetarian your only options are salads and SmashSides like fries, onion rings, and these Veggie frites which are flash fried asparagus, green beans, and carrots.

 

Check out SmashBurger in Tempe. Here's their menu. There will be more Smash restaurants opening throughout metro Phoenix over the next couple years. You will definitely see me on a Freebie day eating the rosemary fries.

Protein Packed: Pumpkin Yogurt Parfait with Bananas and Gingersnap Granola

 

Sometimes I'm amazed at how much my laziness enables me to come up with creative ways to get multiple benefits in one dish. Rather than eat multiple foods, I'd much rather eat just one dish that is power packed in one shot.

Feast your eyes on my latest concoction, a protein packed pumpkin yogurt parfait with bananas and gingersnap granola.You can make this parfait vegan friendly as well and I've included that option in the recipe below.

A nice bonus, this parfait recipe requires no cooking. It's easy and simple yet looks complex.

 

What's packed in this parfait yumminess:

• Skyr is the traditional yogurt of Iceland, and with its unique production you get 2-3 times the amount of protein as regular yogurt, as well as a yogurt that is so thick and custard-like a spoon can stick straight up in it. One Siggi's yogurt container has 16g protein. If you want to up the protein count even more, you can mix in one of these 9 protein powder options.
• Live Active cultures giving you good bacteria
• 0g Fat in the yogurt, pumpkin pie mix, and banana
• Potassium from the bananas
• Fiber from bananas and granola
• Sweet holiday tastiness from the pumpkin pie mix

 

Ingredients (for single serving):

• 1 170g Container of Siggi's Vanilla Yogurt or Greek Honey Yogurt. Use something thick - *Note to make vegan option

• 2 tbsp Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin Pie Mix (can)

• 1/2 medium banana sliced into thin pieces (I use a half a banana vs. a whole to help cut down on overall sugar content of the parfait.)

• 1/2 c. Gingersnap Granola (which I got at the bulk foods section at Whole Foods. Use whatever granola sounds good to you.)

• Pumpkin pie spice (or you could use nutmeg or cinnamon)

• Small juice glasses

* Vegan option: To make vegan, in small food processor blend silken tofu, agave nectar with the pumpkin pie mix.You can also use a coconut, rice, or soy milk based yogurt, but these yogurts are on the watery side and won't hold layers as well.

Let's get mixin':

 

• Mix the 2 tbsp of Pumpkin Pie Mix in with the yogurt. I used 2-1/2 tbsp because I really like the pumpkin pie flavor and wanted the flavor to be more prominent.

I just mix in the yogurt container because it's one less bowl to wash. You'll have to mix well and really get the spoon to the bottom of the container because pockets of yogurt can hide. You want to end up with a nice smooth pumpkiny looking color when done mixing.

• Start layering your glass starting with a scoop of pumpkin yogurt. Next put the granola, and then the bananas.

• Repeat layer starting with a scoop of pumpkin yogurt.

• Top with a third layer of pumpkin yogurt, and sprinkle on some granola. Insert a banana slice for looks, and then sprinkle a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice on the top for a festive flair.

You can eat this pumpkin parfait for breakfast, brunch, or even as a dessert. I certainly enjoyed chowing on this holiday-ish treat.