Holiday Food Series - Its the Great Pumpkin!

                           

No, that's not me, but as promised here is the second part to my Holiday Food Series. These recipes revolve around one of my favorite foods, pumpkin. This humble backyard low calorie vegetable contains vitamin A, flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as leutin, xanthin, and carotenes in abundance.

With all these ideas feel free to add your own twist and turn to make it your own creation and part of your holiday traditions. 

If you like pancakes, Like I do, you'll love pumpkin pancakes. Throw in some chopped apple, or a handful of raisins or even some chopped cranberries if you like. Enjoy with warm maple syrup.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1/3 cup pure pumpkin

Preparation:

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Combine egg, oil, milk and pumpkin in a small bowl. Stir pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients. Leave to stand for five minutes.

For each pancake, scoop 1/4 cup of batter on to a hot griddle or nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Turn pancakes when bubbles appear and edges are cooked, after about 2 minutes. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes on second side.

Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Per two pancake serving: Calories 226, Calories from Fat 46, Total Fat 5g (sat 0.6g), Cholesterol 53mg, Sodium 414mg, Carbohydrate 40g, Fiber 1.6g, Protein 4.9g if your looking to pack more punch into your pancakes add a scopp of Intek Isolate Evolution to the mix to bring the protein.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

I know it sounds a little out there but this healthy snack is packed with antioxidants and again if you add a scoop of Intek protein, this little treat will satisfy even the most picky of eaters on College Game Day!

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin pie filling (pumpkin pie filling)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2-1 teaspoon ground ginger
apple, slices
gingersnaps
Directions:

1
Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
2
Add pie filling, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well.
3
Cover and chill 8 hours.
4
Serve with gingersnaps and apple slices.

There you have it. Stay tuned, as we get closer to Halloween I'll be going on the hunt for the perfect Halloween treat. I'll be talking to some of our pro bodybuilder and figure friends and seeing what tips and tricks they have to help us get through the holidays without destroying our diets and what they do for holiday snack.

Till next time,

Mikie