How I Incorporate Pumpkin into my Daily Diet.

Just call me the Pumpkin Queen.

It's genuinely a miracle I’m not an orange colored pumpkin myself at this point because I just have it every day.

I fell in love with this food after enjoying a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, of course, and my first ever pumpkin muffin from my Aunt Chrissy. It inspired me to come-up with healthy ways to incorporate it into my diet. I can now say I’ve never looked back and have pumpkin almost daily.

Shelf-stable, huge source of nutrients, delicious and recipe friendly… I’m obsessed.

If you’ve never ever gotten an Amazon fresh delivery with 10 cans of pumpkin in May, you haven't experienced the look on the face of the wonderful human delivering groceries to you.

The delivery gem may think it's weird to stock-up so much in a non-fall season, but I swear the rate I go through canned pumpkin is unmatched. I'm seriously talking like a rate of an entire can every other day!

I even have a surprising budget hack about buying canned pumpkin. Since I have so much of it, I always check for the cheapest place to purchase and make sure to stock up on all the sales. To yours, mine and many others' surprise, Whole Foods is actually the cheapest place to purchase canned pumpkin in my local area.

Amazon Fresh does carry the Whole Foods 365 canned pumpkin and is likely a similar price. I’m waiting for the Amazon Fresh to open near me which has been like three years in the making at this point but that's a story for another time.

(I used Amazon Fresh a lot during my College Program because delivery was free for prime members and prices were solid.)

Anyway, I tend to stock up on canned pumpkin every time I go to Whole Foods and limit purchasing pumpkin at other stores.

Many people ask me how I incorporate this food in so many different ways, so I thought I would give you a quick run-down on this one as a lot of it has stemmed from myself.

My mom is a huge baker but is not the biggest pumpkin fan herself, so I have taken over the role of crafting all the recipes that incorporate my favorite food.

Pumpkin Protein Fluff

I’ve blogged about this one before as a healthy breakfast option, but it's worth mentioning again. This (K)reation is totally inspired by my sophomore year college roommate Christa! She convinced me to try protein powder and Greek yogurt together, so I decided to add canned pumpkin as well to get some additional nutrients into my day. I love this combination as it's simple, easy, quick and a great source of protein. I use the Two Good Yogurt, Iconic Protein Powder and Canned Pumpkin. I love making it chocolate flavored by using the Chocolate Protein Powder flavor from Iconic.

Protein Shakes/Smoothies

Veggies in smoothies is not something I tend to do, but I will do anything for a good pumpkin smoothie. I usually use the pumpkin alone or add a frozen banana. You can add protein powders, greek yogurt, chia seeds etc, to make one tasty fall treat. One of my favorite recipes is a Vanilla Pumpkin Cream Protein Shake that reminds me of my favorite drink at Starbucks: a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew.

Muffins

Pumpkin muffins are the best and you can never tell me otherwise. I love making pumpkin banana muffins when I have time. I used to meal prep them on the weekends all the time to take them for snacks in undergrad. I also recently tried the Simple Mills Pumpkin muffin mix and subbed the oil for canned pumpkin instead. The result was a moist, bakery-like, heaven. You would never ever believe they are a healthy treat.

Replacement for Oil in Recipes

I tend to not use a lot of oil in my cooking, so I don't always have some laying around in my kitchen. Many baking recipes call for vegetable or canola oil. As a replacement in these recipes I use canned pumpkin and it tends to make the recipe more moist than oil does. This hack works exceptionally well in homemade brownies, muffins and pancakes.

Just be aware that you may want to put more effort into refrigerating your baked goods afterwords with the additional produce in it.

Pancakes/Waffles

This is the No.1 way I use canned pumpkin whether it be added into my favorite Pancakes Pancakes protein mixes, which I almost have every night, my own oatmeal pancake recipes, or added into Trader Joe’s pumpkin pancake mix. I love consuming anything in the form of pancakes/waffles. I really appreciate that adding the pumpkin amps up the nutrients in my favorite foods and even adds to the taste, fluffiness, and gloriousness of a good final meal to the day.