Jedi Fuel Pumpkin Smoothies

http://www.deviantart.com/artisan/culinary/pumpkin/?view_mode=2&order=15&q=game+of+thrones

Winter is coming, and 'tis the season of all things Pumpkin Spice. Sadly, almost everything that calls my name is terrible for me. If I'm choosing to spend so much time building themed teams in Pokemon X, then I can't be simultaneously stuffing my face with everything that suits my fancy.

Geek Nation

I'm convinced that there are Sith Lords out there with knowledge of all of my worst seasonal weaknesses. Between Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks, Pumpkin Smash smoothies at Jamba Juice, and an array of pumpkin flavored pastries at Dunkin' Donuts it's temptation city.  So I put out the call on twitter and facebook for Paleo Pumpkin recipes. Boy did I get a ton of great stuff back! My friend Michelle linked me a recipe for Raw Pumpkin Balls, which I haven't gotten a chance to try yet but I can only believe it's like Halloween exploding in your mouth based on the ingredient list. However it was my "Jedi Sister" Emily who blew it out of the park with a Paleo replacement for that Pumpkin Smash smoothie I've been  hankering for. 

Emily and I spent our youths looking at the sky and imagining our adventures among the stars as Jedi Knights. When we met at soccer practice and admitted our love of Han Solo, it was BFF central. We even saved all our money so we could go to Space Camp and buried a Jedi time capsule in my back yard with all of our childhood secrets. 

Emily is a powerful role model. Not only is she a thoughtful, empathetic, intelligent person, but she is determined to meet every challenge she faces head on. I remember when she got into the Naval Academy, she started doing athletic training at home in Chicago so that she would be ready. No one else I knew at that age was attempting something like that. Add to her list of accomplishments living abroad in Japan to serve in the navy, starting grad school, and spending her free time training for half marathons. Seriously, is there anything she can't do? Apparently not because I tried this recipe and its amazing. I made a few tiny adjustments, but we wouldn't be Jedi Sisters if we didn't collaborate on our missions! Try it out and let me know what you think!

Jedi Fuel Pumpkin Smoothie

• Ingredients
• 2/3 cup of almond milk
• 1/3 cup of organic pure pumpkin (canned is fine, but read the label to make sure no sugar or chemicals are added)
• 1 cup frozen organic pure pumpkin (same as above)
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

1. The day before you intend to make your smoothie, put one cup of canned pumpkin in the freezer. Make sure it's chopped up a bit so that you can use it in place of ice. Make sure you put it in a freezer safe plastic bag.
2. Add all the ingredients to your blender. Make sure your "ice chip" pumpkin pieces are broken up. 
3. Blend till smooth. 
4. Drink in your Jedi Fuel, confident in your delicious yet healthy Light Side diet choice. 

If you have other pumpkin recipes you'd like to share, please feel free to add them in the comments! On a slightly separate note, while I was at New York Comic Con, I chatted with some industry folks about what it would take to self publish a Project Reroll Paleo cookbook. Would that be something you Slayers would be interested in? 

Projects & Pumpkins

Hey Slayers! Simone here, checking in with some fall updates!

I don't know about you, but I'm having a crazily busy fall so far. This is the first autumn in 18+ years that I haven't been going back to school full-time, and I naively thought I'd have more free time now. Ha!

There have been some fun new developments, though. First announcement: I'm stably employed! Hooray! My temporary position will officially become permanent on Monday. This is my first non-retail/non-temporary job ever, and I'm pretty psyched. Just in time for my student loan bills! Yay, adulthood!

Now that I officially have an office desk, I think it might be time to try making a terrarium to decorate!

My current desk decor could use a little help, don't you think?

Also, I gotta say, the 5k last weekend was a blast. My coworkers and I achieved our goal of not stopping to walk for the entire 3.1 mile course. I have never done that before! We had lovely weather and a really nice time. They might even be able to talk me into doing it next year... We'll see!

I've also been working on some other personal goals! My friends and I have added Monday as a third garage CrossFit day. It was originally intended for just our roommates, but quickly grew to include several Tuesday/Thursday regulars as well. I'm getting really close to strict and kipping pull-ups, and starting to tap into a more "can-do" mental state as well instead of telling everyone "I can't." It certainly makes for a more fun and rewarding workout experience. :)

I'm also going to do my first workout in a real CrossFit gym with my mom! I'm not sure if I can afford a membership yet, but I know having access to skilled coaches would probably double my progress. I'm also interested in being a coach someday, but I have a ways to go yet! My mom is a little apprehensive about the "hardcore" appearance of CrossFit, as I'm sure many people are (I was too!); I'm hoping to show her that it can be for everyone, and that at the right gym it's just a supportive community with a fun, dynamic, and challenging workout to get through together. Either way, we'll both be giving each other moral support! :)

In my copious remaining free time, I'm trying to teach myself Photoshop/Illustrator and basic web design. I have no background with this and never got the chance to take classes in college, but my own personal blog just turned 5 last week, and I'd like to refresh it a bit! I'm also working on my Lara costume little by little. Here's the first glimpse at my thigh holster -- it's still in progress, but hopefully I'll have more pictures after the weekend!

Last Friday night = National Treasure and crafting. No regrets!

Meal planning is still a struggle as always; I did well earlier this week and then had a (delicious) grilled cheese and two cupcakes for my coworker's birthday yesterday. But life goes on -- this weekend I will be sure to make meal planning a priority again. I'm also putting together an exciting nutrition challenge for my fellow garage crossfitters that I'm pretty excited about!

Speaking of meal planning and preparation, do these paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from PaleOMG look great or what?! I sense baking in my weekend!

--Simone