All Things PUMPKIN!

It's been a busy last two weeks, and this week will be no different. My friend, Melissa, came to visit us in Vienna last week, and then we took off to Munich to visit our friends Brooke and Sean. We finally got to meet each others "new" arrivals! This upcoming week Justin has three games, we are hosting Bryaden's 1st Birthday party on the 30th, going trick-or-treating for Halloween on the 31st, and then celebrating Brayden's birthday on the 1st of Novemeber. Busy, Busy, Busy! There will be more to come about all of that.

 

Prior to all this craziness, I was baking! Anything that has pumpkin in it has always been my favorite, but I've always been too scared to attempt it for fear of full on disappointment. This year I've sucked it up, and tested out some new recipes thanks to Pinterest. I have to admit...I was NOT disappointed.

 

First up was pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting...a classic...and they were tasty!

 

Pumpkin pie has always been my favorite dessert of all time...I was not only scared of my own disappointment, but also for the fact that if it did turn out good, that I would eat the whole pie since Justin doesn't care for it. Well, it turned out pretty good...not the best pumpkin pie I've ever had...I had no cool whip :) Luckily, I know some people on the team that I could share with, so I didn't have to stare the pie in the face until it was gone.

The first two are pretty simple and classic recipes, so I decided to go out of the box and test some other pumpkin items out. I had the girls over when the guys were on a road trip for brunch to try out a pumpkin French toast bake. It was a success! This was super simple and pretty healthy. This ended up being Brayden's favorite, so I made it again for him a different time.

Brayden enjoying the pumpkin French toast bake while watching Justin's game.

 

Last item was cream cheese pumpkin bread made with all healthy ingredients. This was also a huge hit with Brayden. It provided to be a great healthy snack for him.

 

It would be silly to enjoy this beautiful Autumn season with out an actual pumpkin. I decided to paint one to look like Brayden instead of carving it, so it would last longer.

Happy Autumn everyone!

*If you want any of these pumpkin recipes I have posted them on a Pinterest board under recipes I've made and liked.