More Pumpkin Pulp Goodness

The blogosphere is ripe with fall pumpkin recipes, and I got sucked into it. This week, I've started my mornings off with pumpkin spice coffee, which I've tweaked so it is a one mug recipe. What I do is put 2 T pumpkin pulp, 1 tsp agave syrup, and a shake or two of pumpkin spice into my mug, add hot coffee, give it a mix, and top it off with some milk. Another idea floating in my head is to put a shake or two of pumpkin spice mix into the French press before I add the water, but I share my morning joe with the boy, and I am positive he wouldn't like it.

The strange, but true, added benefit of this is that the fiber in the pumpkin is filling, so I don't want to immediately gnaw off my hand in the mornings. Yes, I eat breakfast most mornings, but I always, always have a cup of coffee in the AM. It's the second thing I ingest every day, the first being my allergy pill and a little bit of water. ( My fiber obsessed friend would scold me if I forgot to mention that fiber is good for your digestive health!)

Another pumpkin recipe I scarfed down was this creamy pumpkin pasta. Instead of Italian sausage, I tossed in chopped, precooked chicken apple sausage while I was sauteing the garlic. The amounts of pumpkin pulp, chicken broth, and cream can be adjusted to make this recipe more healthy. For example, even though I omitted all of the cheese, sour cream, and reduced the heavy cream to 2 tablespoons, the pumpkin pulp gave the sauce a silky texture resulting in decadence. Next time I make this, I'll deglaze the saucepan with a bit of white wine or add some apple cider vinegar. The sauce was really sweet, and some acidity would have made it more balanced. Oh, and for you busy people, I made this dish last night in 15 minutes. The longest lead time was the pasta.