Pumpkin Pie (in a cup)

Today I head home (Upstate) for a few days. The city is beginning more and more to feel like my “home” which is both a foreign and a liberating feeling.  All my things are here. All my plans are here. My mind is here. However, I know once I get off the train in Rhinecliff and see the white winter wonderland  ( I hope) and feel the excited embraces of my friends and family, that I’ll be happy to be there and adjust quickly, the way I always do. I’m lugging 4 bags! around Penn Station right now, filled with magazines; Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart Living, the Edith Piaf memoir (it’s huge!), and about 5 bulging moleskin journals. I brought my sewing supplies, art supplies, and even bags of nuts and seeds so I don’t have to buy more when I get back and can continue on this healthy living track I’ve set forth on. 

Anyway…I wanted to tell you about my breakfast because It was so yummy! I want to shout it out to the crowd at Penn Station. But, I’ll refrain. 

PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE + HAZELNUT COFFEE = MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN. 

Fresh ground hazelnut coffee from a quaint little tea/coffee shop in Park Slope. Fragrant enough to permeate through my bags on the subway, causing the person smushed up beside me to express his love for the grind. Pretty powerful stuff, wouldn’t you say?

PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE:

½ cup canned pumpkin (Libby’s brand is cheap and pure pumpkin)

2 T almond butter

1 ½ t cocoa powder

1 T maca powder

Sprinkle of cinnamon

1 ½ cups almond milk

1 ½ t maple syrup

(You  could really use any kind of nut butter or milk. I’d imagine coconut milk would make an even creamier smoothie! I added chia seeds and bee pollen as well.)

Throw it all in a blender and puree until desired consistency. Seriously…pumpkin pie in a cup. Except, healthy. Am I dreaming?! Now don’t judge me, but since there was  enough smoothie left over to fill another half cup, I added some chilled hazelnut coffee right into it. It was…ah. Amazing. Just be quiet and try it.