Recurrence, welcome and unwelcome

   This is my favorite season of the year, which leads into my two favorite holidays of the year. Although the harbinger of winter, I welcome autumn's arrival.  The colors, the scents, the traditions, the memories, the food, the fellowship, the fun...YES!  I embrace all.

   Now that I am a THMer, I daily seek new recipes and ponder a plan to navigate the holiday food temptations realistically and peacefully.  I have found some cookie, fudge and pie recipes which will be put to the test in the coming days.  So far I have tried this Peanut Butter Skinny Chocolate recipe, which resulted in a fudge that passed my test hands down.  One thing I am learning as I use sweeteners in place of sugar is to taste my batter and adjust accordingly; so far, I have discovered that I like my treats to taste sweeter than the recipes I have tried.  Tasting, adding a bit more and repeating until palatable has worked for me so far.  

  I also tried a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Cake (alongside the Fresh Pumpkin Pie, not THM compliant, that I made for my family).  It is delicious and considered a "Fuel Pull."  Good news for me!  I have at least a couple of options for a pumpkin dessert for me for Thanksgiving!  [I stick to my plan as much as possible, which is about 98% of the time.  I cook suppers that I can eat and add things to them for my husband and kids, mostly grains on the side.  Breakfast is the meal I double cook for most often, with the exception of egg mornings.  We all make our own lunches from either leftovers or sandwich fixings and salad fixings.  This is how I make THM work for me without causing a rebellion among my family members.]

  Other than food, I have also been contemplating the plans and preparations for the coming holidays.  I feel like I am getting prepared earlier than I have the last several years, which is a huge blessing for me.  Instead of this preparation feeling like a chore, it is a great help and comfort.

  On the not fun side of life, we are facing an event which we knew was probably an inevitable unwelcome recurrence.  This has been no fun and frustrating so far, much like the last several times.  I keep hoping and praying that we will learn the lessons completely so that we can graduate from this life situation.  Stick a fork in me, I am done!  Realistically I do believe that the process is the point, so I do not really desire to skip the process.  I just hope it hurries up...

What's cookin' with you lately?

Enjoy this article? Receive email alerts when new articles are available! Just click on the Follow button or subscribe above.