Thanksgiving Favorites

For the last month I've been on a restrictive diet to help with a breakout of candida-related acne on my face. By that I mean no refined sugars, limited fruits, no yeast, and low carbs. 
It's been painful. Just ask my family who's had to put up with my whining and moping.
I've still got another week on the diet, but my naturopath gave me the "ok" to enjoy myself on Thanksgiving. She probably didn't realize what she was allowing when she said this...

Anyway! I wanted to share my all-time favorite pumpkin pie recipe with you. This dessert has been the bane of my family Thanksgivings ever since my mom discovered it. And, ever since my aunt accidentally made it in a blender due to my mom's mis-typed instructions (she meant mixer, not blender!), it has lovingly been dubbed "Blender Pie."
DOUBLE LAYER PUMPKIN PIE "BLENDER PIE"
Ingredients:

• 4 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese softened
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of thawed cool whip
• 1 homemade pie crust (basically butter and mashed graham crackers)
• 1 cup of cold milk
• 1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
• 2 packages (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions (easiest to use a mixer):

Mix cream cheese, 1 tbsp milk and sugar in large bowl, whisk until smooth. Gently stir in thawed cool whip. Spread on bottom of pie crust.

Pour 1 cup cold milk into bowl. Add pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices. Beat until well mixed (mixture will be thick). Spread over cream cheese layer.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Enjoy!

Have a delicious and a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Twist in Routine

Confession time. Ready?
I struggle with acne. Not horrible, full blown, all-over-my-face acne. But it's not just the occasional pimple either (and it really affects my self-esteem, if I were honest). I've gone through dermatologist after dermatologist, cream after cream with no real relief. After some research on the glorious thing we call The Internet, I found one final option: A Naturopath.
A week or so ago, I took an hour drive to see A Naturopath. Long story short, she gave me a regimen to follow for a while to first see if the dreaded acne is stemming from any food allergies (even though I strongly doubt this, I'm willing to give anything a go).
Enter in the liver detox. The last week I've been gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, and egg free.
If you know me at all, this is a huge challenge. Just check out my bio. See that "food loving" bit? Well, you can translate that into "junk food."
This week-long detox has been difficult, but it's also subtly inspired me.
While I stood over the stove yesterday afternoon, jealous of half my family sitting by the firepit cooking hotdogs, simultaneously sauteeing onions and celery that would go into my quinoa concoction...

Prickling began in my fingertips. An idea was forming.
What is it, you ask? I'm not entirely sure. I know two things:
1. I really need to write this down.
and 2. The main character in my next book is going to be a really quirky girl who loves to cook.
What's the plot? The conflict? The side characters?
Yeah, I've got no idea.
But if you guys followed my blog series Idea to Pages, you should know...
This is just the beginning.