Roasted pumpkin seeds

Still not running which is becoming a problem because work is crappy. How can it not be when I work in an industry that is bleeding jobs right now. Sadly there are some who would celebrate because I work in that ever-evil Canadian Oil Industry. No, I don't work in the oilsands, but even our provincial Premiere calls us the embarrassment of Canada. To be fair, it's probably because we elected an anti-energy government in a province that runs on the energy industry.

But, I'm not here to talk about that. No matter how bitter I may be.

You probably remember this, my lovely pumpkin from last weekend.  Well, after I roasted the actual pumpkin, I separated the seeds from the goo, rinsed them and then did wonderful things to them.

I spread them out on a parchment covered cookie sheet (because who wants to actually clean up after making a mess?) and drizzled a bit of olive oil on them. Then I sprinkled them with salt (go for sea salt if that's your thing) and Moroccan spice (because what else am I supposed to actually use Moroccan spice for?).  Then I roasted them for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

I probably should have pulled them out at 10 minutes, they were a little over-roasted, but at 10 minutes they seemed under roasted.  It doesn't matter they were delicious.

Injuries suck.

Pumkins!

I can't run so I have to do something to occupy my time, right? I went to my running clinic on Saturday and stuck with my walking until I can do that without pain in my foot. On the way home, I decided to stop and pick up groceries. And there in the middle of the produce department they had cute little pumpkins.

Pumpkin - cleaned and ready to roast

I had to buy one. And then I had to cut out the stem, gut it, slice it in half and roast it.

Yummy roasted pumkin

Why am I doing this? Just last week didn't I say I joined weight watchers?

Well, there's more to li...errr pumpkins than just pumpkin pie. I really just wanted some puree to make pumpkin smoothies for breakfast. So after roasting my pumpkin with a little salt, I pureed it in the blender and then froze it in muffin cups (silicone ones, not paper) for easy use.

I've had two smoothies so far and they're delicious.

1/2 cup frozen pumpkin puree
1 apple (quartered and cored)
1 cup milk
1/2 scoop VegaOne Vanilla Chai (you could probably just replace this with some pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice, really).
Optional: handful of spinach because: green things

You may find that your blender has trouble with the muffin cup sized pumpkin puree - mine does ok, but it isn't happy about it. So freezing it in smaller sizes or using pumpkin that isn't frozen might be better. Add ice cubes though because warm pumpkin smoothie is probably a little weird. Even if it does taste like pumpkin pie.

Another smoothie secret: want it to have a more milkshake-like texture? Pick up Xanthan Gum. I found it at my local Sobey's, packaged by Bob's Red Mill. Use no more than 1/4 tsp for a smoothie. I usually do about an 1/8 of a tsp.

I decided I need another pumpkin. Or two. We've already used half of the pumpkin we froze. Possibly more if my husband had a pumpkin smoothie this morning.

The internet, me and a Watermelon-Saskatoon Smoothie recipe.

Sometimes I have so much to say.  Other times, I pretty much only need to say, "ran today, felt great." Which is what Twitter is for - if you use Twitter.

I have a Twitter account.

I don't use Twitter.

Every time I go there, I see tweets from people much more adept at that kind of thing posting awesome statuses that go well beyond, "Ran today.  Felt great." Things that motivate me.  Or give me a list of books to read, or podcasts to listen to.

And then I realize that for an IT professional, I don't do the internet well. Podcasts (seriously - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is a fantastic resource for all of you readers out there)?  Who has time for podcasts?  And are there that many people who listen to them? (The answer is yes, yes there are)

Let's face it - I post pictures of Hank to Facebook, make the odd running update from Endomondo into a status and complain about work (all on facebook). I have instagram - sometimes I even post pictures there from my phone.  They all should be marked #nofilter because who's got the time to figure out filters?

My Pinterest page now has a "Stop Pinning, Start Doing" board.  Which technically should be a list of things I want to try soon. I've pinned things to it. A few have been tried. I've even managed to move those few into boards titled "Favorites - something."  According to Pinterest, I don't like much.

So sometimes I really struggle with what to post here.

Which is why today you're getting a smoothie recipe.

This is my super-fantastic picture of my smoothie in a spaghetti sauce jar as I ride the bus to work. 

1 cup watermelon chunks

1.2 cup saskatoons (or blueberries)

1/4 cup kefir (or yogurt, or milk, whatever floats your boat)

Splash of iced coffee concentrate (this is a technical measurement)

1/2 cup of water

1 date (remove the pit)

2 tsp vanilla protein powder (I used Vega One protein & greens. You can easily skip this)

Throw it all in a blender.  Blend until smooth, or until you're done feeding the pets.  Pour into a glass.  Realize you're running late.  Pour from glass into a jar.  Rinse the blender pitcher and lid.  Try to remember to put the jar of smoothie into your bag before you run out of the house because you're running late and you don't want to miss the bus.

Wonder if the dog ate the cat's food after you left the house.

Realize that the smoothie needs a picture if you're going to post about it on the blog so take a poor quality one on a dark bus before you drink it all.

Remember why you make coffee concentrate every now and then.

Realize that people probably don't know how easy it is to make their very own coffee concentrate to make their own iced lattes at home. Provide link to The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Iced Coffee page.