Never Enough Pumpkin

Today was SUCH a productive day!  I love days like this - especially because they come so few and far between.

I have so many events going on over the next couple of months and I am trying to do every thing that I can to be proactive and get some things checked off my to-do list.

Like eating a ridiculous amount of fresh bread.

It seems that is all my body has been craving.

Maybe this post title should say "Never Enough Bread".

There is always something that I am craving.  I will eat it constantly for weeks - and then I am pretty much over it. 

At least until I get the craving for it again.

I've gone through two loaves in two days - granted Kev helped me with some of it and I used some of it for recipes... but still.

Good thing it is gone.  And I don't have another scheduled grocery trip for a week.

But then there is the ongoing craving that I have for pumpkin.  This time of year makes me so happy because there are PLENTY of pumpkin recipes and food items to choose from. 

And I can incorporate it in to my meal plan just about every day.

And it is even  better when it is pumpkin + bread.  Because then all my cravings are met.

Look what was waiting for me upon my return from Syracuse...

I think my eyes just about popped out of my head when my friend, Chelsea, surprised me with this bread!

She said " I know you don't eat bread that much ( um... except for this week) but I saw this and I had to get it for you".

Chelsea knows me SO well!!

I'm so thankful to have her as a friend!  ( For many reasons... not just because she knows my food obsessions.)

I immediately started brainstorming what I could make with the bread - besides my every day breakfast of eggs on toast ( which was excellent together, by the way)

And then I came up with French Toast.

( Yes, I realize that French toast is still eggs + toast... but in my mind it is totally different from what I usually eat!)

French toast is one of those things that I love the concept of.   I love the taste of it. 

But I'm not very good at making it. 

And I usually would rather have something a little more savory for breakfast.

But this stuff was PERFECT for French toast.  Pumpkin + spice + vanilla + a little salt. 

Delicious.

But being such big eaters... I knew that we would need a little something more to go with our meal.

So, I decided to do some fruit.  In the form of soft serve ice cream.

Please don't base your opinions of my idea on the picture - because it doesn't do it justice. 

Basically, I cut up some bananas and froze them overnight.  Then I microwaved them just a TAD to get them a little bit soft and threw them in the blender.

In a couple of minutes you have banana soft serve.  Nothing else added.  Just pure banana!  And it is cold and creamy and scrumptious!

It also melts REALLY fast - as in it slid right off of the toast in the time it took me take my lens off of the camera.  Kev had to jump in and put it back together.

We topped it with walnuts.  And I believe that Kev even put a little maple syrup on his.

And then preceded to have a taste explosion in his mouth.

It was such a fun and "out of the ordinary" dinner - and the perfect way to serve the bread.

If you like pumpkin + bread and you see this in the store - GET IT!  It is limited edition and won't be around for long.

In other news... my workouts have been WAY OFF since the half marathon.  I'm having a hard time getting back in to a routine.  However, I took the BEST spin class today!  The gym got new bikes... I remembered my spin shoes... and all was right with the world.

I'm planning to write a post about "working out - post race".  And tell you all about the new fitness classes that I have coming up soon.

It seems that somebody went a little Groupon crazy this year. - ME!