Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Pumpkin spice and everything nice for the fall season is here. From lattes, cookies, and soymilk, to beers; we can find the orange squash flavoring in everything we love.

According to a professor of American studies the pumpkin craze is less about the flavor and more about the feeling. The image, taste, and smell have a nostalgic draw.** Reminding us of autumn and your grandmother’s favorite homemade dessert; we all seem to have a feeling of comfort from the culinary icon.

The spice combination, we today call “pumpkin spice” actually came from the fact that alone the popularly traded pumpkin spice in colonial times was extremely sour with an unpalatable flavor. Persian merchants adopted the practice of adding cinnamon and nutmeg to give it the warm, rich autumnal taste. **

Lately, the commercialization of pumpkin spice has skyrocketed. Pumpkin breads, and even pumpkin, beer were produced in colonial times, but they were the opposite of the high-priced, specialty items of today. According to historians, “Pumpkin beer was used when there was no barley. [If] there was no wheat for bread, they used pumpkin [for] bread. Pumpkin was considered food of desperate [times].”

Today, however, consumers desperately seek the “pumpkin spice” limited-edition flavors, and some even horde stashes of cookies, candies, and coffee all year long when they are desperate for fall nostalgia.

Let us help you ease those cravings with some delicious, wholesome recipes that contain the spice combination we love so much. It’s time to drop those commercially packaged and processed seasonal goods, and replace them with all-natural and healthier options that you can enjoy all year long. All recipes feature our limited-edition Pumpkin Spice whey protein isolate. click image to purchase your tub before it’s a nostalgic memory. 

• 2 tbsp ABOUT TIME Pumpkin Spice or Vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (I use Fage)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup low-fat granola
• 1/2 small banana chopped

Instructions

• In a bowl, combine the yogurt, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and protein powder.
• Mix well. In a separate container (I use a jar because it’s pretty and if I don’t finish it, I can save it for later), layer 2 tbsp of granola, top with half of the yogurt mixture, then a layer of the chopped banana. Scoop the rest of the yogurt on the banana layer and finally top with the remaining granola and chopped banana.

**from npr.com “Why Americans Go Crazy Over Pumpkin and Pumpkin Flavored Stuff”

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