Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

This was the desert that I chose for the Pumpkin dinner party. I picked it because it looked easy and pretty and usually parfaits are a lighter dessert to have after having a big dinner. I had low expectations of this dessert though. Despite the fact that I love a lot pumpkin foods and desserts, I actually don't like Pumpkin Pie at all. Probably because the pumpkin flavor is too strong and it's slimy to me. So I figured this dessert would be kind of like that. However, I was totally wrong. I love it. I think because it has the extra spice flavor with the pumpkin... and more of a mouse texture instead of pudding. Love the layers. I would totally make this again and yes, everyone loved it.  I love how easy it is to make too.


Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Ingredients

* 1 - 4 serving size box of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice Pudding
* 2 cups of milk
* 1 tub of cool whip - defrosted
* 1 package of Oreo cookies

Instructions

* Make pudding as instructed on box. Refrigerate while you continue on to the next step.
* Put 20 Oreos in your food processor and pulse until ground. You should be left with cookie crumbs though it's not necessary for it to be finely ground. A couple of cookie chunks are ok.
* By now, the pudding should be set. Take it out of the refrigerator and put half in one bowl and the other half in another bowl. In one of the pudding bowls, add half of the defrosted Cool Whip. Now you should have 4 things to layer with. Pudding, Pudding with Cool Whip, Oreo Crumbs and Cool Whip.
* I made the parfaits in wine glasses, for a fancy touch to the dinner. First Layer, Oreo Crumbs, then Pudding, then Oreo Crumbs, then Pudding with Cool Whip, then Oreo Crumbs and last add the Cool Whip on top.
* Garnish with an Oreo Cookie.

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

 

Print

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Author: Lindsay @SeeMomClick

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 4-serving size box of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice Pudding
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 tub of Cool Whip, defrosted
• 1 package of Oreo Cookies (I used Halloween cookies with the orange filling but you don't have to.)

- See more at: http://seemomclick.com/pumpkin-spice-pudding-parfaits/#sthash.ig7wno9U.dpuf

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

 

Print

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Author: Lindsay @SeeMomClick

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 4-serving size box of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice Pudding
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 tub of Cool Whip, defrosted
• 1 package of Oreo Cookies (I used Halloween cookies with the orange filling but you don't have to.)

- See more at: http://seemomclick.com/pumpkin-spice-pudding-parfaits/#sthash.ig7wno9U.dp

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

 

Print

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Author: Lindsay @SeeMomClick

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 4-serving size box of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice Pudding
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 tub of Cool Whip, defrosted
• 1 package of Oreo Cookies (I used Halloween cookies with the orange filling but you don't have to.)

- See more at: http://seemomclick.com/pumpkin-spice-pudding-parfaits/#sthash.ig7wno9U.dpuf

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

 

Print

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Author: Lindsay @SeeMomClick

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 4-serving size box of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice Pudding
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 tub of Cool Whip, defrosted
• 1 package of Oreo Cookies (I used Halloween cookies with the orange filling but you don't have to.)

- See more at: http://seemomclick.com/pumpkin-spice-pudding-parfaits/#sthash.ig7wno9U.dpuf

Pumpkin Cornbread

Monday's Pumpkin dinner party, I tried a couple of new recipes. This was one of them. I didn't cook it in a skillet like the recipe asked, I just baked it in a pan like normal. It was SO GOOD! Everyone loved it and I would make it again for sure. Pumpkin flavor wasn't too strong, just a hint of it... but it was a soft cornbread. Real good. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Cornbread

Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon pure cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and divided
1 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons honey, warmed (plus extra for drizzling)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place three 5 inch cast iron skillets or one 8 inch cast iron skillet (nonstick is fine, too) into the oven.
2. Place first 6 ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In another bowl whisk together eggs, 1/4 cup butter, buttermilk, and honey.
5. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until well mixed. Fold in pumpkin mixture.
6. Pour remaining butter into heated skillets and carefully swirl to cover all sides.
7. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (for the small skillets) or 50 to 55 minutes (for the large skillet) or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
8. Remove from oven and drizzle with with a small amount of honey. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve.

Tinder Moments - Take 2

I'm still on Tinder, being super entertained. I thought I would share a couple more that made me laugh recently.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 293

Tis the season to buy pumpkins. While I was gone, my roommates took a trip to the pumpkin patch. Now my patio has a touch of fall to it. I love it. I want to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin for me to carve. :) I also need to decide what I am going to carve into my pumpkin this year.  I like a challenge. I have done Tinker Bell, Mario, Sweeney Todd, Michael Jackson in Thriller, Minions... a lot time ago, I even carved Dean Cain into my pumpkin. Suggestions?

I'm on my week break from my diet before I start again, but I only lost 1 pound my last week on the diet. I think it total I lost around 8 or 9. Worth it enough that I will start again next week.

Still watching Pretty Little Liars. I'm sucked in. It's one of those dumb dramas that you hate that you love. It has a ton of seasons... so I will be watching it for a while. I am now however also keeping up week to week on lots of current shows since I spent a lot of the summer watching 1 or 2 seasons of shows that are still going... so now I have to keep up on them. I guess it's not too bad because a few a couple of my shows that I was watching last season ended anyway.

It's been a busy week. I blogged all about my weekend in Rexburg/Wyoming. Monday was my pumpkin dinner. Since I am on a week break... I wanted to get in all of my fall treats before I got back on my diet... so I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They are my favorite. I also went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get some caramel apples. Of course I also went to sodalicious... but I was good and just got the soda and not the sugar cookie that I usually get along with the soda. As much as it seems like I went nuts on treats this week, I tried really hard to still eat stuff that I would eat on the diet, but then just get some treats. I think I did pretty well. I can totally tell the difference though with my body. I feel so much better when I cut all the crap out of my diet even though all of that stuff is so good. I think it is really good to be in tune with your body. how it is feeling, recognizing when you are full etc... It will be good to get back on the diet, but it was nice to have a little break too. That way I won't super binge whenever I decided to be done with this diet.

Tuesday was U-Jam class at the gym. I love it. Since it was just me though... I requested that we do ab workouts instead of doing zumba dances that I am sick of when she ran out of U-Jam routines (she is still learning). So we did and boy did I feel that for the next couple of days. At work I also signed up for the 10,000 step challenge. You sign up, then you keep track of your steps with your phone or step tracker (like my jawbone) and then you take a picture if you reached 10,000 steps or more and send it in to the girl that runs the gym at work. Then I can be entered into a drawing for gift certificates and stuff. Right now I am only 4 days in... and I only missed 1 day. It has been good motivation for me to check my steps and when I get home from work, if I don't have enough steps, I will go for a walk and get in the steps. Hopefully I keep it up. I think the challenge is going for 2 weeks. I have no idea who signed up after me, but looking at the list when I signed up, I feel like my chances are good, especially if I keep it up everyday. I don't know if everyone will reach 10,000 steps everyday. We shall see. Either way, it's good for me.

Wednesday I drove my car up to the dealership I bought it from in Layton. It's an hour drive. I was hoping to hang out and go on a hike with Jake after since the air force base is to close to where I was... but he had a training after work. So I drove straight home... I have mentioned before that with the newest iPhone update, as soon as I turn on my car, my phone now tells me how long it is going to take me to get home. So I turn on my car to head home and it tells me that traffic was unusually busy. I figured it was the normal salt lake sucky traffic. So I started to drive. It took me 2 HOURS to get home. An extra hour than it should  of. I tried to put on fun music to sing a long to, but there is no way getting around that it was lame. When I got home I took a 3 mile evening walk because I had just sat in the car for so long and I needed to wind down from being so irritated in the car.

Tonight I went to go see my Grandma. I didn't tell her I was coming, I just brought her her favorite taco bell and just went by. I didn't know how long she would want me to stay or how she was doing that day, so I didn't plan on staying very long... but my Grandma and I had so much fun hanging out and talking, I ended up being there for 2 1/2 hours. I even had Lisa FaceTime with me so that she could talk to Grandma. It was great. I will have to make it back over there again soon and more often.

I guess that is it. I can't really think of anything else that new and exciting. Except that I picked up me and Stacey's passports from having to turn them into the Broker to get visas. Such a pain. Glad that is over. Speaking of Stacey... he took this artsy picture of my feet in lights that I was kind of tangled myself to. Kind of fun. My feet and my car have now been documented on his instagram and have gained me a few followers from it. HA!

Photo of the Week 291

Another photo of Beautiful Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park.

Pumpkin Dinner Party - Take 7

You know how much I love my traditions. This is one of my favorite fall traditions and it just gets better every year. Menu wise AND ambiance wise.

This year I didn't want to deal with roommates and a dirty kitchen and hurting feelings by not inviting everyone, so I asked my parents if I could do it in their backyard. Of course they said yes, because they are the best... not only that but my mom helped me cook the night before and helped me set up yesterday. So helpful! Ian and Tom also came early to help scoop out the pumpkins so we could use them as bowls.

When I started doing this dinner, I only started one item on the menu with pumpkin in it. Sassy Salsa Pumpkin Soup. I still make it every year. This year and last year... I stepped it up and made everything on the menu with pumpkin in it except for the salad.  So this year's menu...

Sassy Salsa Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Curry Soup
Spinach Salad with Avocado, Cranberries & Almonds
Pumpkin Cornbread
Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits

Everything turned out great. My new recipes this year was the pumpkin cornbread and the Pumpkin Spice Pudding Parfaits. Loved them both. I will be sharing the recipes later.

My crew is awesome. I love that I have a crew. I love how comfortable we all are with each other. We can talk about anything without judgement. We all love each other no matter what. I love how much we laugh when we are together. It's hard not to be happy around these friends. I love that they love my dinner's and make sure they are there. I love that they go along with all of my ideas... like scooping pumpkins just so we can eat out of them because it's my tradition because I think it's fun. Or getting their food and then clearing the table so that I can photograph it. They don't make fun or ask questions... they just do it. ha ha. They are great. I just love them. We had a blast eating and chatting and being out in the great weather while it lasts. They loved my parents house. It's worth all the work and money to put on these dinner parties. That and they are so appreciative. Totally worth it. Plus, I love doing it. It's more fun than it is work for me.... although it does take work. Especially after work. Anyway, it was a wonderful evening.

Grand Teton National Park

This last weekend I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Grand Teton National Park. I have been wanting to go for a while but couldn't find anyone to go with me. Now that I know there is not much time left before it gets too cold... I decided I was going no matter what. Jake was going to go with me but ended up being on call at work, so he couldn't (even though he told his mom and his mom told him he should go with me. Ha!) Then I was just going to go by myself and sleep in my car... but then I remembered that my friend Holly (that I grew up with) lives in Rexburg and she loves going to the National Parks. So I sent her a message asking her if she was free this last weekend and if she would want to go explore Grand Teton with me and she was totally up for it. I was excited. So I drove to Idaho instead of Wyoming and stayed in a quest room with a queen bed instead of my car. :) Good choice. It was also fun to hang out with Holly and catch up. Sadly, it had been years since we had seen each other.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day. Holly said I came at the perfect time because it was supposed to be the last weekend with beautiful weather. And it was. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Not hold. Not cold. Slight breeze. We first went to Mormon Row. Famous place to take pictures of the Grand Tetons.

Then it was off to Jenny Lake. It's off season so it wasn't crowded at all, which was SOOOO nice. There was just a tiny bit of fall color left. We just chatted while we walked around the lake.

Then we hiked up to Inspiration Point. I had been there before, but it had been YEARS! The trail was even different from when I was there last. Once we were up there, it was a beautiful view of the lake below and all of the beautiful pines. I brought my hammock and found the best spot right next to a cliff to set it up. It was so relaxing. Best view and the best weather... I wanted to take a nap there, but I knew we didn't have time. I got plenty of time to relax there though and it was bliss.

We walked back to the car and then drove around the park for a little bit and then Went to Oxbow Bend to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. Perfect way to end the day. On our way out of the park we saw hundreds of Buffalo in the fields. It was awesome. Then we stopped to get something to eat on the way home. It was such a short trip, but I was so glad that I went. Also SO glad that Holly was up for going with me. Way more fun than doing it by myself. Thanks Holly!