Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

You need to have an adventure-seeking, iron will to make this.

Why?

Because peeling a pumpkin isn't for weenies.

If you've never tried peeling a pumpkin, you really should try it. Frankly, I think everyone should try it at some point in their life. The satisfaction one receives after peeling a pumpkin is akin to the feeling of finishing every single item on the to do list: accomplishment, pride, and then the general feeling of wanting to wear a sign that says, "I AM AWESOME. RAWR."

Peeling a pumpkin also drastically improves one's prayer life. Here's how my prayer went, "God, please don't let me cut myself, please, please, please, oh, please don't let me cut myself."

Peeling a pumpkin also increases one's gratitude quotient. I became grateful for the muscles in my forearm, grateful for band-aids in case I needed them, grateful for whomever invented the canned form of pumpkin...

If, at this point, you've decided to make this smoothie, you are clearly Type A and more than likely an aggressive first born or middle child. I would be the Type A, first born daughter, and middle child combination. And I would peel a pumpkin again because of the satisfaction it gives me. Call me crazy.

Honestly, this smoothie IS delicious. When I took my first sip, I thought, "Starbucks... you can't touch this."

Make sure you're using an organic pie pumpkin, since those pumpkins are made for eating. You don't want to use the ginormous ones you use to carve. Muscle up and peel that bad boy, and if you have a food processor, shred it up. Otherwise, consider yourself a true champion when you grate the pumpkin by hand. I am not a true champion. I busted out that food processor.

My little pumpkin gave me 4 cups of grated pumpkin. I bagged them up in 1 cup portions. Some I've used to make more smoothies; the rest I've frozen to pull out later to incorporate into a bread or cake instead of using shredded carrots.

Questions you might have about this recipe...

Can I use canned pumpkin? I'm sure you can, but I haven't tried it so I don't know how it works. Let me know if you try it!

Homemade coconut milk. You've got to be kidding me. Can I use something else? Sure! It's what I had on hand, so use your milk preference - dairy, almond, pecan, hempseed, etc.

Cashew butter? Can't I use something else? Sure. I'd go with almond butter or a mild tasting nut butter. You don't want a peanut butter pumpkin pie smoothie. Or maybe you do. But if you don't, you could leave it out altogether. I'm including it for good fat and satiety since I'm having it for breakfast.

I don't have dates. What else can I use? Use whatever sweetener you'd like. I just like dates since they are a naturally sweet fruit. Try using 1 Tbls of a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup.

Any idea on what to use in place of pumpkin pie spice? Yup! Click here for recipe to make your own.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 cup shredded pumpkin
1 ripe banana
1 cup homemade coconut milk
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp cloves
1 date
1 Tbls cashew butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Drink it up!