Betsy’s ooey and gooey pumpkin layer bars recipe is sure to be a favorite at your Thanksgiving dinner. Not only are they ooey and gooey, they are gluten-free, healthy, and delicious. Featuring Betsy’s Best Cinnamon Almond Butter, pecans, and pumpkin you’ll be saying “It was #LoveAtFirstTaste!
Step By Step Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Layer Bar Recipe Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350° F. Place 3 cups pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in food processorand pulse until coarsely chopped.Remove and add Betsy’s Best Gourmet Almond Butter with Cinnamon and coconut oil and stir until mixture is incorporated. Press the pecan mixture into a well-greased or parchment lined 8 X 8 pan. Bake 8-10 minutes until lightly colored and fragrant. Set aside until ready to fill.
Step 2: In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the maple syrup until combined. Place the pumpkin puree, sugar, maple syrup and cornstarch mixture, 1/4 cup coconut cream, almond milk, 1.5 tsp. cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in the bowl of a food processor.Puree until smooth.
Step 3: Pour the pumpkin filling onto the pecan crust, tap to even out the layer, and bake for 40 minutes.
Step 4: When done, remove the pumpkin bars from the oven and let cool on the counter. Place in the fridge for at least 8 hours.Before serving, ice the top with a thin layer of Betsy’s Best Gourmet Almond Butter with Cinnamon.
Step 5: Enjoy your gluten-free ooey gooey pumpkin layer bars!
Recipe Yield: 9 bars
Betsy’s ooey gooey pumpkin layer bars make for a great bring-along to any get together. Plus, your non gluten-free friends will never know your secret! Happy Halloween and Thanksgiving!
Why not “fall” into healthier habits and feel better before entering the holidays?
Make this the season to change and build healthier habits that will last a lifetime! Making changes doesn’t necessarily have to be hard— you just need a goal, something to focus on, and a plan to help you see it through! Make getting healthier fun, interactive, and something to look forward to, rather than something to dread. Take pride and feel good about the positive changes you are making in your life; you will be surprised how your good energy will rub off on others! You will look at yourself and your choices in a whole new light! After all, the trees prepare us to let things go so that we can create a platform for new beginnings!
Betsy’s 8 Tips For Eating Healthy This Fall
#1. Don’t “fall” into old habits
It is much easier to follow old habits than to learn new ones, hence why patterns are created! Sometimes our lives are too busy to take the time and energy to plan, prepare, and focus on something new. The best way to fall into a new habit is to make it an easy change where there is little thought process or time involved. A gradual change, like the changing of the colors of the leaves, will make it easier to adjust. Start with a list of what you would like to change about your health and habits, then place those into 3 categories: Easy, Moderate, and Hard. Start with the easy changes, and once you accomplish each change, move to the next group. Don’t rush the process and take it step by step. Enjoy the beauty of each change, just as you would enjoy the colors of the fall foliage.
#2. “Leaves” the negativity behind
It is often the negative thoughts, self-doubt, and disappointing letdowns that lead people away from following through with change. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”—Wayne Dyer. You must focus your mind to look at the situation differently. You can’t just say you are going to eat healthy; you must understand how that choice will impact you. It is one thing to “want” something and another to “embrace” something. If you fill your mind with all the reasons you want the goal to happen, you leave little room for the negative thoughts that often take you away from your intention.
#3. “Gourde” your happiness
We often look at being healthy as work. Going to the gym, packing lunches, avoiding alcohol, eliminating that sugar rush from an afternoon snack. Why would we want to stop something that makes us happy or frees up time? However, does that truly create happiness? Learning balance is the true happiness. When making changes, make sure you don’t completely cut out the things that give you equilibrium in life. Still enjoy time with friends or enjoy the outdoors for exercise instead of the gym. Don’t just think a certain weight or size will make you happy. Happiness is important to our wellbeing and is something that is found in the soul and not on a scale. Be sure to dig deep to find the passion that makes you feel your best. Once you find it, work on it, and know that when you meet your goal you will feel harmony.
#4. “Spice” up your diet
Food ruts are always a sign of a stale diet. The number one reason people get off track with their diets is because of boredom. Each season is the perfect reason to change the diet and the fall calls for the “harvest” of new recipes! Pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, cranberries and cinnamon will spice up your diet. Give some new recipes a try and learn to rotate to new recipes each season to beat the boredom with food. One good trick is to buy fruits and veggies that are in season, even if you have never tried them, and find recipes to try! This will give you a chance to try new foods, and escape the boredom of eating the same things.
#5. “Cool” your hunger
The winter harvest is for filling up with hardy foods before the winter hibernation begins. It is natural for our bodies to crave more food, not because we hibernate, but because we spend less time outside and tend to eat more. Not to mention all the sweets around, which actually make you hungrier! Fill up on fiber-rich foods, don’t skip meals, and keep yourself active to prevent the haunting hunger that can derail your healthy eating goals.
#6. “Warm” your body
And we don’t mean standing in front of a heater! Get active this holiday season! Do you realize you burn more calories shopping in a store than you do online? About 20 miles worth or 1,500 calories! Find ways to move more and don’t give up your exercise routine when you travel either. Most people find excuses why they fall out of exercise during the holidays; instead, why not create new ones? Go on a family walk after the big turkey dinner instead of plopping on the couch, play a game of twister or interactive video game after unwrapping the gifts under the tree, and celebrate the New Year dancing the night away.
#7. “Harvest” the produce
Toss the bread and eat veggies instead! Do you notice how much bread and starchy foods surround the holiday table and holiday parties? Dinner rolls, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cakes, pies and cookies. The starches always outweigh the protein and veggies. Try making at least half of the food items plant-based! Offer more salads, veggie appetizers or plant-based entrees. You will be surprised to see how many people enjoy them and how you will feel better! Keep that in mind the whole holiday season when you are filling your plate, make half of it plant-based to keep food off the waist!
#8. “Change” the way you look at things
Falling into good habits depends on how you prepare yourself mentally. It always starts with inspiration, and that is where you will find your motivation. Finding passion in what you do is what will keep you accountable, and not just going through the moves but finding purpose in all the choices you make. Take pride in the work you put forth because when you “own it,” you live it, and when it becomes part of you, it never goes away. Fall for something you love, and that “something” should be YOU!!!
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Read More Wellness Tips From Registered Dietitian, Betsy Opyt
Betsy’s diary-free chocolate mousse cups recipe is bound to become one of your go-to healthy desserts. The mousse features our gourmet cinnamon almond butter and cocoa. The crust features dried dates, cashews and coconut. Trust Betsy! You’ll be saying “It was #LoveAtFirstTaste!”
Step By Step Dairy-Free Chocolate Mousse Cups Recipe Directions:
Step 1: Place crust ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until well combined.
Step 2: Put crust in 5 ramekins and press down and up the sides with fingers or a spoon.
Step 3: Set aside.
Step 4: Now place mousse ingredients in blender (minus the crushed peppermint) and puree until smooth.
Step 5: Pour into ramekins and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hrs.
Step 6: Garnish right before serving with the crushed peppermint.
Step 7: Enjoy your dairy-free chocolate mousse cups!
Recipe Yield: 5 Mousse cups
As a registered Dietitian, Betsy is passionate about healthy eating and great tasting food. Most importantly she doesn’t believe you should have to eat boring but healthy desserts. Betsy loves her dairy-free chocolate mousse cups and we know you will too. Great tasting healthy desserts are not a unicorn. They do exist!
Growing up, I would always misspell the words ‘desert’ and ‘dessert’. My teachers would tell me to think about the ‘s’ in the word—they would tell me that ‘dessert’ has two ‘s’ because they are super sweet and make us want to eat more; hence the double ‘s’. Deserts are typically very dry and sunny; not something we want more of; hence the single ‘s’. As silly as this is, it is something that has stuck with me into adulthood and has even made its way into the American diet. It is not a secret that most Americans have a sweet tooth and have no problem putting the extra ‘s’ in dessert.
As Americans, I believe we are all born with a natural attraction to desserts. It’s like we have a sweet tooth with a sensor, and once we come across a dessert, the sensor signals the body that it absolutely needs it. So, as many Americans do, we eat the dessert and move on with our lives. However, we often forget about the calories, sugar, and fat content of the sweets we are eating.
We all have this natural sweet tooth that needs to be satisfied every so often. However, there are many other ways to “splurge” into desserts without as many calories, sugar and fat.
Some Ideas For Easy Healthy Dessert Preparation:
Applesauce:
Applesauce—the unsweetened kind—should be a staple item for every baker as you can substitute it for sugar in many recipes. However, when doing so, you will need to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe (approx. ¼ cup) to counteract the substitution. Using applesauce instead of sugar allows for a more natural sweetness and less calories. Additionally, applesauce can be used to substitute oil or butter in a recipe. There are two ways to do so: Replace half of the total butter or oil with applesauce or replace the whole amount. No matter what the substitution you choose, calories and fat content will be decreased.
Fruit:
Want to indulge in something sweet, without the added calories and fat? Eat fruit for dessert! A Fruit and Yogurt Parfait, with your favorite type of fruit, is the perfect treat at the end of a meal. Or, if you are in the mood for some tasty ice cream, try Dream Cream Fruit and Veggie Ice Cream. This delectable dessert combines fruit and veggies plus double the nutrients! Not to mention, much less fat than the average ice cream.
Betsy’s Best:
Nothing ‘puts the cherry on top’ of the dessert like Betsy’s Best Nut Butter. Try Betsy’s Chocolate Chia Pudding, and blow your ordinary chocolate pudding out of the park. This delicious incorporation of the Toasted Coconut Cashew Butter with the chocolate is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Quick & Easy:
Are you in need for a quick, healthy dessert? Try Betsy’s Dark Chocolate Strawberry Poppers. This 4-ingredient treat is not only delicious, but very easy to assemble! It will leave you satisfied without the extra calories of ordinary desserts.
Betsy’s butternut squash soup recipe makes for the perfect Fall appetizer, lunch, or dinner. Thanks to Betsy’s Best Cardamom Cashew Butter the soup is loaded with flavor and the nutrients to satisfy. The “Nutty” topping adds a nice crunchy contrast to the creamy broth. Trust Betsy! It will be #LoveAtFirstTaste!
Step By Step Butternut Squash Soup Recipe Directions:
Step 1: First make the pesto.
Step 2: Add all pesto ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until the cashews resemble small bits similar to the look of pesto.
Step 3” Remove and set aside.
Step 4: No need to clean the blender or food processor.
Step 5: Now place all of the ingredients for the soup in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
Step 6: Remove and if eating right away place on the stove and cook until bubbly.
Step 7: Remove and place in bowls and top with nut pesto.
Step 8: Enjoy your butternut squash soup with Cardamom Cashew Butter Pesto topping!!!
Recipe Yield: Four 1-cup servings
As a registered Dietitian, Betsy is always looking for ways to make healthy eating easier. Her butternut squash soup recipe is also great stored in empty Betsy’s Best jars and throw in the freezer for single serve use.Just place in the fridge the night before and it will thaw in time for lunch the next day!
What was your favorite part of the recipe? Was it the butternut squash soup or was it the cardamom cashew butter pesto topping?
