Today I am cheating. I am taking a little more wiggle room than Jell-O would allow yet I am cheating the system more so than on my diet. Today, I am going to have my cake and eat it too. Sometimes you just have to do that.
Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the changing leaves changing colors. I love the mild chill in the air. I long to sit on my porch and drink pumpkin spiced coffee and eat a pumpkin muffin. All October I am all about pumpkin spice. So far this year the only dangerous item on my pumpkin spice list is pumpkin spice cream cheese. Philadelphia Cream Cheese makes this amazing product that will make your taste buds sing. The problem is your hips will have to dance to the music double time or you will gain a few pounds this October. A serving size on your morning bagel will just have to do.
In the meantime, I am making pumpkin muffins the easy and fat free way. Simply purchase a 15 ounce can of pumpkin and a yellow, spice, or chocolate cake mix. Here is the beauty of these two simple ingredients. Simply combine them and bake! It will satisfy your pumpkin spice taste buds and not add pounds to your hips. Be careful not to overdo it. Fat free or not, the cake mix still contains sugar and sugar is never healthy.
So what to do about pumpkin spiced coffee? After all Starbucks coffee drinks can contain more fat and calories than an evening meal. Just make your own! It will be cheaper and you can control the calorie and sugar content. That’s right, have your cake and a cup of coffee today!
Ingredients
1/4 cup ground coffee
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups water
2 teaspoons fat free half-and-half cream, or to taste
1 teaspoon stevia, or to taste
Directions
Mix the ground coffee, allspice, and cinnamon in a small bowl, and place into the filter of a drip coffee maker. Pour 4 cups of water into the coffee maker, and turn on the machine. When coffee has finished dripping, pour into 2 cups. Stir in cream and sugar to taste.