Pumpkin has a smooth creamy texture when combined with heavy cream to create a luscious, rich, frozen pumpkin ice cream treat.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Fall is right around the corner but no need to put that ice cream maker away! Let’s just change flavors from summer fruits to pumpkin, an ingredient I love creating with.

The nice thing about pumpkin in ice cream is the texture comes out amazingly creamy. Sometimes when adding fruits or other things to ice cream you have to be sure the moisture content doesn’t make it “icy” so to speak.

I am sure you have had ice cream that has little ice crunchy bits in it. That is what I mean by icy, fruits can do that sometimes. That is not at all a problem with pumpkin. Pure creamy deliciousness is what you get!

The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!

Unless I’m making pumpkin pie or another baked dessert my preference is almost always to use canned pumpkin puree. This is pure pumpkin with no spices added. By doing this you can control the flavor and sweetness of the dish by whatever else you add to the ice cream.

Canned pumpkin, pumpkin puree, and solid pack pumpkin are the same thing. Makes me crazy when there are so many names for the same thing! Pumpkin Pie Mix will have additional seasonings, typically cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and sugar.

Served with some ginger snaps or molasses cookies, this pumpkin ice cream is definitely in our ice cream-making rotation. Most people have a meal plan rotation, but at our house, we take our ice cream-making rotation very seriously.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Ingredients

• whole milk
• heavy cream
• light brown sugar
• canned pumpkin puree
• pumpkin pie spice mix
• kosher salt

With so many products on the market promising to have ‘superfood’ properties, how can we separate the superficial sales claims from the ones actually worth trying? Jenna Farmer tackles the most popular superfoods on the market to reveal which ones actually live up to the hype

How often have you added something to your shopping basket after reading that it was this month’s superfood? Whether it’s getting passionate about kale, or adding spirulina to our morning shake, we’re all guilty of jumping on wellness trends in a bid to look and feel better. But what does the word ‘superfood’ actually mean?

Well, it turns out there’s actually no singular definition of what a superfood is. While we generally use the term to describe a product with some health benefits, ‘superfood’ is not a scientific term, meaning the label doesn’t really tell us by itself what sets the product apart.

“The term superfood isn’t regulated in any way, so anyone can make food or package a fruit or vegetable and call it a superfood,” says Sophie Medlin, consultant dietitian at CityDietitians.

And this is the problem. While it might encourage us to eat more healthily, calling a product a ‘superfood’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than one that isn’t. Clever marketing has us thinking we need to splurge at health food stores for these hallowed foods in order to be healthy, but we can find many of the same benefits in our everyday diet – without the premium price tag. For example, while spirulina and quinoa are high in antioxidants, you don’t need to splash out on them if you don’t want to. In fact, you can find plenty of antioxidants in your average roast as broccoli and cabbage are great sources of them.

So, which superfoods could be worth tucking into, and which ones should you leave on the shelf? Let’s take a look…

FAD: Kale

Remember when kale was everywhere? You could even buy T-shirts declaring your love for it. Yet, since 2014, the leafy green seems to have been declining in popularity with fewer and fewer Google searches – but why? Well, while it doesn’t hurt to add this to your salad, you can just as easily get nutrients from similar vegetables. One study compared kale to other vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and spinach, and found they all contained higher levels of 17 nutrients than kale did.

FAB: Blueberries

All berries are a good source of fibre, but blueberries stand out from the crowd as a superfood worth shouting about.

“Blueberries are pretty ‘super’; they contain polyphenols which are like antioxidants – these are shown to improve brain function,” adds dietitian Sophie Medlin.

Studies have shown that a moderate intake of blueberries can also help reduce your risk of things like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, thanks to anthocyanins (which are like antioxidants). And, there are ways to make your purchase last longer.

“Buy frozen, because they’re cheaper and retain more nutrients,” advises Sophie. The perfect addition to whizz i

When bottling up his emotions became too much, Scott Oughton-Johnson decided to seek help but felt something was still missing. This saw the birth of ‘The Proper Blokes Club’, which aims to encourage more men to speak up about their mental health

The suicide rate amongst men is more than triple that of women, with this being the most likely cause of death for men under 50 years old. So, why don’t more men speak up? Well, the answer often lies in our deep-rooted gender stereotypes that portray men as being strong and in control. But, it’s now 2022 and this needs to change because more and more men are being damaged by society’s expectations.

What’s more, men are less likely than women to reach out for support, with only 36% of referrals to NHS psychological therapies being for men.

Scott Oughton-Johnson was one man who decided to take the brave step of acknowledging he needed help, after separating from his previous partner and spending 10 years in and out of court facing a custody battle over his children.

The south London community sports coach admits he bottled up his feelings for a decade, saying, “The stress and anxiety were killing me”. In 2017, Scott decided enough was enough and received cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on the NHS, but their sessions were limited and, before long, Scott found himself “back in the wild”.

After realising something was still missing, Scott found release in his love for walking and, in 2020, set up a Facebook group to try and reach other men who were going through similar battles with their mental health. Scott would meet up with other men in his position and they would walk through the streets of London, through parks, or down a canal, talking openly about their feelings - allowing them to practice mindfulness and be in the moment. ‘The Proper Blokes Club’ was born.

What started as a rather disheartening one person attending has now grown to anywhere between five and 35 men meeting up every Monday and Wednesday. “It kept growing and growing,” Scott says. Scott has now recruited 'walk leaders' who arrange walks across other boroughs of London, to allow for more men to get involved.

The club provides a safe space for men to talk about their mental health “without the potential judgment you might get from friends and family”. Naturally, friendships have been formed, with the youngest member being just 19, and the oldest, 75. The walkers are added to a WhatsApp group, and each day they check in on one another.

“How many of those [deaths] might have been stopped through a conversation?”

Scott's goal is to register the club as a ‘community interest’ company and roll it out to all London boroughs and nationally. In the meantime, he’s encouraging people to start their own groups.

Read the full article Read more

Sharing 15 of my favorite fall things to do in Tucson!

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a great morning so far. I’m subbing a dance cardio class and then spending the rest of the day getting the September Fit Team workouts ready to go. Join us here! New workouts go out on Sunday.

August is acting like it has somewhere to be. I can’t believe that next week is already September! Fall is almost here and Tucson is absolutely dreamy in the fall. The mild weather makes it a long and beautiful season for different activities, and there are also plenty of festivals and events that can make me enjoy the season even more. Today, I’m sharing a roundup of activities that you can do to experience the beauty of fall in all its glory in Tucson. I’d love to hear some local friends chime in the comments if I’m missing anything!

15 Fall Things To Do In Tucson

1) All Souls Procession Weekend

All Souls Procession is one of my favorite activities of the entire year. This year, it’s November 4th – November 6th. You can check out details and photos here. This event draws so many different types of people and they all walk the parade route together, with their faces beautifully painted, costumes, and carrying handmade ofrendas to honor those who have passed. With all of the division in the world, it’s a great reminder that we’re all human; it’s a meaningful experience that our entire family enjoys.

From their website:

The All Souls Procession is one of the most important, inclusive and authentic public ceremonies in North America today. The Procession had its beginnings in 1990 with a ceremonial performance piece created by local artist Susan Johnson. Johnson was grieving the passing of her father, and as an artist, she found solace in a creative, celebratory approach to memorializing him. Says Johnson, “From the beginning, it was different people’s ethnic groups, different cultures, but also it was all these different art forms put together.”

After its inception, many artists were inspired to continue, growing the Procession into its modern incarnation. Today we find ourselves organizing well over 150,000 participants on the streets of downtown Tucson for a two-mile long human-powered procession that ends in the ceremonial burning of “The Urn”.

The Urn is filled with the hopes, offerings and wishes of the public for those who have passed.Myriad altars, performers, installation art, and creatives of all kinds collaborate to prepare their offerings for this amazing event. The All Souls Procession Weekend is Honors the Ancestors and our lost loved ones and Celebrates Life.

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Spicy strips of chicken, bell peppers, and onion are cooked together in this oh-so-easy crock-pot recipe for Chicken Fajitas. Crockpot Chicken Fajitas are a meal that you can start in the afternoon and they’ll be ready by the time everyone is hungry in the evening.

Most of you have gathered by now that my family is a big fan of Mexican-inspired meals. We use Mexican spices constantly and eat some version of southwest Tex-Mex or Mexican food a few times a week.

Very much like the Slow Cooked Chili Steak Fajitas I posted last year, these fajitas are full of heat and packed with that southwestern flavor I crave. The liquids in the base of the crock-pot form a fantastic sauce by the end of the cooking time.

I also love how pleasing the orange, green and red bell-peppers look when cooked and served in the chicken. This is one of those easy recipes that takes very little effort but looks as good as it tastes.

I’ve made these Chicken Fajitas many times and served them wrapped in tortillas. They’re also delicious as Chicken Fajita Bowls served over rice. 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

The best part about Crockpot Chicken Fajitas is that they cook in just a couple of hours. I love a recipe that you can prep in the morning and enjoy the smell of all day long but sometimes my schedule just doesn’t allow me to prep that far in advance.

With this recipe, I just slice everything up, toss the meat with spices, onions, and jalapenos in the slow cooker, let it cook for a couple of hours, and add the peppers toward the end of the cooking process. It’s THAT easy to have perfect homemade fajitas for dinner.

Fajitas are traditionally made by grilling meat but I find I enjoy slow cooker chicken fajitas just as much. They also have the (huge) added benefit of not needing any of my attention at all when they cook!

I almost hesitate to call this a true “slow cooked” recipe because the chicken doesn’t take long at all to cook. The whole meal is ready to serve in just about two hours!

This is fabulous when hunger levels are high and patience levels are low or on those days when you had every intention of getting a slow cooker meal together in the morning but it just didn’t happen.

With Crockpot Chicken Fajitas, I can look like I planned everything in advance when in reality all I did was throw a bunch of ingredients in a crock-pot at 3 o’clock.

I like to serve these chicken fajitas on their own, wrapped in tortillas, or over rice. These fajitas have a lovely spicy kick to them.