Thank you to EVERYONE who wrote a comment, email or message to me following my 2 posts on Body Image Post Baby. It’s always a sensitive topic to most people and something I find even a hot topic with women who haven’t had children, and it’s sometimes hard to discuss openly. There sometimes appears to be a little shame in admitting that you feel a little less than sexy even a year or two following child birth so if this made it a little easier for others to talk or feel about it then, great!

Good news I’ve been enjoying ‘moving’ whether that is jogging with the pram, or walking and talking with friends, and I’ve already started releasing some kgs, but I’m not weighing myself, I am just going by how my clothes feel and some of my old clothes are beginning to fit again. I have faith that it will all come together, with some smart food choices, a little planning and some fun movement.

So onto a fun and easy recipe.

This recipe is mainly for my non American friends, who keep hearing about the pumpkin craze all over the blogosphere and want to create some of the recipes but have no idea what Pumpkin Spice is.

I had the pleasure of sampling my very first Pumpkin Pie last week at our Thanksgiving dinner we were invited to and just had to recreate the flavour to be used in smoothies, breakfast porridges (chia, oats, buckwheat, quinoa) or any other way you can come up with.

Of course in Australia, where I hail from, we don’t really eat canned pumpkin like all the other recipes I keep seeing all over the interwebs, we usually have fresh pumpkin year round and we have many varieties, like Queensland blue, jap, and butternut (I think Americans call this butternut squash – but really it’s a pumpkin to me!)

And this recipe does NOT include pumpkin. Basically it’s a spice mix you can use for pumpkin pies or anything else you wish to take on the same flavours, but feel free to mix it in with your pumpkin for sure. And it  is very seasonal – delish in anything Autumnal/Fall or Christmassy. If you want a yummy raw pumpkin pie recipe, which tastes very close to the cooked version but doesn’t even contain pumpkin, check out Gena’s here.

I’ll be posting a Paleo porridge that uses this spice mix later.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nuteg

Mix thoroughly and keep aside in a glass jar or plastic baggie for later use.

Smells divine.