Recently, I went to a fabulous gluten free cooking class at Good Harvest Market taught by the amazing Nikki Jencen. Luckily, Nikki and I have similar opinions regarding gluten free cooking... focus on things that are naturally gluten free. For those of you that don't know, I was recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance which in essence means I will no longer be eating gluten containing grains and foods... for the rest of my life.  In my search for new foods that I will enjoy, it quickly became evident that many of the "Gluten Free" products that are available in the markets are highly processed, junk foods and they are not items that I personally feel would benefit my diet in any way. The good news is many of the foods that I love like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains like quinoa, millet and brown rice are already gluten free. Epiphany!!! My life is definitely not over yet!

This was the first recipe we made in the cooking class and I made sure to sip very slowly so that it lasted through the entire class.  During the past six days I have made this recipe twice. This would be great with home-made almond milk but I don't always have time for that. Just make sure you get the unsweetened variety of whatever non dairy milk you are purchasing. 

Ingredients:

3 cups Almond Milk or other non-dairy milk (If you like regular milk you could use that too.)
2 tea bags of your choice (Early Grey, English Breakfast, Chai or Cinnamon/Ginger are all great)
1 Tbs. Vanilla Extract
1/2 can pumpkin puree (about 1 cup if you are roasting your own)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-2 Tbs raw honey
1/2 tsp. nutmeg


Directions:

Place a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add almond milk and tea. Heat until steaming but not yet boiling. While the tea is steeping in the almond milk, place pumpkin, spices, vanilla and honey until a bowl. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. When almond milk is hot and the pumpkin mixture is ready, whisk the pumpkin mixture into the warm almond milk. Pour into mugs and enjoy!


Tips from Shelly:   I am a big fan of caffeine free teas and Rishi Tea Company makes a great caffeine-free Chai blend that is delicious in this recipe. This would also be super cute served at Thanksgiving in a mug with a cinnamon stick and a dollop of coconut "whipped cream."

Not only is pumpkin an Anti-Angiogenic Food, it's also a great source of Vitamin A, Zinc, Magnesium and Fiber.

Enjoy!

--Shelly