Dear Pumpkin Spice Season (A Letter From A Food Blogger)

Dear Pumpkin Spice Season,

As soon as summer ends, you are everywhere.  You pop up where I get coffee, gas, soap, candles, and even pet food.  We push aside the beloved jack-o-lantern and even apple pie for you. Every September, you come back into our lives with a bang.

Our pumpkin-spice-memory-loss of your last appearance happens every year. Why, you ask? You know why.  Two words.  Limited edition. You claim you are limited edition.  Limited edition? Seriously? You know pretty well when you label yourself ‘limited’ that we interpret that to mean temporary.  You have led us to believe that you are temporarily in our lives and therefore we must consume pumpkin spice everything until you make your mysterious premature departure again.  So much so that we become gluttons of pumpkin spice over-consumption. Year after year. Same thing.

My Beloved Pumpkin Spice Season, Let’s Chat.

First of all, I stand with millions when I say, I love you. You are fuzzy sweaters, cute boots, steamy coffee, bright colored leaves, and football season all rolled into one whirlwind of wonderfulness.  I want to love everything about you but you send such mixed signals. The healthy girl food blogger in me knows that pumpkin is actually healthy.  Real pumpkin, not the syrup + powder + gel + wax that attempts to mimic the beauty of the beloved pumpkin.  Your chemically altered aroma + color are nothing compared to the orange beauty of the iconic autumn gourd. My apologies, but pumpkin spice season does not necessarily mean that we say must goodbye to the vast array of vitamins + fiber that the authentic glowing squash provides us.  We don’t need to resort to faux pumpkin-spiced foods just to get our fix.

Secondly, sugar is not such a bad thing.  But you come back around after ‘limiting’ yourself to us.  Year after year.  What’s a girl to do? Eat (and buy) everything pumpkin spice that comes into her path every day until Halloween? YEP. Ugh. Let me tell you something.  Sugar isn’t the problem.  Sugar is a natural, beautiful substance that provides us glucose + the essential calories we need to make our bodies + brains function. Help me out this year, use that sweet cinnamon pumpkin-spiced-sugar this year by taking on a few nutritious forms.  Maybe as pumpkin oatmeal + dessert hummus. Just a little tip from a food blogger.

Not This Year, Pumpkin Spice Season.

This year, I am taking matters into my own hands.  I know you are not ‘temporary’ or ‘limited’.  You will be back. No limited edition mentality for this girl. I’m taking control of this once and for all.  I’m not doing a dance with you any more.  I love you and I’m not afraid to admit it.  I don’t need to let diet culture make me feel ashamed that I love you.  I’m putting on the fuzzy sweater + cranking the AC down + drinking a hot steamy oat milk PSL + making all the pumpkin muffins. This year, I might make pumpkin muffins on – oh my gosh – on New Year’s Eve – not in pumpkin spice season, not limited, not temporary. Ha!

FYI, Pumpkin Spice Season.

Cinnamon + nutmeg + ginger + cloves.  I know your secrets. You continue to take on multiple mysterious forms.  I can enjoy the flavors of pumpkin spice in healthy things too! YEP, you heard me. Why do you make things so hard for me while you are in town, pumpkin spice? Candles, soap, dog treats, pasta, even pumpkin spice shampoo. Let me tell you what I’m going to do about this situation. I’m going to give in. I wrote this letter to tell you I could stand up to you and check out at Target without a single pumpkin-spiced item in my cart. I am a strong + powerful woman in love with pumpkin spice. So, I will eat healthy pumpkin foods too, creating recipes with all the beauty and flavor of the autumn orange gourd. What’s even better? I’m sharing my recipes with the world, my love.

🍂🍁Thank you, pumpkin spice season, for the best 3 months of the year🍁🍂

🧡Tara (food blogger on a mission to keep pumpkin spice real)🧡

🧡 My Advice To My Fellow Pumpkin Spice Addicts 🧡

Ditch the diet culture + eat the donut + love it.

Take control, pumpkin spice can be healthy + awesome at the same time.

Ask yourself, does your dog really need pumpkin spice treats? Do you need to clean your counters with pumpkin spice cleaner? OK, maybe. Ugh. I was trying to get somewhere with that + it didn’t work. lol.

🧡 My Favorite Ways To Eat Pumpkin 🧡

(click on any title to link to the goodness)

What Happens To Your Body When You Eat Pumpkin

Pumpkin Recipes That Are Not Dessert

Pumpkin For Breakfast:

• Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
• Instant Pot Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal
• Pumpkin Chia Seed Overnight Oats
• Pumpkin Spice Granola Recipe

Lunch + Dinner Ideas:

• Pumpkin Black Bean Tacos
• Homemade Pumpkin Veggie Burgers
• Easy Vegan Pumpkin Chili
• Oil-Free Pumpkin Vinaigrette
• Vegan Thanksgiving Salad

Pumpkin Snacks:

• Savory Pumpkin Hummus (Oil-Free!)
• Air Fryer Pumpkin
• Pumpkin Spice Dessert Hummus

Pumpkin Dessert Recipes:

• Baked Vegan Pumpkin Donuts
• Pumpkin Spice Nice Cream
• Healthy Pumpkin Cookies (GF + Vegan + Refined Sugar Free)
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Muffins
• Vegan Pumpkin Mini Muffins

🧡Did you love my Letter To Pumpkin Spice Season? Leave a comment below! We love comments 🧡

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