Healthy Fall Cocktails

Holiday cocktails are a must but healthy festive cocktails are always the better alternative. It's great to indulge in meals or drinks every now and then, but holidays seem to be the time of the year where people over-indulge with the meals and drinks. I like to maintain a happy medium-sized indulgence around the holidays. Here are some healthy holiday drink recipes that will warm any old scrooge up.

Whiskey Autumn Delight: *SERVED WARM OR CHILLED*
2 oz. of whiskey
6 oz. of organic apple cider (or apple juice if you're not a fan of cider)
A dash of cinnamon
Garnish with an apple slice or a cinnamon stick

Autumn Apple-tini: *SERVED CHILLED*
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. whiskey
1/2 oz. of grade A maple syrup
2 oz. organic apple juice (freshly juiced if you have a juicer)
Garnish with a dash on cinnamon on top

Sizzling Sangria: *SERVE CHILLED*
1 cup of brandy
1/3 cup of triple sec
1 cup of grand marnier
1 bottle of red wine
2 apples and 2 pears diced
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
*OPTIONAL* you can add club soda if you want the sangria to have a spritzer feel to it

Thanksgiving Cider: *SERVE OVER ICE*
2 oz. vodka
3 oz. apple cider
1/2 oz. of grade A maple syrup
Splash of club soda
Garnish with cinnamon or an apple slice

Pumpkin Delight: *SERVE CHILLED*
2 oz. of pumpkin puree
2 oz. of spiced rum
1/4 cup of milk
1/3 cup of half and half
Garnish with a dash of cinnamon
*If served in a martini glass, rim with brown sugar*

I hope some of these festive drink options will make the holidays more warm and enjoyable. Let me know if you will be giving any of these fall drink recipes a shot.

Healthy Thanksgiving Soup

I thought I would share some of my healthy thanksgiving recipes throughout this week just incase anyone wanted some healthy meal alternatives. Since the fall is here and winter is right around the corner, comfort food becomes essential during the cold months. A great comfort food for when it's cold is sweet potato and pumpkin soup. This soup is perfect because it is a blended soup, it is made with only vegetables and spices, and it's very nutritious. 

What you will need

• 1 Pie Pumpkin
• 1 Large Sweet Potato
• 1 Green Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 1 tbs of minced garlic
• 3 tsp of red pepper
• 2 tsp of pepper
• 1 tbs of ground coriander
• 3 tsp of oregano
• 1 pinch of salt

Start by setting your oven to 400 F degrees and begin washing and chopping up your pumpkin and sweet potato. 

Then you want to wrap the chunks in foil and drizzle on some olive oil and close the foil wrapping. Then place them in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, once they are tender you can remove them. While their baking start buy adding 1 table spoon of olive oil, 1 table spoon of minced garlic, 3 teaspoons of red pepper, 2 teaspoons of pepper, 1 table spoon of ground coriander, 3 teaspoons of oregano, and 1 pinch of salt to a medium sized soup pot. Let the spices simmer on low heat while you wait for the pumpkin and sweet potato.

You will then add your chopped green pepper and the chucks of pumpkin and sweet potatoes to a blender or food processor, blend till smooth. 

Once you have the soup pureed to your liking, you then want to add the puree to your soup pot that has been set to simmer.

Once you have added the puree you then want to mix the soup on low heat. If you prefer a creamier texture you can add in 1/2 cup of almond milk.

This is what the finished product should look like. It is a very tasty soup and it only took me a little over an hour to make. Be on the look out for more recipes this week!