Just feeling bummed.

Blah.

The weather isn't helping my mood either.

It's warm-ish, but grey and bleak outside. It has rained a little here and there, too. I think I'm just ready to move to the next city.

Although, I don't want to leave the awesome natural food store that I've found here. It's actually in Memphis. I go to a place called Wild Oats. I am amazed at the number of products that I use and that they have for me to buy!

In fact, over the weekend I discovered a new product. It's called Hip Whip. It's a healthier version of Cool Whip. It's sweetened with fruit juices instead of corn syrup and it's not made with any hydrogenated oils. It even tastes pretty good. It has a slight nutty taste--- I think that's because one of the ingredients at the bottom of the list is cashew butter.

It tasted really yummy ontop of the pumpkin pie I made last night. If you're interested in a healthier version of the real deal with less fat & calories, here's the recipe that I use:

Pumpkin Pie (healthy & diary-free)

From: Frontier Natural Products Co-op

Ingredients:

� 1 prepared 9� pie shell; baked according to package directions or a homemade crust for a 9� pie shell pre-baked.

� 16 oz. Canned pumpkin

� 1 C. Sucanat

� � C. pure maple syrup

� 5 � tsp. pumpkin pie spice or 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, and � tsp. ground cloves

� � tsp. salt

� 1 � C. vanilla soy milk

� 4 large eggs or egg substitute equivalent to 4 large eggs

Directions:

� Preheat oven to 400�F.

� Combine pumpkin, Sucanat, maple sugar, spices and salt in a mixer bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a deep saucepan and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly, about five minutes.

� Whisk in the soymilk and return briefly to a simmer.

� In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together.

� Return pumpkin mixture to mixer bowl and, with the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs slowly.

� Transfer mixture to pre-baked pie shell and bake on center rack for 25 minutes, or until edges of the custard have cracked slightly and the center barely jiggles when shaken gently.

� If the edges of the crust brown too much before the center is cooked, cover edges with strips of aluminum foil.

� Cool pie on rack for 1 hour before serving.

� Makes one 9� pie.

If any of you decide to make this recipe, let me know. Oh, and if you have trouble finding some of the ingredients, let me know and I'll find a natural foods store in your area!

I hope I get out of my funk soon.

I'll keep ya posted!

Thought Of The Day:"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."--Dodie Smith (1896 - 1990) English dramatist

Until next time... peace, love & HEALTH!!!