How much do I love September?  I know it doesn’t feel like Fall yet but just seeing the date on my iPhone read ‘September 13th’ makes me dream of backyard bonfires, pumpkin bread (gluten free, of course), and apple cider.  Even though today the temperature was about a record high of 95 degrees, I can still close my eyes and imagine crisp, lovely breezes during my morning walks and the smell of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg filling every inch of my house (No, I don’t bake all day. I’m a candle junkie!). I just. can’t. wait!

If you are familiar with my previous articles, you know that for several years I had to make from scratch nearly everything my daughter ate. I had to know EXACTLY what was going into her mouth at all times, as she was sick more than she was not. After realizing her body was in constant inflammation, even though her only true allergy was lactose, we pulled everything out of her diet that could possibly cause inflammation in her sweet little body. No dairy, gluten, corn (it’s the worst – so genetically modified), all ingredients we couldn’t pronounce, all colors, all preservatives – pretty much anything and everything that was not good, old fashioned REAL food. It was the most amazing and difficult thing we have ever done, but the rewards paid off in unbelievable ways. Molly stopped getting stomach aches. Stopped throwing up. She stopped getting colds. Even all her seasonal allergies went away. Crazy.

Fast forward six years. Monitoring what an 8-year-old eats is easy. But a 14-year-old?  Forget about it. I have to admit that my girl is awesome at eating fruits, veggies, smoothies, and clean meals. But the lure of ice cream and skittles when she’s with her friends? It’s just too much for her to resist. I get it.

Now, today we were driving home from one of her sports practices (she’s an athlete’s athlete) and I noticed her sniffling. Then I remembered she was sniffling a few days ago and also a few days before that. That’s when it occurred to me that fall sniffle season is upon us and Molly is reacting to it, mostly to ragweed.

Darn. Seasonal allergies are back.

Well, we chatted about it and decided, together, all dairy, not just some, had to go again. We rarely, if ever, have corn in our diet, still. But, we did add gluten back in when we learned it was not really the cause of her misery. But dairy?  Sorry, ice cream, you can’t even resurface once in a while. You gotta’ go.

So, back to basics. Molly and I will be entering into the fall season, ragweed and all, armed with our clean eating recipes. And to kick it off, we are sharing one of our absolute favorites:  Pumpkin Muffins. Enjoy!

Adapted from detoxinista.com

Pumpkin, Coconut and Nut Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Almond Butter
• 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 Cup Crushed Walnuts
• 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• 2 Whole Eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Clove
• 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
• Dark Chocolate Chips are optional……but yummy!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with muffin cups. This is highly recommended as the muffins will stick to the pan otherwise.
2. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
3. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Just keep an eye on them!
5. Allow to cool just a bit before eating.
6. Hide them so you can eat as many as you want!