Best Ever Pumpkin Bread (Gluten Free!) – Nourish Yourself – Day 29 of #31daystohappy

Anyone else out there watch Parks & Rec? Remember that October is host to treat yo self day? At our house, Weston already has his treat planned. Ha! For me, there is nothing more luxurious than having home baked treats around. The smell in my home, the feeling of accomplishment that I made something others will enjoy, everything about baking is magical. So today we are checking off the first item on my fall bucket list! Make your favorite fall treat 🙂

Have you ever noticed it’s the little decisions you make day after day that add up to either success or the alternative? Funny how little things make a big difference. I had hoped to share a story here, but the story is just about repetition. I wake up. I make little choices and they add up day upon day until I have a habit. Good mental and physical habits almost always come down to little choices.

Today’s plan involved specific little nutrition tweaks. I had planned to ramble on about the little differences in my diet that reshaped my life. I have the energy to control my mind & {as a bonus!} got rid of acne zones I’ve had for decades. Since the words won’t come out beautifully, here’s the quick version: My diet was crap. Meat made up my primary food source. Vegetables were ignored. After prayer and meditation, I felt inspired to flip it. Now, my primary food sources are vegetables, brown rice, and I add in eggs & cheese a few times per week. I switched out vegetable/canola oils, shortening, and olive oil for coconut oil in pretty much everything. I choose ingredients based on their nutritive value. My nutrition has never been better. But the root of this huge change is the accumulation of lots of little tweaks over time. Someday I’ll post a list of my top ten tweaks. Until then here’s today’s prompt. I think you’ll find it delicious:

Prompt #29: #31daystohappy

Find a little change you can tweak in your diet and make it a habit. It’s amazing what nutrition can do for mind, body & soul. Take care of yourself. Make little decisions over and over that translate into big results. You’ll thank yourself, I promise.

I’ll just share that here and let you decide if there are changes that could be made. In the meantime, you could make this {mostly} nutritious pumpkin bread and be the super hero in your home tonight. It cooks so quickly & it isn’t too sweet so you won’t feel guilty having the leftovers for breakfast. It really is the best pumpkin bread ever, and that announcement doesn’t come lightly! I’ve made 4 loaves in 4 days and apparently I’ll need to make more tomorrow.

I made these using these loaf pans I’ve been eyeing for about a decade. Yes, they are $30. But if I’d just bought them ten years ago, I would have been able to enjoy them and they’d have paid themselves off. Something about pumpkin shaped pumpkin bread makes me happy deep down inside. 

So here’s the recipe. Make sure you pin it for later because I promise once you try this, you’ll be hooked.

Best Ever Pumpkin Bread: Gluten Free
(Adapted from Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Bread Recipe by Dee Dee Stovel)
Canned Unsweetened Pumpkin | 2 Cups
Cane Sugar | 1-1/3 Cups
Coconut Oil | 1 Cup
Eggs | 4
Namaste Foods Gluten Free Flour Blend | 2-1/2 Cups
(I use this GF flour all the time & it is our hands down favorite if i’m not up for mixing different flours!)
Baking Soda | 2 teaspoons
Ground Cinnamon | 1 Tablespoon
Ground Cloves | 1 Teaspoon
Ground Nutmeg | 1 Teaspoon
Iodized Salt | 1 Teaspoon
Baking Powder | 1 Teaspoon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In a mixer or separate bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, and coconut oil and beat together until well mixed. Gently add in the dry ingredients.
Scoop batter into pans making sure to leave a 1″ amount of space at the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the loaf rest in the pan for at least 8 minutes, then turn out and cool on the rack for another 8 minutes.

Thank you for reading along!