Tuesday's Food: Crockpot Pumpkin stuff

So this past weekend, my husband had a mid-election office party oyster roast (long title, I know) at our house this past weekend. I don't eat oysters. Nope, not at all. I am the only one (and I really mean only one. The dog was digging through the shells just an hour ago) that doesn't eat them. So when we have oyster roasts at our house, I try to make something for the non-oyster eaters. Since I have my new 3-in-1 crockpot (which I really can't say enough about, btw), I decided to try to have something in each one. I tried to make it all relate, so I went with pumpkin. Hey! It's still fall and I have the right to make pumpkin stuff until New Years! So I went to my trusty resource, Stephanie O'Dea's Year of Slow Cooking website and searched for pumpkin recipes that wouldn't be hard to do and wouldn't cost me a ton of pounds later on. I went with Jamaican Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pudding, and Pumpkin Spiced Latte.

See my 3-in-1 back there?! It's awesome! If you are a slow cooker, ask for one for Christmas! 

So I normally don't follow her recipes exactly because they tend to be fattening, and then I show you my adaptation here, but this time I followed the recipes pretty closely. So today I'm going to just give you a review of each one and let you know what I did and did not include.

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

I don't really like spicy stuff, so I was prepared to make adjustments to this recipe, but there was not really anything that made this spicy. The name was deceiving, really. The only thing I didn't include in the soup was a red onion. I don't really like red onions. Maybe if I had added that, the taste would have been totally different. When I tried the soup, I didn't initially include the cream that you could add at the end. And I must say the soup was kind of bland. It hovered perfectly between needing either something sweeter or something savory. I wasn't impressed, and was frankly embarrassed to have served it to guests, but they didn't complain (how nice of them!). Later, though, I did end up adding the cream. And oh my! It changed the taste completely! It was creamy and yummy, and seriously filled me up. So, if you want my advice, add the cream.

Weight Watchers Point Plus: 3 pts

Pumpkin Pudding:
SO GOOD! I made this exactly like the recipe had it. And oh my! It was good! I had made some gingerbread men and had it with the pudding. So good! For reals, make this!

Weight Watchers Point Plus: 4 pts

Pumpkin Spiced Latte:
So I don't like latte. I thought I would give this a try. I had recommended this recipe to someone who likes lattes. She told me it turned out great and it would be perfect for a party atmosphere. So I tried it. And I still don't like it. No amount of cream, sugar, or extra coffee made me like it. So if lattes are your thing, try this. If not. Don't bother. :(

Weight Watchers Points Plus: 4 pts.