What’s Coming in October

I laughed out loud when one of my friends sent me the following picture after I mentioned how I am terrible at navigating through corn mazes:

Give me some credit – I think I could find my way through at least a single row of corn! 😉

So I’m feeling a bit better at work this week, which is MUCH needed. Maybe it’s because the light is visible from the end of the tunnel knowing I have next week off? Doesn’t matter cause I am hanging in there! Last night I worked on a bunch of homework and finally had time to crack open one of my textbooks and start reading. Kind of pathetic. I have a paper due on Thursday so that will be written tonight after I get back from a chiropractic appointment. Busy girl…

Through all this I’m still working on the weight loss. It’s been pretty poor numbers the last few weeks, which is frustrating, but I’m still hanging in there eating my Ideal Protein foods and measuring my 4 cups of veggies every day. I did a little more hunting online for other people experiencing hair loss while on the diet – and they all were pointing to Biotin (which I’ve been taking for weeks). However, when I dug deeper to see how much they were taking, it was in the 5,000-7,500mcg range. Me? I’ve been taking a mere 600. So I’m going to up the dose a bit and see if that slows down the impending baldness. Seriously, who would even be looking at my wedding dress if I were bald? 🙂

I’m now convinced that Facebook is the single worst place to be if you’re on a diet. Honestly, I’ve never seen so many fabulous (and completely UN-healthy) recipes. It’s killing me. I thought I would share one today because if I were not on a diet, this baby would be whipped up tonight. I hunted through 20+ shares trying to find the source to credit, but eventually gave up. So my credit is facebook (ha ha).

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Ingredients
1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
1 10 oz can Evaporated Milk
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs (slightly beaten)
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted
1 cup coarsely crushed pecans 

1/2 cup toffee bits (optional)

How to Make
Preheat oven to 350
Spray a 9×13 baking pan lightly with cooking/baking spray
In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine.
Pour into your prepared pan.
Sprinkle your entire box of cake mix on top, followed by your nuts or graham crackers and toffee chips.
Pour your melted butter evenly on top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

Note:
serve with ice cream or whipped cream

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Mmmm pumpkin dump cake! I definitely want a warm piece right now!! I’ve been noticing that I am very much a stress eater. I used to think I ate when I was bored (which was likely true) but over the past few weeks when things have been so miserable, I’ve found myself literally *needing* to bake brownies or make cookies. I think it’s my internal coping mechanism. I also think it’s one of the reasons my stress level has been so ridiculously high – when I’m stressed I want to bake, can’t bake cause of the diet, stress doubles.

So I’m trying to deal with these baking urges by drinking a cup of coffee instead. We bought a coffee grinder and ground up some of the coffee we purchased over the weekend (not the stuff that fell on the floor! 😉 ) and our kitchen smells so incredible that I never want to leave.

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful outside and I monkeyed around in the garden and went for a walk. Too bad it’ll be back in the 50s next week when I’m off of work. I need to learn how to plan these things better.

It’s hard to believe it’s October, but I’m excited for this month. It’s Ben’s mom’s b-day and my mom’s in a couple of weeks. I have midterms – which aren’t fun but signify a huge milestone in the semester. I’ve got my week of vacation and I plan on tackling some solo wedding dress shopping with a fresh perspective. Plus, we’ve got our fun alumni weekend in La Crosse coming up. Oh, and I plan on losing 5 pounds this month. Why not, right? 🙂

What’s your goal for October? Have you ever made a recipe you found on Facebook?