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Easy Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Yum

October 9, 2018 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD 1 Comment

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Fall is here which mean it’s time for pumpkin spice everything. You can call me basic but I also like to enjoy all things pumpkin spice. What I don’t like is the fake pumpkin spice BS flavors popping up everywhere. I would like to personally put an end to all things fakely flavored with pumpkin and doused in grams and grams of sugar. If only I had that kind of power.

Here’s the thing, pumpkin tastes DELICIOUS if given the opportunity to shine on its own. Just search “pumpkin” in my blog’s sidebar and see for yourself. However, most people don’t actually want the taste of pumpkin, they want the taste of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and, of course, sugar. I’m all about calling a spade a spade, so that’s why everyone loves their PSL (aka pumpkin spice latte) it’s because they love their sugar with a side of coffee & basic-ness.

Pumpkin Spice Everything

While I love that you all love pumpkin so much (so do I) many people actually love pumpkin-flavored items. Some of these items have pumpkin in them but many have other flavors to make them taste like pumpkin pie.

What makes pumpkin pie taste delicious?! Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and of course, sugar. When looking at a pumpkin spice in the spice aisle, you’ll find that these are the main ingredients in such a blend. You can certainly make the pumpkin spice yourself, or you can be like me and get caught up in the season and buy a bottle for yourself.

My favorite pumpkin spice is from Trader Joe’s and has the following ingredients: Cinnamon, Ginger, Lemon Peel, Nutmeg, Cloves, Cardamom. I’ve also heard Primal Palate makes a good one too.

Sugar with a Side of Coffee

If you know me, you know I like to call you out for drinking sugar with a side of coffee. If you can’t drink coffee without sugar then chances are you just don’t like coffee and/or you haven’t found the right coffee. Let’s take a look at this Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks for one moment.

A whopping 48g of sugar in a 16 oz. “grande” portion. Now, of course, people have found hacks where you can order less pumps so that’s a good step but holy crap, let’s maybe make this a once in a while treat!

Now that I’ve pulled my jaw off the floor, here are the ingredients that go along with the above facts so we can see the whole picture.

The good news is that there is actual pumpkin in there and they have significantly decreased the number of ingredients over the past 3 years. The bad news? Sugar is the main ingredient in the pumpkin spice part of this drink, womp, womp, womp.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

If we’re being honest, this recipe has zero actual pumpkins in it. However, it tastes like pumpkin pie AND  there is no added sugar in this recipe, so don’t go anywhere. What this recipe does have is that it’s easy (and cheap) to make, it tastes delicious, AND it’s not loaded with sugar and/or artificial colors/flavors.

pumpkin spice latte

You can use any coffee you have on hand, frankly, I use whatever coffee is leftover from my first cup of the day. For whatever reason, my first cup of coffee needs to be hot and black, even in the middle of summer. So I use the leftover (or use Chameleon Cold Brew’s cold brew concentrate) and then use whatever type of milk I have on hand. Lately, I’ve been loving Oatly’s oat milk but I’ve used regular whole milk as well as Ripple’s Pea Milk.

You can make multiple lattes for the price of one at your local s-bucks AND you end up getting far less sugar and far more nutrients. Win-win-win. Heck, if you like your friends (or spouse) make them one as well!

Pro Tip: Don’t have pumpkin pie spice? That’s ok! Use a sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg and call it a day.

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pumpkin spice latte

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup strong coffee/espresso
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, optional

Instructions

  1. Heat coffee as directed by your choice of coffee (or espresso).
  2. In a small sauce pan add milk, pumpkin pie spice & vanilla.
  3. Heat over medium heat (Watch carefully) until warm to touch.
  4. Whisk either with a whisk or with a frother and pour over coffee. Sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice.
  5. Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @@thesassydietitian on Instagram

Have you ever had a Pumpkin Spice Latte?! If so, try this recipe and let me know what you think 🙂 Just don’t be expecting a sugar rush (or crash!)

xoxo,

Sassy

..

Pin Now, Have a Latte Later

pumpkin spice latte

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  1. 20+ Delicious & Nutritious Pumpkin Products & Recipes for National Pumpkin Day 2018 - The Sassy Dietitian says:
    October 26, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    […] Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto with Seared Scallops by Once Upon a Pumpkin […]

    Reply

@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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