Whole30 Pumpkin Bread

Disclaimer (please read this first!):  As any of you seasoned Whole30 veterans know, the Whole30 program states clearly in their menu planning/food restrictions, that eating any baked goods such as pancakes or muffins while on the detox is forbidden.  I've read their reasons and respect them completely. With that said, this is MY journey, and I'm making the choice to do this program on my terms. This is my 2nd round of Whole30. The first time we did it, we followed it to the letter. We had great results, detoxed off sugar, curbed my stress baking habit and made lasting changes to our eating. 

This time around, I'm still following Whole30 eating but I'm letting myself be a little more lenient. What's that mean? 

Well, Whole30 advises that you consume 3 meals a day. I'm eating 5. I know that my blood sugar likes it when I eat small meals throughout the day so I'm keeping my 5 small meals.

Whole30 also advises against drinking your food or using protein supplements, which meant that in round 1, my beloved Shakeology was out. Technically, fruit smoothies were also off the table since the creators of the Whole30 program prefer you eat rather than drink your food. With that said, we found quickly in our first round, that not having that easy, portable morning meal was a killer. So we agreed to ditch the Shakeology for 30 days and instead stuck with fruit/veggie smoothies. While those easy to make/grab smoothies helped us make it through the breakfast rush, speaking for myself, I missed my Shakeology. Not so much for the taste (although that's totally a piece of it!), but for the filling convenience of it. Fruit and veggies in liquid form just don't tide me over like my Shakeology does. So this round I'm not only keeping my liquid breakfast, but I'm keeping my Shakeology.

Another small "cheat"? Baked goods in small amounts. I need something that's not eggs every day, especially on those busy weekdays. There's only so many hard boiled eggs a girl can eat! Again, MY choice, MY journey. If you're committed to following Whole30 to a T, bookmark this bad boy for when your 30 days are up and keep scrolling!

Ingredients: 

1 cup canned pumpkin
3 pitted medjool dates
1 ripe banana
1 Tbls coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/4 c. coconut flour
1/2 c. almond meal
1 Tbls cinamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a bread pan with coconut oil spray.  

2. In a food processor, blend the pumpkin, dates, banana, coconut oil, eggs and vanilla.  

3. In separate bowl, mix together coconut flour, almond meal, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, baking soda, salt and baking powder. 

4. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until well blended.  

5. Pour batter into bread pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  

6. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before cutting or removing from pan.