I had a Fabulous Friday post all ready before I went on my retreat. But after the retreat, a post on playdoh just didn’t seem fitting.

Because what has really made my life fabulous this week has been silence surrounded by a landscape that is prancing toward fall. I loved wandering among the silently welcoming sisters of Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey who honor and respect the nature that surrounds them and the fruits it produces.

In honor of simplicity and fall, I thought I would share another way to prepare the abundance of squash that seems to explode into our kitchen this time of year. Last week, I discovered a delicious, simple, healthy smoothie that celebrates fall. And the girls actually begged me to make it again!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (adapted from this recipe by Whole Foods Market)

Serves 2 adults or three little stinkers

• 1 cup of some sort of squash puree (I used leftover spaghetti squash with much of the liquid squeezed out)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup of some sort of milk
• 2 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup (more or less to taste)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 5 ice cubes (we skipped this)
• Chopped pecans to sprinkle on top (optional – we also mixed our pecans with gluten-free graham crackers and ground flax seeds to add a pie crust-like flavor and texture)

Throw ingredients into a blender or food processor and mix. Go sit outside on a beautiful fall morning. Enjoy in silence. 🍁