Here's a great seasonal pumpkin bread pudding that will fill your kitchen with a wonderful aroma. We like ours with raisins, but feel free to use dried cranberries. One of our favorite ways of eating this pudding is with a drizzle of good-quality maple syrup, which is why this dessert would also make a pretty good brunch dish.

_{Pumpkin Bread Pudding © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com}

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Chicken soup may be for the soul, but this ice cold pumpkin smoothie is for my sore throat. Instead of my usual coffee, I hankered after a cold drink that would slide down slowly yet easily and that would also pack a nutritional punch. Normally I'd throw a banana, some yogurt and some fresh or frozen berries in the blender, but as it's fall, I thought I'd make good use of my canned pumpkin, so here it is: a healthy, low fat pumpkin smoothie.

_{Pumpkin Smoothie Photo © 2009 Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com}

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Here's a very easy baked chicken dish that requires no added fat. There's plenty of flavor, thanks to the Middle-Eastern-style spices, which add a slight sweetness to the dish. Enjoy this low-fat Middle Eastern Chicken with some whole-grain couscous, rice, or even some creamy polenta.

_{Middle Eastern Chicken Photo © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

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In general, soup ought to be a wonderful way to improve your nutrition, but many soups are high in fat and calories, and very high in sodium. While there are some good alternatives at the grocery store, you can make flavorful, healthy soups at home, without all the additives of the store-bought variety. Here are six delicious low-fat, low-calorie soups to get you started.

_{Broccoli Soup © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

Enjoy a quick and easy seasonal dessert by stirring canned pumpkin purée, along with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, into some instant pudding and pie mix. I like to do this with butterscotch-flavored pudding, but vanilla pudding works just as well. Remember to use nonfat milk to keep this dessert low fat, and if you're looking to reduce the sugar content too, use a sugar-free pudding mix. Top this super-easy pumpkin pudding with a few pieces of candy corn or with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping (with two mini chocolate chip eyes to make a little ghost).

_{Photo © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

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What's more frightening than the goblins and grim reapers that show up on your doorstep at Halloween? The fat and sugar content of all that candy. Now I don't want to be a party pooper here. I want to enjoy Halloween and enter into the spirit of things as much as the next person. And my kids would never forgive me if I declared a moratorium on all Halloween candy. But I do have some ideas for limiting the excess so that everyone can enjoy a happy and healthy Halloween. Now what's so scary about that?

_{Halloween Candy © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

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Many of us are preoccupied with food, spending much of our day planning what we're going to eat, what we're not going to eat, coming up with strategies for avoiding temptation, giving in to temptation, feeling bad about it, resolving not to do it again, only to reach for yet another slice of pizza or piece of candy to assuage our guilt. And so it goes on.

If you recognize this pattern, then two books may be of interest. Find out more in Why We Overeat

_{Image Courtesy of Greenleaf Book Group Press}

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With the kids back in school, days and evenings seem fuller than ever, with an endless list of appointments, music lessons, after-school sports, meetings and so forth. Who has time to cook? When life becomes this hectic, it's time to bring out the slow cooker. With fall in full swing, and winter not so far off, it makes perfect sense to have some warm, comforting dish cooking nicely while we're busy with other things. With most recipes requiring no added fat, it's also a great way to prepare a healthy low-fat dinner.

So if you can spare 10 or 15 minutes in the morning to chop ingredients, you will be rewarded at the end of the day with a delicious meal that will fill your house with all kinds of wonderful smells.

Here's how to cook low fat with your slow cooker.

_{Slow Cooker photo ©2009 Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com}

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These little pumpkin squares make a perfect treat for your Halloween party. Light in texture, yet deliciously moist, they pack in a mere 63 calories per square, with only 1.5 grams of fat. Pumpkin itself is highly nutritious, but using whole-wheat flour and only a 1/4 cup of sugar makes these squares almost healthful. A smattering of chocolate chips adds a little decadence. The biggest challenge is limiting yourself to just one.

_{Pumpkin Squares © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

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Pumpkin is amazingly versatile. For many, it's simply a pie filling, to enjoy (or endure) once or twice a year during the holidays, but pumpkin can and should be much more than that. So for you pumpkin lovers out there, here are 10 low-fat ways to use pumpkin, ensuring that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

_{Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins © Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com, Inc.}

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