One of my favorite autumn annual traditions is going apple picking. This year, my husband and I have already gotten our apple picking on in CT - complete with a jug of apple cider and apple cider donuts. We swaddled our 1-month old baby girl up and brought her along for her first taste of our apple picking tradition, though she wouldn't know that she was quite the popular girl at the orchard because she snoozed the entire time. After I go apple picking, I always love to bake up a storm. I'll whip up some of my favorite recipes with apples, and then I always play around with new ones as well. Since I currently have quite the job of breastfeeding my milk monster (for real, she went from 5 pounds to 8 pounds seemingly in the blink of my eyes!), my focus has been on creating recipes ... [Read More]
oatmeal cookies
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies [Gluten Free & Vegan]
Hi friends! I am super excited because I'm heading to Lake Tahoe tomorrow for a getaway with my hubby! I've never gone skiing before, so wish me luck. We're also planning on trying snowshoeing, and I found a bunch of restaurants that are my style -- including a couple of vegan and gluten free specific eateries that I'm looking forward to trying out. I'll certainly be recapping my trip next week, but today, let's talk about another fun topic: cookies, specifically dark chocolate peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies. How's that for a mouthful? There are a few kitchen creations that are my go-to recipes when I'm in the mood for something specific. When I get into what I think of as a cookie monster mode, this is definitely one of my no brainers to make. When I felt the need to make them ... [Read More]
Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Shortbread
Happy Veterans Day! My weekend has been all about having fun and relaxing. I've been super sore lately and decided it was a good idea to let my body rest a bit. My physical therapist has been having me do a lot of glute and hip conditioning exercises. We're treating my calf injury with a sort of all-around approach, not just working out the knots and scar tissue in my calf, but also strengthening my entire left side from my hip down. I think it's great, but I've been working on smaller leg muscles that I probably don't usually target, and it has certainly been leaving me sore! Outside of physical therapy, I've been doing workouts that focus on a lot of my upper body, resulting in achy arms and back muscles. All of last week I felt sore all over the place, and that's why this weekend I've ... [Read More]