Packed with apple, pumpkin, banana and cinnamon, and free of refined sugar, these healthy vegan muffins make for a great autumn snack, small breakfast, or guilt-free dessert! One of my favorite September activities is apple picking. But since it's pretty warm and summery feeling in San Diego in September, sometimes I forget that the apple orchards are ready to be visited. A few years we've been too late in the apple picking game and either a.) go when the orchards are pretty picked over, or b.) miss apple picking all together (like last year!). BUT NOT THIS YEAR! Nope, in 2016 I was on high apple picking alert! In the San Diego area, the best area to visit for apple picking is Julian - a cute little town I've talked about before. It's about a 75-minute drive from my house, and it's like ... [Read More]
fall recipes
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with a Cinnamon Pecan Topping
Happy Friday!! Before I get to this deliciousness, my first pumpkin recipe of the fall... ...I have a few things to chat about. One, after much time and frustration I HAVE FIXED MY ANNOYING BLOG ISSUE! I thought that something was funky a couple weeks ago while I was in Europe, but I thought it had more to do with my traveling and using random Internet networks than anything else. When I came home, it seemed to get even worse, but then I had to get ready for my Seattle trip. Long story short, yesterday was the first time I had the hours & energy to figure out what the heck was happening. The first person I spoke to at Bluehost (my server) was very little help and sent me into a tizzy trying to figure out what all of this technical stuff was that could have been the culprit. ... [Read More]
Getting My Kitchen Mojo Back: Lentil Tomato & Spinach Soup {vegan}
Hi there! Hope that you've been enjoying your weekend. Mine has been nice and relaxing. Usually when I get back from traveling, especially with jet lag and all, I feel like I need a good week to recover. This feeling of getting back into a groove has started to take shape, but it won't last... because I have a work trip to Seattle this week! I'll only be gone a couple of days though. With prepping for my Amsterdam work trip and getting ready for vacation, being gone a couple of weeks, and now getting myself organized back at home (hello tons of work to catch up on, piles of laundry, a needy puppy and a dirty house!), I feel that I haven't been at all creative in the kitchen in probably about a month. With nothing on my schedule this weekend, I was happy to have time to get my kitchen ... [Read More]
Cinnamon Apple & Banana Pancakes
With cooler temperatures hitting most of the country as fall is well underway, you'd barely realize it living in San Diego. We did have a few days last week with temperatures around 70 degrees. I kept seeing people walking around with heavy jackets and boots on, and all I could think is that San Diegans are desperate to pull out their chilly weather clothing! This weekend was back to warmer temperatures. My favorite is when temperatures are in the low 70s, but don't think I'm complaining. Laying on the beach earlier today and enjoying the gorgeous warm sunshine wasn't too terrible. ;-) Even though it still feels a lot like summertime, I've been embracing a lot of autumn things -- including my pumpkin obsession lately, picking up some fall-ish goodies during a farmer's market trip ... [Read More]