Make Your Own Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk

I love my hometown. Really, the only bad thing about it is that we don't have a Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's is insane because their prices are good AND they come out with crazy seasonal products that tempt me to drive all the way to Kansas City to get my hands on 'em. I've never gone to KC just for Trader Joe's (yet), but I admit it's typically the last of my itinerary before heading home.

TJ's has some crazy autumnal products, including fall harvest salsa and pumpkin pita crisps, but the one that caught my eye the most was the pumpkin spice almond beverage. I dreamed of a perfect world, a world where my coffee was supported with just the right hint of a sweet and spiced nondairy creamer. I thought, oh my. Think of all the savory, seasonal overnight oats I could create!

But then I remembered I'd have to drive 3 hours to get it.

So, I solved my own problem (and potentially yours, too!) with this recipe. And, bonus! Tomorrow is National Coffee Day, so if you don't have plans... Now you do. :)

Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk

Ingredients
- 2 cups almond milk (you can make your own or use store bought)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin purée
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- Sweeten to taste. I added about 1/2 tbsp maple syrup.

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 7-10 days.

I'm really happy with how easy and sweet this recipe turned out — I think it'll be a go-to for me each year! Would you add it to coffee or just chug it on its own?

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A Fresh Summer Salad I Actually Wanted to Eat

I think I've admitted it on the blog before: I don't love eating salads. And when I say I don't "love" salads, I mean, I will ward them off with a 9-foot pole unless you somehow convince me it's not really a salad. If you needed further proof, I bought some green juice yesterday, hoping I can get my greens in without having to suffer through chewing them up.

But this salad is one I was able to convince myself isn't really a salad. Premium toppings help, like the kind you'd be up-charged $1.25 for if you added them to your salad at a restaurant. For me, the premium topping is always, always goat cheese. If Fear Factor gets revived for a third time and I'm somehow forced to compete, I think I could eat a cockroach if I'm allowed to cover it in goat cheese.


But, really, eating lettuce is definitely more appealing than eating a cockroach...

Goat cheese helps.

Ingredients:

- Mixed greens (I got ours from our CSA membership)

- Pickled radishes (recipe here)

- 4-5 mini peppers

- Goat cheese

- Dressing of choice (I used an oil and vinegar dressing from Newman's Own)

Directions:

The night before (or the morning before you want to eat this for dinner), pickle your radishes. These are great for this recipe, but they can also be tossed in tacos and other yummy meals. When you're ready to eat, rinse the lettuce, chop the peppers, throw in a handful of pickled radishes and top generously with goat cheese. Finish with your dressing of choice.

Ta da! I guess eating salads isn't so bad after all.

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How to Quick Pickle Radishes

Radishes aren’t my favorite veggie in the world, but they’re in season and I’m trying my best to incorporate more of them into my diet! On the other hand, I love pickles, pickle juice, Tommy Pickles and anything else that is in any way related to the juicy snack. I was talking to a chef friend of mine about pickling my radishes (hi, Daniel!), and he suggested I do a “quick pickle”. What comes next is my recipe, not his, because I assure you his would be more exotic and probably contain some crazy ingredient I’ve never heard of (but of course tastes delectable).

Pickled radishes are having a moment in the food scene right now, so if you haven't tried making them yet, now is a great time! I've had them recently in ramen bowls and on street tacos, but they can add an unexpected kick to many recipes if you're creative in the kitchen. Photos below and recipe at the bottom! xo.

Ingredients
- 1/2 lb radishes
- 8 oz. mason jar
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs salt

Directions
Start with one bunch of radishes (about half a pound) and thinly slice them. Place radishes in mason jar. Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir well and pour mixture over radishes — you may have a little more pickling juice than fits in the jar, and that's ok! Store in the fridge for 24 hours, and you're good to go. If you sneak a few before the 24 hours, I won't tell. 😉

This is a pretty basic pickling recipe, so you can use it with cucumbers, onions, carrots, or any veggie, really! For a more unexpected flavor, you can add ingredients like peppercorn, dill, etc. What would you add? Let me know!

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Galentine's Day LaCroix Mocktail

Who's got big Galentine's Day plans? Thanks to Leslie Knope, this holiday has been a "thing" since 2010. All about women celebrating women, the tradition occurs on February 13th — Valentine's Day Eve. Or, really, whenever you want to party with your gal pals... and I say celebrate 'em early and often!

So, here's a toast to my girlfriends:

I love you more than LaCroix

And more than most boys

You make my life sweet

Let's have some treats 🍕🍔🥂

What are we toasting with? Thought you'd never ask! It's time for ...drumroll, please... LACROIX MOCKTAILS! (Or you can put alcohol in it if you want, but I'm accommodating all my #whole30 friends and my pregnant friends and my non-drinking friends and.. well, everybody.)

I have to give recipe credit to my husband on this one. We each made a mocktail with orange LaCroix, and his was much better than mine. In fact, he spit mine out on the first taste. I guess I got a little too adventurous...

Anyway, here it is:

Ingredients:

- Orange juice (make sure it doesn't have any added sugar or ingredients if you're following whole 30)

- Cranberry juice, unsweetened

- Orange LaCroix

- Sea salt

- Cara Cara pink navel oranges — read how to dehydrate them here.

Directions:

1. In a pitcher or mixing glass, pour 4 ounces of orange juice

2. Add 2 ounces cranberry juice

3. The secret ingredient — just a dash of sea salt

4. Pour an entire 12 oz. can of orange LaCroix into the glass

5. Garnish with a dehydrated pink navel orange. It looks pretty, and it ups the flavor game.

6. Serve 'em up! This recipe serves two 8 oz. glasses

And there ya have it! A fun, easy (and guilt free!) drink for your Galentine's party. If you're up for a serious girls night, you could even make a craft from those leftover orange slices. So pretty!

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An Easy Veggie Recipe for Eating In

Each year, millions of students head off to college, warned about the “freshman 15”. What nobody tells you about, friends, is the dreaded NEWLYWED 15. I’m kidding, of course, but gettin’ hitched and moving in with a man is a big lifestyle change! It takes some adjusting to. Since Austin and I got married in late October, we’ve been steadily approaching the coziest time of year, and snuggling while eating pizza just sounds more fun than snuggling while eating.. veggies.


But, we all have goals in life, and one of mine is to eat more veggies. SIGH. Pizza, don’t worry, you are still my first love. For this post, I’m working with Made In Cookware. In their own words, it’s “professional cookware at an amateur price.” And—hey—I think they’re right! I used the 10-inch pan to whip up one of my favorite easy, veggie-friendly recipes. (I made this dish once before on the blog, so you can find it in my ancient history archives from 2014. Aww! Here’s the link.)



In my opinion, the two best things about this frying pan are that it’s oven safe and dishwasher safe. Since it’s stainless, I won’t hesitate to throw it in the dishwasher. Usually, I like to hand wash my nonstick pots and pans, so the surface stays better longer. So, I feel like this is a “Made In” bonus! Less time washing pans; more time to make… out?

What easy veggie recipes are you making this season? Lemme know in the comments! xo.

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Watermelon and Mint Salad (15 Minutes!)

Hi guys! It's #NationalWatermelonDay (lol who makes these things up?), so I wanted to show you one of the easiest, tastiest recipes I make at home. This is one of the best summer salads out there; watermelon is a summer food. Friendly reminder to each of you who keep saying it's about to be fall. Please don't crush my summer-loving dreams yet!

Bonus points: It's pretty healthy unless you're a non-cheese eater! And if you are a non-cheese eater, you could skip the cheese and add a dash of pepper. If you try that version, let me know. I think it would taste good, but I'll be honest, I just made that up off the top of my head — so it is *not* tested and approved.

Here's the tested and approved recipe.

Ingredients
- 1/4 watermelon
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 3 sprigs of mint (bonus points if you pick them from your own garden!)

This recipe serves two as a side salad, or one for lunch. Or if you're REALLY healthy, this could be a great dessert. I'd rather have cheesecake for dessert, but I'll be impressed if this is your dessert.

Directions
Chop up watermelon into bite-sized pieces. Add feta and mint leaves. That's literally it! Eat it!

I honestly don't think this would even take 15 minutes if you're a fast chopper. 15 minutes is more like the time it takes to fix it and eat it. The recipe is easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. to feed a big gang, too! I've made it for baby showers and wedding showers, and it's always a hit.

Oh, also, my mom showed me how to make this. She's the best.

Anyway, let me know if you try that pepper thing! xo!

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Spaghetti with Zucchini Noodles

So I finally made zucchini noodles...

Hands raised if you've tried z noodles — er, zoodles? I first heard about them earlier this year when Austin and I were about to do Whole30, but I didn't actually get around to making them until a few weeks ago.

It's really easy, honestly. You just have to get a vegetable spiralizer, make the "noodles" and cook them in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. The only downside is the zoodles are prone to being watery, so it's best if you can pat them with paper towels, but you'll still need to prep yourself because they're not exactly like eating spaghetti.

But, with a little meat sauce and some basil, it's close enough! To be totally honest, the first time I tried making zucchini noodles I also tried to make this fancy-pants pesto sauce, but I didn't have a food processor, so I used a blender instead. Pro-tip: When recipes call for a food processor, a blender doesn't always do the job. I ended up sitting in the McDonald's drive through that night reminiscing on how far I'd fallen.

So anyway, this is just a simple meat sauce. With no recipe. What did you think this is, a food blog or something?? (My bad.)

I tried spiralizing squash recently, and I liked that a little better than the zucchini. Adding chicken, tomatoes, olive oil and spices really made it yummy. As far as zoodles go, what other recipes should I try?!

Send me your recipes! xoxo

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A Healthy, Easy, Yummy (!) Steak Salad

Y'know what? I'm just gonna come out and say it. Eating healthy can be boring! Most of the time when I try to be healthy I end up eating the same recipes over and over, and I don't even get to add any Chick-Fil-A sauce to anything. It's a struggle, y'know?

THEN some other times you try some cool-girl zoodles recipe and completely ruin it (more on that in a later post).

But then, there are days when the clouds part and a ray of sunlight pours into your brain and you have the idea for an easy, healthy, tasty steak salad. Those are the days I live for.

To be perfectly honest, I don't really like steak. Is that comment going to get me kicked off the internet? But steak is the healthiest red meat that's high in iron, so if you're looking to supplement iron, it's a great option.

And this salad actually made me want to eat steak again, so I'd call it a win-win!

So easy it's crazy.

Ingredients
- Mixed greens
- Steak
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Garbanzo Beans
- Sunflower Seeds
- Goat Cheese

Directions
Grill steak, or pan sear if you live in an apartment (🙋🏼).While steak is cooking, rinse mixed greens, strawberries and blueberries. Toss salad with garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds and crumbled goat cheese.

Now the dressing is where you can make this really fun (or really healthy). If you're trying to make this meal Whole 30, you could remove the garbanzo beans and cheese, use an olive oil dressing, and cry yourself to sleep.

Personally, I used a raspberry vinaigrette. Happy salad days!

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Does Pink Salt Have Health Benefits?

Is anybody into pink himalayan salt? I'm pretty sure this trend came and left all while I was asleep some night in January. When I was introduced to pink salt, my first instinct was ooh, pretty and not how healthy is it?

But after I got over how PRETTY it is, the health questions kicked in — along with a few others.

First off: What on earth is it?
It's normal rock salt, but it's mined from the Punjab region of Pakistan, about 190 miles from the Himalayas.

And it's pink because...?
It contains iron oxide, err, "impurities" in the salt, according to Wikipedia.

Cool. What's iron oxide again?
Insert some fancy science explanation here, also can be used as food coloring.

If you're looking for a reason to get into pink salt, the internet can give you plenty. Sources say it can increase hydration, prevent muscle cramping, lower blood pressure, strengthen bones, aid with detox, boost energy, relax your body and improve sleep.

The only problem is there's no peer-reviewed scientific research proving any of this to be true. I mean, it could be... But it also could just be the himalayan salt marketers knowing how to make you wanna buy it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Back to how pretty it is, and how it is actually useful for some stuff.

Some people say "salt lamps" will release negative ions, cleanse the air and can even improve your mood. It might be true, or maybe this tea light just looks cool sitting inside a salt formation.

One place I actually think himalayan salt is useful is the kitchen; that is, kitchen accessories.

There are some brilliant ways to use himalayan salt, like this salt block from Crate and Barrel. You can use it in food prep for grilled items, or even use it as a serving plate for a cool presentation.

AND this mortar and pestle set from Williams Sonoma blew me away. It's carved from a salt block, so your guac will have the perfect salty flavor and you don't even have to add anything to it (besides, y'know, all the garlic and cilantro).

What do you guys think about pink salt? Into it? Not so much?

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Date Syrup Iced Coffee

I'll admit something about coffee. When it comes to caffeinated beverages, I'll try anything once. My go-to is a vanilla latte (hot) or a honey latte (cold), but I've been known to brake for lavender, rosemary pear, or maybe even a little gas station coffee if I'm feeling really wild.

All that being said, I was recently introduced to date syrup. Yeah, you know where this is going...

Date syrup is a really great alternative to many processed sugars. It's all natural, even vegan. So my friend Beth is a barista (and extraordinary photographer, but we'll get there). I brought my bottle of date syrup to her one day and said, "think we can make a latte using this?" We were skeptical. We tried it. It was good. I think Beth's exact words were, "If this were sold at Whole Foods or something, I'd probably buy it." And that, my friends, is a solid testimonial.

So, since not everybody has access to an espresso machine, I'm giving ya the easy-breezy version of the recipe, which doesn't require much explanation. Beth came over to my loft and snapped the photos of our new recipe!

Start with cold brew concentrate.

Add cream and date syrup to taste.

Stir.

Enjoy!

P.S. Beth has shot some really gorgeous weddings recently — you should check them out here.

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