Hello everyone! How is your week going? The fall colors have been amazing and I am sad we are at/past peak fall in that regard. We didn’t have the best spring/summer here in Michigan weather-wise which is making it hard to feel ready for the colder months ahead!!  *Sigh.*

What have you been enjoying in the kitchen lately?? I have been making a lot of simple egg dishes, eating plenty of honeycrisp apples (why we bother we other apple varieties I am not sure when HC are clearly superior…), and starting to get into some warmer and cozier meals.

More details on what has been happening in the kitchen!

THESE fabulous roasted veg. A random combination that I threw together that ended up being amazing. Chopped butternut from my Grandpa’s garden, some brussles, tri-color carrots (found at TJ’s), and a bit of white onion leftover from a previous recipe. Drizzled in avocado oil and plenty of salt + pepper. YUMMM!! I used these as a base at dinner for some runny + sunny eggs and a bit of baked potato w/ butter for some extra carbohydrate.

My dad’s homemade chicken nachos after the Michigan vs. Indiana game while watching more college football. Fresh avocado and my dad’s homemade salsa on the side. (He could open his own restaurant…). Followed by my mom’s delicious chocolate pudding cake w/ homemade whipped cream!

Juicy Kitchen Greek salad with mixed greens, chopped cuc, beets, roasted red peppers, chickpeas, plenty of feta, + grilled chicken. Always refreshing!

More butternut squash that I roasted along with some brussles and yellow onion for a frittata. Also added some parmesan. Served alongside roasted potatoes w/ rosemary, avocado oil, and salt + pepper. I love making frittatas because they are simple and the options are endless!

Lately I have been snacking on my favorite mix of roasted/salted cashews, peanuts, + chocolate chips. Homemade trail mixes are easy to throw together, typically save a lot of $$$, and don’t have all the additives that other store-bought varieties often have!

Post-yoga/before-bed smoothie of frozen mixed berries, avocado, chia seeds, Greek yogurt, cacao powder, dates, and almond milk for blending. Topped with some Kashi cereal for added crunch! It seems like a lot people fear or think it’s “bad” to eat before bed, when really I see no issue with this other than in general it being important that your digestive tract needs the break that happens naturally with sleep (hence the breaking of the fast with breakfast). If you are hungry, enjoy a snack before bed, or need a snack before bed, then by all means have a nighttime/evening snack!

Getting ready for Saturday morning brunch with all the shakshuka and homemade sourdough. Eaten pronto so as to not overcook the eggs!

More Thai mango curry served over quinoa w/ side salad. This time I added some carrots into the mix as well. Sadly my mangoes were not very good which was a bit of a bummer. It is always frustrating to wait days for a fruit to ripen and then to be disappointed cutting into it!

MORE butternut, this time in a quiche from Juicy featuring butternut, cauliflower, poblabo peppers, and shallots. We get our crusts from Crust Bakery which is the best! Salad with tomatoes, cucumber, and beets on the side.

Typical snacking as of late as been my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and honeycrisp with peanut butter. Can’t go wrong here!!

In addition to 3 meals, I generally recommend about 3 snacks throughout the day. Benefits of mindfully snacking include: keeping metabolism humming, preventing blood sugar from going to low (or to high at meals), preventing us from getting overly hungry which then makes it harder to be mindful once we eat and to stop eating at a comfortable level of fullness, helping us meet nutritional needs, and in general adding taste, pleasure, and satisfaction to life! (Always a good thing 🙂 ). I generally do a morning pre-exercise/before breakfast snack, afternoon snack, and evening snack.

Random salad blend of mixed greens, chopped cuc + tomato + carrot + bell pepper, and white beans for some low-cost protein. Smothered with this lemony tahini dressing.

Warm steel-cut oats topped w/ flax meal, peanut butter, honey, + frozen strawberries. Since fresh produce is also a bit expensive, some days I end up using frozen. I love keeping organic, frozen fruit from Costco on hand for smoothies and oatmeal bowls. Frozen fruit can be just as nutritious as fresh (sometimes even more nutrient-dense) since it is generally frozen at peak freshness. If I am adding frozen fruit to oatmeal like I did here I will simply microwave it a bit so that it is just-thawed. Coffee w/ almond milk on the side for a winning breakfast!!

Everyday Enjoyment:

Michigan football: 7-0. YES! The routine of college football on Saturdays certainly keeps things exciting. My mood for the second half of this upcoming weekend may be *slightly* dependent on the outcome of the Michigan-MSU game…

Late fall sunrises: One thing I do enjoy about the colder months are the often especially beautiful sunrises. I usually don’t get outside for running/walking until 7:30ish (good for these darker months) and it is always a highlight of the day when there is a stunning pink/orange-streaked early-morning sky.

Wednesday evening hot yoga: I have been LOVING the yoga class I have been going to on Wednesday evenings. I definitely prefer to exercise in the morning, but the Wednesday evening class works well for me since I work at Juicy early on Wednesdays. Still going to my favorite Empower studio and have found this class to be my favorite. Intense sweating on a regular basis (via yoga, saunas, etc.) is an excellent way to sweat out a lot of unneeded/harmful toxins that build up in the body! Regular hot yoga is also basically an essential component to my mental health at this point, too, since I began practicing it 10+ years ago. Highly recommend!!

What are you looking forward to about the colder months?
What fall recipes have you been making lately? 

Enjoy the rest of your week!