It’s been a lovely fall and we are in the height of fall colors here in southeastern Michigan. My favorite time of year! 🍁

The weekend prior to this past one, Alec and I went to northern Michigan for our annual fall color trip. It was decently rainy but still a great (quick) time away! I’m all about soaking up the colors whenever and wherever I can! I wish the month would slow down a bit since it feels like it’s going by too quickly!

How is your October going??

Sharing my usual end of the month round-up of recent eats. Lots to share with you!

I would love to know: what’s been the best food you’ve eaten so far this week?? 🌟

Recent eats October edition

Backing up to the end of September, we hosted Alec’s dad for a weekend. I always enjoy the opportunity to make more food for more people!

A Friday evening dinner of Lake Huron trout w/ Jamaican jerk seasoning, served w/ roasted potatoes, salad, and steamed broccoli. I was waiting for a good opportunity to take the trout out of the freezer since it was more than we would eat just the two of us in one night, but less than we would eat for two nights (which is what we normally do; cook once and eat leftovers the next night). Three people to the rescue!

Chocolate coconut milk pudding w/ raspberry compote for dessert. 🍫

The next morning we had a brunch of waffles w/ apple compote, bacon, apples + pears w/ cinnamon, and coffee. (For the waffle recipe, I use actual eggs.)

We went to the Motown Museum in downtown Detroit which I had never been to which is somewhat depressing as someone who has lived in metro Detroit my entire life!! 🤦‍♀️ Highly recommend going!

Another new experience having dinner at Metzger’s, a German restaurant on the west side of Ann Arbor. For some reason I didn’t realize they had such good food! (Hence me not making a point to go there before now which is also depressing to have missed such opportunity up until now).

I epically enjoyed my smoked pork chops and had leftovers for lunch and part of dinner the next day. Pickled beets and cabbage on the side (love my purple foods!).

Dessert at Blank Slate. Mango and raspberry sorbet. 😋

Lately for breakfast I’ve been making these meat and veggie sauté bowls. (Not sure what to call them…). Kale sautéed in olive oil + Himalayan salt, topped w/ bacon + turkey sausage + drizzle of maple + handful of dried mulberries. Served w/ fruit + coffee.

Lunch with my mom at Luxe in Grosse Pointe on the most beautiful fall day! This was the best Greek salad! I was really pleasantly surprised by how good this was.

The Ann Arbor Trader Joe’s is still lacking in the chocolate department. (WHAT is going on??). My kind mother had plenty of chocolate to send me home with.

Win! 🙌

When we went up north we packed most of our food to keep in our AirBnb. (Side note: it was the best AirBnb I have stayed in! So comfortable + clean + cozy).

I made this apple bread that I am obsessed with making (subbing tigernut flour for the almond flour due to my nut sensitivity) to eat along with turkey sausages + coconut yogurts one morning, and farm fresh eggs that the AirBnb hosts had in the fridge for us the next morning. Both mornings were rainy but perfect for relaxing in the AirBnb. 📚

After a Saturday full of fall exploring (scenic driving, walking around Harbor Springs, relaxing at this vineyard), it was so perfect to come back to the AirBnb with dinner I had already made / packed for the trip. 10 out of 10 for relaxing in your pajamas and having an already-prepped dinner next to giant window full of fall color views.

Hamburger pasta w/ side salad. So wonderfully satisfying!

Back at home… sometimes I keep dinners super simple and try to use up whatever veggies / eggs / etc we may have on hand. Scrambled eggs w/ onion + cilantro, random leftover sautéed cabbage, and baked potato w/ plenty of olive oil + salt.

Another simple dinner I made was after an absolute fiasco when I attempted to make short ribs. I was so looking forward to finally giving this recipe a go since I had had them in our freezer for a while and was waiting for when I might have more time to attempt making them.

Unfortunately they turned out quite terribly!!! 😫 We think the meat was just pretty bad which is annoying because the place I got them from is generally a good source for meats and I paid quite a lot given they hardly had any meat on them and we couldn’t even stomach them. 😑

SO, the next night (when I was expecting us to have short rib leftovers…) I had to make dinner again and totally wing it, but thankfully ended up pulling together a much more palatable yet simple dinner of frittata w/ onion + kale, more kale sautéed on the side w/ dried prunes + leftover (from the freezer) gingerbread muffins. Dinner was saved this second night and we were full of praise that we weren’t eating the wretched short ribs. 😑😑

IN CONTRAST to the short rib debacle, last night was one of my favorite dinners I’ve made this month. Salmon seasoned w/ salt + garlic powder + paprika, sautéed brussels, yellow potatoes roasted w/ coconut oil + salt + garlic powder, and my favorite red pepper sauce.

Alec wisely claims that you can never have too much sauce, unless it becomes a soup, and even then it is not too much sauce. 👌

Lately I’ve been snacking on a jalapeño beef stick pretty much every day. Absolutely love these! (Vastly superior to the original flavor IMO).

Steak dinner for my brother’s birthday while watching the Lions game. Topped w/ mushroom sauce and served w/ baked potato + yellow beans + salad!

We had another fall weekend away the weekend prior to when we went up to Harbor Springs. This weekend we were volunteering at a Cru retreat that was being held really close to where my grandparents live, so we stayed with them for the weekend. (Alec and I were both involved w/ Cru as students and interned with Cru for two years following graduation).

After a dinner of hamburgers w/ my parents + grandparents (Alec was busy running the sound system at the retreat) we had pumpkin chocolate chip blondies that I brought / made. I also added a chocolate drizzle because why not?? Pumpkin pie type spices + chocolate is one of THE best combos in my opinion.

Two more recent dinners I’ve enjoyed… cozy dinner of shakshuka w/ roasted potatoes. Always a winner with us!

My favorite veggie + ground beef bolognese. Also very satisfying this time of year. Bolognese recipe is loosely followed from this cookbook. (I add a LOT more seasoning + different veggies). 🥦🥕

I’ve been making pasta salad sometimes for lunches lately. Lentil pasta + veggies + chickpeas + apple cider vinaigrette + plenty of Italian seasoning. Requirement: one of the veggies must be sun-dried tomatoes for necessary flavor punch otherwise you are missing out!

Once in a while I’ll make a big pot of soup to have for lunches throughout the week. I made this Moroccan lentil + date stew x2 for last week. I added extra seasoning (along w/ some allspice).

👩‍🍳 Tip: many recipes can be VASTLY improved by adding extra seasoning and being sure to salt to taste!! (Which often means adding extra salt). This will take many-a-recipe from okay to great.

Everyday Enjoyment

Reading the memoir, Taste

I have very much been enjoying Stanley Tucci’s memoir, Taste! Very entertaining for anyone who loves food + all things culinary. This is so ridiculous that I hesitate to put it on the Internet (😑), but to illustrate to you how little I know about movies + actors + pop culture, I didn’t even know who Stanley Tucci was before reading the memoir (all of which Alec found almost impossible to believe). I read another blogger recommending the memoir and thought, that sounds like something I would find interesting, AND I feel like I should know who this is??? 🤯🤦‍♀️ I have seen some of the movies he is in but again, pay little to no attention to actors and much of the film industry in general. (CLEARLY).

So now we can all rest in the reality of me being much more informed about him and his life. There is some swearing / other things I don’t appreciate throughout the book, but it’s also been very interesting and I find myself laughing out loud throughout.

New candle / candle sand 

Loving this new-to-me method for candles! I bought this candle base on Etsy and have been using it as a more cost-effective way of lighting and enjoying candles. Looking forward to playing around with adding different essential oils, adding different decorative items, and getting different bases to hold the wicks.

Continuing to gradually run more 

Getting back to some running has continued to feel so good! It’s amazing how much stronger and faster I am/feel now that I’m not dealing with a plethora of gut and hormonal problems. It was so discouraging last fall when I could barely jog and didn’t understand the extent to which my health issues were impacting my strength and stamina.

What do you enjoy (or not enjoy) about fall in the area in which you live?

What’s one meal or snack that you’ve found especially delicious lately??

What is your favorite Halloween candy or fall dessert?? 🎃

Have a great rest of your week!

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