Yes, Halloween Town and Hocus Pocus have become Halloween childhood staples, but for me nothing can replace Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. This movie used to give me complete nightmares. . .I still have difficulty watching when they kidnap Santa Claus.
Have you tried this flavor? I haven't been lucky enough to find it, but I'm keeping a look out -- only a few more weeks of gorging on pumpkin-flavored goods (minus pumpkin pie. . .but we've already been through that) Definitely click on the link below it has a bunch of little kid online games that are Halloween-themed: perfect for passing the time in lecture
As Kelli mentioned here this past Monday was Food Day! So of course I spent my whole day in the kitchen!
I made both soup and quiche for the first time. Very exciting! I used this recipe for the quiche because I'm not a huge crust person. It was delish! I need to improve my crust-shaping skills but other than that it was eggy and cheesy goodness..with some veggies of course ;)
And as far as the soup goes..I didn't really use a recipe. Oops. I had some kale left over so I put that into a pot with some veggie broth, let it simmer for a bit and then added roasted butternut squash, white beans, broccoli and carrots - yum!
Drizzle of honey makes them perfect for a sunny fall day
I'm apologizing in advance. I know my SMG professor would knock off major points for starting a discussion with an apology, but I felt the need to do it. I am going to be talking about another pumpkin recipe. I know. I promise I do eat more than just pumpkin, which you'll see the other 11 months of the year, but bare with me one more week, that's all I'm asking.
Aren't these so festive?! My roommate made them for a bakesale -- I was the designated sprinkler. I didn't get to try them, but they completely sold out so I'm guessing they were good.
Before going any further, I have to mention my weekend. I went with two friends and saw Boy & Bear at the Great Scott. This venue is awesome! So small and intimate, it felt like I was seeing a group of friends performing rather than going to a "show." Although we got there a bit late, the songs we were there for were incredible. The lead singer's voice had such warmth and depth, that when combined with folk instruments like a banjo and acoustic guitar, I couldn't help but feel goofy with happiness and comfort. Please download some of their stuff!
Okay, on to the food! My Monday was beyond insane. No classes, yet I left the apartment at 8:45am and didn't get home until 8:45pm -- exactly 12 hours later (okay I had a 30min break where I came home to make lunch, so not a true 12 hours). Although my feet killed and all I wanted was my Victoria's Secret Boyfriend sweatpants, I was in a stupidly good mood all day. Everything just seemed so wonderful. I was that annoying person walking around with my iPod, smiling and tapping my hand to the beat of the music.
During the 30 minutes between the gym and physical therapy, I was able to come home and make a quick lunch (more like lunch part 1, with part 2 three hours later). Because it was 11:30, I wasn't in the mood for "real" food, but I had already had my puffins and peanut butter breakfast earlier in the morning. Sifting through the fridge I realized I still had a container with canned pumpkin in it. Knowing I wanted something pumpkin-tasting but not entirely sure what that something was, I checked up on my usual blogs, one of which being Chocolate Covered Katie. Katie specializes in healthier desserts. How could you not love a blog that promotes both chocolate any time of the day and sneaking in vitamins, minerals, and protein? After reading her post, I clicked on her Recipe Page mainly out of habit. Well, I like to think the food gods guided my clicking because in front of me was a picture of her Banana Pancakes for One. As much as I love my oatmeal and cereal, I adore pancakes. And pancakes for early lunch? Perfection. I altered her recipe by subbing in pumpkin for the banana, but I'm excited to try the banana ones soon!
Besides now having a single-serving pancake recipe that fills me up in my mental recipe list, I also gained the most wonderful knowledge: honey and pumpkin are meant for each other. Seriously. Have some pumpkin bread? Put honey on it.
P.S. The recipe itself if vegan, just swap agave for the honey and you're all set!
Ingredients:
1/3 cup flour (I used all purpose, but I'm planing on trying oat flour, I'll let you know how it goes)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Mix the dry ingredients together. I like to do this in a large measuring bowl to save on dishes.
In a separate bowl, combine the three liquid ingredients. Once combined, add in the dry mix to the liquid mixture. Stir to get rid of any flour lumps that may remain.
Heat a skillet and make your pancakes!
Make your day better and make these pancakes! And don't forget to finish them off with a drizzle of honey!
I also made mini pumpkin loaves, but for some reason the middles exploded ALL over my oven
As you can probably tell from my Death Cab for Cutie post, I'm a music person...also a concert person. Now what's making me smile this monday is the fact that I'm going to two this week! What's even better is that one of them is for free! I'm going to two shows at the Paradise- so stoked.
Tomorrow night I will be seeing Naked and Famous with my roommate..for free! Someone I know won tickets and didn't know who the band was..so he gave them to me. Score. Thanks Joey!
Friday I will be seeing We Were Promised Jetpacks with my boyfriend. We saw them open for Jimmy Eat World last fall and they were awesome!
And for my food mention of the day we have a list of The Twenty Healthiest Foods Under $1. Let's save some money so we can buy more concert tickets!
Move over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day for my new favorite holiday: National Food Day. Okay, maybe second favorite, the December holiday season just can't be topped. From this year on, October 24th is officially National Food Day; a day that celebrates affordable, sustainable, healthy foods.
Technology is a wonderful thing. There's no way I'd be able to function without my laptop. Walking to class without my iPod? My whole day would be thrown off. As much as I love and am attached to my gadgets, I'm not a big supporter of technology getting into my food. Let me preface with I am not saying that all food technology is bad. Not at all. Over the past 100 years we have found ways to use technology to make our foods safer, improve shelf-life, and feed hundreds of thousands more than we would have without technology. However, all these great advancements are ones that simply improved or made available whole, nutritious foods. The technologies that I'm not a fan of are what I like to call "creators of food-like products."
Processed foods are not food in my opinion, they are food-like or food-containing. Look at the ingredient list. Anything with words you wouldn't be able to draw without needing an organic chemistry background fall into this category. Not only are these foods harmful to our health, they are also harmful to the environment and to workers.
At it's core, Food Day is about fighting for our health. Making changes in your diet and shopping practices are not enough. For long term results, we need to make changes at the national level. Policies that protect workers, the environment, food safety, and food security are essential in order to claim back our health and give future generations a country that will support their well-being. On the Food Day website, you have the opportunity to ask your members of Congress to support the Eat Real agenda. Click here to read the message and what the Eat Real agenda is all about. In a nut-shell, the Eat Real agenda asks the government to reform factories that harm the environment, support fair working conditions for food and farm workers, promote a healthier diet by having the government buy more fruits and vegetables and make buying produce easier for people on food stamps, and make fresh, healthy foods more widely available, particularly in rural and impoverished urban areas.
Food affects everyone. Along with art and music, its one of the few common denominators we all share. Grab a friend, family member, co-worker, classmate, teacher, neighbor, basically anyone who eats food and go find Food Day events in your area. To find events click HERE. The better educated we are about our food system, the better we'll be able to change it and improve upon it.
One more quick thing then I promise I'll let you explore the Food Day website yourself. There is a free cookbook you can download from the webstie. FREE. It features healthy recipes using sustainable ingredients that are designed by well-known chefs: Jamie Oliver, Mario Batali, Emeril, and so many more! DOWNLOAD THIS NOW!
