be brave with your life

October 7, 2014

Fall Moody Board

September 17, 2014

My sister Claire is the fashion queen in our family. She has amazing style and her Pinterest is insanely beautiful! She's a curator at heart :) I asked her to put together a fall fashion inspired mood board for us (above). Fall has the best colors. This past weekend I drank apple cider and pumpkin spiced coffee...I also ate pumpkin doughnuts, pear-spiced yogurt, an apple-oat scone AND a caramel apple!!!! Seriously a good weekend :) Fall is HERE!! I'm ready to layer up and wear booties (just hope it doesn't get too cold, too quickly!)!!

I used this gluten free scone mix to make the apple oat scones. I got the mix at World Market along with a blueberry mix. The best ever. Couldn't be easier either--just add oil and water. YUM! I'd definitely recommend it!

Cheers to cozy sweaters, pumpkin pie, apple picking, You've Got Mail, scarves, football games, chai tea, apple cider & flannel! ;)

Pumpkin Doughnuts + A Coupon + A Cookbook

October 5, 2013

If you aren't on the Sur La Table mailing list, you should be! :) I received a coupon in the mail for $10 off last week, so I took it in and got this doughnut pan for $1.14. Steal!! I also signed Grant up for the mailing list (haha!) so we'll get 2 coupons next time! :) The woman at Sur La Table said they'll be sending another coupon out before the holidays, so you can get a cheap doughnut pan too, if you sign up!

Doughnuts are one of my husband's favorite foods! We used to get the ones at the Farmer's Market all the time (on Saturdays) before we went grain free (we still do, occasionally! I mean seriously, how can you resist??). He had two tests the other week, so I decided as a treat to surprise him with doughnuts! I got this recipe from Danielle Walker's amazing blog, Against All Grain. She just came out with a cookbook last summer. It's one of the only cookbooks I feel like I would use every. single. week. I need to save up and buy it!! It's SO GOOD. If you're gluten/grain free or paleo, you would love her cookbook. Find the recipe here--->Baked Spice Pumpkin Doughnuts.

*The only change I made was using unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk instead of coconut milk because we were out. They were still really delicious.

In her recipe she says to "pour" the batter into the mold. I found that my batter was pretty thick and not really a pouring consistency. I ended up putting it into a ziplock bag and pipping it into the pan. It worked really well.

Even though powdered sugar is sugar and we usually try to limit our sugar, this was a treat and I went all out!! :) The powdered sugar really made them feel like doughnuts. Next time I make them I'll have to try her glaze recipes! Yum. A few more pictures to tempt you! :)

Ohhh the sugar, the powdered sugar!

P.S. A few more delicious fall recipes: frittata pizza and butternut squash soup with apples & coconut cream

Quick, Easy, & Perfectly Crispy Butternut Squash Fries

October 3, 2013

The Secret to Perfectly Crispy Butternut Squash Fries, 3 Easy Steps

There are a few easy steps to creating PERFECTLY crispy butternut squash fries! (You can also do these same steps for crispy sweet potatoe fries!) No one likes limp french fries. Here's the trick...

>>>> SLICE, BAKE then BROIL! <<<

I can't believe that last spring was my first time cooking butternut squash! It is so delicious and has become a staple in our diet. We love to cook it on the stove top with garlic, bake it in the oven then mash it up, make soup out of it, and slice it thin and make fries. Yum! This is our no fail recipe for perfect butternut squash fries, nice and crispy. I like to eat them with salsa, Grant likes to eat them with BBQ sauce and of course you can always use ketchup. Hope you get a chance to try it out this fall! They're delicious and squash is in season, so it's usually pretty cheap!

PREP TIME: 7minutes (slice, dice, toss!) COOK TIME: 25-30minutes BAKE + 5-7 min BROIL

INGREDIENTS 2 butternut squash 2 Tb. olive oil salt to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then put your squash in the microwave for 45sec--1min to soften the skin, making it easier to peel. Cut the ends off the squash and peel the skin off. I recommend this peeler. It has saved me so much time! Slice the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then slice the rest up to resemble fries/wedges. For perfect technique check out this 48sec. Martha Stewart video on how to cut butternut squash.

2. Toss your fries with olive oil, add salt and lay out on a baking sheet.

3. Bake fries for 25-30minutes to cook the squash. Then turn your oven off and put the broiler on HIGH. Broil fries for 5-7minutes watching closely.This makes them nice and crispy! When they're as crispy as you like, pull them out. That's it, you're done! :) I don't bother flipping mine halfway through. Sometimes one side is more done than the other, but it doesn't make a difference at all. They are so good!!!

You can also sprinkle garlic salt on your fries or even cinnamon for a little sweetness.