At this house we love tortillas. When we made the switch to a plant-based diet a few years back I started reading the label of everything I put in my shopping cart so I could learn what didn't have animal products included. But I also couldn't help but learn how many weird chemicals, preservatives and coloring was added to some of my favorite foods. Tortillas surprisingly topped that list.
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Who needs fast food when you have bananas and a blender. Seriously, I wonder what I did before my Vitamix changed my life. Now, I always keep ripe bananas on hand so I'm never more than 60 seconds away from a meal.
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Ready or not, fall is upon us. Rather than cringe and long for summer as it slips away, I chose to embrace each day as the unique day it is, whether it's summer, fall or wacky weather somewhere in between.
This time of year is magical. I love to get up each day and open the back door to see what surprises are on the other side. Some mornings it's strikingly cooler, some are just humid, others are foggy and dewy. Whatever the weather I enjoy watching the constant stream of squirrels that gather in my yard to pack out as many fallen pecans as they can. My dog, Henery, is especially fond of watching this from the window as well. When he isn't napping he's patrolling for squirrels.
In Texas the weather has cooled off a lot, but isn't what most would call cool. We are down from the 100- 90 degree days to a much more tolerable 80 degree high. I just love it and to me it is cool. It may not be cold and crisp just yet, but it's refreshing all the same. It puts me in the fall mood.
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Maybe it's because this is Texas, or maybe its because it has so many of my favorite ingredients in one recipe, but I LOVE salsa.
It's my go-to condiment and I've eaten it on everything from the obvious latin style foods to stir fry and sushi. Well, it was avocado and jalapeño sushi rolls so it was practically begging for a salsa drizzle. It was delicious! In fact I can't remember a single time when salsa didn't make the meal tastier.
Because I'm sort of salsa loco, I like to make all kinds including smokey chipotle versions and tangy verde salsas. Basically I will try any recipe variation I hear about or can dream up, and since the husband and I like 'em really hot this broadens our scale of options to including blazing ghost chili salsas and cooling mango cucumber pico de gallo.
Variety and variations aside, this is our standard 'everyday' salsa since I always have the ingredients on hand and whipping it up is as simple as a whirl in the Vitamix.
Feel free to use this recipe as merely a guideline for you to expand upon and make your own special variety. Obviously add peppers to your liking and heat tolerance.
If your not much for heat, then I don't understand you, but you shouldn't omit the peppers altogether. Stick to a jalapeño and be sure to carefully cut it in half and remove the seeds and white membrane inside. Then you can add the remaining pepper to the mix and get the lovely bright flavor in your salsa without the heat.
October has finally arrived! I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. Literally, I've been buzzing around the kitchen adding pumpkin to this and winter squash to that. I'm also busy planning my neighborhood's National Night Out party. After that its time to deck out the casa with spooky halloween decor in time for our annual Halloween Party! We even put a huge spider with a 12 ft leg-span in our front yard. We are pretty fond of our spider, Seymore, ever since we created him (Frankenstein style) about 4 years ago. Most all of our decorations are homemade DIY projects. Since Halloween is our favorite holiday we love to create a spooky house without breaking the bank!
As you can tell, Fall is one of my favorite times of year and I simply cannot stop smiling because October is here! Yeah!
What better way to ring in the season than to share some of the fall season's best online resources. I'm kind of obsessed with these things and I hope you dig them too!
Photo Credit: Martha Stewart.com
1) Martha Stewart's Halloween This is an excellent place to browse for free or inexpensive crafts and decor for Halloween. She also does beautiful and elaborate costumes, many of which are easy to make yourself. I can spend hours on this site getting great ideas for everything halloween including creepy party ideas. She even has free printable templates and step by step instructions!
Photo Credit: Angela Liddon @ OhSheGlows.com
2) Oh She Glows Butternut Smoothie This smoothie is the first thing I make at the first sign of fall. Ideally the first sing of fall is a crisp, cool day but in Texas sometimes the calendar just flipping over to October 1st is reason enough for me to have a date with the Vitamix so we can create this beauty. I also make this with canned pumpkin and its simply divine. Like pumpkin pie in a glass. She says the recipe is for two, but I have yet to share.
Photo Credit: Nutrition Stripped.com
3) Fall Produce Guide by Nutrition Stripped This lovely blog offers a seasonal pictorial guide to produce. Gaze at McKel's lovely photography on this page to get a seasonal preview of the goodness coming to a plate near you. Above is a glimpse at some figs from her guide.
Photo Credit: Mother Earth News.com
4) Fall Vegetable Gardening Guide I love to garden and to me Fall is the best time. Cooler weather makes for more temperate gardeners and the plants seem to like it too. Here is a link to a great fall guide by Mother Earth News
5) HauteeCouturee's YouTube Channel I'm especially digging this channel because this lovely lady shows great natural ways to create a skin care routine using grocery story and health food store items. I've linked to her rose hip oil video, which convinced me to try rose hip oil as my main facial moisturizer and I am hooked! Thanks to this channel I now was my face with oatmeal made into a course flour (via Vitamix, of course) mixed with water to make into a paste. It cleanses and exfoliates at the same time. Since I have drier skin I don't use any sort of toner, and simply follow up my oatmeal was with rose hip oil. My skin is silky and smooth and glowing! Check out this channel for all sorts of DIY skincare options.
6) Promise Phan's Makeup Tutorial YouTube Channel While we are on youtube, check out Promise Phan's channel. She is an amazing makeup artist that has great videos showing how to do some really wicked cool transformations using the magic of makeup. Plenty ideas for Halloween, including Maleficent, Mystique and Avatar makeup tutorials. I promise you cannot watch only one of these cool videos. Get inspired to create your whole halloween look around the mad makeup skills you learn at this channel.
7) Bob Kramer's Knife Sharpening Tutorial Bob Kramer is a master when it comes to knives. As a person that spends a lot of time in the kitchen I have learned to respect and appreciate a properly sharp knife. Bob does a great job of teaching how to sharpen knifes like a pro. It taught me a lot and I found it very helpful. *Note: He is demonstrating a Sur la Table sharpening stone set, which I do not own and you don't have to either to still get valuable learning out of the technique he is teaching.
Photo Credit: Happy Herbivore.com
8) Fat-Free Pumpkin Bread from Happy Herbivore This bread is really great and completely in line with a plant based low-fat diet. Give it a try! Perfect for a fall block party or to much on for yourself.
I hope this gets your fall off to a creative start. What is your favorite part of October?
