I had the privilege of developing a second recipe for a quarterly newsletter to highlight papaya (read about the first recipe I developed here!). Now that I’m a new mom and need a fast and filling breakfast, overnight oats are perfect. These are packed with protein thanks to the addition of Greek yogurt. The combination of honey and almond is delicious with any fruit if you can’t find papaya. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have!
It’s November, which means pumpkin spice everything has been around for 2 months now. As someone who grew up loving pumpkin anything, long before pumpkin spice was a thing, I really don’t mind the craze. For me though, pumpkin is a food that should be celebrated in November, when Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie are most prominent, hence the reason for sharing this recipe now (It’s definitely not because moving halfway around the world, being new homeowners and filling the important role of Matron of Honor in your sister’s wedding pushes back all of your blogging timelines. Definitely not because of that.) Living in Japan for the past three years meant that we missed out on most of the pumpkin spice things, as their version of the pumpkin craze is much different than America’s (you can read about it here). For the most part, I was totally ok with that, but the thing I missed most was pumpkin spice in my latte (or Americano, if you really know me). I’ve always loved putting cinnamon in my coffee so adding pumpkin spice syrup is even better for this pumpkin loving girl. The only thing that really bothers me about the syrup from coffee shops is, what the heck is in it? Why does it turn my coffee orange?!? As someone who prefers a more natural approach to food and loves to try out recipes, I decided to develop my own pumpkin spice syrup. It’s been in the works for the past few years, so I wasn’t totally deprived in Japan, but I finally hit on my perfect version this year.
Almost every Wednesday night in Okinawa is reserved for one thing: The Bachelor (or Bachelorette, for this time of year). Realistically, it’s just an excuse for my group of friends to see each other every week, talk and eat snacks. My friend, Jessi, would occasionally bring her fabulous granola to our girl’s nights and, I’m not going to lie, I always wanted to steal the entire bowl and not share a single piece. It was that delicious. Luckily, Jessi nicely shared her recipe with me before she moved and, with a few adjustments, now I’m sharing it with all of you!
Gingerbread has been on my list of things to bake for a long time. There’s something about the warm spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, mixed with molasses that makes gingerbread sound so appealing. You already know my feelings about rolling out dough, so gingerbread cookies were not an option. I love having a quick bread around for breakfast, an afternoon snack or dessert, so I figured a gingerbread loaf would be the perfect way to get my gingerbread fix.
Pumpkin pie has always been one of my favorite desserts. It’s no surprise since everyone in my family seems to love it too. I have numerous memories of eating pumpkin pie throughout my childhood. Whether it was Thanksgiving, a family gathering or just lunch with my great grandpa on a Sunday, if it was fall, then you could expect pumpkin pie for dessert.
Most people have a go to banana bread recipe. That’s probably because most people have had overripe bananas sitting on their counter that they don’t want to go to waste. Our house is no different. I always have bananas in the fruit bowl to eat before my morning runs, grab on my way to work or throw into a smoothie. Plus, I know if I don’t use them in time, I can just put them in the freezer for banana “ice cream” or make banana bread. In my mind, it’s a win, win situation.
My coffee addiction started later than most. Somehow, I made it through my undergraduate degree without drinking much coffee. Grad school, on the other hand, was a different story. During my year off between degrees, I worked in a hospital’s nutrition department and spent a decent chunk of that working in the on-site cafe. Fortunately for me, that meant a lot of free coffee drinks. An added bonus was that my sister, whom I was living with at the time, was working as a barista at a really good coffee shop in Boulder. I frequently visited her at work for more discounted coffee. It’s no surprise that after a year of free coffee, I was officially addicted. Moving to Washington didn’t help either. I couldn’t drive more than two blocks in Spokane without passing a cute coffee stand on the corner. As much as I wanted (probably, needed) to get coffee every day, I didn’t want to spend extra money on it (I was in grad school, after all). It wasn’t a big deal in the winter, when I could make hot coffee at home, but in the warmer months, when all I wanted was an iced americano, it was a different story. Brewing hot coffee and cooling it the fridge was a good, quick fix, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the flavor. I started making this iced coffee recipe instead and I haven’t strayed from it since.
Crunchy bread, a runny egg, creamy spinach, spicy mustard, all sprinkled with feta cheese…need I say more? What about how this takes 10 minutes to make from start to finish so you can eat it for lunch, or breakfast, or even dinner? I know, it’s genius and it’s absolutely delicious. It has become my go-to lunch on the days I don’t work, so much so that I make sure to always have these ingredients on hand.
The summer after my sister and I graduated from college, we found ourselves with a half-used bag of brown rice flour. Not wanting the flour to go to waste, or miss out on an opportunity to bake, we searched for a new recipe. We decided upon pumpkin granola bars, which I quickly fell in love with, or rather, with the concept of. I loved making my own granola bars. I could control the ingredients, they were always in the freezer for a mid-morning snack or quick breakfast at work and it gave me an excuse to bake every couple of weeks. I’m also in love with anything pumpkin, so pumpkin granola bars should have been perfect for me, but they weren’t. The recipe was loaded with sugar and oil and not much else. The bars were dry, but when I tried to add more moisture, they got gooey. My sister and I both tried to tweak the recipe, but after a few years and more changes than I can count, I still wasn’t satisfied.
One day, I had the brilliant idea to check Pinterest (duh!). At first, I just wanted to find similar recipes so I could continue to try to fix the one I was using. But then, I stumbled upon this particular recipe. It seemed too good to be true. Ground flaxseed. Almond milk. Chocolate chips! Pumpkin!!
