Pumpkin Spice Everything

As you could all tell, I have a slight obsession with pumpkin, as well as pumpkin spice. That makes fall one of my favorite seasons because that is one of the main events, is being able to indulge in them! In the past couple of days I have done a mini grocery haul, to find all things pumpkin spice, but that are also gluten free. This ended up not being as difficult as I thought it would be. I had assumed that I would not find hardly anything that was gluten free, but to my surprise, most everything was! The best place to find a fair amount of gluten free items, that isn't going to break the bank, would be Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's just happens to be one of my favorite places ever, it brings me much excitement to go shopping there. Some women are excited to go to the mall to shop for clothes, and then there is me, who gets excited to go shopping for food at Trader Joe's. I am definitely one of a kind. I will admit, I did a rare thing and stepped foot inside the mall a couple of days ago to go to Bath and Body Works, to stock up on a couple fall candles. Let's all take a wild guess at what scents I got. The first is one of my all time favorites, leaves, and the other was of course, sweet cinnamon pumpkin. As I write this post, I just happen to have the sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle burning, and let me tell you, it smells fantastic. But let's get back to the food. A couple of days ago I was hanging out with one of my good friends, and it was a torrential downpour outside, along with huge gusts of wind. It basically bordered looking like the apocalypse. That being said, we wanted to stay in an make lunch, that included something seasonal. What we decided to make was a pumpkin sauce with gluten free pasta. I will do another post about this one and give you all the recipe that we used. Back to today's shopping adventure. After work I rushed over to Trader Joe's (conveniently 5 minutes away from my work), to see what they had to offer for my pumpkin obsession. I follow the Trader Joe's Instagram account so I have been keeping tabs of everything they have been getting in, and making a list of what I wanted to for sure buy. First and foremost, was the pumpkin O's cereal, since I am a huge fan of the Joe's O's cereal. When I am having breakfast at home, I either want something simple and healthy when I work early, or something I can eat in the car. When you wake up at 5am or 6am for work, you don't have much energy to put into something to eat for breakfast. The cereal is something healthy and easy to have in the morning, along with my coconut almond milk in it. As if regular Joe's O's couldn't get better, they did it somehow! What I like is the cereal is not sugary, but you still get the taste of the pumpkin, which happens to be real pumpkin. That is rare now to find in anything at the grocery store, so I greatly appreciate it. Next on the list was the pumpkin soup crackers, which caught my eye right away. I was intrigued by the fact that they looked like a sweet cracker but were named to go with soup. What is even most incredible, is these little crackers are actually filled with soup. I know you are asking yourself how that could be. But what they did was infuse the crackers with pumpkin soup, giving it that wonderful pumpkin taste. You can be eating this cracker and tell people that you are having soup and crackers, but don't have the actual liquid soup. It is clear genius. Pumpkin spice caramel corn was the next thing to catch my eye. I don't know how someone could pass up caramel corn, let alone caramel corn that has pumpkin spice in the name. Basically the deal with this caramel corn is that it has pumpkin seeds in it, as well as the pumpkin spice. I mean what more do I need to say. With that first bite comes a burst of cinnamon and nutmeg, then you get the subtle bite of the pumpkin spice within the caramel mix. For anyone with a tooth that desires sweet and salty, this should be your go to snack. It comes with rave reviews, along with everything else. I wouldn't suggest anything ghastly to you guys. The last pumpkin themed item that I picked up at Trader Joe's they harvest blend herbal tea. I am a sucker for tea, I drink it every night. This tea is perfect for a chilly fall night, when it is pitch black at night and you want to wear a face mask, fuzzy socks, and watch a Rom Com. There is a nice aromatic eruption of cinnamon and ginger, but you can also definitely taste the apple in it. While it may not have pumpkin in it, it is a great fall drink to have. The last item I just had to get were these dahlias I had seen when I walked into the store. My favorite color since I was 4, has always been black. I know, it is very strange for that to be a child's favorite color, but it was and still is mine. These dahlias were the one of the only flowers I have ever seen that are as close to black as they can get. They are this gorgeous dark purple color that is just mesmerizing. So I had to leave with them in my bag.

I bought one other pumpkin item at Target since I knew for a fact that they would have it, pumpkin spice Hershey's Kisses. Little known fact, Kisses are actually all gluten free! We can all rejoice in that fact now because so much chocolate contains gluten! I have been snacking on these like crazy because they are honestly so addicting. So keep that in mind and it might encourage you to buy more than one bag of them. Now I can let you guys know, I have accepted the fact that I am obsessed with pumpkin spice and encourage you all to be as well!

Flourless Pumpkin Muffins

It is officially fall!! Yay!! As you all know I have been waiting for this to happen, and it is finally here! That being said, I stocked up on pumpkin puree, and put it to good use this morning by making flourless pumpkin muffins. You can definitely make these muffins with flour, but since I am gluten free, I did that version of the recipe. It is one of the easiest recipes since it is basically a dump of everything. There is no science to it or really strict instructions. Below I have the recipe link and pictures of the batter and the finished product!

First Farmers Market Finds

This last weekend I finally had a Saturday morning off, which meant I was able to head to the farmers market. Honestly, it is one of my favorite places to go for the simple fact that it is always such a great environment. Since my dad was off that day as well, I asked if he wanted to join in on the fun. Keep in mind, it was one of the first rainy days in Portland, which was much needed for us all. Once we got there, I did my typical route, I go around the market once to take a look at all of the stands, then go back around to buy the items that stood out to me. Having samples are always a must as well, because it gives you the chance to try the different vendors' items to see which ones you actually want to buy. The first stand that I bought from was of course my flowers, since my favorite thing is to have fresh flowers in my house. I asked the vendor if she could make me a custom bouquet, that included eucalyptus leaves, as well as the darkest flowers that they had. I am not really one for really bright flowers, and especially pink. Roses have also been a huge dislike for me, my entire life. The bouquet that they made could not have been better, it was filled with dark purple dahlias, which were perfect since they are in season. That is another great thing about the farmers market, you only get things that are in season. The next stop was to get artichokes, which are actually cooking in a pot right now. What's funny is I have never cooked artichokes before, until I went over to one of my really good friend's place where she and another friend, showed me how to make them. Since I now know how to make them and they were a really good price, I thought that I might as well get them! Last but definitely not least, was the distilleries there. It is easy to go to the market, try every sample there and definitely feel it afterwards. If you do decide to do that, definitely eat breakfast before or you will be grumpy and not feel good. Trust me, I have taken people there before who did not eat before, and I had to deal with the aftermath of that. There are so many different types and flavors of alcohol to try and see while there, but my favorite by far is Wild Roots. They have a tasting room downtown, which I need to still go to since I have a free tasting. But the next best thing is their stand at the farmers market. They have all different flavors of vodka, which is funny because I am more of a tequila girl myself. What's nice about their flavors are they are not too sweet (I cannot stand sweet drinks). and they taste more natural. They don't taste like the typical ones you buy at the store and taste like processed stuff. The flavor that caught my attention was the apple cinnamon infused vodka. I am not kidding when I say that this is one of the best drinks I have ever had. You know your re having a good alcohol, when you can mix it with something simple like club soda or ginger beer, and it still tastes excellent. That is exactly how this one is, I could sip on it with ease and enjoy every last drop of it. If you are able to get your hands on any Wild Roots vodka, I highly suggest you get it.

Of course the best picture I was able to take in the moment of getting these treasures, was on snapchat.

Put Forth The Effort

In the recent weeks, I have discovered that I have been putting my efforts in life, in the wrong places. People who I shouldn't give so much attention to, had been getting it, and I had not been putting myself first (shocker). That is something that I have always been known to do since I was little, is not put myself first and ALWAYS worry about other people way too much. There are a handful of things that have sparked me to realize that this change needed to be made, and I have tried lots of different things to figure out what works for me and what doesn't. First and foremost, do not put more effort into relationships, than the other person in the relationship. That goes for friendships as well, which is where I have realized I have been going all wrong. There are friendships that I put about 90% of the effort into keeping in touch and getting together, but the other person puts in about 10% of effort in. The problem with that, is friendships, along with relationships, are a two way street. It can't be one sided or else it will fall apart once the person taking on the entire relationships realizes it. How I have decided to change this in my life, is to distance myself from friendships where I realized I am putting in much more effort than I thought the other person was to keep in touch. It has definitely proven that I was putting in much more to keep in touch, because we either rarely talk, or it has forced the other person to get ahold of me. So I have kept in mind and know now, which friendships I should give me effort to. As for myself, I have recently started doing more things for myself, and have ironically found out more about myself. I know that is super cliche, especially for someone my age to say. Being 23 and finding yourself, is basically the title of that chapter in the book of life. But I am more than ok with it happening now because I am able to do it without being dependent on other people. I know plenty of people who have become completely dependent on other people, which is not what this time in our lives is about. This is the time where we can finally figure out who we are and what we like. Going through this journey, I have realized that I like being in bed by 10:30, waking up at 7:00 in the morning, and working out daily (it helps me decompress. Gardening and flowers are something that comfort me, which explains my newest addition, my little baby succulents now sitting in front of my window. I am more than content being on my own, in fact I enjoy it most of the time. This is finally the time in my life where I have realized that I am completely content with being single. Yes, I was always that girl who needed a guy in my life, and went through lots of different frogs over the years. So now, I am waiting for my Prince Charming, but not constantly searching for a guy who will semi fit the mold, instead of just being patient and coming across someone who completely fits the mold. This goes hand in hand with being independent and not having to rely on another person. I know people who definitely have a dependency on guys, and once one doesn't work out, they are moving right on to the next guy. Instead of realizing that even though they might want a guy, they do not need a guy. They will survive and be perfectly ok without a guy in their life. Some other things I have been focusing on more now, are my health since I have discovered health problems, and making sure I am the healthiest person I can be, physically and mentally. Here below, are my new babies!

Hello Gluten Free!

Recently my mom found out that she is gluten free, aka I am now gluten free. I have now not eaten gluten for so long, that when I do eat it, I feel sick. But good news for all of you gluten free people out there, all of my posts will now be gluten free! Wooooo! 

One of my best friends is in town, and is also gluten free, so I had to show her one of my favorite vegan places which also is mostly gluten free. Canteen is the best if you want something healthy and fresh. I get the same thing literally every time I go there. To eat is always a parfait, which has granola, fresh fruit and cashew cream. This will seriously fill you up on its own. My go to smoothie there is the apple ginger greens, which has exactly that in it. If I could drink it everyday I would. But I highly recommend anything and everything on the menu. 

After breakfast, I wanted to show her and our moms (they were with us) Portland nursery to get some succulents. I have been wanting to jump on the bandwagon and get succulents for a while now, so I got three. I will do another post to talk more about my new babies. 

Later in the day, my mom and I decided to go into Lake Oswego to go to Kyra's Bake Shop. This bakery only makes gluten free dessets and she won Cupcake Wars, so you know you have to try one cupcake. But I was a rebel and got three cupcakes which included, strawberry cream, citrus cloud, and a pumpkin spice latte cupcake. There was no way I could pass up the pumpkin spice cupcake, being that I am obsessed with pumpkins and pumpkin spice. This cupcake could not be made any better, it was fluffy and not dense, which tends to happen with gluten free dessets. I highly recommend a stop here even if you do eat gluten. 

Plus, it is finally going to start consistency feeling like fall here in Portland. So everything from here out will be fall!

Mind Your Own Biscuits

One of my best friends is finally visiting Portland, and I always take her out to somewhere new when she is in town. Since she has dietary restrictions, it can be a little more tricky to find a place we can go to. BUT I always find somewhere, and this time we ventured to Jam on Hawthorne. Ever since the first time I came across this glorious place, I look forward to each time I am able to go back. The funny thing is, I get the same thing every time, and that would be biscuits and gravy. Finding a place with good vegetarian biscuits and gravy is hard, but Jam on Hawthorne does a great job on theirs, and it doesn't leave me with a stomach ache afterwards. Another plus to it, is the leftovers still taste so great, and that is another rarity, is finding somewhere that has good food that makes good leftovers. My brother claimed it was too early to start having cocktails (it was 10am, but I really wanted a Bloody Mary) so I opted out on having one this time. Just a disclaimer, I am currently eating my leftovers from this morning. But here is a picture so you all can drool while I sit here and eat it.

Goodbye Summer Celebration

In Portland, it appears that summer is coming to an end, since the rain is back along with the grey skies. I can't say I am complaining about it since I am fully ready to embrace the fall season. As an end of summer celebration, my friends and I decided to do a little beach getaway, so we could all enjoy the last little bit of summer. Being Oregon, our beaches are different from the beaches you are probably imagining; ours are filled with grey skies, crisp ocean air, and the highest the temperature will ever get there is 65 degrees. Layers are your best friend at the Oregon Coast, since you can never be too sure about the weather. Back in May, I came up with the idea to have an end of the summer weekend getaway with my girlfriends in Lincoln City. I knew we would all need a little break before fall started, and this seemed like the perfect way to do so! My family has always rented houses for our little in state vacations, so I thought that would be a fun idea to do. We always go through to rent houses, so after looking through tons of houses for about two weeks, I finally found one that would accommodate everyone! After booking the house, it was then time to wait for the weekend to come. Since I knew none of us wanted to spend a ton of money on our getaway (we got a great deal on the house), I suggested that everyone pitch in money for food and drinks, then I would grocery shop the morning we planned to head down to the beach, and we could just cook our own meals! Breakfasts would be easy (they had muffins, while I had overnight oats), and lunch would be sandwiches or salads. Dinner would be the main event, and I definitely make a big deal out of it. The first night was Italian, which consisted of pasta, salad and one of the best baguettes I have ever had, rosemary and sea salt from New Seasons. That night after dinner, we just relaxed and played at lot of heads up (I highly recommend this app, especially with a cocktail in hand).

On our second day at the beach, we started our day with breakfast (stated above what we ate), and got ready for the day. On the agenda was going to the beach, and going to the outlet stores, since they are in Lincoln City. At the outlets, it is hard to keep a group of six people all together, so we split up into groups, which were determined by which stores we all wanted to go to. I did not end up buying anything because I am stocking up on fall items, and they were having end of summer sales. The beach on the other hand, was the same as usual, cloudy, cold, and there was tons of mist in the air. But it was exactly what we all needed, since back in Portland it was 90 degrees still. Of course, there were tons of pictures taken on the beach, because we are millennials and girls, so we have to document everything.

Our Saturday night dinner was of course, Mexican, because that is my favorite big meal to do and is the most fun themed meal in my opinion. I made the full spread; taco bar, rice, beans and margaritas. We all devoured that dinner, and rightfully so since we are a group of girls who love food. It was also entertaining having me cook the dinner since I don't eat meat, yet cooked ground turkey for the tacos. So I had to keep asking my best friend to taste it and let me know if I needed to add anything to it. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures of this spread, only a snapchat video. But just imagine Spanish rice, black beans, refried beans, ground turkey with taco seasoning, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, tortillas, sour cream, chips and salsa! Aka there was a ton of food that night. The next morning, we just relaxed (I worked out that morning, since I can't miss a workout), and had a full breakfast. I cooked hash browns, eggs, sausages, and toast, for a classic American breakfast for us all. On the way back to Portland, we stopped at Mo's, since it is a cliche restaurant to go to when at the Oregon Coast. I was the boring one and ate a grilled cheese there since there was literally nothing else that was vegetarian on the menu, which was expected. All in all, it was a successful last weekend of summer for us all! While my mother still insists on rejecting the idea of fall being here, I am fully on board with it!