Lazy Girl's Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

On my most recent trip to Trader Joe's (aka heaven), I came across one of the best things I have ever seen there. Gluten free pumpkin bread/muffin mix. I didn't think that was something that would ever happen, finding a gluten free pumpkin mix. But thank goodness I found it at Trader Joe's because that meant it would be guaranteed to be delicious. It is also great for the person who doesn't want to make something from complete scratch, or the person who isn't the world's best baker. I have known people who just don't have the touch for baking, which is more than ok. The recipe only required three ingredients that most people already have in their kitchen; vegetable oil, eggs and water. I have to admit, I made sure not to get my hopes up about the bread because gluten free baked goods can be super hit or miss, so I have learned to just wait and see how it is. BUT this bread was absolutely amazing! It was fluffy and honestly if you didn't already know it was gluten free, you would never guess it. Even the mix itself, before baking, smells great! You are able to smell all of the wonderful spices in it, then once it is in the oven, the aroma just fills the house. This boxed mix is HIGHLY recommended for everyone out there!

Feeling Like A Gilmore

A few days ago, back when it didn't look like the end of the world outside, it was a gorgeous day in Portland. So I decided to take a little trip down to Reed College with one of my friends. Ever since the first time I discovered this magical place, I have been obsessed with it ever since. What is so special about this campus though, aside from being tiny which I love, is that it looks exactly like the scenes of Yale in Gilmore Girls. As you all have figured out, I am obsessed with Gilmore Girls, so much that I was rematching the show to quickly and needed to force myself to take a break. I started rematching Friday Night Lights to slow me down from finishing Gilmore Girls too quick. The funniest part about gushing over a college campus, is doing it with actual students of that college around. It was interesting when people would see us just sitting on a bench drinking our coffee (my friend's drink) and my chai. We got lots of interesting looks, most likely because we stuck out in the sea of Birkenstocks and hemp clothing. Reed College has always been known for being very granola campus, so I always know going there to not dress too "city like". The outfit I chose to wear was a very toned down fall little ensemble, but I didn't think that I stood out THAT much. Now you can all admire the pictures I took while there!

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!