10 Best Things About Fall

I am a BIG fan of fall, and not just because my birthday is in September (and my mom's and Justin's). I love EVERYTHING about it. Here's a list of my favs:

1.) Pumpkin EVERYTHINGGGGGG-pie, bread, lotion, candles, etc!!!
2.) That homey, cozy fall feeling
3.) Halloween costumes (I typically go funny and try to stay away skankalicious at this point in my life- that's what college is for, right? :)
4.) Beautiful leaves (don't quite get that in Florida, but sooo excited to see the leaves on Thanksgiving back home in Indiana... cue music)
5.) Butternut Squash soup. Actually squash in everything.
6.)It's semi-acceptable to start putting Christmas decorations up and playing music!! Yep,  I am that girl, proud of it. Barabara Streisand would be proud too for her rendition of Jingle Bells always makes it way back into my life around the holidays (even though she's a jew...) :)
7.) You know a break from school is right around the corner (or a graduation in my case)
8.) Haunted houses/scary movies
9.) Coffee weather!!!!
10.) Don't need an excuse to eat disgusting amounts of candy.


Notice I didn't say football. While I do enjoy a good tailgate, I feel like I do not see my boyfriend the entire football season.

Here are some of my favorite fall recipes!

Hallow's Eve Candy Corn Pretzel Bark (adapted from veryculinary.com)
Serves A LOT. Half this recipe if you're not making for the entire Duggar family.
Ingredients:

• 24 ounces white chocolate
• 2 cups pretzel sticks broken up
• 2 cups candy corn 

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Heat white chocolate in large microwaveable bowl for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Stir in pretzels and candy corn. Pour mixture onto lined baking sheet. Chill in the freezer for 15-20 or until set. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Low-fat, Sugar-free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups splenda
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I just used more cinnamon and nutmeg)
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• baking spray
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup cranberries

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray. Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Combine wet ingredients and beat at medium speed until thick.

Add flour mixture and blend slowly until combined (don't over mix). Stir in chocolate chips and cranberries.

Pour mixture into pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Autumn Apple Bowl
Ingredients:

• 1 large apple (macintosh is the best, but any kind will do)
• 1/4 C low-fat Greek or plain yogurt
• 2-3 T pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2-3 T unsweetened applesauce

Chop apple into bite-sized pieces and mix together with all other ingredients together in a bowl. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Kale Soup (life changing) adapted from Kath Eats Real Food
Ingredients:

• 9 oz turkey breast cutlet
• 1 medium butternut squash (~2 pounds after peeling and de-seeding) (you could microwave this to speed up the cooking process)
• 2 carrots (~6 oz)
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 small apple (~5 oz)
• A few generous handfuls of chopped kale (or you can use spinach) (~8 oz)
• 1 large box Pacific Carrot Cashew Ginger soup
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Seasonings to taste: cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and cocoa powder

Brown the turkey in a skillet with the olive oil. Save for later!

Then sautee the squash with 2 chopped carrots and 2 stalks of celery and when fragrant, added a box of soup as the base. After simmering until the squash was tender, we pureed the mixture with blender or food processor and then added the small chopped apple and the browned turkey. Seasonings included cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder, red pepper flakes and…cocoa powder (just a tiny bit).


Lastly, we topped the soup with the chopped kale, closed the lid, and let it steam for another 15 minutes or so.