Fall Recipe Round-up

Well, kids.

Gone are the days of overworked AC units, humid L rides, crop tops (can I get an amen?) and weekend beach trips. Fall is officially here. While some may be bummed about this realization, I am a true Midwest lady and openly embrace the change of seasons.

My dad is on a mountain bike trip with his buddies in Wisconsin this week and sent this picture to our family last night.

C’mon…it’s gorgeous!

In honor of this significant change in season I’ve decided to round-up a bunch of my favorite fall recipes from different chefs and cooks that will hopefully inspire you to embrace the cooler weather and all it’s glory.

Here we go!

Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad – Smitten Kitchen

This recipe is perfect for bring-to-work lunches and fall potlucks.

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Ina Garten

I love anything roasted with balsamic vinegar on it.  Perfection.

Potato-Apple Latkes – Cooking Light

I’m a sucker for good Jewish food, and love how easy this recipe is to make at home.

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew – Giada De Laurentiis

I’ve made this recipe for Brian and I on holidays or for a special date night at home.

Honey-Bourbon Toddy – Bon Appetit

Perfect to bring to a tailgate!  Go BEARS!

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas– Skinnytaste

Hellooo Tex-Mex and butternut squash?  Genius combo.

5 Ingredient Breakfast-stuffed Acorn Squash – PaleOMG

Easy, but impressive breakfast.

Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix – Eating Bird Food

My go-to snack to bring on road trips, to work or to gift to friends.

 

Hope you enjoy some of my favorites… go fourth and eat!

Chicago Activities – Fall Edition

Well, friends it’s starting to feel like fall more and more everyday. Cooler temperatures, less humidity, Monday night football… Is it too soon to break out the fall decor?

Last night, one of my favorite fall activities started… Outdoor soccer!

What makes fall soccer better than summer league? Well the fact that I can run/sprint around the field without feeling like I’m going to die from the humidity is a good start. You don’t have to worry about getting stung by bees on the field – oh and you can bust out those sweet high school soccer sweatshirts you know you’ve been holding on to for said occasion. They are “vintage” now, so you totally look cool wearing them.

Last night I was a fall cliche if you ever did see one. Soccer game at night (we won!), Monday night football upon my return home with a big bowl of leftover chili and a piece of jalapeño cornbread. All I needed was a pumpkin spice latte (homemade, of course) and I would have completed the fall madness.

There are some really fun fall activities going on around the Chicago-land area that I’m very much looking forward to and you should too:

Beer Festivals

Lions, Tigers and Brews – September 12th

The Chicago Beer Festival – September 13th

Oktoberfest Festivals

Berghoff’s Oktoberfest – September 10th – 12th

Oktoberfest 5k – September 18th

Oktoberfest The Dawson – September 20th

Logan Square Beer Fest – September 20th

Oktoberfest St. Alphonsus – September 26th, 27th and 28th

Fall Movies

Gone Girl

Fury

Interstellar

The Hunger Games – Mocking Jay Part 1

The Drop

Fall Concerts

Riot Fest – September 12th – 14th

The Black Keys & Cage the Elephant – September 27th and 28th

Lily Allen – September 30th

Fall Weddings

We have three!!!!

There is so much more to do… how will we get to all of them!?!  Bust out your flannel, y’all and embrace these fun activities!

The Joys of Fall

Oh, hello.

I’m currently experiencing a perfect fall morning.  The windows are open and there is cool breeze coming through, the sun is shining, a pumpkin spice candle is lit, Sheryl Crow is singing to me in the background and I am snuggled under a plaid blanket.

The only thing missing is coffee and I am too comfortable to get up and french press right now 🙂

Honestly, this weekend thus far has been a perfect fall weekend.

Friday night, I met two of my girlfriends for a girls night.  We basically just sat on my friends porch until wee hours of the night/morning drinking wine/beer and snacking on delicious items from Trader Joe’s.

These are two of my best friends from college and when we put on sweatpants and sweatshirts and just drank/talked outside it took me straight back to Illinois State University where we were all roommates.  We had these balconies that faced a giant parking lot shared by our apartment complex where many students would be out drinking/play bags (cornhole, baggo whatever you want to call it).  All of us would grab stools from our kitchen table and post up just people watching and drinking.  Those nights were my favorite.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early with lots of energy.  Since Bailey was inside for most of the week, Brian and I decided it would be good to take a long walk to the Lincoln Park Green City Market to pick up a few items for the week.

First stop on our way… coffee.  Intelligentsia to be exact – my favorite.

The walk to market was absolutely beautiful.  There were no clouds, so the bright blue sky lit up the entire city.

There were also a lot of marathon runners out training and from talking with a few of them it seemed like the majority were on the ’20 mile’ run.  I cannot wait for marathon day!  Brian and I will be posting up at Intelligentsia on Broadway by Belmont if any of you are running the Chicago Marathon!  Then we will slowly make our way to Dry Hop once alcohol needs to be involved 😉

The market was bustling with people in their plaid and sweatshirts.  Many vendors had all their fall items out- all different sizes of pumpkins, gourds, apple cider, honey crisp apples, pumpkin flavored bread/crepes/cheese!  I could have spent all day just talking to each vendor and taste testing all the delicious food.

We walked away with some good items – a couple last ears of sweet corn, honey crisp apples (the best), a large spaghetti squash, peppers and some flowers.

Once we were back home, I made lunch and then headed out on a 4 mile run.

The rest of the day/evening was spent just relaxing and cleaning a little bit.  We made the spaghetti squash with chicken sausage for dinner and finally watched the new The Great Gatsby movie, which I liked a lot.

I’m off to go get a good run in and do my weekend challenge before heading out to a Cubs Game! (My first and last game of the season haha).

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!

Fall Veggies

I’ve noticed the slow shifting of the season on my runs outside lately.  The air is not as humid, the breezes are getting cooler and it smells like fall.  Do you know what I mean?  Yesterday I noticed that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks which is the sure sign the fall is near.  It also means that the Starbucks in my building becomes increasingly more popular among the twenty-something female group.  I can get down with the PSL every once in a while, but it is just a little too sweet for me in the morning.  I do love to add real canned pumpkin to dishes whenever i get a chance, especially in oatmeal when I actually have the time to make breakfast in the morning.

This got me thinking, what other fall foods am I excited to cook with?  Here are some favorites I can’t wait to snag at the farmers market:

Parsnips

Ever try and make baked parsnip fries and dip them in a smokey-spicy dip?  Uh yum.

Apples

Apples have just started to reappear again in my company’s weekly fruit baskets.  Last year, Brian and I kept meaning to go to some sort of apple orchard, but never got around to it.  Hopefully we can find the time this year!

Cauliflower

We LOVE cauliflower.  I have been browsing pinterest a lot and found this dish that I can’t wait to try:

Roast Cauliflower and Mushroom Quinoa Salad in Balsamic Vinaigrette with Goat Cheese

Sweet Potatoes

Along the same pinterest lines, I am going to make sweet potato gnocchi.  Never made gnocchi before?  It’s SUPER simple, I promise you will have  a lot of fun making it.

Beets

A lot of people don’t get down with beets, but I think they are perfect when roasted, tossed in a vinaigrette and paired with something creamy and tangy like goat cheese.

Oh fall, how I love thee and how I love to cook!  Yesterday was a treat for me, however, since I have been feeling a little under the weather – still fighting this dang cold!  Brian decided to take lead on dinner and grilled up some delicious chicken with corn on the cob and an avocado salad.

We have been using a lot of the Trader Joe’s pre-marinated chickens lately because they are so easy and quick to cook up after a long day at work.  The Pollo Asado one is our current favorite – you should give it a try!

Enough food talk – how about some drinks!!?

I was browsing on of the health magazines last night and saw an article on how local breweries are starting to pair up with yoga studios for yoga sessions and beer tastings.  How cool is that?  One brewery that caught my eye on the list was Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado.  They make my FAVORITE vanilla porter, which is also a good beer to sip on in the fall 😉  The list did not include any Chicago breweries which is totally lame because we have so many.  Are you listening Chicago Micro-people?  Go find some yogis to come take a class so we can taste your delicious beer!

On that note, it’s thirsty Thursday.  Enjoy it, my friends!