It’s that time once again! Here some things I’m loving lately.
1 + 2. Current Fav. Snacks
Honeycrisp or Gala apple sliced up and drizzled with raw almond butter and cinnamon or a semi-frozen banana (peel and stick in the freezer for about 45 minutes to chill) drizzled with sunflower seed butter, chia seeds, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Absolute bliss! I’m already excited for my snack today…
3 + 4. Himalayan Pink Mountain Salt & Vegetable Broth Powder
I’ve never been one for “fancy” salts, but this pink salt definitely won me over when I picked it up many moons ago. My go-to salt is iodized fine grain sea salt, but I’ve incorporated this pink salt too. It’s so flavourful (seriously, you have to try it to believe it) and contains several trace minerals. I use it for seasoning mostly, but I also use it in some baking recipes occasionally too, just to mix things up.
Not only are broth cartons much more expensive than the bouillon cubes or powder, but they create a lot of waste. I finally ditched the cartons earlier this year in favour of vegetable broth powder. The cost savings are HUGE. I estimated this container will make about 20 litres (edit: 10 litres) of broth and it lasts forever. Given that this container is less than $5 a pop, I’m saving myself a ton of money. I really wish I made the switch sooner!
5. Photography hikes
Eric and I love going on summer photography hikes, but this year, we decided to challenge ourselves to go all fall and winter long, even when it’s blistery cold and gloomy outside. We’re committing to go once a week throughout the winter, inspired by my in-laws who recently formed a photography club. Bring on the one-piece snowsuit, I say! bahaha.
[this shot was taken at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario]
6 + 7. iphone + squash and sweet potatoes
After a couple good years with my Android (Samsung Galaxy II), I finally made the switch to an iphone a few months ago. When Eric started developing our vegan recipe app we needed the iphone for testing purposes. Well, little did I know that I would fall crazy in love with this phone! Now, I can’t imagine myself without one. Funny how things can change so fast.
My favourite app (next to Instagram!) is the VSCO cam app for editing photos (thanks to Dana for the tip!). Here is a shot I took of Sketchie with some light editing in vsco cam. I love all the different filter options you can download.
[For a cute story about this pic, see my Instagram upload]
Also, squash + sweet potatoes. I’m hoarding them. Seriously. I can’t walk past a pumpkin pie squash in the grocery store and not buy one.
8. HOCKEY SEASON! Obsessed. We finally ordered Leafs TV this year and I’m so darn excited to be able to watch all the games. If the pre-season craziness is any indication of what’s to come, this could be one wild year.
9. The Social. Have you seen this new Canadian talk show on CTV? I’m not a big talk show person, but I love this new show. Melissa, Cynthia, Lainey, Traci always have me laughing and I love the current topics/social media interaction from a Canadian perspective. Two thumbs up!
10. National Kale Day
Did you know today is National Kale Day? Exciting! I celebrated last night and I plan on celebrating again today. Show that kale some lovin’.
11. For the animals: Today is also the World Day for Farmed Animals! So many exciting things on October 2nd. It’s also the last day of the What Did U Do? Farm Sanctuary fundraiser (see my post here). Thank you so much for your support. We’ve raised over $2500 together (and the fundraiser itself has raised over $41,000!). Truly amazing. I’ll be announcing the winner of the draw for my cookbook very soon.
12. Blast from the past: All Natural Homemade Pumpkin Butter from Scratch
I made my first batch of the season last weekend. I froze half the batch for later so I’ll have some for later in the month. Yes and yes.
Ok, that’s all she wrote. Time to start a new list on the side of the fridge. Tell me what things you’re loving lately? I need to know.
Until next time!
xo
I love this post – it’s really getting me excited for the fall, all this talk of pumpkin butters! Love this roundup, thanks for sharing.
I love these posts. Your photography skills are amazing – I would love to get into it more and have good photos – mine just capture the moment but are SO basic. I also am lacking in tech skills & am having computer problems so printing etc is not even doable. Ugh!
I hear you on the squash and pumpkins etc – I cannot get enough and have been buying so much produce on top of our CSA delivery – I can hardly keep up with eating it all ! Though with this warm weather, i am having one last ‘summer meal ‘ tonight with my in-laws – corn, black bean burgers, salad, asparagus and a blueberry apple crisp! mmmm – hope it all comes together well!
That summer meal sounds perfect this week! It’s so warm out.
Thanks for your kind words about the photography by the way!
You are so right about the vegetable broth- it ends up being so expensive! Thanks for all the good ideas like always, I love your posts like these!
I’m definitely going to need to make that pumpkin butter this year. And, I can’t wait for the Thanksgiving roundup! Your cranberry sauce is the hit of the day!
I love that powedered veggie broth! I don’t find it too overly salty, and it’s organic to boot!
I love The Social too Angela! I was on it on Sept 16th as their book club expert.
omg! I saw that episode – congrats! You were fantastic =) what a thrill that must have been! I just saw your recap on your blog too, it looked like so much fun.
Just donated to your cause! Somehow I missed this before. As you know I am strong supporter of Farm Sanctuary. Thanks for doing this!
Thanks so much Tammy! I hope you are well. :)
Thanks for the vegetable broth powder recommend! I’m always looking at ways to save $$ & waste (& it’s cool it’s yeast free).
Love the pic of the spider web & how the light flows through.
Yes to hockey season! The Wings drop the puck tonight, and even though I’m still 100 percent into baseball playoffs, it’s nice to know hockey is back. As for sunflower seed butter, it’s the only nut butter I eat and lately I’ve been going to town on it with just about everything–apples, grilled banana sandwiches, even carrots, oddly enough.
I love it with carrots (and celery) too. So addictive!
How exciting that you’re going to have an app! I love my iPhone too but I haven’t downloaded VSCO cam yet. I don’t know what I’m waiting for, it makes for beautiful pics.
And that’s awesome that you’ve raised 2500 dollars. It’s amazing the good things you’ve accomplished through this blog. Makes me proud to be a reader! :)
That is incredibly adorable that you guys go for photography hikes together – such an awesome idea!!
I hadn’t come across sunflower seed butter until I saw it on a blog – Kath Eats Real Food, I think – now it’s one of my favourites. Yours is a much prettier colour than mine though!
Quite a few of my faves made the list, apples and almond butter, squash (recently tried and fell instantly in love with spaghetti squash), and I’ve been wanting to switch to Himalayan salt and bouillon for my broths, but what REALLY caught my eye was the pumpkin butter! Must. Attempt. ASAP!!! Great post, thanks so much for sharing!
I can’t believe it’s National Kale Day and I didn’t know about it! I love food holidays, so I’ll have to celebrate :). I am completely with you on the apple + almond butter and cinnamon snack, and on hoarding squashes – I love them!
I am SOOO glad honeycrisps are back in season! It’s like having a healthy dessert it’s so sweet. YUM! Speaking of yum…pumpkin butter!!! YAY October!
I’ve never heard of the Social but I am glad you did! I am all about supporting anything Canadian so I will hop on their twitter account now.
I am all psyched for hockey season too – but sorry, I am an Islanders fan.
Love, love, and love! I think it’s so great that you and Eric enjoy photographing together… I keep trying to get my guy to realize that he is GREAT behind the lens, but he’s still a little put off by the technical side of things. Good luck going on your hikes through the winter! I’m sure it will be tough, but I bet you’ll get some great shots.
I, too, am madly in love with squash. I made a roasted butternut squash soup the other day that is disappearing way too quickly. Time for batch number two! :)
I love sliced bananas and apples with almond butter and pumpkin pie spice. It’s heavenly! Your fall and winter hiking idea is great. I quickly become a homebody when the weather gets cold. I like to stay snuggled under lots of blankets, but I miss out on the beauty that is seen this time of year. That is a great inspiration and something I think I might try to get out and do more.
That pumpkin butter looks awesome!
I love all the pictures you can take; maybe one day I can get a camera like that too :) I’ve been having almond butter on apple slices for snacks at work lately and they are amazing!
Thanks for the fall inspiration!