What I Ate Wednesday: A Day in the Life

And it's Wednesday again!! How did that happen? I seriously feel like it was just yesterday that I was writing my last WIAW post. Time is flying by. Before we know it, it's going to be Thanksgiving and then Christmas!! I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, though. How bout we focus on what I ate Monday, for What I Ate Wednesday. I feel like I never actually post about a typical day of eats....which is kind of what WIAW is all about. So here ya go! And you get a jackpot.... What I Ate Monday AND What I Ate Sunday. Lucky you right?

As always, a big thank you to Jenn over at Peas & Crayons for hosting this crazyyyy party that we all love so much each and every week :)

Let's get started shall we? I am gonna work backward and start with Monday's day of vegetarian vegan eating. To check out why I have recently switched over to being a vegan, check out my post here!

MONDAY:
Breakfast was and has been my work day go-to. 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 2 tablespoons of quinoa, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, 2 tablespoons of homemade apple butter (no sugar added woo!), 1 ripe banana, pumpkin spice, truvia, and about a 1/4 cup of light soy milk and 1/4 cup of water (I usually just throw it in there though and don't actually measure it out).

Lunch was a KILLER salad. Literally best to date. Organic spring mix, chopped tomato, brown rice, avocado, hummus, seven grain crispy tenders, and light greek dressing. delishhhh. I use these vegan crispy tenders. They are amazing. Taste like the real thing! ...though I haven't had chicken strips in over a year so take that with a grain of salt. I also had carrots on the side to dip into the hummus.

Snack around 3pm was a bag of sliced golden delicious apples. Hit the spot!

Dinner was after a quick gym session, and was also another recent go-to. Organic black beans, frozen roasted corn, a can of tomatoes, and farro with taco seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper then topped with diced avocado. So quick, simple, and filling. I ate this with some tortilla chips on the side.

Dessert per usual was a handful of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips. Unpictured because I ate them too quickly. Sorry I'm not that sorry....

SUNDAY:
Brunch please...it's Sunday. I did not need to be up at anytime, so I slept til 10am. And it was glorious :) I woke up with a cup of coffee with soy milk and a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart combined with Kashi Go Lean Crisp Cinnamon Crumble topped with a banana and a dash of pumpkin spice. This was the first bowl of cereal I have ever had with soy milk. The verdict? I loved it!!! I became accustomed to the horrible stomach aches that came with my morning cereal, but I felt perfectly fine after this. Success!

Snack a few hours later was a fat free pumpkin raisin spice muffin that I had baked the night before, toasted and topped with homemade apple butter. Delish. So autumnal and festive. I love it. You can find the recipe on my post from Monday. Oh, and I had more coffee...

Here's another pic of the muffins...because it's beautiful I know you are dying to see them. I added chocolate chips to a few to see how it would turn out. They were great! More of a dessert though...not so much for the morning time.

Dinner was three slices of Roasted Vegetable Pizza from Trader Joe's (it was dairy free!) topped with nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar. I am just starting to use nutritional yeast, and I have yet to decide how I feel about it. It's ALL over the blogosphere, so I figured it was about time I started to use it. It's not quite what I expected. I don't dislike it... but I don't know if I like it yet. I'll get back to you on that one. I also had spring mix topped with avocado and more balsamic vinegar on the side.

Dessert was a bit of soy ice cream with Halloween themed Annie's Bunnies and a sprinkle of cinnamon and cocoa powder. Soy ice cream is another new thing I've tried in the past week. I am starting to like it, which is exciting. Mind you, this is NOT ice cream. I expected it to taste just like ice cream as I took my first bite. Boy, was I shocked. Now I take it as it's own entity, and I enjoy it as a treat every so often after dinner.

And that's a wrap!! I carried on forever...sorry bout that. Figured I owed you all, though :) Now a few questions for you all....

How do you feel about Nutritional Yeast? What do you use it on?

Do you enjoy soy products as much as their dairy counterparts?

What's your favorite go to dish? It doesn't have to be vegan ;)

Happy Wednesday!!! Enjoy the day and the fall foliage while it's still here!

Thankful in New Hope, PA

Do you ever feel like you need to stop, take a moment, and just breathe? To take in the glory of all that is around you? Thank God for all that you have been blessed with and the natural beauty that He has created? I was able to do just this when I took a trip up to New Hope, PA last weekend. After a lovely day at Peddler's Village, my friend and I wanted to drive through New Hope to take some pictures and walk around. We crossed the Lambertville bridge into New Jersey, enjoying the crisp and chilly fall air, the setting sun, and the nature that surrounded us. The views were truly breathtaking, and the sun was so strong and blinding that it made for some really great photos!

What I'm Bookmarking: Fall Edition

From my previous posts, I'm sure it's pretty clear how much I love fall. It is my favorite season. I love the crisp feel in the air, the beautiful foliage, the smell of a fireplace burning on an autumn night, the gorgeous sunshine, and all of the amazing fall foods! Here is a look at the recipes that I want to make this fall season. I better hurry up and get cooking :)

Sweet Autumn Recipes....

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies (without the walnuts of course)

Apple Pie Coffee Cake

Tarte Aux Pommes

Pumpkin Popcorn
Autumn Harvest Apple Pie

Pumpkin Chocolate Bean Brownies (this one looks veryy interesting...)

Apple Oat Muffins
Pumpkin Raisin Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Pumpkin Cake

And Savory Autumn Recipes....

Fall Vegetable Orzo Casserole
Autumn Ratatouille

Autumn Couscous
Autumn Minestrone

And guess what? They're all vegan!! I can't wait to try everything.

What recipes have you been pinning and bookmarking this Fall?

WIAW: Apple Festival and Gettysburg

Happy Wednesday!! You are halfway through the work week and/or school week, congratulations! Today and every Wednesday we are celebrating What I Ate Wednesday. This month's theme... Spooky Snacks and Healthy Halloween Treats :)

Thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting the fabulous party each week. This past weekend I went on numerous autumnal adventures. It was an exhausting but AMAZING weekend, and I didn't want to limit myself and miss out on awesome fall foods. So... I cheated on my new found vegan diet. Womp wompppp. I still avoided cheese and all dairy products, but I am pretty sure there was some butter in a few of my snacks. And hey... it's ok! My stomach did not die, and I had a fabulous time with my friends. Here is a mini recap from the weekend along with some fun eats!

On Sunday morning, I headed 2 hours west out to Biglerville, PA for the National Apple Harvest Festival. For the past four years, my college friends and I have gone to this apple festival, so it has become a beloved tradition. Graduating from college, was not going to stop us this year! Melissa and her family even drove 3.5 hours!

There are a plethora of apple foods and goodies at the festival. It literally feels like the stands are endless. The whole place just smells like fall and sweets and bbq. It's awesome.

It was absolutely freezing that morning, so our first stop was to get some scrumptious hot apple cider! Thanks Boy Scout Troop 89 :)

Next stop, hot homemade cinnamon applesauce at only 50cents! This was literally the best applesauce I've ever had (I say this every year...but it seriously is!!). Chunks of apples, spicy cinnamon, and steamy goodness.

Next we headed over to Bermudian Jaycees Desserts Stand to pick up some apple desserts to bring home.

Everything always looks so amazing, but my go to every year has forever been the apple dumplings. They're not too heavy, not overly sweet, and the perfect apple treat. There is literally a whole apple inside the pastry crust. It is always a feat of self control when I am able to refrain from devouring the dumpling long enough to make it home to warm the bad boy up in the oven. SO worth it. These guys need to be warm to be fully appreciated. I know the dumpling problem wasn't vegan by any means... but I ate it with soy ice cream sooo I think it kinda evens out ;) My tummy agrees.

Because we were saving our dumplings for home, Melissa and I were on the hunt to find something to satisfy our growling stomachs. She found these fresh caramel apple slices. A woman actually puts a whole fresh apple into an old fashioned apple slicer, slices it, and drizzles on the caramel sauce. This was her treat, but she offered me a slice which I gladly accepted! So fresh and sweet!

I, on the other hand, needed lunch. Don't get me wrong, I loveee all the sweet appley goodness, but I needed something savory to tie me over until I got home for dinner. As you can imagine, it is quite difficult to find vegan, let alone vegetarian options at a fair, but I found a stand selling sweet potato friesand was so excited I literally fist pumped in the air. YEAH! These were good. A bit  too greasy (mehhh) but still good.

We wandered around a bit more, but eventually had to say goodbye. I wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous day, so I decided to head 15 minutes further west to Gettysburg to take photos of the battlefields.

The Battlefields at Gettysburg still give me chills every time I visit. It is one of the most beautiful and tranquil places in the world, yet a horrible battle was fought and so many great men lost their lives on these fields.

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial, or Peace Light as we used to call it, holds so many memories for my friends and I from Gettysburg College. It was a place that we were able to go to in order to escape from the stresses of exams and college drama. It was a place for us to just relax and chat and be ourselves. The Peace Light contains an eternal flame which burns in honor of those who lost their lives during the battles of Gettysburg.

An absolutely beautiful and fulfilling way to end my Sunday fall adventure. Check back tomorrow for a recap of my Saturday trip to Peddler's Village and New Hope, PA! Here's a sneak peek:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Wolff's Apple House

Last weekend my Mom discovered a market close to our house that sold organic produce and had a huge selection of apples, mums, spices, and dry goods. I was so excited that I suggested we go early the next morning. Wolff's Apple House is located in Media, PA, and is super cute. It's the perfect size and not too crowded.  I love Linvilla Orchards which is also close to my house, but it's always mobbed. Some days I just don't have the patience! Wolff's is perfect if you need to get in and out quickly, but you want high quality produce and flowers. Here are a few photos from our trip there: