Trader Joe Fall Favs

Who doesn't love Trader Joes? Especially when you are greeted with stacks of pumpkins and mums on your way inside? Next year I'm tempted to decorate our front door step with those Cinderella pumpkins on the right. I love the white ones!

 

I saw this pumpkin Greek yogurt on Trader Joes website when I was looking for dinner inspiration and crossed my fingers that my local store had it in stock. I can't wait to try it with some sliced apples, cinnamon and maybe even a drizzle of honey. Ugh, mouth watering...

I had to pick up some avocados when I saw they were only 99 cents. I love the sign that they put up - who knew that storing an avocado half with a piece of raw onion in the fridge would keep it from browning?! Thanks for the tip TJ!

I am obsessed with these and am so excited to find them at the store again! I love spreading the the fig butter on toast - it tastes just like a fig newton bar! The honey apple butter is amazing also - and I love that these have no fat (and only 40 calories and 9g of sugar per tbs). I haven't tried the pumpkin butter yet.

If you pick these up, look on the side of the label for their suggestions of how to use it - the pumpkin butter's label says, "We suggest using Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter as a pastry filling, poultry glaze, ice cream topping, on toast or mixed with fat free cream cheese for a unique spread." It also gives you simple instructions for turning it into pumpkin soup!

I have such a hard time finding Quinoa in grocery stores so I always grab some when I am at TJ's. I'm planning on making BBQ chicken quinoa salad one night this week.

Canned pumpkin. Enough said. I'm sure I could find a way to use this in 2 seconds looking on Pinterest.

Last, but not least. I found the gem - pumpkin spice coffee... and  get this - for only $3.99. If I wasn't sold at pumpkin spice, I was definitely sold on that price. I can't wait to try this with some vanilla or caramel creamer. I might need to stock up on this!

I also grabbed some eucalyptus and placed it on our entry table - it's already made the entire first floor smell amazing. I love fall!

Fall Entry Decor Inspiration

I'm back! I recently started a blog with my friend Lauren, www.bmorelovely.com, and it made me realize how much I miss sharing my thoughts and loves with all of you. So here I am, I hope you'll continue to follow along :)

It's officially fall - which means it is completely acceptable to break out the pumpkins and fall decor (even though we have been burning pumpkin pie candles all month)! Walking past Trader Joe's at work today I couldn't help but grab a few pumpkins - they had mini pumpkins for about 70 cents each, these adorable striped larger mini pumpkins for a dollar and regular pumpkins for only 3.99 - I couldn't resist.

I've been pinning ideas for my pumpkins and entry way lately. Here's what I have been loving...

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I love the idea of turning pumpkins into flower pots for mums or pansies! I learned a trick - spray bleach after carving out the inside of the pumpkin and it will prevent it from molding with the varying weather.

I'm also really digging the idea of painting pumpkins - I can't wait to paint our house number on a pumpkin and add a pop of color with a fun pattern like chevron for our front doorstep!

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I love these recycled glass jugs from West Elm. They are the perfect container for tree branches for an entry console. Rustic and beautiful - with a touch of aqua.

I'll be sure to share some of my DIY fall decor once complete!

Move Day

"When people say, 'She's got everything', I've got one answer - I haven't had tomorrow." -Elizabeth Taylor

Today our offices at GKV are moving! Which means all employees gets the day off. No connection to email, servers, or the new building! Which means I can replace my morning smoothie with a glass of white wine right? Chris woke me up and took me to breakfast. Two egg whites, turkey bacon and whole wheat pancakes. The best part about this was I didn't have to make a single thing! I love cooking and adore my time in the kitchen, but I could easily get used to days off like this!

So what's on my schedule for today? Catching up with all of you, cleaning the house, taking the dogs for a walk, a five mile run, napping and meeting up with friends tonight to celebrate my friend Rachel's 24th birthday.

Since I have been lacking in the recipes section, I decided to share with you all my roasted chicken recipe. I think this is going to become a bi-weekly staple in our house. It was so moist, easy and the dogs love when dinner is over they get to snack on the treats when I am putting away the leftovers!

Rosemary-Baked Chicken:

5 pound whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2  lemon cut into forths
1.5 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup chicken stock

Directions:

Set your whole chicken in a baking dish and rub the olive oil all over the chicken. Give him a good massage. Combine all other ingredients (minus the lemon slices) and sprinkle all over the chicken and inside. Give him another healthy massage. Place the lemon slices inside of the chicken. Pour the chicken stock in the bottom of the baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 and cook for about an hour and a half uncovered. It is important to baste the chicken every 20 minutes or so, this will help keep your chicken extra moist and juicy. Your whole kitchen will smell wonderful!

I used the leftovers on salads and in quesadillas/burritos with some black beans, corn, jalapeno and tomatoes. You could also use it to make practically any other dishes that require shredded chicken.

Sometimes a girl just craves some toast and laughing cow cheese wedge for breakfast. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Recently Chris and I have been discussing buying our first house. Did you know the average age a person buys a home is between 28 and 32? We are on the early bloomers side of things, but we both have steady jobs and everyone has been telling us now is the time to buy. So combined with the stress of work, talking to a realtor, spending every free minute looking at houses online and talking to a mortgage broker we have been exhausted. It is going to be a long, but exciting process!

I always get excited when I am the first to tag the lobby's flowers to take home at the end of the week. I love fresh flowers in the kitchen.

Lately I have been mixing in canned pumpkin with the dogs dinner. Not only is it a healthy staple for us, but is a common ingredient to help manage a dogs weight, help upset stomachs and used in many homemade dog treats. It has a high content of vitamin A that keeps your dogs healthy and resistant to infections, helps ward off cancerous cells and improves their night vision.The potassium helps their iron levels and keeps their blood healthy.

Hope you all have a great Friday! It is surprisingly gorgeous out in Maryland after the past two days filled with rain!

xoxo,
Cara