The Perfect Fall Day

I know it's been quite a while since my last post, but as is customary here in the Midwest at this time of year, the weather has been pretty icky and on top of that, I contracted a lovely cold that kept me from even thinking about being in front of or behind the camera. However, yesterday turned it all around! I have been wanting to go apple picking for the past few fall seasons and yesterday we finally went! My mom, sister, aunt, two cousins and I made our way to Hillcrest Orchards for the most perfect fall day I could've ever imagined. In the few hours that we were there, we took a hayride, picked over thirty pounds of apples (and gobbled up a few), got pretty lost in a corn maze, meandered through the pumpkin patches, and had a whole bunch of family fun!









It was the most wonderful of days to do it. After suffering through the bipolar weather tendencies of Northeast Ohio, we had a gorgeous, sunny, crisp fall day. The land seemed to stretch forever; no wonder we needed to take a hayride to get to the apples! There were a ton of families out, mostly with little kids, all enjoying the great weather and taking advantage of all that this beautiful farm had to offer. While apple picking was our main event, the pumpkin patch is another point of interest at this farm, with a huge selection of great Jack O' Lantern material and fall decorations for days.









We loved Hillcrest! The land was so pretty and spacious. Even though I'm really a city girl, sometimes I love getting out in the country and breathing in all that fresh air. Plus, being a Midwesterner, you have to take some time every now and then to embrace your inner country child. Hillcrest has so many activities and being there was so much fun! They even have a market where they sell their fresh made apple butter, cider, and salsa! It's great for the little ones, too. They had play areas, a smaller hay maze, and pedal karts. They really have something for everyone, and we all had such a blast! We will definitely be bringing Charlie back at some point.







We spent a good hour or two in the orchard, sampling the different delicious apples. They had a large variety, from Red Delicious to other kinds I'd never heard of before, such as Empire. They were each a little different, and we got a great medley! I know that alongside my pumpkin obsession, I'm about to look for creative recipes that call for apples. My mom, sister, and I filled a 20 lb bag to the max, and we ended up with around 50 apples! My aunt and cousins filled a 10 lb bag for them to take home, and between the six of us, we probably ate about a dozen. It's so great that at Hillcrest, they let you eat as many apples as you want while you're out in the orchard. It gave us the opportunity to taste each one so that we knew exactly what we were picking. We got some specifically for baking, some for applesauce, and then of course some to just eat by themselves.





Olivia has already made two pies with a few of them, and I plan on trying my hand at an allergy-friendly pie. That means gluten, dairy, and egg-free crust! I'll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying our wonderful fresh apples and the memories that we made getting them. Even though this may be the last year I live at home, I'm hoping I'll be able to come back from time to time and go apple picking with my family :)

Have you ever been apple picking? What was your experience?

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Bars!

Happy October everyone! There are a couple of reasons that I am really excited about this post. For one, I am obsessed with pumpkin. I absolutely adore indulging in all things flavored with this wonderfully seasonal fruit. This is very clearly illustrated on my Instagram. The second reason that I'm excited about this post is because it's my first recipe post that is completely gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and peanut free! As I have mentioned briefly on my blog before, I have these five food intolerances, which makes enjoying many common foods impossible. Since I found out about my dietary restrictions about seven months ago, I've been on the look out for substitutions and replacements for my favorite foods. I've found some wonderful alternatives to some of them, but I've been a little bit worried about completely missing out on this fantastic pumpkin season. Last time I was at Trader Joe's, I picked up some pumpkin butter (surprisingly not made with any dairy at all) and a couple cans of pumpkin purée, having every intention to make the effort to add pumpkin to my diet this way, despite the fact that I can't have pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin bread, etc. So when I found this recipe in my Living Without's Gluten Free magazine, I thought, What a perfect way to kick off my pumpkin spree! I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe, based on what I had available to me in the house, but I think they came out great! I hope that even if you don't necessarily have food restrictions that you still give them a try. They are healthy and yummy and easy to make. So without further ado, here we go!





Pumpkin Pie Bars

Makes 8 Bars

1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar
1 tablespoon coconut oil, organic margarine or grape seed oil
3/4 cup pure pumpkin purée
1 cup gluten-free oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds or flax meal
2 tablespoons amaranth flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8X8-inch pan or line it with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine dates, syrup, oil and pumpkin. Pulse until mixture forms a paste.

3. In a medium bowl, place oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, amaranth flour, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir until well combined.

4. Add date paste to dry ingredients and blend thoroughly.

5. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan.

6. Place in preheated oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan completely before cutting.

Recipe taken from Living Without's Gluten Free magazine, August/September 2014 issue.







For this first time around, I used maple syrup and flax meal. I replaced the oil with dairy, soy-free butter substitute, and used all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of amaranth flour. I also used chopped hazelnuts in place of pumpkin seeds. Again, this was purely because of what I had on hand. Next time, I absolutely want to use the ingredients that are listed in the recipe, and I think I'll try honey in place of the maple syrup. Overall, though, I think they are delicious and a wonderful way to have my lovely pumpkin while still keeping within my dietary limits.







Let me know if you try them and what you think! Do you have any food restrictions? What kinds of substitutions do you make?