This year Colorado is actually having a real fall! The leaves are falling in golden hues, fireplaces scent the night, and its not too cold yet (outside of last week’s light snow, but we’ll let it slide).
With this season comes an abundance of fruits and veggies to try while they are ripe and cheap! To find out what is in season right now, I use seasonalfoodguide.org
This website is super convenient! You enter your location, season, and what you’re looking for; this will prompt a (hopefully long) list of fresh fruits and veggies for you to check out soon. I love eating seasonally because #1 its a little cheaper for this college student, #2 it’s an opportunity to try something new, and #3 things taste a whole lot better when they’re ripe!
Guides are so helpful to help figure out what’s in season, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it’s PUMPKIN SPICE SEASON. This autumn weather has every coffee shop brewing their best pumpkin mixes with cinnamon, pumpkin, and whatever festive spice they can get their hands on!
To celebrate the annual pumpkin spice season (without spending my entire paycheck on sugary coffee drinks), I’ve tried my best to stay away from the local starbucks, and get creative in my own kitchen. I’ll admit, when studying for exams, I may or may not have bought a pumpkin spice scone and loaf, but it’s important to treat yourself! One way I treat myself every morning is by making overnight oats!
Pumpkin Spice Oats
Eating my oats has quickly became the highlight of my mornings. I went from rolling out of bed 15 minutes before my classes/work started to waking up over an hour before I need to leave for school so I have time to read while I eat my oats and drink my coffee. I’m not saying these oats are magic, but they sure are motivating!
This is my overnight oat recipe I eat every morning. Keep in mind, these portions may seem smaller than that of other recipes. I do this for a couple of reasons! I’m currently facing a knee injury, so I am not needing as many calories during the day as I would doing distance running. Along with this, in my class/work/gym schedule, I eat lunch at about 11AM, so I only have a couple hours from my oats to my lunch! I highly recommend trying out different portion sizes to see what works best for you!
These oats are so easy to make the night before, you just stir them up and cover them for the night! When doing so, be sure to cover the container the oats are in, this helps them absorb the liquid and get a creamy texture. There’s a reason why people always make them in hip jars, and it took me a few mistakes to find that out! Let me know if you’ve had any overnight oat flops in the comments below!
Ingredients
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweetened)
1/4 cup low fat plain greek yogurt
1/2 banana, thinly sliced
1 spoonful of chia seeds
1 spoonful of pumpkin puree
a dash of pumpkin spice
a dash on cinnamon
For a more filling meal, a spoonful (or 2) of peanut butter
Squash Season
At this point in between fall and winter, I have fallen in love with using squash whenever and wherever I can. I’ve gotten my hands on zucchini, patty pan squash (both summer squashes but still out in the grocery stores for cheap), acorn squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and pumpkin. With these gourds making an appearance in all of my meals, how could I not talk about them?
With the abundance of these squashes at my house, I’ve been meal prepping like crazy! I’m usually not a big fan of having left overs daily, but the versatility of squash has allowed me to keep the excitement going throughout my weekly meals!
Don’t forget to treat yourself!
The fall season is an amazing time to try out new recipies and ingredients, but don’t forget to treat yourself! Fall is the time to take a step back and enjoy the short season. The other night, I invited my friends over for cake after dinner and we just watched the leaves from the porch.
I hope you all are having/had a great fall! It’s not even halloween, but here in Fort Collins its already freezing out, so fall may be in the past for me 😦 But that just means peppermint/chocolate season is right around the corner! Now that I’ve shared my harvest season eats, I want to hear from you! What is your go to meal that reminds you of fall?
chillfit 