Today has been one of those days where all I want to do is be in the kitchen and cook! I’ve finally found my zeal for cooking once again.. I’m not quite sure what set it off, but I’m very glad that I’m now able to find a healthy balance between my busy schedule and finding time to cook my homemade meals. I feel better, and more inspired than ever!!

I started my day with another bowl of pumpkin oatmeal. Seriously, this is my favorite oatmeal concoction.. it’s just so sweet and delicious! I used 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of water, 3/4 cup of pumpkin (all that was leftover), 1 sliced banana, 3 tbsp maple syrup, cinnamon, 2 tbsp raisins, and 1 tbsp slivered almonds. Absolutely amazing. Best part was that I was really able to savor every bite because of my new baby spoon that I bought at crate & barrel yesterday. It slowed me down tremendously which made the bowl last for a good 10-15 minutes!

For lunch, I had almond butter and strawberry preserves on whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread with another juicy pear (are you seeing a pattern here?! once the fall rolls around, I can’t get enough of ‘em!) and some baby carrots. The sandwich was really yummy, but I must say that nothing beats raspberry preserves. I just wanted to use up those packets of preserves I got free from starbucks. ;)

After lunch, I met my friend at Tasti for some ice cream!! It was the perfect day for something cool, creamy, and refreshing considering it was unseasonably warm outside! I got my usual medium cup of Snickers and Cookie Smash with sprinkles. My friend took a picture of me in all my ice cream glory! Needless to say, it was delicious.

Now I promised you guys yesterday that I was going to bake something, but I never found the time. I surely did make up for it today though!! When I got home, I found this delicious recipe for Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, and I knew they’d be perfect!! I followed the recipe to a tee except that I replaced the peanut butter with almond butter. I snacked my way through the baking process, and it was probably the greatest dough I’ve ever had. No joke. Considering I had my fair share of batter, I decided to wait until after dinner to actually try the cookies. Talk about self restraint! I needed plenty to resist this plate of yummy cookies!


before baking


after baking

Onto dinner!! I had a butternut squash sitting on my counter for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to make a dish with it tonight! I made a Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, and it was scrumptious!! Once again, I’ll post the full recipe later tonight, but the ingredients I used were: 1/3 cup dry quinoa, cubed butternut squash, chopped tomatoes, red onion, fresh basil, and toasted pine nuts tossed with a simple dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup. The butternut squash was absolutely divine! I can’t wait to make more dishes with it in the future. It’s so easy to cook up, and is so versatile.. I already have more butternut squash recipe ideas floating in my head!

I thought I’d also post how I made my mom’s portion of butternut squash: I baked it in the oven, cubed, with 1 tsp of canola oil, 2 spoonfuls of light brown sugar, and a hearty dose of cinnamon. My mom was wild over it!! It looked like this:

Of course I HAD to have my homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for dessert!! I splurged and had two of them, and washed it all down with a tall glass of vanilla hempmilk. These cookies were the epitome of decadence.. they were perfection!!

I’ve had such a relaxing day today.. no work, no gym.. just doing what I love most- cooking! I have tomorrow and Wednesday off from school as well, so I’ll be taking it easy for the next couple of days. Off to watch Gossip Girl.. have a great night!!