Roasted Pumpkin Soup (video) + Giveaway!

I am sooooo excited because I’ve just posted my very first YouTube video! I’ve wanted to start a YouTube channel for a long time and finally went for it. Now I’m a YouTube addict! My friend Kevin Gowdy (founder of Momentary Art) filmed while I cooked up a fancy fall soup for you guys!

Make sure you subscribe to my channel because I plan on posting more videos and tutorials in the future!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE candy (especially gummy candy), but this year I though it would be fun to do a Healthy Halloween recipe on the savory side! Since Halloween tends to have an unhealthy reputation, I’m changing it up with a fun Halloween recipe, cooked inside of a pumpkin, with my favorite Dole Power Up Greens Baby Kale! I hope you love my Healthy Halloween recipe!

 

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Roasted Pumpkin Soup

One medium cheese or cinderella pumpkin
1 cup Dole Power Up Greens Baby Kale
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 fresh sage leaves
2 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 box vegetable stock
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Using a serrated knife, cut a circle around the stem of the pumpkin (just like caving a pumpkin). Remove the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and stringy pieces. Place the green onions, rosemary, sage, garlic, and baby kale inside of the pumpkin. Pour vegetable broth into the pumpkin and add salt to taste. Add the grated parmesan cheese and cover with the lid of the pumpkin. Transfer the filled pumpkin to the lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the exterior of the pumpkin is golden brown and shiny. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and carefully take off the lid. Scoop a few spoonfuls of kale, onions, and broth along with some of the pumpkin flesh from the inside. Place in a bowl and top with a ladleful of broth. Top your soup with freshly grated parmesan cheese!

I hope you have a happy & healthy Halloween!
For more Healthy Halloween recipes, check out Dole’s Orange and Green Meanies and Great Caesar’s Pumpkin “Pie”!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Must use a valid email address to enter. Must be a US resident to enter.

Giveaway ends on Sunday, November 2nd at 11:59 PM (PST).
1 winner will be randomly selected and announced on Monday, November 3rd.

This post has been sponsored by Dole. I received compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apple

All of the sweet and tasty goodness of a traditional apple crisp, stuffed and baked inside a fresh Autumn apple. Serve it alongside some vanilla Greek yogurt for an extra filling fall dessert, for one!

This single serving recipe is so easy to make, plus it’s gluten free, and vegan!

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If you’re new to my blog, you will notice that the majority of my recipes are single serving – for one person. I’ve always struggled with portion control… If I made a recipe that serves 4, I know I’d end up eating the whole thing… so that’s why I started making all of my meals only 1 serving. That way there’s no leftovers for me to eat, and no question as to how much of the meal is an appropriate portion. I always had a hard time with diet/nutrition books that would give recipes for 4-6 servings. I know I could measure out the appropriate servings and store them in their own tupperware, but if there are leftovers or extra in the fridge, I know I will end up eating them when I shouldn’t! Maybe that’s just me, but I’ve found that single serving recipes work best for me to stay on track! Single serving recipes are also great for someone who lives alone, but they’re easy to double if you’re cooking for another person as well!

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Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apple
Serves 1

1 Fuji Apple
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Earth Balance Olive Oil Buttery Spread (or coconut oil)

Preheat oven to 375. Wash and carefully hollow out the apple making sure not to cut too deep through the bottom of the apple. Mix oats, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon together and pour into the apple. Fill the bottom of a small baking dish with about 1/2 inch of water. Place the apple in the baking dish lined with water. Place 1/4 tsp of Earth Balance or coconut oil on top of the oats. Bake for 30 minutes.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: apple
Whole Grain: oats
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: Earth Balance or Coconut Oil

Rabbit Food Meal Tip: Complete this meal with a cup of milk, or 1 cup of Greek yogurt as your serving of protein.

Dallas

I’m finally home from my two weeks of solid travel! I went from a high of 60degrees in Seattle, flew home to a sunny 75 degree Southern California, and then straight to 90 degree Dallas! You could probably guess that my packing skills were terrible during these trips because I could not even process what the temperature changes would really feel like! Where is real fall?! I want changing leaves, cloud cover, and cold weather already!

I had the best time in Dallas. I got to see my childhood friend Andrea, one of my old roommates Tara, and my friend Jason and his wife Amanda! It was so fun getting to catch up and see my friends that I haven’t seen for months and even years!

I’ve been to every big city in Texas, but Dallas was the last one to check off my list. In my head, I always thought that Dallas was the city with tall buildings and a downtown, and that Fort Worth was a suburb just outside of Dallas. Boy was I wrong… I had no idea that Fort Worth and Dallas were so far apart (about 45 minutes), and that Fort Worth had it’s own downtown full of tall buildings and night life! I spent half of my time in each place, and fell in love with each!

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Dallas-2Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas.

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Dallas-5Tony Tasset’s 30ft tall eyeball statue across from the Joule hotel in downtown Dallas. It’s at 1607 Main Street, Dallas if you are ever in the area! 

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Dallas-8Loved this little ice cream cone seating area outside of an ice cream parlor!

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Dallas-12I spent some time exploring and walking around downtown Dallas and saw this adorable little mobile library. It’s called “Downtown’s (Un)parked Library” also called the “wheel-borrow” provided by Downtown Dallas, Inc. This little mobile library is filled with books that you can read while you’re relaxing in the park and return before you leave. I love this idea, it’s so charming and gave a sense of community to a big city.

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Dallas-15Whenever I’m in big cities, I love to see the contrast of nature against architecture. In the middle of downtown Dallas, there was a huge area of local plants.

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Dallas-17After exploring downtown I headed to Highland Park, which I am absolutely obsessed with. Their adorable Highland Park Village is filled with high end shops and restaurants that are to die for.

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Dallas-21This old theater in the middle of Highland Park Village had so much character and charm.

Dallas-22I am obsessed with the tree lined streets in Highland Park!

Dallas-23My mom and I spent a few hours at the Stock Yards in Fort Worth. It’s the exact opposite of downtown Dallas! This is real Texas! The Texas that you think of in your head!

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Dallas-26I loved all of the old historic buildings and their mixed mediums of pallets and brick.

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Dallas-28Boots on boots on boots.

Dallas-29Ombre display of cowboy hats.

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Dallas-32We were definitely in the right place at the right time, and as we were walking down the street there was a cattle drive, where they moved the longhorns from one end of the street to the other. My mom and I kept looking at each other in amazement that there were no fences or anything between these giant bulls and the public! This would never happen in LA!

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Dallas-34This little guy wanted to walk at his own pace at the end of the line!

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Dallas-36Seriously… only in Texas!

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Dallas-40The stockyards had tons of things to see and do during the day, but I heard that the night life is great as well. There’s tons of bars, saloons, and a gigantic honky-tonk!

Dallas-41Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth.

Dallas-42A view of the gorgeous downtown Fort Worth at night.

My trip was so much fun, but I’m so happy to be home in my own bed (until my next trip to Nevada in Nov!). I’m cooking up some fun fall recipes for you guys and I can’t wait for you to see them!

Health & Happiness
xo Catherine

Caramel Date Sauce

Greetings from Dallas!
Do any of my bunnies have suggestions for some restaurants or shops I should visit?
I always love visiting Texas because everyone here is so sweet.
Speaking of sweet, I have a sweet treat for y’all today!

Fall is the time for candy apples, bathed in gooey caramel! This caramel date sauce is soooo easy to make and so perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth (like myself)! Dip apple slices in it for a sweet snack, or add it on top of your yogurt! My Caramel Date Sauce is vegan, gluten free, refined sugar-free, and low fat, so go ahead, indulge!

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Caramel Date Sauce

1 cup Medjool dates, packed
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Remove pits from dates. Place dates and water in a jar or container and soak overnight or about 6 hours. Transfer the dates and their soaking water to a food processor and add the vanilla and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Seattle {Part Deux}

On our second day in Seattle, we spent most of our time downtown exploring. We started off at Pike Place Market and made our way to the first Starbucks! Although I heard this isn’t actually the very first Starbucks… apparently the original (where they started roasting coffee) was in a building just a few blocks north that is no longer there.

The weather was absolutely perfect while we were out, Seattle is so gorgeous!

Visiting-Seattle-1Sweater: Forever 21  |  Scarf: Forever 21  |  Leggings: Zella  |  Booties: Sam and Libby  |  Bag: Goyard  |  Lip Liner: Mac ‘Cherry’  |  Lipstick: Lime Crime ‘Red Velvet’

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Visiting-Seattle-10Matt, Olivia, the boys and I walked around Pike Place for a while and stopped for a snack at The Crumpet Shop and lunch at Beecher’s for some Spicy Mac ‘n’ Cheese! Beecher’s Mariachi Mac and Cheese has roasted Anaheim chiles, a blend of fresh veggies and Beecher’s award-winning Flagship cheese. I loved the spicy, south-of-the-border kick! A must try for mac and cheese lovers!

Visiting-Seattle-6 The boys loved the Market Theater Gum Wall. It’s a local landmark in Post Alley under Pike Place Market. Colorful, icky, and pretty!

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Visiting-Seattle-8I love this photo of Matt, Olivia, and Maddox. Dimples on dimples on dimples : )

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Visiting-Seattle-11Here it is in all of it’s coffee making glory: The first Starbucks! I love that they still use the original mermaid logo!

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Visiting-Seattle-13The line went outside of the store but it wasn’t too bad, we only waited about 10 minutes max. Look how tiny it is! As you can see, there isn’t a lot of room for storage!

Visiting-Seattle-14Matt and his OG Starbucks!

Visiting-Seattle-16After leaving downtown, we had a little work break and headed to the Space Needle.

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Visiting-Seattle-21It was super windy at the top of the Space Needle, as you can tell! Maddox kept opening his mouth in the wind, it was adorable!

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Visiting-Seattle-24We spent the next day in Bellevue and took the babies to lunch. Maddox looks so presh in his Eat More Rabbit Food kids shirt!

IMG_0344Later in the day, I had the honor of visiting the PR team from Evolution Fresh at Starbucks Headquarters while I was in Seattle.

Starbucks-Vegan-Evolution-Fresh-Real-Fruit-SmoothieWhile I was at Starbucks HQ (ummmmm, so cool!) my girl Lynae taught me the BEST healthy Starbucks trick in Starbucks history! She showed me how to get a real fruit, vegan smoothie AT STARBUCKS! All you need to do is buy a bottle of Evolution Fresh (I chose “Defense Up“), and a banana, and ask your barista to blend it with ice for you! They can even add whey protein powder for you! My mind was completely blown. This is my new go to travel meal. I wish I knew about this sooner, I’m seriously so excited!

Now I’m currently in Dallas!
Can anyone tell me some awesome healthy restaurants and places to go?!

Health & Happiness
xo Catherine

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