Gluten-Free Quinoa & Dried Blueberry Granola + senior year!

Hello, friend.

A bowl of Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, a drizzle of honey, and a handful of granola is what a perfect morning looks like to me. Add in a cup of coffee and any song by Branches playing in the background and I can’t think of a better way to start the day. Recently, I’ve been getting into the vegan & gluten free food movements. I’m neither vegan nor gluten intolerant, but I am still intrigued by the art and science that goes into constructing and reconstructing recipes that are vegan and/or gluten-free. There is something powerful about the art of repurposing and substituting one ingredient for another that I just love about developing any recipe. It’s the thrill of discovery. It’s trying new recipes and daring to relearn old ones. It’s the constant search of that ‘eureka’ moment. It’s the process of starting from nothing to ending with something beautiful and memorable.

Frog Jam & Honey Yogurt with Pan-fried Apples & Toasted Graham Topping

Hello, friend.

Autumn seems to be upon us once more. The Midwest becomes a smeared palette of vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges. The season of harvest beginning. The weather changing state. Long, humid days turn to cool, windy nights. These next months are for soft, wool sweaters, bonfires, and drinking coffee under a starry night sky.  Warm lattes and jittery bodies roam the quad. Breathes become ocular, resembling the appearance of exhaled smoke. Leaves fall like student’s willpower to study. Cold mornings only make it harder to leave the warming embrace of the bed. All the while, the looming thoughts of midterms leads everyone to question the reason pursuing higher education was even a considerable option in the first place. Welcome to fall, I suppose. 

Honey & Chia Yogurt Topped with Honey + Cardamom Pan-Fried Bananas

"Just because I have a disability doesn’t mean that I’m disabled."

Hello, friend.

These kind of posts seem to be the harder ones to write. Not due to any particular depth or grittiness, but due to the shear lacking of inspiration. I’ve written about being uninspired before on the blog. For me, it seems to come in cycles. Inspiration is like riding a rollercoaster. The trek to the top can be long, arduous, and emotionally crippling at times. Your heart feels heavy. The world close and boxed in. As creators, what we crave more than anything is the mental sense of falling. The moment when you’re looking over the edge of the coaster, the drop just inches from your seat. Time slows down as your mind races to comprehend the situation. And just as the thoughts trickle in, you drop. A crescendo of sensations come racing up. Speeding downwards, the winds of inspiration ripple back across your face as every known emotion comes flutter up like a cage of butterflies just released. This sensation is how inspiration feels. What seems to be the only problem is that I’m terrified of rollercoasters.