a taste of fall.

This past week since running my race I've fallen off the wagon as far as my healthy eating/diet is concerned.  I had been convinced that it hadn't made a huge difference. I felt a bit better but I wasn't necessarily getting more sleep or noticing any vast improvements and the emotional turmoil of avoiding so many things I enjoyed (including baking, social invitations and just plain old eating!) didn't seem to outweigh the slim benefits. So, I'd determined to add a few things back in but still eat primarily fruits and vegetables and avoid the processed foods and sugars in particular. Well, the best laid plans as they say...

I think I ate vegetables 3 or 4 times the entire week and let me tell you, it really did make a difference.  I feel super sluggish, I have much less energy and mental clarity and just feel overall bleh (yep, I just made "bleh" an adjective.)

This week will be a little crazy as we'll probably lose power so we've had to go the non-perishable grocery route but as soon as things are back to normal I vow to return to a cleaner way of eating. But, until then I've been enjoying some fall treats and they've definitely pleased my pallet, if not so much the rest of me.

Here are a few of my favorites: *

Roasted Brussels Sprouts I left out the barley 'cuz I didn't have any, but otherwise a winner!
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas tonight's dinner, delish
Pumpkin Pie French Toast pumpkin? french toast? what's not to love?! I poured a bit of buttermilk syrup over mine (thanks M, for the recipe!) and it was divine!!
Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies Oh, my, word! There are no words for how delicious these were. Eat them fresh out of the oven when the caramel is gooey or top them with some pumpkin ice cream or dip them in dark hot chocolate....so tasty!

Now I just need to get me a salted caramel hot chocolate and a hazelnut steamer from Starbucks and I'll be ready to purge my system again!

What are some of your favorite fall foods and flavors? Anything I should squeeze in before I launch back into reality living?


*All of the recipes were found on Pinterest originally.  How did I survive before without it? I shudder to think!