Thanksgiving Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Isn't it nice to have a day to spend with family and to be reminded of all our blessings.

I'm overwhelmed with my blessings this year: a wonderful husband, a great God, a fabulous family, a great job and a trip to Burma in less than two weeks!

This year, we spent our Thanksgiving with my husband's family in Siloam Springs, Ark.

It was a fun day of cooking, eating, napping and playing games.

Eating Up OKC

This past weekend Jason and I got the wonderful opportunity to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Oklahoma City.

I just love my family and can't get enough time around them, so I was so excited about the trip.

The weekend was full of amazing food, good laughs and fun adventures in OKC.

Here are the highlights and best tid bits from our weekend.

Risotto for Everyone

When I married my husband, I knew that I was gaining a friend for life, someone who would always make me laugh and someone who would always take care of me.

But I didn't realize that I was also marrying an amazing chef...and a fantastic risotto maker.

I love to order risotto at restaurants.

Who can resist that creamy, cheesy, decadent rice?

But I thought it would be rather hard to make at home. Then, Jason jumped right in and decided to try it out and it has been fantastic every time he's made it.

One Vote for Breakfast

Today is Election Day...bum, bum buuuum (cue scary sound effects).

I voted early a few weeks ago but really enjoyed following election tweets and such today at work.

Also, I'm very thankful that I no longer work at a newspaper because election night was crazy and super late there.

I'm excited to see what happens, but in the mean time I would like to share a fantastic and healthy banana bread.

Just Simple: Tomato Soup

Well, now that it's Sunday...I guess I can't call this recipe a Simple Saturday one.

But it's still very simple and delicious!

It's tomato soup and it can be ready in like 5 minutes.

I adapted this recipe from the Girl Makes Food blog.

To make it you just saute onions and garlic in oil, add in the canned tomatoes, herbs and milk and blend until creamy. And if you want to add a few splashes of heavy cream, go for it!

Caramel Apples All Grown Up

After I hit the teenage years and Halloween rolled around, I was always sad that I had never eaten a caramel apple as a child.

I felt like I had missed something, like I had been left out of the cool club.

I'm not sure why I was never around caramel apples...perhaps my parents wanted me to keep all of my teeth intact. And maybe they didn't want me jumping off the ceilings from the sugar rush.

Simple Saturday: White Bean Salad

This week, I threw this dish together because I was in need of a salad that didn't contain lettuce (because we were out).

It was quite a conundrum.

Then, I remembered that I had a can of white beans in the pantry and since the salad was accompanying pasta, the Italian vibe would totally work.

I made this super simple salad by combining washed, drained white beans with carrots, freshly chopped basil, oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and a bit of garlic salt.

I mixed it all together and threw it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

It was a delicious and fresh side to our Italian meal.

P.S. White beans are also great on lettuce salads with tuna and in this amazing app. If you have any other great uses for these dandy beans, give me a shout out.

Fallcakes

Two words:

Pumpkin...

Pancakes.

Simple Saturday: Hot Cocoa

It's our third Simple Saturday on the Fruitful blog! Woohoo!

(If you'd like to check out the other two Simple Saturday posts click here: Avocado Toast and Popcorn in a Bag.)

I hope these non-recipes have been inspiring you to make some simple snacks and meals.

Today, I've got a treat for you.

Thankful for Fall

This fall, I'm thankful for many things.

I'm thankful to have a great job.

I'm thankful to get to see the sun come up (most) mornings.

I'm extra thankful for the amazing yellows, oranges, reds and greens that the trees around my apartment are showing off lately.

Simple Saturday: Popcorn in a Bag

I've been spending a glorious weekend in my hometown, hanging out with my family and wonderful husband.

It's been so fun just being here and not having an agenda, not having anywhere certain to be and just enjoying life together.

And this Simple Saturday recipe is absolutely perfect for relaxing weekends in front of a big game or your favorite flick with friends or family.

Chill out and make some popcorn in a bag!

Happy Birthday Fruitful!

Happy 1st Birthday Fruitful!

I can't hardly believe that it's been a year since I started this wonderful journey of food blogging.

In the past year, I've cooked more than I probably ever have in my life.

I've made some really tasty treats and I've had some recipe failures as well.

What I've enjoyed most is when you, my wonderful fans, give me a shout out that you loved a recipe or share your own recipes. You are awesome!

Life is Like Peeling Potatoes

Life is like peeling potatoes.

Sometimes it's not fun. Sometimes it's stressful. Sometimes you nick yourself in the midst of it.

But you know that what those potatoes hold is worth every bit of peeling.

What the potatoes will become, or transform into, is the worth the pain of peeling.

Peeling potatoes is probably the hardest part of making potato soup, so yeah, it's really not that hard to make.

If you can make it through step 1, in a short amount of time you'll have a comfortingly transformed vegetable that warms your stomach and makes you taste buds feel like they're home.

*Click on recipe card to enlarge and save

Simple Saturday: Avocado Toast

Life is about to get a lot busier for me.

I'll be a regular old 9-5 employee starting next week, which I'm thrilled about.

When you spend most of your time in a one bedroom apartment every day, you get a little stir crazy and in need of social interactions.

I'm so excited about this new chapter of life.

Bread Making Take 2

It's finally fall.

Well, technically.

But I get the feeling that, along with everyone else around me (at least judging from Pinterest), I am ready to celebrate the harvest of fall.

I'm totally there with you, pinning recipes for pumpkin donuts and planning to make 50 different soup recipes.