Now that it's officially the middle of October, I figure it's time to start embracing Fall. And I'm going to say something that may not be entirely popular here so prepare yourselves... I just not that into pumpkin. I mean, I like it and all, and I'd never turn down a piece of chocolate chip pumpkin bread, but you won't find me running for everything pumpkin spice the second Labor Day is over. If you gave me the choice between a pumpkin treat and an apple cinnamon treat, I'd go apple every single time! And when I polled instagram on pumpkin vs. apple cinnamon, apple took the lead! That was all I needed to go full steam ahead with these Paleo Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins! (And btw, even if you're team pumpkin, I promise you'll be obsessed with these scrumptious Fall muffins!)

So there's this artichoke pesto pizza at a restaurant in Encinitas called Nectarine Grove that I've been obsessing over lately. I get hit with a major, major craving for it at least once a week, and the last time I couldn't stop thinking about it, I figured it was about time to try making my own version at home. But you guys know I'm not one to just whip up a pizza dough from scratch. No, thanks! I'm all about a good shortcut to make cooking as easy breezy as possible. But a typical store-bought dough wouldn't do the trick either, especially with my healthy September Challenge that just ended. Then I thought... what about Simple Mills pizza dough mix!? It's made with almond flour and flax and even cauliflower, and it only needs a couple ingredients added to it to make the dough. Ideal! So I ran out to Sprouts to stock up on my pizza dough mix and grab the other ingredients and raced back to the kitchen to make it happen. 

I never thought I'd find a smoothie I loved more than my go-to Almond Butter Cup Smoothie (or the "ABC smoothie", as the ladies in the Weeknight Bite Challenge have come to call it). But when I ran out of my chocolate protein powder one day, I figured I'd try something extra vanilla-y, and I threw in some cinnamon, vanilla extract, and cashew butter, and with one sip, I fell in love with this smoothie that tasted like a cookie, and thus the Snickerdoodle Smoothie was born. I shared this recipe with the 4-week challenge group. And then I saw post after post like this: "um, is there a limit to how many Snickerdoodle smoothies you can have per week? YUM, really does taste just like the cookie." As the Snickerdoodle Smoothie became the new popular girl in school (sorry, ABC smoothie), I knew I had to share it on the blog for all of you to enjoy, too!

So you know those nights when you're trying to throw together a quick dinner and there's literally nothing in the fridge? It seems absolutely impossible to whip up something healthy without any fresh ingredients, so you end up boiling pasta again. We've all been there. That's why I'm all about keeping the freezer stocked. I always have a large pack of frozen wild-caught salmon (actually a great deal at Whole Foods!), several bags of frozen cauliflower rice, and frozen greens. And thanks to the trusty instant pot, that's about all you need to make a healthy dinner come together in 10 minutes flat!

Going all-natural with my skincare is something that's been on my list for a long time. It took me a while and a lot of baby steps to get there, but I'm really excited that I've finally found a regimen that works for me. You may be wondering why it's an important thing to do, and I was the same way. But think about it... we spend all of this time and energy buying healthy, organic groceries, reading ingredient labels, and putting the best foods in our body, but what about what we use on our bodies?