Yet another instance of me throwing all of the food I have into a pot with tomato sauce and calling it a night. This time I barely had any fresh veggies to work with (bless that zucchini!), but I found comfort in the cupboards (canned goods don’t get enough love). I wanted to use pumpkin here but all I had was canned butternut squash puree, which turned out so delicious!

Butternut Squash and White Bean Chili

1 can butternut squash puree
1 can rinsed and drained white beans
1 onion
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 zucchini
Olive oil
Cumin
Sea salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato puree
1 can filtered water

Sauté the onion in olive oil, cumin, and sea salt until fragrant and browned. Toss in diced zucchini and mushrooms and cook until tender. add white beans, tomato puree, butternut squash puree, vegetable broth, and water to the pot. Turn heat to high and cook until boiling, then reduce to low heat and partially cover with a lid. Now you’re cooking the sauce down until the liquid is absorbed and a thick mixture forms (I stir every 10 minutes for about 40 minutes). At the very end I stirred in the maple syrup! Once the liquid is mostly absorbed it’s done.

Over the summer I had an internship in NYC while living at home in NJ. Meaning a 4 hour commute each day, love to see it! I’d always come home ravenous and this bowl saved me more times than I can remember. Mostly because it comes together in less than 10 minutes.

What you’ll need:

• 1 onion
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• Kale greens
• Avocado oil
• 1 cup cauliflower rice
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup steamed lentils
• 1/4 cup chickpeas
• Sea salt
• Basil flakes

Sauté onions, mushrooms, and kale greens in avocado oil and sea salt until soft and fragrant. Add cauliflower rice and tomato paste. Once that gets hot, toss in lentils and chickpea, keeping everything on medium heat until hot all the way through. Season with sea salt and basil flakes! That’s it! I recommend pairing with two thick slices of avocado toast…

I can’t lie, I had this bowl for breakfast every single day last semester. This isn’t your average oatmeal. With the additions of thick chia seed pudding and steamed quinoa, it’s super filling for a long day of classes and the texture is out of this world!

What you’ll need:

• Chia seed pudding (3 tbsp chia seeds, a scoop of pumpkin, 2 tbsp ground flax, almond milk. let sit for a half hour or overnight)
• 1/2 cup oats (soaked overnight)
• 1/4 cup steamed quinoa
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons stabilized rice bran
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• pinch of sea salt
• vanilla

Drain oats and cook in almond milk until creamy, then toss in chia seed pudding. Mix that around and then toss in steamed quinoa, stabilized rice bran, cacao powder, vanilla, sea salt, and almond milk to thin. Cook on medium heat with continuous stirring until thick and creamy.

Living for all things minimal effort. I always have a batch of energy bites on hand to shovel in my mouth before classes. I’m civilized I swear.

No-Bake Pecan Pumpkin Pie Bites:

What you’ll need:

• 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
• 6 soft dates
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• sea salt
• vanilla
• cinnamon

Blend all ingredients until a sticky dough forms and roll into balls. Set in the fridge for at least an hour!

My dad always cooks with escarole and I never thought to use it myself. I used to live in a bubble where I thought I could only eat the foods I saw on my Instagram feed. So glad I left that mindset behind because I’ve opened myself up to so many new ingredients and meals ever since!

What you’ll need:

• 1 onion
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 can drained and rinsed white beans
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup filtered water
• 2 cups chopped escarole leaves

White Bean and Escarole Soup (makes 2 servings):

Sauté an onion in olive oil and sea salt until browned. Once soft toss in chopped celery and cook until soft. Do the same for drained and rinsed white beans. Wash and chop up escarole leaves, and add to the mix and cook down. After a few minutes add 2 cups vegetable broth and 1 cup filtered water. Throw in more sea salt and any other spices you’d like (I used basil). Cook on medium heat for about 25-30 with occasional stirring.

Almond flour is a staple in my pantry. Nearly everything I bake has almond flour in it in some way, shape, or form (huge apology to my sister with a nut-allergy)! This grain free loaf made my entire apartment smell like fall and was perfectly moist…it’s a good thing, I promise.

What you’ll need:

Dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• sea salt
• baking soda

Wet ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup liquid coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons ACV
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• cinnamon
• apple pie spiceMix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients. Once the dough is formed, chop up apples of your choice and melt ghee in a cast iron skillet. Once hot toss in the apples, sea salt, apple pie spice, and maple syrup and cook on medium high heat with a lid (stirring occasionally) until soft. When the apples are done throw half into the batter and mixed around. Pour batter into a parchment paper-lined loaf pan and then use the remaining apple mixture on top. I added crushed pecans here as well! pat the toppings down and back at 375 for about 35-40 minutes.