vegan pumpkin hot chocolate {recipe}

October 2, 2013 Whitney Saxon

You guys already know I love chocolate milk a million times over.

But also, did you know, I love pumpkin so, so much?

Because I do. I really do.

Last weekend I decided to make El Duke and El SamSam these cookies. That's not what I'm here to tell you about today, but while I have your attention: make those cookies. They're crazy good and anytime I can get a fruit (/basically almost a vegetable) in a cookie is a time I can feel 100 percent OK with eating the whole batch in one weekend. Which, we did.

However, today I need to tell you about something even better than those cookies (which is saying a lot). It is the marriage of two of my most favorite things:

the chocolate beverage

pumpkin

pumpkin hot chocolate

Did I mention it's vegan?

It's vegan.

You guys.

I can't even.

I don't even know how to tell you how quickly you need to run to the kitchen and make this stuff.

Here's what you're going to need to do for my version (inspired by this one, but obviously I couldn't just follow her instructions. That would be way too easy.)

Ingredients:

2 C. almond milk (this is my fav, fav kind, btw. If you've yet to try it - get to trying!

PS Am I bossy today?)
2 C. of water (add more if it tastes too rich)

1/4 C. pumpkin (canned is fine)

3/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

3 T unsweetened cocoa

4 T agave

Dash of salt

To make:

Put everything in pot on stove top on medium heat

Whisk until blended and liquefied

Pour in favorite mug

...and enjoy :)

Told ya it was easy - and tasty!

Let me know if you try it :)

PS Don't be mad but I poured mine over ice. I had to. It was amaze.
PPS I also added some of the leftovers to my coffee yesterday.
PPPS Next time I am going to try it with vanilla and make a latte because I mostly prefer it to chocolate.

OK that's all, promise.

recipe via // hot chocolate image via

on falling too fast and being perfect

October 1, 2013 Whitney Saxon

One of my dear friends is falling too fast for a boy.

Her words; not mine.

As far as I'm concerned, I love seeing my friends fall fast and furiously. She deserves the best kind of love - wild and romantic - and I tell her, every time we talk, just to enjoy it. But she can't. She's scared because she hasn't known him long enough to feel this way. Should she really be this excited? This sure? This comfortable trying on his last name?

She's shoulding all over their new relationship to the point that she can't enjoy it.

Her stress and worry are taking all of the fun out of it - and she knows it. Yet, she can't stop because she's so scared she will break it.

Golly, I've been there. I know how it feels when you accidentally think you might be in falling - inches away from free fall, really - and you want to stop - grab on to something, anything to keep it from happening. When you worry about asking too much from him, because you're scared it might be more than he's ready for.

The ride from the airport.

The dinner with your mom.

The wedding with ev.er.y.one you know.

When you're so scared you're going to break it.

And what I'm trying to help my sweet friend believe is what I wish I'd seen then. That you don't have to apologize for your needs. That the right guy won't be afraid to say what you need to hear or care for you in the way you yearn to be cared for. That you're not too demanding or noisy or too, too much.

I see girls all around me trying to diminish their needs.

I see girls trying to be smaller.

Quieter.

But in these last few months, what I've learned is that we shouldn't apologize for who we are (one should to which I'm willing to adhere). Sometimes I'm loud, because my voice carries. And sometimes I have to ask for crazy amounts of help: money for Africa, a car to borrow when mine gets stripped, a new vacuum because mine caught on fire.

And it's OK. It doesn't make me a failure. It doesn't make me high maintenance. It just makes me human. And being human doesn't ruin a relationship. In fact, I've often found that when I finally let my guard down - when I stop playing the perfect game and admit I need a little help - is when things really get good. When I let someone see that I'm pretty quirky and I like to play games everywhere I go. When I admit that I get lost all the time and can't map my way out of a box. When I let someone see my [not so] sexy dance moves...

Is when they start to see me.

When we let people see everything we call a flaw is really when we are letting them see our vulnerabilities. It's when they see us as a person, not an act. It's when we make room for them to give us grace.

And you know what? I've often found that it's when they start to do the same. They start to show you that they get lost a lot, too. Or maybe they have a bad singing voice. And snore!

But our imperfections are part of what make us beautiful - they make us real.

And, as far as I'm concerned, two real, real people falling for one another too quickly sounds a lot more fun to me that two people pretending to be perfect. In fact, it sounds like the perfect adventure. GPS or no GPS.

it can wait

September 26, 2013 Whitney Saxon

I don't normally blog about things like this, but I feel it too much not to share.

Last week I was at home and my parents were really pushing no texting and driving to Sam and me. I heard them but it wasn't until Friday, when my mom and I pulled into the driveway that I really heard it. We were pulling in and two little blonde boys - probably three and four - ran out in front of us. My mom braked and it was in that moment that it clicked for me. I try not to text and drive but have my "safe zones," where i feel like it's OK to look at my phone. The red lights, stop signs and that last ten feet before I'm home. Had I been pulling into our driveway texting, though, I would have hit those sweet kids.

I decided I had to fast - really fast - from it, because texting and driving really is an epidemic. I took the pledge and am promising myself that no matter how important the email, text or (shamefully) Instagram feels in to moment, it can definitely wait.

pesto. the besto! (three-ingredient recipe)

September 25, 2013 Whitney Saxon

You guys. I promise I will stop blogging about my time at home soon. But not yet. There is just so much to share!

My uncle and aunt, Mikey and Betsy, have this awesome garden in their backyard. It produces beautiful, huge vegetables that make my mouth water just thinking about them. Tomatoes with crazy flavor - neither too tough, nor too soft. The kind you want to bite like an apple.

And there's basil. So. Much. Basil.

I can still smell it.

Partially because they let me fill a grocery sack up with it, which I put in my suitcase. Total basil party in my bag. I opened it after the flight and let the herby goodness wash over me.

Because it goes bad faster than spinach (which is really, really fast), I had to do something ASAP. This party of one can only eat so much basil.

And so, I made pesto!

Because I didn't know how real people make pesto and because I only had so many things in my pantry, I made up my own recipe. And it worked! So, without further ado, healthy pesto, for you...