Yesterday was Halloween! Jeff and I realized as we were handing out candy that it was our first married holiday together. And even though we don't have a house, we have a home together, so we wanted to hand out candy! But first...we went for a nice run together :)

This weekend we decided that we would be running the Ocean City Maryland half marathon in April with Nikki & Brandon. We are also looking to sign up for one a bit earlier (since we want to start training now), so if you know of any let us know.




After our run we ran inside and grabbed our water bottles to hydrate, our big bowl of candy to hand out to the kiddies, lamby blanket, and of course our camera to document everything.

Up first: hydrating.




Next: eat candy.
(great post workout snack ;)


Jeff's candy of choice was Peanut M&M's. Mine on the other hand, was Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, every girl's weakness.


Meet Logan and Aiden, our neighbor friends. Logan was obviously, YODA. Aiden was a Ninja and wouldn't stand still enough for a good picture, probably because he had already eaten about 500 pieces of candy. But that's what Halloween is for, right?


I finally got one of Aiden when he came back outside to help Jeff and I hand out candy.


So there you have it, a documentation of our first Halloween. Now this all looks like it took a pretty good amount of time, but we really only lasted outside for a few minutes. It was freezing and since NY trick or treats earlier during the day...we were a little bit too late and missed most of the kids. We eventually just told a few kids to take 5-10 pieces each so we could go inside and watch a scary movie: Red Dragon (highly recommended). Hope you had a very happy day, whether you were outside with your trick or treaters or inside eating treats & watching scary movies :)

This weekend was close to perfect. Not only because our friends (my college roommate) Nikki & her boyfriend Brandon came to visit, but also because for the first time in a while, we didn't have to travel anywhere! Jeff and I seem to be always on the go. But for the next few weekends, we have friends and family traveling to us. We had so much fun hosting Nik and Brandon and wanted to share some of our weekend adventures with you!

Thankfully, they took a half a day of work on Friday so that they were able to leave MD to get to NY without hitting too much traffic. They arrived Friday night around 6:30. We rented Jackass 2 and ate some pumpkin bread/halloween candy and cuddled on the floor :)

The next morning we woke up and took them to the infamous Toast, where I first learned the recipe for our favorite Graham-Cracker Crusted French Toast. After staring long and hard at the many choices on the menu, here's what we each decided on. Can you guess who ate what?

The Garden Scramble:

















Cinnamon Raisin French Toast:

















The "Dig Me" (Egg whites, turkey, spinach)

















Peanut Butter & Banana Graham Cracker Crusted French Toast...WHOA.

























After breakfast we walked around town for a bit, where of course Nikki wanted to pose with the "Welcome to Port Jefferson" sign :) I love spending time with Nikki, especially because we both love taking pictures and never mind making our men pose for several different shots. Brandon and Jeff-you guys are troopers. Thanks for putting up with us!
























We then headed out East where we planned to pick apples. Brandon had never picked apples off of the trees before, so he was excited. However this excitement was soon over when we pulled up to an orchard and saw no apples on the trees. Apple season was early this year, and over by the end of October. Who knew? Not us. Dang.

So we just headed to a few farm stands, took some pictures, ate some cherry salsa, drank some hot apple cider, went through a tiny corn maze and bought some really cute apples to make caramel treats with.


































































This corn (or hay) maze may look easy...but as you can see on my face, it was actually quite tricky.


















Just wondering what the point of buying an already decorated pumpkin is? Are we really that lazy?


















After getting bored at this farm stand, we went to a pumpkin picking patch. It was a ghost town. Probably because we went on October 30th and everyone had already bought pumpkins by then. So we just took some pictures and got stared at by the owners...

The boys did some surfing.
























































We eventually made it back home to make some treats with all of the apples we bought! On the agenda: caramel apple pops and apple crisp. Here's what the boys did while we baked. I guess we can't blame them for wanting to have some "man time" after a morning of picture taking...









































Chopping up some apples for caramel apple bites. We also added some toppings to the apple pops; crushed up chocolate chip cookies, mini chocolate chips, and some pecans (they were random, I found them in the pantry and wanted to get rid of them).




































Then we moved on to the apple crisp. Nikki made this a week earlier and found the recipe on a healthy recipe blog. You find a lot when googling "healthy recipes + apples." It was easy to make and turned out great!

















Mix all of these ingredients together, throw it in the oven, and there you have it. Yummy, hot, healthy, apple crisp...make it unhealthy with a large scoop of vanilla ice-cream :)

















We ate these yummy treats while watching the movie, "The Crazies," since it was Halloween night! Brandon was def a trooper since he hates scary movies. At least we didn't make him go on a haunted hay ride.

This morning we went to church at True North and ate lunch at Chipotle, did some shopping at The Christmas Tree Shop, and then parted ways :( A BIG thanks to Nikki and Brandon for making the long trip (7 hours) to Long Island to spend time with us. I feel bad that they are driving right now, and will be for quite some time, as I relax on my couch blogging and eating a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup. But then again, I made this trip every weekend last year...so I don't feel TOO bad ;)

Hope you are having a HAPPY Halloween! Jeff and I are off on a long run, then handing out candy to the little ones.

















Inside joke of the weekend: "Samples...FREE."
(sorry, no one else will understand this, however it will make Nikki laugh...hard...and that's all that matters :)

Things I learned today:
1. When you make an appointment at any doctor's office, you always wait, no matter what.
2. 2 year olds do not like to get changed out of pajamas, especially when it is cold outside.
3. It's finally getting cold-and I love it.
4. Amazing grass keeps you energized all day.
5. If you buy a 2 year old a doughnut, he will only eat the icing. Then he won't eat lunch.
6. 70 year olds can have babies (TLCs "70 and Pregnant)
7. Wisdom teeth SUCK. And are unnecessary. So why do we have them? (I guess I didn't learn that)
8. And FINALLY...truffles can be healthy!

Today I decided to make Energy Truffles. The secret ingredient: DATES instead of chocolate (but they taste just as good as chocolate). I found this recipe on Oh She Glows, from a recipe she recently made for Project Food Blog. Jeff and I decided adapt this recipe and make our own brownie flavored energy truffles...dipped in chocolate and topped with coconut!



















Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 3 tablespoons cashews
• 1 cup dates, packed
• 2.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch or two of salt
• maple syrup

Process the almonds and cashews in a food processor or blender (we used a blender) until fine. Add in the chopped and pitted dates. Now add the cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and some maple syrup to help everything stick together better. Form into balls or squares and dip into chocolate plus your favorite topping (nuts, coconut, etc.) Place in the fridge or freezer and enjoy!

We had a ton of fun making these! It was easy and not too messy (I hate doing tons of dishes after making something...even though Jeff usually volunteers to do them anyway :)

























Jeff molded the "truffles" while I dipped them in the melted chocolate.





















We tried to keep them healthy and not dip all of them in chocolate...




















So intense. You don't have to be THIS intense when eating them...but I guess it makes it more fun!






































Now we are watching "Punked" and waiting for our dear friends, Nikki and Brandon to arrive for their weekend visit! They are troopers...driving all the way to Long Island just for a weekend visit from southern Maryland. We have lots planned, including: breakfast at Toast, apple/pumpkin picking, baking & grilling, scary movie watching, Chipotle eating and more! Check back on Sunday for pictures of our fun-filled weekend :)

I made this delicious desert over the summer, and thought I would share it now so it can also be in my "Recipes" section of this blog. I first heard of this recipe through my friend Kelvie, who found it on (never home) maker's blog. They are SUPER easy to make and fun to eat :) And being that I have a husband whos top 3 favorite ingredients are probably bananas, peanut butter, and coconut, these made for a very happy Jeffrey.

I'm currently searching for fun recipes (specifially vegan/vegetarian) to make this weekend while the little guy I nanny for is sleeping. Then I'm off to the gym to get in a good run and then home to make Chicken Tortilla Soup for the hubs, and chickpea/spinach/tomato medley for myself. I'll try and post some recipes tonight, but I do have a movie date (on our couch)...so we will see!

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Ingredients:

• 2 large bananas


• 1/3 cup chocolate chips


• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter


• coconut flakes
  

1. Set out a large plate or bowl with wax paper on it.

2. Cut bananas into bite sized pieces.

3. Heat the peanut butter and chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Dip the banana pieces into the peanut butter & chocolate mixture and spread out evenly on wax paper.

5. Top them off with coconut flaxes.

Finally, place in the freezer for about 1-2 hours or overnight. The end product tastes more like ice-cream than banana. YUM.

I thought I would follow up last nights post with a "Whats inside our cabinet" post! You can find all of our not so healthy foods in these cabinets, but everything is oh so tasty, and oh so hard to stop eating once you start! Our apartment, specifically our cabinet space, is very small...so I am apologizing now to all of the organized ones out there- these messy cabinets may stress you out :)

Meet our cabinets.





























Let's start with the snack cabinet...up first...
GOjI BERRIES!!! Goji berries are extremely good for you.
They are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids
such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. You only need
a handful a day, so even though they are a tad bit
expensive, they are worth it!




















We love nuts. Almonds, Cashews, Cashew Crunch.
They are so good. I probably eat way more than I should,
but feel a little better snacking on them than potato chips.
I could most likely survive off of nuts. Ok I'm done...Here they are!




















Did you know just a handful of almonds a day can
significantly reduce cholesterol? They are some of the
healthiest, most "nutritionally-dense," energy-packed
fitness superfoods. And they're really good.




















Even though we try and be healthy, no American can
have a cabinet without potato chips. Thankfully, potatoes
are gluten-free...or else I would die. I love me my carbs.
Here are two of our favorite brand of chips:
















Jeff's granola. Cait's granola. (Jeff has been watching his
weight, so he has low fat granola. KIDDING. If you
know my husband, you know he never needs to watch
his weight. Which is, by the way, not fair :)
















I just started buying Almond Milk. Not only does it
last longer than regular milk, but has less calories and
you can get vanilla flavored which tastes quite yummy.
Tomorrow morning I am going to make myself a smoothie
with this, a banana, and frozen blueberries/strawberries.
I can't wait!




















Last, but certainly not least...I always love the bulk
section of Whole Foods & Wild By Nature. Here I
have bags of whole oats, flax seed, and nutritional yeast.
I use these ingredients to make granola bars, oatmeal,
cheesy oats, or shakes!
















Ok, enough snacks. Moving onto our other cabinet.
This one isn't as much fun...but its where most of our
meals come from. First, everyone should have brown
rice in their cabinet. Get RID of white rice. It lacks the
minerals, vitamins, and fiber that brown rice has.
















Here are some ingredients that I always keep
on hand for some of my favorite soups!
(Chicken Tortilla)




















And finally, I found this at a gluten-free
fair Jeff took me to this summer. Its very easy
gluten-free pizza dough! I LOVE PIZZA.




















So there you have it...a look into what Jeff and
Cait Jensen eat daily! Don't worry, this whole blog
won't be all about my obsession with food. Look back
tomorrow for a new post and remember to check out
my fitness log!