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    Home » Recipes » Coffee Date

    September Coffee Date

    Published: Sep 25, 2021 Last Modified: Sep 25, 2021 by Allison

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    Hi everyone, welcome to my first coffee date post in a very long time (two years?!). Here’s a little update on life lately, including this past summer, and what you can expect from me in the coming months. Grab a coffee (or scroll down for my favourite pumpkin spice blender latte recipe of late) and enjoy. 🙂

    overhead shot of a pumpkin spice latte for this month's coffee date recipe

    1) this month’s coffee date recipe: healthy blender pumpkin spice latte

    I’ve been making this latte pretty much every other day since the beginning of September. 🙂

    Ingredients: 

    2 tablespoons pumpkin puree 
    1 tablespoon sunflower seed butter
    1 ½ teaspoons MCT oil 
    1 pitted Medjool date
    ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
    ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 
    Pinch of sea salt
    1 ½ cups (12 oz) hot coffee

    Instructions: Add all ingredients to a blender and blend for 30 seconds, until smooth. Let settle for a few seconds, pour into a mug, and enjoy. 

    2) life lately 

    Much of summer 2021 was uneventful. I worked as a summer intern at Ottawa Farm Fresh and developed lots of recipes for Up Beet Kitchen. At the end of August, I travelled to Prince Edward Island to attend my brother’s wedding. It was a beautiful, intimate occasion, and we spent two wonderful and relaxing weeks together as a family. 

    But before that…

    I finally graduated! 

    Yes, I finally went back to university in 2020/2021 to get the last few courses that I needed to graduate with my Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies. Better late than never, I always say! 

    Allison holding her university degree

    prince Edward island photos!

    a sunset over Victoria by the Sea, PEI

    The sunset over Victoria by the Sea, Prince Edward Island

    a couple sitting on a rock on a beach in Prince Edward Island

    My adorable parents 🙂

    a stormy PEI sea crashing onto red rocks

    The remnants of Hurricane Ida made their way to Prince Edward Island on our final few days there. This was at Thunder Cover Beach in Darnley!

    Panmure Island Provincial Park Beach

    A lovely, quiet beach… I believe this was at Panmure Island Provincial Park!

    Allison doing a handstand on a beach in PEI

    I couldn’t help myself.

    Gairloch trail in Prince Edward Island

    The Gairloch hiking trail near Belle River, Prince Edward Island

    a selfie of Allison on a trail run

    One happy camper out for a trail run!

    the community garden in Kensington, PEI

    I like the sense of humour exhibited by whomever made this sign at the Kensington community garden. 🙂

    rainbow over French River, Prince Edward Island

    A rainbow over beautiful French River, Prince Edward Island

    a water view in North Rustico, PEI

    A view from the Blue Mussel Cafe in North Rustico. 

    a street in Summerside

    Beautiful old houses in Summerside, PEI.

    Allison walking at her brother's wedding

    At my brother’s wedding.

    Allison sitting on the porch at Victoria by the Sea

    It was a beautiful day and venue! Not sharing any photos of the bride and groom out of respect for their privacy. 🙂

    Victoria Park boardwalk in Charlottetown

    The boardwalk at Victoria Park in Charlottetown.

    the Root Cellar health food store exterior in Charlottetown

    I loved this health food store in Charlottetown!

     

    Beaconsfield Historical House

    Love the architecture in Charlottetown. Here is the Beaconsfield Historical House.

    Rochford Square in Charlottetown

    So many beautiful parks and squares in Charlottetown. I believe this was Rochford Square.

    some of our favourite restaurant meals in Prince Edward Island

    We ate most of our meals at our Air BnBs, but we managed to try a handful of great restaurants during our day trips, too! Here are a few of our favourites:

    Exterior photo of Founders' Food Hall

    Founders’ Food Hall in Charlottetown

    1) Stir It Up Vegan Kitchen (inside Founders’ Food Hall in Charlottetown)

    Stir it Up had been on my list of places to try for a very long time. I had been following them on social media for awhile, so I was pretty hyped to visit and it delivered big time! We ordered the Crunch Wrap Superior, the Mooless Mac, and Crispy Jerk Tofu Sandwich… plus a side order of fries and cabbage salad. 

    straight on shot of a vegan crunch wrap

    the crunch wrap superior- the best!

    vegan hamburger from Stir it Up PEI

    The Mooless Mac- now that’s a stack!

    the crispy jerk tofu sandwich

    The Crispy Jerk- one heck of a vegan sandwich!

    2) Merchantman, Charlottetown

    Another Charlottetown restaurant that we enjoyed for lunch another day. We all ordered fish tacos, because when on PEI, you eat all the fresh-caught Atlantic seafood. They were delicious. 

    overhead photo of two fish tacos on a plate with a side of salad

    The fish tacos from Merchantman.

    3) Evermore Brewing, Summerside

    We stumbled upon this lovely microbrewery in Summerside, PEI during our day trip there, and the food was great: made from scratch with local ingredients. I was tempted to order the wood-fired pizza, but didn’t want to get too full seeing as it was just lunch, so I went with the fish boxty. It was tasty! 

    Allison sitting at Evermore Brewing in Summerside with a plate of food

    The fish boxty from Evermore Brewing in Summerside was healthy and well put together: pan-fried haddock, potatoes, and slaw.

    4) Blue Mussel Cafe, North Rustico

    On our last night in PEI, we had a nice dinner with my brother, his wife, her mother, and my parents at the Blue Mussel Cafe in North Rustico. I’m so happy we finally made it there, as we’d been meaning to go the whole time we were there but the wait time was always exceptionally long to get a table (it’s a very popular restaurant). I ordered the halibut, which came with a vegetable medley. And I was so cold because we had been out in the cold rain during the afternoon, so I even ordered a glass of red wine. So rare for me; I’m usually a beer drinker, but I couldn’t conceive of drinking anything cold at that time! We all ordered dessert, too: Dad got the blueberry pie (lucky him; we rarely make pie at home), Mom and I shared the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake (roll your eyes back good), and I think the others got cheesecake and pie to share, too. It was the perfect way to end the perfect vacation. 

    overhead shot of the food at Blue Mussel Cafe

    The halibut from Blue Mussel Cafe.

    overhead shot of the cheesecake from Blue Mussel

    The peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. My weakness.

    until next time, Prince Edward Island!

    Allison standing on the red rocks at Thunder Cove beach

    A stormy day at Thunder Cove Beach.

    life lately, and what’s next

    Pink Lake in Gatineau Park

    Snapped this photo of Pink Lake in Gatineau Park while on a hike with my good friend.

    Allison and Victoria in Gatineau Park

    My friend Victoria and I on a hike in Gatineau Park.

    Coming back to Ottawa was an adjustment and I felt a bit lost, to be honest. I had decided that as soon as we returned from our trip, I would get serious about finding a job in my field and take steps to move elsewhere. I fell in love with PEI and while I would love to move there, there don’t seem to be very many jobs out that way, even in the one main city on the island. I have always known that I don’t want to stay in Ottawa long-term, so I applied for a couple of environmental jobs in Canada. 

    But in the meantime, I found clarity on something else, which is my longtime dream of becoming a registered dietitian/nutritionist. What has held me back from pursuing this dream is my limiting belief that I do not excel in the sciences. I have decided to let go of this limiting belief and forge ahead with this goal of mine. I have registered in the prerequisite classes that I did not take in high school so long ago (when I didn’t know what I wanted to do), in order to get into a nutrition and dietetics university program. I will be working on those 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, until I complete them. I will also be working part-time outside the home for the first time in ages, so I don’t know where blogging will fit into everything.

    I want so badly to continue to develop and share recipes in this space, but I don’t make nearly enough money from it to warrant doing it full-time or even part-time. I do have a few weeks worth of recipes ready to share, but beyond that, I think my blogging is going to be a bit sporadic for the foreseeable future. (We’re also moving houses in a couple of months, and in the midst of getting our house ready to sell and prepped for showings, I’ve temporarily lost my photography space.) 🙁 I’m sad about that, yet at the same time, I’m happy that I have finally made a decision about “what to do with my life.” Once again, better late than never. I’m 26, by the way. So if any of you are around the same age and in a similar situation, I hope reading this makes you feel like you are not alone! 

    I will continue to share recipes whenever possible, as well as “What I Ate Wednesdays,” fun little life updates here and there, and monthly coffee dates. But I can’t promise any sort of regularity until at least early 2022. I hope that the recipes that I have shared over the past few years continue to bring you happiness and nourishment, however! And I promise that I’ll be back at it in full force as soon as possible. 

    I will also be sharing more quick, easy, and fun recipes over on Instagram, @upbeet.kitchen. So if you are on Instagram and would like to check that out, feel free to follow along there. 

    Have a wonderful rest of your weekend, my dear readers! Hugs. 

    -Allison 

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    1. Sue

      September 26, 2021 at 4:55 pm

      I am so happy for you! You have made some tough decisions; that must feel great! Best of luck to you, Allison. I’ll keep following along. Btw, you are still plenty young. 😊

      Reply
      • Allison

        September 26, 2021 at 9:58 pm

        Hi Sue, thank you! All of your kind comments have always meant so much to me, and I’m so happy to know that you’ll keep following along. ❤️

        Reply

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