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{thirsty thursday – happy halloween : please enjoy responsibly!}

hey ya’ll

are you going to go out and/or dress up for halloween? i have an early morning friday, so i will probably keep it low-key and watch the nightmare before christmas or something… 😉

just wanna throw in my shameless two-cents of a plug here – please don’t drink and drive, have a DD. and if you don’t have to be on the roads, just stay in. and why not give out healthy snacks instead of candy? or better yet – do a TRICK! no one does tricks anymore, we just toss “treats” in a bag and are done with it. can you just imagine the look on the kids faces when you bust out a bunny and a hat instead of twizzlers? priceless – better have a camera… 😉 i digress.

meanwhile, i’m all for enjoying a few libations for the event :

i love to support organic practices of all kinds! 😉 this stout was incredible, and had perfect hints of chocolate throughout, with a nice finish.

i’m a fan of farmhouse ales – the bubbles, the colour, the complex flavour… this one didn’t disappoint.

brown ales just feel like autumn, don’t they? the rich flavour and the heavier body… ideal for transitioning us into the next season.

have a great night, friends! be safe!

Tags: beer, drinks, events, food, food and foto, fun, halloween, life, thirsty thursday

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{whatever wednesday – cute little sacredly-geometrical cabbage}

30 Oct

artsy-fartsy cute little fibonacci cabbage

i always buy the “unusual” looking produce, just ask anyone i used to work with. usually it’s so i can fotograph it 😉

i found this tiny little cabbage one day and nabbed it up. it was about the size of a softball, maybe smaller… so cute.

yep, pretty tiny and cute. Continue reading →

Tags: art, artistic food, audrey michelle, cabbage, Fibonacci sequence, food, food and foto, food photography, healthy eating, math in nature, Nature is cool, patterns, photography, produce, sacred geometry, seasonal produce, universe

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{stunning red chard}

29 Oct

do you like chard?! i love it!! red, rainbow, white – any colour will do 🙂

it is so beautiful, don’t you agree?

i’m fascinated with the texture!

the colour throughout reminds me of veins… and greens are good for your blood, so how cool is that! Continue reading →

Tags: chard, colourful, cooking, easy, eat the rainbow, eating, food, food photography, photography, produce, simple, simple recipes, simple sides

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{meatless mondays – roasted spaghetti squash with fresh parmigiano reggiano}

28 Oct

it’s a meatless monday recipe!

spaghetti squash {and all squash} is totally in peak season right now… and it’s one of my absolute favs! i typically make it just like a pasta and serve it primavera-style with a fresh red sauce… but this time, i wanted to use up my freshly-cut parmigiano reggiano… there is just nothing like it.

simple stuff :

– olive oil, grass-fed butter, lemon, parmigiano reggiano… Continue reading →

Tags: audrey michelle, cooking, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, healthy, meatless monday, parmigiano reggiano, photography, recipes, seasonal cooking, seasonal eating, simple, spaghetti squash, vegetarian

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{thirsty thursday – homemade pickles and oktoberfest for days!}

24 Oct

i have always been a HUGE fan of pickles. they are easily one of my favourite snacks. once i started making my own, i was hooked! i have even been known to travel across the country with them… no joke.

as usual, i KISS with these. simple ingredients :

super easy refrigerator dill pickles :

5-6 cups cucumbers, chopped
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 head fresh dill
2-3 cloves garlic {optional}

Continue reading →

Tags: canning, DIY, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, homemade, in the kitchen, kiss, photos, pickles, preserving food, recipes, simple

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{end-of-season tomato and goat cheese toasts}

17 Oct

aren’t these cherry tomatoes just gorgeous?! it’s sad that the season is over… but i’m still eating as many as i can when i find them at the market…

i just eat them like candy… popping one at a time… nom nom

i was inspired by the pretty-much-nothing-left-in-the fridge emptiness of me almost moving and therefore having no food in the house… and i looked around at the half-loaf of bread and jar of cream cheese i had laying around…

“it’s like a little mini pizza… kind of.” {i thought to myself…} Continue reading →

Tags: color, colourful, cooking, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, photography, recipes, seasonal, seasonal eating, simple, simple cooking, tomatoes, vegetarian

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{whatever wednesday – dehydrated kale chips}

16 Oct

so, i bought a dehydrator... it’s amazing and it’s already changing my life.

i know that may sound drastic, but at this stage in the game – pretty much everything in my life is drastically changing…. so – this is no exception. owning a dehydrator has totally changed the way i shop, too. if i have an over-ripe fruit or veggie, but i’m not sure i’ll eat it right away – I CAN DEHYDRATE IT! if there is a one-day sale on fresh fruit and i want to stock up but it won’t fit in my freezer – I CAN DEHYDRATE IT! i can make my own fruit-rollups, trailmix, and even dehydrate herbs like sage or rosemary.

my favourite thing to make lately is kale chips. i wish i would’ve had this thing in the summer – totally could’ve kept the house cooler than making kale chips in the oven! Continue reading →

Tags: cooking, dehydrated food, dehydrating, dehydrator, DIY, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, good investments, healthy, kale, kale chips, photography, recipes, saving money, simple

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{whatever wednesday : the aspen mac -n- cheese festival!}

11 Sep

so, i spent the {long} weekend on the western slope, my soul soaring with the rockies and the clouds. my spirit begged to stay up there, so i obliged… which means i will need to return soon.

🙂

i’ll have much more to share about my trip later this week… for now, here’s a little story :

as i’m cruising the aspen saturday market, picking up some yummy wild plums and yellow cucumbers, i turn the corner and spot this large group :

it smells amazing… people look happy…

there are random lines everywhere…

and everyone is EATING!!!

my kind of party, i say… and i pause for this foto opp:

hi.

and i get distracted by the cool brick-laid sidewalks…

cuz yanno, i’m an artist… we see the world differently… Continue reading →

Tags: aspen, aspen mac n cheese festival, blogging, colorado, eating, editorial, editorial photography, end of summer, events, festivals, fun, life, mac n cheese, photography, stories, storytelling, vacation, weekends

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{meatless mondays : rainbow quinoa featuring my homegrown tomato!}

9 Sep

as i mentioned saturday, i harvested my first tomato from my early girl tomato plant… it was so exciting!

i used it in this quinoa dish with some chopped zucchini and sauteed sweet onion…

i ate two slices just to savour the flavour of hard work and dedication… plus, it’s the only one i’ve had all season so far!! sigh… patience. Continue reading →

Tags: batch-cooking, cooking, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, gluten-free, health, healthy, high-protein, meatless mondays, photography, quinoa, recipes, simple, vegan, vegetarian

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{my first tomato ever!}

7 Sep

this is terrance, my tomato plant.

i haven’t written about him much because i actually thought maybe he was dying… i only got this ONE tomato from the plant and i believe critters got to the rest of the fruit before i could… i hadn’t seen any new life in almost 2 weeks so i was concerned… but then recently, i started seeing new growth! i have 10 little tomatoes growing at the moment, woohoo!!

i’m not sure why it seems my terrance is a late-bloomer… most of my friends that have plants are harvesting TONS of fruit right now. it’s just funny, it seems like everything i own takes on my energy… i’ve always said i’m a late-bloomer… 😉

this was my very first homegrown tomato – an early girl 🙂

i picked her at the beginning of august…

stay tuned for the recipe i used this yummy fruit in!

Tags: audrey michelle, blogging, DIY, early girl tomatoes, eating, first time gardener, food, food photography, gardening, harvesting, homegrown, life, photography, produce, tomatoes, vegetables

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{adult tea parties : way better than when you were a kid!}

3 Sep

just be aware : this post is very foto-heavy! 🙂

hope you had a nice holiday weekend! welcome september!!

———

so, i had a little tea party with some girlfriends last week… and it was just so charming…

my favourite quote from the day was from my friend mary who said, “i didn’t even know that could happen!” i also overheard my friend noel say, “this is WAY better than when you were a kid!”

😉

it truly was a magical day! and my camera was there to document the entire event. the guest of honour?! my mom :

judi.

a few months ago, while unpacking some storage stuff, i found this beautiful china set – almost completely intact. as it turns out, it was my mama’s. i had been keeping it stored with her stuff ever since she passed away. now 20 years later, i decided to dust if off, sparkle it up, and honour her life by having a party for her on her birthday – august 21st.

she would’ve been 60 years old!

Continue reading →

Tags: adult tea parties, audrey michelle, blogging, eating, editorial photography, empowering women, empowerment, energy, events, feminine energy, femininity, food and foto, food photography, girl power, life, lifestyle, love, parties, photography, soul sisters, special events, tea, tea parties, women

Comments 17 Comments
Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{meatless mondays : heirloom cherry tomato risotto}

2 Sep

you know how i feel about risotto right?! that it’s like the greatest thing ever and i love to make it and eat it all the time?!

like here…

this was great, too.

for this recipe, i featured these beautiful cherry tomatoes…

i love the different colours and shapes… like humans! 😉

hehehe 😉 Continue reading →

Tags: colorful, cooking, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, meatless mondays, recipes, risotto, simple, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 3 Comments
Categories the food, the foodie

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day five : strawberries, blueberries, mangos, vanilla ice cream}

30 Aug

it’s magenta!

this one should be like, the official “food and foto” smoothie… right?! 😉

– fresh strawberries

– frozen blueberries

– frozen mango

– apple juice

– splash of grape juice

– squeeze of honey

– vanilla {coconut} ice cream

i decided to try the ice cream since it was in my freezer anyway, and i had run out of regular coconut milk. i try to limit my dairy intake overall… i admit it’s tough because i LOVE cheese!!!!! so i substitute where i can in other ways. like with this smoothie, i used coconut milk ice cream 🙂

this was SUPER good… and was more rich than other smoothies i’ve made, probably because of the ice cream. it’s good to mix it up sometimes, yanno?! variety is the spice of life, right?!

drink the rainbow!

😉

Tags: color, colourful, drink the rainbow, drinking, drinks, easy, food and foto, health, healthy, juice, juicing, recipes, simple, smoothies, vitamix

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day four : blueberries, spinach, dates, orange juice}

29 Aug

this one was definitely green… albeit an odd shade…

tasted great, though!

– frozen blueberries

– frozen raspberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates {could substitute honey or agave}

– lots of orange juice

– few splashes almond milk

i usually use more “milk” than juice, but i wanted to switch it up this time….

i bought a TON of blueberries on a one-day sale and froze them. when they are in season, they still taste great, but the freezing process zaps some of the sweetness. the dates really help sweeten without overpowering.

drink the rainbow! 😀

Tags: color, colourful, drink the rainbow, drinking, drinks, food, food and foto, food photography, health, healthy, juice, juicing, recipes, smoothies, vitamix

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day three : bananas, blueberries, flax seeds, coconut milk}

28 Aug

yep…

– frozen blueberries

– frozen banana chunks

– flax seeds

– coconut milk

– 1 pitted date or teaspoon honey to sweeten {optional}

…that’s it.

kept this one SUPER SIMPLE.

and what a lovely colour, i must say!

drink the rainbow! 😀

Tags: cleansing, colorful, colour, drink the rainbow, drinking, drinks, food and foto, food photography, health, healthy, juice, juicing, smoothies, vitamix

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day two : mangos, blueberries, spinach, flaxseeds, almond milk}

27 Aug

yet another colourful creation… and although this one is definitely “green”… it’s not at all green.

– frozen blueberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates

– whole flax seeds

– apple juice

– almond milk

as i’ve mentioned before, i’m not big on measuring – i just ‘eyeball it’ usually… i’d say the basic ratio is roughly 1 cup solids to 1 cup liquids, generally speaking…

adjust consistency to your liking, adding more liquid or fruit as necessary… easy peasy.

DRINK THE RAINBOW!

😀

Tags: drink the rainbow, drinking, drinks, easy, food, health, healthy, juice, juicing, recipes, simple, smoothies, vitamix

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{a week of vitamix smoothies — day one : blueberries, pineapple, coconut milk}

26 Aug

the kids are up early and back in school, the leaves are slowly beginning to change their colours, the air just smells different, and the produce section is starting to feature those fall harvests we look forward to…

—

and i figured since the seasons are about to change, i would honour the idea of cleansing with the seasons. so, this week i will feature 5 different vitamix smoothie recipes – each creation will also feature seasonal blueberries… mmmmm…

so here’s the first one :

this mix created such a pretty colour! it’s always a surprise when one experiments with smoothie concoctions in the vitamix… but it’s also {obviously} half the fun! 😉

– blueberries

– pineapple

– black grapes

– teaspoon local honey

– mango juice

– coconut milk

Tags: color, colour, colourful, drink the rainbow, drinking, drinks, food photography, health, healthy, healthy eating, juice, juicing, raw, smoothies, vegan, vegetarian, vitamix

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{thirsty thursday – new stuff i love : the life factory water bottle and kishu charcoal water filter}

22 Aug

and here we have ’em in action…

first : the kishu active charcoal water filter.

have you spotted these anywhere yet?! they’re somewhat new to the market, but i imagine you’ll start to see them pop up in a lot of places.

the kishu water filter is just basic active charcoal that’s undergone the carbonization process… making it like a rock.

and this filter helps rid basic tap water of any lead, mercury, and chlorine… to name a few.

second : this super cool glass water bottle from life factory. Continue reading →

Tags: blogging, conscious living, drinking, easy, food and foto, green, healthy lifestyle, kishu, kitchen stuff, life factory, lifestyle, on the go, photography, product photography, products i like, reviews, simple, sustainability, water, water bottles

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{righteous rambutan}

20 Aug

have you ever seen this crazy interesting fruit?!

it’s called rambutan. and it is by far the most bizarre-looking food i’ve eaten so far. Continue reading →

Tags: audrey michelle, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodie, foodography, fun, fun with food, Nature is cool, photography, produce, specialty produce, unique foods, unique fruits

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Categories the food, the foodie, the foto

{stunning and scrumptious squash blossoms}

19 Aug

i mean, these are just gorgeous… right?!

i’ve always wanted to make something with squash blossoms, but due to the fact that they are hard to find and have a small window of availability, i often miss my opportunity…

…but not this time 🙂