The Ultimate Fall Dinner & A Tone It Up Treat

***Drum roll please***

I present to you the...

ULTIMATE FALL DINNER! 

So how did this amazing dinner combination come about... let me give a HUGE thanks to my husband, Sam, who loves to cook (more than I do at least).  Well, it was the Friday of my first full week of work, and I wasn't able to work out very much that week because I getting used to the new schedule.  I came home, and I was craving a heat yoga class at Indigo Yoga (if you ever want to join me, just say the word!) .  I wanted Sam to go with me to try it for the first time, but he said he was going to be busy.  I was confused... it's Friday... what else are you doing?! I thought we were going to yoga and out to dinner??  Then I looked on the dining room table at this new fall centerpiece that definitely was not there when I left... then I saw grocery bags on the counter.  Looks like someone had a dinner planned!  Sam wanted us to have a night in to catch up on life because we barely see each other nowadays since he has night class.  So he planned the following menu:  

An Explosion of Fall Flavors

Spinach Salad with Homemade Spiced Pecans and an Oktoberfest Vinaigrette 

Butternut Squash & Black Bean Chili Soup in Pumpkin Bowls

Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream

I convinced Sam to come to yoga with me (which was A-MAZING as always), and when we came back he immediately got into the kitchen and would not let me go in at all.  So I waited while the apartment gradually overflowed with the smell of a fall feast.

Dinner was served!  Ta-dah! 

And the dinner tasted even better than it smelled!  

The salad had the perfect combination of flavors with the spiced pecans that have a hint of cayenne pepper and the fall beer dressing.  I enjoyed leftover soup and salad for the next few days, and since then, we have made the salad again and tried the vinaigrette with a different fall beer... it's still delicious.

The soup in the pumpkin bowls was out of this world, especially since the inside of the pumpkin bowl is really soft so you can scrape off the pumpkin and mix it in with your soup like you would if you crumbed cornbread into your stew... or you can just save it for the end like you do a bread bowl

.  

Oh my goodness... the ice cream was like a cold, ice cream version of a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, and it was really good with some of the spiced pecans on top.  

Here is the centerpiece I was talking about earlier.  The lilies were there when I left, but the bowl of seasonal veggies was not there when left.  Check out those lilies bloom!  They make the apartment smell so clean and fresh.

So I know what you are wondering now... where can I get these recipes!?!?

Sweet & Spicy Pecans ~ MindBodyGreen

Oktoberfest Vinaigrette ~ Adapted from FoodandWine.com

1. 1/2 cup fall flavored beer, such as Sam Adam's Oktoberfest (during Christmas time you can use a Winter Lager!)
2. 2 shallots, finely chopped
3. 2 tablespoons dried cherries or cranberries, coarsely chopped
4. 1 tablespoon honey
5.   2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or raspberry vinegar
6. 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
7. 1/2 cup canola oil
8. DIRECTIONS
9. In a small saucepan, combine the beer with the shallots, dried cherries and honey and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beer has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm. In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar with the mustard. Whisk in the beer reduction, then gradually whisk in the canola oil. Season the cherry beer vinaigrette with salt and pepper.
10. 
    

Butternut Squash & Black Bean Soup in Pumpkin Bowls ~ Oh She Glows 

Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream ~ Vegan Ice Cream Paradise 

Okay, now for my second topic, and most exciting topic!!

A TONE IT UP TREAT

Tone It Up's BIGGEST Promotion Yet!
(Promotion through this Friday Only!)

Words just can't describe how awesome this promotion is so I won't bother with them... instead you just have to watch their Video!  Check it out here on Tone It Up TV! 

If you want to read my review of the Tone It Up Diet Plan (it's more of a lifestyle than a diet plan!), then go here!  If you know that you want to purchase the plan right now... then go here to buy the plan!

They also mentioned the TONE IT UP COMMUNITY!  It's the greatest thing! It's like a Tone It Up Facebook!  You can create your profile, add pics, video, a blog, and so much more.  You don't have to be on the plan to join the community... it's for anyone interested in staying fit, healthy, and happy!  Join today, create your profile, and friend request me!  You can find me under my Twitter name, HealthandHappi.

So here's to keeping it healthy as the weather cools off and you enjoy the fall flavors and to keeping it fit with Tone It Up!  I have other exciting things to share with you in my next post... like my new favorite organic sunless tanning lotion and a chickpea "tuna" salad similar to the chickpea "chicken" salad in my previous post.  So get excited and stay tuned!

With Love, Health, and Happiness,
Cami

Question of the Day:  What are some of your favorite fall recipes?? What keeps you motivated? Things like joining the Tone It Up Community and being able to talk to people in similar situations or with the similar goals?