Ginger Peach Baked Oatmeal

To say that August was an interesting month would be a complete understatement.

I had every intention to get back into the blogging swing of things when we returned from our summer vacation in mid-August, but when I stepped back into my kitchen, things felt different. I fully expected to be refreshed and inspired, but instead, the opposite happened. I was thrown very quickly into the “catch up” part of work and soon fell into the trap of making weird, lazy suppers of deli meat sandwiches and packaged mashed potatoes. We experienced a bit of a cold spell and instead of my usual BAKE ALL THE THINGS mantra, I would come home from work and watch episode after episode of mindless TV on Netflix.

Protein Powered Carrot Mango Smoothie

Common signs that you are a habit smoothie maker:

1. Grocery store clerks catch you regularly stalking the discount produce section of the grocery store for overripe fruit.
2. You clean, polish and chat to your high-speed blender even on days where you don’t use it (just kidding – you use it practically every day).
3. When handing him his daily smoothie, your husband stops asking “what’s in it?” and just drinks it.
4. Instead of storing real meals, your freezer has become a placeholder for frozen bananas.
5. You start looking at all fruits and vegetables and secretly wondering how well it will blend and what combinations will taste good.

Peachy Blueberry Chia Seed Popsicles

For the last couple months, we’ve been planning out our summer road trip around Saskatchewan and Alberta. Now after weeks of last minute change of plans and “where did that reservation email go?” discussions, we’re finally on our way to the airport! Wheee!

If you’ve read my blog, you’ll probably notice that August tends to be our “on the go” month. We were married in August, we bought and moved into our condo the following August and then a few weeks later, we flew to Manchester for a wedding and then traveled to Paris. Basically, it’s almost become a running gag that we save the majority of our vacation days until the end of summer.

Trail Mix Banana Muffins

It’s been pretty quiet here on the baking front. Even though we have air conditioning, our desire to eat anything flour or sugar-based has reached an all-time low. But if you shift through my archives, you’ll notice that this happens every summer. With the weather being as nice as it is, I tend to spend less time in the kitchen and more time outside. It’s not a bad thing, but I like to acknowledge it because the summer season is so short and we need to all get outside and enjoy it while it’s still here. Pretty soon we’ll be swapping our iced coffees for pumpkin spiced lattes and pulling our boots and winter coats out of storage. Ugh.

Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies

A couple days ago my office held a charity bake sale. I love bake sales because it gives me a chance to go crazy and bake something fun while at the same time give it all away. Plus, for very obvious reasons they are one of my favourite work events. It brings everyone in the building together and it creates a sense of community while raising money for a great cause.

However, I’ve been known to get a little carried away when baking for others, so in order to have fun and maintain my sanity, there are a few things I have to keep in mind when baking something for work: