Lifestyle
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Vegan Friendly Easter Basket
We don’t normally do a lot for Easter. My husband, Eric, is a little afraid of the Easter Bunny. When he was growing up his mom told him the Easter Bunny would leave treats for him in his shoes. The idea of a giant rabbit coming into his bedroom while he was sleeping freaked him out a little bit so he would line up all his shoes in the hallway and shut his bedroom door. So that’s why we don’t normally do a lot for Easter. If we do anything it is usually just baskets for the cats. Have you ever watched a cat nose around an Easter basket for…
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Fruit and Chocolate Board
Have you seen these amazing vegan charcuterie platers and appetizer trays and wondered how anyone could put them together? It can seem overwhelming but it’s something anyone can do. It’s just about filling the space and trying to balance foods. For this board I chose to limit myself to fruits, nuts, and chocolate for a sweet paring. By limiting myself to this theme I am already making my tray more cohesive. Start with the one thing you really want to shine and build the board around that. I wanted to use this vegan fig salami that I just bought online. It is from Hellenic Farms. It’s naturally sweet but the…
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Brunch at Plant in Miami
I spent the long weekend in South Florida. It was just a quick solo trip to visit family and friends but it was so nice to escape to a warmer climate for a few days. Sunday we went to brunch at a mostly raw plant-based vegan restaurant called Plant in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The restaurant is in an unbelievable location. The Wynwood district is so vibrant and colorful it’s walls are covered in murals but Plant is tucked away in a tranquil urban garden called The Sacred Space. The weather was perfect so we were able to sit outside by the reflecting pool and soak in the sunny…
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Biscuit Bar for Christmas Morning Brunch
If you have a crowd to feed at your house over Christmas weekend a biscuit bar might be a fun easy option for breakfast. Christmas morning is magical, but it can also be chaotic. I’ve found that a DIY biscuit bar is the easiest way to feed a crowd without spending the whole morning in the kitchen. While we kept this Christmas setup low-key, if you’re looking for a deep dive into the best toppings, Southern-style sides, and setup tips, check out my full guide on how to host a southern biscuit bar. Choose Your Spreads We kept our biscuit bar pretty simple and low key. I offered stone ground…
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Camping at Monte Sano State Park
We went camping this past weekend at Monte Sano State Park. Monte Sano is a Alabama State Park on 2,140 acres atop Monte Sano Mountain (1,600 ft elevation) on the east side of Huntsville. This was our first visit to the park and we will totally be going back to Monte Sano because the campground was nice and there are so many trails to check out. There are over 20 miles of trails in the park varying from easy to extremely difficult. It is about a two hour drive from our house so it was easy to get to and set everything up before dark leaving around noon on Friday. One…
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Red Mountain Park in Birmingham
Fall is great time of year to go hiking and enjoy being outside. Red Mountain Park is an 1500 acre urban green space in Birmingham with 15 miles of trails, incredible tree houses with views of the city, a 6 acre dog park, a climbing tower, zip line adventures, and more! It is my favorite place to hike in the city. You will see a lot of bikers and trail runners in the park too. The park was built on land that was once an iron ore mine. If you check out the Red Mountain Park website you can find out more info on the park and the history of…
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What’s for Brunch September
Good morning y’all! September is a busy month in the Crutchfield house. We got back from vacay last weekend and it has been a busy week at work for both of us catching up on what missed while we were out. It’s nice to have a little down time so this weekend we have been chilling at home. Perfect opportunity for a relaxing sunday morning fall brunch. The only thing planned for the rest of our sunday is watching football! I’m not totally committed to fall yet because it’s still pretty hot here in Alabama (highs in upper 80s) so I’m not ready to go full on apple cider or…
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New Fall Cookbooks I’m Excited About
I admit I don’t spend as much time flipping through cookbooks as I used to. I find a lot of my food inspiration online but there is something special about physical books. I maybe a little biased (this is not a sponsored post but I do work in the book industry) but there is something very calming about taking a little time out of your day to sit down with a book and just emerge yourself in that world. It also brings me an odd amount of joy just to collect cookbooks. I do try to limit myself. We have 2 ok maybe 3 shelves dedicated just to cookbooks. Whenever…
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What’s for Brunch – Cherry Yogurt Parfait
This brunch features a simple cherry yogurt parfait that you can easily recreate yourself. It is easy to make and customize. A yogurt parfait is a layered dish. Parfaits are often made in jars or glasses rather than bowls so you can see the beautiful layers. They can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to serve your brunch. I decided I wanted to start hosting semi regular Sunday brunches because I love brunch food but I am not a huge fan of going out for brunch. It’s always too crowded, with long waits and limited veggie options. When I told Eric he…
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New Fall Yoga Books I’m Excited About
So full disclosure here I am not getting paid to do this post but books are how I make a living. My normal 8 to 5 day job is working for a wholesale company to buy books for the retail chain Books-A-Millon (BAM). Books-A-Million is the 2nd largest bookstore chain in the country and I buy the books for certain non-fiction categories for all of their stores. One of the perks of my job is I often get sneak peaks at new books and I have access to advance reader copies (ARC’s) of books before they are published. ARC’s are kind of like the manuscripts that the publishers work with…
