Fun fall food recipes to try, enjoy!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret… there’s more to fall recipes than a pumpkin spice latte. That’s pretty thrilling, right? There are so many amazing recipes out there that can get you into the fall spirit. Trust me, I love some good pumpkin and apple recipes. Here are a few of my favorite picks for every kind of meal occasion.
For breakfast: pumpkin spice waffles! This is a great way to give Starbucks a break and get your fill of pumpkin spice in an edible form. The recipe is from Lovely Little Kitchen. For lunch, an easy and low maintenance recipe is the fall Buddha Bowl. A Buddha Bowl consists of throwing together vegetables, fruits and some of your favorite proteins/seeds to create a healthy and tasty way to get all the nutrients you need. Try a fall inspired Buddha Bowl with sweet potatoes, squash, kale, pumpkin seeds, apples, and dress it with an apple vinaigrette. The recipe is from Mindful Avocado. For dinner, there’s nothing better than a pasta dish to fill you up. For this fall season, try pumpkin alfredo for a dinner dish. This will add the perfect amount of fall flavor along with topping the dish with parsley and nutmeg for some extra flavor. For dessert: An incredible idea to get your fill of sugar are apple fries with caramel ice cream. This is a quick and easy way to prepare and enjoy apples with an even sweeter twist. This recipe is from Favorite Family Recipes. Whether you are using the kitchen in the basement of your dorm or have the luxury of your own kitchen space, these are great ways to make a fall dish to share with friends. Instead of settling for premade and pricy seasonal foods at Meijer, try these recipes to get into the Autumn spirit.

Directions and Ingredients:

Pumpkin Spice Waffles
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 15 ounces pure pumpkin puree
2 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teasp

Preheat waffle iron according to directions. In a large bowl, whisk the coconut oil (in liquid form), both kinds of sugar, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, and milk together until smooth. Add the pumpkin pie spice extract and vanilla extract and stir. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until combined. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until they are white and fluffy with soft peaks. Carefully and gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Scoop about 3/4 cup of batter onto the waffle iron and cook (batter will be thick). My KitchenAid Waffle Baker timer was set for three minutes. Top with butter, syrup, whipped cream and/or cinnamon if desired.

Fall Buddha Bowl
Herbed Quinoa:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon lemon juice Squash:
1 medium butternut squash about 3 cups cubed 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil Dressing:
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons tahini sesame seed butter
2 Tablespoons apple
cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from squash. Cut lengthwise and spoon out seeds. Cut into cubes and place in mixing bowl. Add one teaspoon olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread evenly onto baking sheet and bake squash for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove from oven and flip squash with a fork. When squash is fully cooked, you should be able to stick a fork through a piece with ease. Let cool and turn down oven temperature to 300 degrees. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. When water is boiling, add quinoa and reduce heat to low-medium. Put a lid on the pot and let simmer 15-20 minutes. When fully cooked, fluff with a fork and add all ingredients for quinoa. Mix well. Remove stems from kale and tear into bite-sized pieces. Place in a colander and rinse well. Put squash in a bowl and set aside. Place kale on baking sheet and bake in an oven for 5 minutes. Remove kale from oven and let cool. In a small mixing bowl, add all the ingredients for dressing and mix well. Assemble bowls with quinoa, kale, squash, apples, walnuts, pepitas and dressing.

Pumpkin Alfredo
INGREDIENTS
1 pound fettuccine
(reserve 1 cup of pasta water) 6 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pumpkin puree
(not pie filling)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup half & half
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh
chopped parsley

Bring a stockpot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a teaspoon of salt to the boiling water, then add fettuccine. Cook until al dente (check package instructions). Meanwhile, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in garlic and cook for about a minute, careful not to burn. Stir in half & half, Parmesan, pumpkin, and nutmeg. Stir until sauce is heated through and cheese is melted. Stir in pasta water, about 1/4 cup at a time, until sauce is desired consistency (I used about 1/2 a cup, and it was thick and creamy. For a thinner sauce, use more water). Add pasta and cook over medium-high heat until sauce is smooth and pasta is well coated; about 1-2 minutes. Divide into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped parsley and fresh grated Parmesan, if desired.

Apple Fries & Caramel Ice Cream
INGREDIENTS
For the Apples:
4 to 5 tart apples we used Pink Ladies
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
Wondra flour
vegetable oil for frying cinnamon and sugar to taste
For the Dip:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz Cool Whip or 1 cup whipping cream with 1/2 cup sugar- whipped until stiff
1 cup caramel sauce store bought or homemade (see above)

In a frying pan, or deep fryer heat vegetable oil for frying. Mix together the buttermilk and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Peel and slice apples and add them to the buttermilk mixture as you go to prevent browning. In a shallow dish, put a layer of wonder flour. Pull the apples out of the buttermilk mix one at a time and lightly coat all sides in the flour. When the oil is nice and hot, gently place coated apples into the oil so they are not touching, when the bottom side begins to turn golden, flip over and brown the second side. Quickly remove to a tray lined with paper towels to soak up excess grease and cool. Sprinkle immediately with cinnamon and sugar while they are hot. For the dip, mix together the cream cheese and Cool Whip until completely blended, then stir in the caramel sauce. Place into a bowl for dipping and drizzle a little extra caramel sauce over the top.