At this time each year, I crave watching movies and shows that match the season. I’m always excited to see a list of things related to fall but, as a self-labeled fall fanatic, I feel like media is lacking in terms of fall-esque stuff to watch. I think I might be in the minority group that is a fan of fall’s nature vibes but not a fan of the super scary stuff associated with the season, or October mostly. A little scare is okay but I seek to connect more with a story than get a jump-out-of-my-seat thrill, if you know what I mean. So nothing I name will be too scary, if you know what I mean.
Are you more of a fall vibes and story kind of person or more into the scary Halloween side? When I got the idea to write this list, I set out on a mission to make the biggest and best non-scary fall movies list. It turns out, either I haven’t seen as many movies as I think I have, or I’ve based my entire archetype of “fall” on one movie.
I’ll address the elephant in the room: Hocus Pocus!
I know everyone was thinking about it. Ask any 90s-born person what movie “feels like fall” and they’ll name Hocus Pocus. After taking a quick survey in my immediate circle that continued to be the first movie response. It’s not a bad thing. It’s legit one of my favorite movies. It doesn’t get old in my book! However, the list below is designed out of personal need for some other options!
While movies are my jam, I know a TV show can definitely set the mood, too. Most of these are light-hearted movies and shows but I’ll make notes for the slightly scarier ones on the list.
The following are my personal favorites to watch this time of year:
Movies:
Practical Magic
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play two witch sisters outcast by their community. There’s death, resurrections, evil spirits, and more to deal with in their pursuit of love. Oh yeah, and did I mention their family is cursed? Some moments of suspense and darker material.
Teen Witch
Most teens who turn 16 just have awkward times of puberty and high school parties to deal with. For lonely-hearted Louise, she decides to use her newfound powers to shape her life into exactly what she wants, until it’s not anymore. A light-hearted watch.
Halloweentown
Yes, this is originally a Disney Channel Original Movie but it’s basically the most classic depiction of the season, next to Hocus Pocus, in my book. There are actually a ton of fall-ish TV movies but, for the sake of ease and accessibility, I’m limiting this list to Marnie Cromwell. Minor scares.
Sleepy Hollow
The story of Ichabod Crane is an intriguing one because this is a character too scared for the adventure ahead of him. Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Crane in this Tim Burton film is quirky among chaos and secrecy in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. Story is scary in theme and elements.
Crimson Peak
A rich heir finds herself enchanted and married to an inventor in the Progressive Era. He whisks her off to live in his downtrodden mansion which holds more eerie secrets than he’s alluded to. Gothic horror story, but more dark than scary.
Hubie Halloween
Adam Sandler’s newest comedy on Netflix, as of October 2020, is one of the most delightful Halloween films I’ve seen in a while. Sandler plays a too-naïve-for-his-own-good fella who wants to keep his community safe on Halloween night. There are tricks and treats in this silly comedy. All laughs, no scares.
It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Technically, this one is classified as a movie but it’s more of a special in my eyes. As part of the Peanuts series of television specials, this one hits on all the right elements of October with Charlie Brown and company preparing for an evening of trick-or-treating and testing their theory on The Great Pumpkin. A lighthearted watch.
Shows:
The Secret Circle
Probably the most intense CW show to date, The Secret Circle takes place in dark and dreary Washington where Cassie Blake is trying to move on after her mother’s death. She catches the attention of a group of teens who tell her she is the last piece of their coven of witches. Dark and intense.
Hart of Dixie
To me, the South is home to some of the most fall vibes, which are shown as big-city doctor Zoe Hart, played by Rachel Bilson, navigates life in the small town of Bluebell, Alabama. Lighthearted humor.
Salem
A dark series set in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. Instead of focusing on the infamous Salem witch trials, the show circles around a coven of female witches seeking to rise up and rule the community. Expect spells, dark magic, rotating power dynamics, and a tumultuous love story in this gem of a show. Dark thematic elements.
Reign
Following the life path of Queen Mary of Scots beginning with her move to France, we witness the power struggles of a Queen with no country. The landscapes and thematic footage in this show very much fits my idea of fall. Emotionally-involving.
The Witches of East End
This female-centered series follows two elder sisters guide their younger daughters in their discovery of their magic gifts. Things go horribly wrong as they struggle to balance their magic sides and the relationships with those they love. Dark and enchanting.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
This instant favorite series takes Sabrina Spellman out of the walls of high school and thrusts her into the underworld, a dark academy with other witches, and unimaginable scenarios with horrors in her small town of Greendale. Elements of dark, gothic horror.
What do you think of the list? As I think about fall more, November and December are technically still fall but the vibe is totally different. It’s not fall like October is fall, you know? Regardless of the technicalities, hopefully you picked up something new off this list to watch that fits the mood this season.
If there are any movies or shows you think I should check out and add to this list then let me know in the comments. I’m always happy to hear from you.
The weather is cooling down slowly but surely! Even in my little corner of Southern California, where the sun is always ablaze, the days don’t seem as hot. Lately, I’ve been starting my mornings by opening the windows all over my house. I love to feel the freshness of the outdoors come into my house. It not only invigorates me to get my work out on (so I can warm up!) but it also makes me crave some warm drinks.
So, today, I bring you five of my favorite winter drink recipes! (No alcohol involved 😉 )
Some Tone it Up recipes can be a miss but, other times, I love their ingenuity. Beets in a latte? It sounds a little funky but it is totally worth trying! It’s a cozy beverage to have in the morning or filling enough to satisfy a sneaky late-night craving.
The classic hot water with lemon has its benefits but it can get a little dull. Upgrade the classic combo with this recipe that includes some yummy ginger, honey, and cloves!
If you haven’t heard of golden milk, you’ve surely been living under a rock, right? No offense but golden milk is only the best thing to ever happen to coffee-free lattes. Like, ever. I dig this recipe for Golden Milk because of the added spices. Some recipes only ask for turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger. That tastes swell but I LOVE a little cardamom or nutmeg to give a more elaborate flavor profile. Plus, dates as a sweetener? You can’t go wrong there!
Again, another basic but essential recipe for your drinks arsenal. I love the warm scents of cinnamon and baked goods and homemade cider provides a similar appealing aroma. Plus, is there anything more delicious than cider?! I think not! I’m planning to cook up a pot (maybe in a crockpot ala Half Baked Harvest ) soon!
I’m wishing you all good health this upcoming holiday season. Though, if you happen to feel the start of a cold coming on, be sure to load up on some healing tonic. This anti-inflammatory tea only takes three ingredients and it feels so soothing in the body.
Thanks for reading my list of favorite warm beverages. You may have noticed something chocolatey was missing from the list? Yeah, rest assured, I will be drinking some hot cocoa this season! I’ve been working on a sugar-free protein-packed hot cocoa recipe for you all so stay tuned. 😉
In honor of fall, I’ve assembled a list of my 5 favorite soup recipes! Funny enough, when I was a kid, I used to hate soups. If my mom said soup was for dinner, I’d anticipate something brothy where I’d need to dig around for substance. I’d also expect to eat 2-3 bowls just to feel satisfied. There’s a place for simple broth-based soups (*cough cough* when you’re sick.) but for the rest of the time, I like a hearty bowl of soup!
In essence, I’m pretty much a low-key connoisseur of soups. Therefore, I’m only recommending soup recipes that I’ve tried and enjoyed multiple times! So, you can be rest assured that these are delicious and will keep you satisfied as the weather cools down!
This recipe is a feature from Angela Liddon’s Oh She Glows Everyday Cookbook. I actually own the cookbook but, prior to that, I was frequently referring to the recipe here. Blended soups can seem a bit boring…texturally. So, the tamari almonds included for topping are essential! You’ll be swooning over how sweet, salty, and luxurious this recipe is.
Sometimes you feel like a giant bowl of vegetable soup, right? Though, the standard onion, celery, and carrot triad of vegetables isn’t the most exciting. I love that this soup utilizes some hearty cabbage, kale, and broccoli! The colors and unique combination of ingredients makes this soup taste like it comes from a gourmet restaurant! Oh, and I also like to squeeze extra lemon into my individual soup bowl—it really makes the flavors sing!
In my hometown, there was a restaurant my family and I would always go to called Millie’s. Literally, we would be there once a week, if not more. I could probably recite the menu by memory. One dish that they offered was a chicken tortilla soup. Ohhhh that soup. Due to my previously mentioned ideas about soup, I wouldn’t usually order it myself. Though, my dad would often order it and I’d steal some from him 😉 So, to my delight, this tortilla soup has all of the classic flavors but it’s made vegetarian. And please, do not pass up making your own tortilla strips for the soup. It is simply essential!
You guys might not know it but Minestrone Soup is probably one of my favorite soups ever. It can be made so many different ways. There’s team pasta and no pasta. I’ve also seen potato and, other times, no potato. What is consistent is that it is a good way to utilize lots of vegetables! With that being said, I often reminisce on the minestrone soup offered at Olive Garden. Whether the restaurant is true to Italian food or not, their soups are still the bomb. This recipe is the closest thing I’ve tried to OG’s classic minestrone.
Again with my Mexican roots! I take for granted how much I actually enjoyed the Mexican dishes I grew up with. Soups like menudo and posole are staple dishes in Mexican culture. It wouldn’t be a holiday or family get-together without one of these. Kate, the culinary queen, once again proved that a traditional meat-based dish can be made vegetarian. I’m positive you’ll enjoy this pinto bean version of posole even if you don’t follow a meatless diet. Fun fact: the cover photo for this post is actually my recreation of the Pinto Posole! 🙂
Thanks for checking out my favorite soup recipes!
If you make any of them, let me know. Oh, and be sure to let these fantastic bloggers know you found their recipe through me. I hope I’ve provided some fall meal inspiration. Be sure to let me know what you’re cooking up this fall! Also, would you be interested in some other Friday Five recipe round-ups? Perhaps snacks, entrees, breakfasts, and such? Comment below or on Instagram and let me know what you think!
Hey friends! Who else is struggling to find consistency in their life when everything feels so up in the air? Is it just me? I’d like to blame it on the changing seasons. Each year, when fall comes around, I feel a sense of refresh and rebirth hit me. Something about the season has always caused that. Maybe it has something to do with my birthday being in the fall? Who knows? 🙂
Now, onto some favorites from this week!
Pacifica eyeliner
Just like mascara, quality eyeliner is difficult to find. I use so many Pacifica products already so I knew I could trust them for sustainable, cruelty-free ingredients. To my surprise, the eyelineris very smooth, but not oily or soft, and has great wear-time. It applies with ease and just a bit of powder around the area keeps the liner from transferring. You can find Pacifica makeup in select stores but I buy mine from iHerb! (Code: MUS0884 for 5% off!)
Lauren Gleisberg Fall Challenge
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m trying to kick my butt into shape. I started Laruen Gleisberg’s Fall Challenge this week and boy, oh boy, does she mean business. My arms hate me as I write this. They’re so sore–in a good way! Though, the reason I like her workouts is because her workout plans target every muscle. Most workout programs will boast that same hook but Lauren splits up workouts by muscle group so every day you’re targeting a new spot. I personally find this to be extremely helpful for arm workouts in particular. You can work “arms” on back-to-back days as long as you’re targeting different muscles! Anyway, I’m following her free challenge and loving it so far!
Spiralized and “riced” vegetables
In addition to hitting my workouts harder, I am trying to ease off of the carbalicious life I’ve been living all summer. When I was having all sorts of stomach issues, soaked and soft-cooked grains were one of the foods I leaned on. Thankfully, I’m better able to digest the vegetables that I couldn’t at the time. So now, I’m trying to make meals with vegetables playing main stage. I’m looking to non-starchy veggies, breaking out my inspiralizer, and getting creative. Here is a dish I made myself earlier in the week:
A bed of mixed greens, topped with sauteed zoodles and onions, a beet and carrot “rice”, hummus, and fresh cilantro.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Back in high school, I was able to read many classic literature novels thanks to my Honors English classes. I’d say those classes really opened up my eyes to some interesting and impactful works of fiction. I’ve always been a fan of reading but usually YA fiction. Somehow, I haven’t really kept up with classic lit into adulthood but I’m glad I picked this one up.
The novel is downright eerie. It follows a young girl named Esther Greenwood as she has a sort of quarter life crisis. She feels she should be appreciative of her accomplishments but she just isn’t happy. She is frustrated with her job and the company she keeps. Her passion for writing is dwindling and her interest in life overall. The melancholic story was almost hard to read at times because, as a reader, I felt I could put myself in her shoes. I cringed at the sinister thoughts that crossed her mind but I understand them. It isn’t a feel-good read but, nonetheless, I think it is an important book to read because it portrays a very real and personal idea of what depression is like.
Daniel Caesar’s music
My taste in music is rapidly expanding this year! I never used to listen to soulful, bluesy, or rap music but look at me now! All of Daniel Caesar’s music is so, so good—check him out on Spotify! My favorite songs are Japanese Denim and basically everything from his album Freudian. I’ll include a video of a song from that album called “Hold Me Down”:
Pumpkin Spice and everything nice is what makes fall feel like FALL for me. Please, hold the eye roll. Evidently, the internet is all hyped about fall these days but let me tell you: I’ve been a fan of fall before it was trendy. Yes, I went there. Fall holds meaning for me even without the glamorized PSL which may actually have a new flavor competitor around—see here. Basically, winter and spring are almost nonexistent in southern California. And summer? No thank you, 120 degree weather.
My dear fall, you are what I look forward to each year. All I need are some breezy cool days where I can wear my cardigan and scarf and sip on my eat my pumpkin coconut treats. HOORAY!
Throwback moment: my favorite childhood snack was the packaged rice krispy treats. Not even the homemade kind! The rice krispy treats in the blue packaging were perfect because of their balance of sweetness and textures—crunchy yet soft! As you know, I like healthifying sweet treats. So, I put a spin on my fave classic WITHOUT marshmallows for some pumpkin coconut NOT SCARY treat fun. I know, it almost sounds sacrilegious. Still, I think you’ll find that these are sweet and satisfying on their own and healthier than the sugar-laden original.
Also, this recipe is a good use for date puree, or, date caramel as Minimalist Baker calls it. Honestly, date caramel is what sweet dreams are made of and I highly recommend making some. Although, if you want to substitute whole dates, you can try 2 (take out the pits!) and blend them up with the pumpkin and coconut oil until smooth.
I know fall is all about baking but make room in your freezer for this no-bake treat! You can thank me later.
Pumpkin Coconut Treat Bars
Recipe Type: Snacks
Author: Melanie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8 bars
These Pumpkin Coconut Not Scary Treat Bars are made with ingredients you can recognize. They’re wholesome, satisfying, and no marshmallows are required!
Ingredients
¼ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup melted coconut oil
2 tbsp almond butter
3 tbsp date caramel
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups Erewhon cinnamon brown rice cereal or other brown rice cereal
2 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut, plus more for topping
Instructions
First up, grease a loaf pan with coconut oil or line with wax paper so that the bars will be easy to remove.
In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin, coconut oil, almond butter, date caramel, and spices. Stir in the brown rice cereal and shredded coconut. Adjust to taste by adding a pinch of salt or a sprinkle of granulated sugar, if needed.
Press the mixture into the loaf pan, making sure to fill the corners. Then, place in the freezer for 2 hours to solidify.
Remove from freezer and cut into 8 squares. The bars taste best when stored in the freezer. Just leave them out to thaw for a minute before you are ready to eat one!
Notes
I used sweetened shredded coconut because I ran out of the unsweetened kind. You could definitely use unsweetened shredded coconut and perhaps add a teaspoon of granulated sweetener like coconut or brown sugar to make the bars sweeter. I just don’t recommend coconut flakes because those will be too thick and chunky for the bars.[br]Additionally, “cook time” reflects time in the freezer. This is a no-bake recipe.
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