The one thing that makes the end of summer acceptable for me is the Annual Farm Crawl my friends and I do each fall. This tradition warms my heart because not only do I get to escape the city for a day and play in nature but one of my best friends (who's also my go to eating buddy) flies in from Los Angeles and we girls spend the whole day catching up. Plus, I know I'll be spending a lot of time in my favorite room, the kitchen, baking amazing apple treats and cooking delectable dinners while fueling my body in the most healthful, nourishing way. I mean, just look at the loot I brought home!!

We always get our apples from Riamede Farms in Chester, New Jersey. Last year with the excessive rain the selections were limited but this year, there was an abundance of variety: Macoun, Cortland, Liberty, Jonagold, Gala, Macintosh, and Golden Delicious Smoothie. Oh they were so crispy and juicy! I tried to be conservative but somehow walked away with 13 pounds of apples!! :/ 

On the way out of the orchards I usually pick up some teeny pumpkins and gourds. However, for the first time, we went to the tomato patch and plucked fresh red and orange cherry tomatoes. Seriously nature's candy!! 

In addition to Riamede Farms, we like to stop at a new (to us) farm too. This year, we drove up to Miller's Hill Farm in Mendham, New Jersey (just a bit away from Riamede). We were blown away! There was a rainbow display of tomatoes and bell peppers, and loads of fresh squash, eggplant, sweet corn, onions, garlic and hot peppers. My selection to your right:

We actually went to Miller's Hill Farm before Riamede Farms, but many of us had regrets about the farm fresh items we didn't get, so we returned when we finished apple picking. My regret?? The fresh eggs. I met the chickens and am always amazed by the beautiful variety in size and color of the eggs.  

Now that I'm done bragging over my farm fresh luscious loot, I'll share the first of my many apple creations: Apple Quinoa Porridge for breakfast today. Full of protein, fiber, healthy fats and the freshest of fruit, I feel grateful for good friends, hard working farmers and the marvels of nature, and am also properly fueled to get this day started. Hope you all have a great one too! :)

Apple Quinoa Porridge
Yields: 2 servings

• 1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 Tbsp almonds, raw, sliced
• 2 tsp cacao nibs (optional)
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp cinnamon (more to top if desired)

In a pot, bring the quinoa and water to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until quinoa is fully cooked. Add almond milk, apple and cinnamon and cook on low heat until apple starts to get slightly soft. 

Pull porridge from stove and pour into bowls. Top with blueberries, almonds and cacao nibs, and drizzle with maple syrup. And yes, of course you can choose any toppings you like! Enjoy!  

Hi Everybody!

The story goes like this: earlier this year I started a website called Nutrish and Delish and had all these grand plans of blogging along with my then new found passion for Instagram-ing all the nutritious and delicious things in my life. It worked really well for a few months. Then reality struck where friend, family and work obligations always came first and blog posts got shelved. So with full intentions of resuming my original plans, this spring I shut the website down to make sure I didn't lead anyone on and to regroup my ideas. 

I took time to embrace everything that was going on in my life: passed my recertification exam as a NASM personal trainer, celebrated a couple of my best friends' weddings, visited family overseas I hadn't seen in two years, created my first ever pieces of silversmithing jewelry and changed positions at work to a dream one that I thought I'd have to wait four more years to get! Most importantly, I focused on me for the first time ever. All of these great happenings reignited my motivation to get the website going again, but I knew there had to be some changes:

• First, I wanted a site to embrace not just what I do professionally but also personally so that you all can get a full picture of who I am and what I stand for, and occasionally get a break from my nonstop food picture snapping! And alas The Wellness Whisk is born. Merriam-Webster defines wellness as "the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal." Yes, I still focus on creating and sharing nutritious and delicious treats. But being healthy goes beyond food and nutrition, so I want to include physical and mental health topics as well. Whisk gets added because I'm a dorky baker who loves alliteration and must give credit to the original culinary interest that got me where I am today. 

• Secondly, I needed to take the pressure off of myself. When I started to blog the first time around, I delayed posts due to fear of imperfection. Even when I started to build this site, I kept putting off publishing for the same reasons. Tonight, I'm taking a chance and just clicking the publish button once I finish writing to you.   

The reason I want to go live now even though the website is not done (*fair warning*) is because there are many things I want to share and conversations I want to have right now. If I continue to postpone the debut, I can't move forward, and that's what life is all about: living in the moment. I haven't finished importing recipes and posts from the old site but don't worry, they will make it over one day (hopefully soon!).  

For the time being, if you want a little more background, you can see my original blog introduction below...