Sunday food prep – what went down in my kitchen (8)

Hello!

I’d first like to thank you for being patient and understand while I took a little time away from my blog.

I needed the break to think and be in my own head for a little bit.

My grandma was a pretty amazing woman and it’s a little difficult to know that I’m not going to hear her laugh anymore.

Good thing I have it on the laugh track in my head. 🙂

Life won’t be the same without her but I can hear her telling me to stop moping around, get off my ass, and get back to it.

So, that’s what I’m doing. Cuz she’s the boss.

It was DARN cold this weekend. I heard it even snowed in some places!

And by some places, I don’t mean Alaska or Wisconsin or Minnesota. I mean, Tennessee. What the heck? November just started!

Anyway, as luck would have it, our heater is presently not working (service call  made, parts ordered, commence waiting game) but we do have a fireplace!

That we used all weekend.

And that Molly stayed in front of the whole time.

I woke up one morning to find her staring at it like she was waiting for the fire to start back up. Haha!

Because it was so cold, I really had no problems with food prep this weekend.

Oh, stand in front of a hot stove/oven all day? YES, PLEASE!!

The first thing I did was make some chili on Saturday night.

I decided I needed to try a new recipe from the new cookbook I picked up a few weeks ago. I love new cookbooks!! ❤

So, I made the chili con carne from The Ancestral Table by The Domestic Man because chili is practically necessary if it’s chilly outside. 😉

Holy. Amazeballs. This chili was delicious!

And, there’s plenty of leftovers for lunches during the week. And you KNOW that chili only gets more delicious after it sits for a day or so.

You’ll have to buy the cookbook to get the recipe, though. It’s totally worth it. 😉

(and no, I’m not getting anything from telling you to buy the cookbook except the knowledge that you might soon be eating some amazing new dishes!)

Then, Sunday morning, I got started early and made some cinnamon buns with buttermilk icing.

Yes, I’m aware that cinnamon rolls aren’t exactly food prep food but hey, I’m just trying to give you some ideas for what to bake in your oven, maybe next Sunday…. 😉

I also made some Pumpkin Bread.

Tis the season for pumpkin!

I kinda sorta followed this recipe out of my 1,001 LowFat Recipes cookbook except I used all King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour, subbed nonfat, plain Greek yogurt in place of the vegetable oil, and used 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and 1 egg white.

This bread is pretty yummy – especially if you slather it with nut butter. Who needs cream cheese when you have nut butter?! Om nom nom!!

Then, because I was craving it – yes, seriously, CRAVING – I made my favorite meat sauce.

I love this on top of roasted sweet potatoes, pasta, or even rice.

Hell, I’ve even eaten it straight out of the bowl.

Licked it clean, too.

I’m not proud. 😉

Talk to me: Was it cold in your neck of the woods? Do you have a fireplace? Did you food prep?

– jennifer

Sunday food prep – what went down in my kitchen (5)

Hello, hello!

I finally got back on my Sunday food prep program.  Now I feel so much more prepared for the week!

And, it’s going to be a busy one.

But, that’s good, right? It should make the week fly by!

But then, it also makes Christmas get here a little sooner and I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.

Pssst…..there are only 86 more sleeps until Christmas……

And, moving on.

So, what went down in my kitchen yesterday?

Well, I started off my day by making some Crockpot Steel Cut Oats – the apples and cinnamon variety.

I used this recipe from The Yummy Life – used lite coconut milk instead of fat free. I also added the butter (cuz butter is awesome).

DO NOT FORGET TO SPRAY YOUR CROCKPOT WITH NON-STICK SPRAY!!!

Trust me.

It made four servings, perfect for quick reheating in the morning or as my 2nd breakfast at work. 🙂

Add in your toppings of choice.

Continuing on the scents of Fall theme, I decided I needed to make enough chili to feed a small village.

I found this recipe from Perry’s Plate and decided to give it a try.

I only made a couple of changes to fit our preferences – I went with a full teaspoon of the cayenne, I added 1/2 teaspoon of this fancy new Ghost Pepper sauce (um, ghost pepper is seriously hot) I got, and at the 3 hour mark, I added in 1/2 cup of pumpkin.

Yes, that’s random but you’ll understand further down in the post. 🙂

My only complaint is that the chili was not as thick as we would prefer.  When I was transferring it to containers, I ended up using a slotted spoon so I could get the goods and I left a lot of the soupiness behind.

It was really tasty – and, no, you won’t be a fire breathing dragon even with my additions – and the meat literally falls apart.

This will serve as lunches and dinners through the week. 🙂

And finally, ever since the Pumpkin Spice Latte made its way back to the Starbucks® menu, it seems the whole world is on a massive pumpkin kick.

So, I’ve been thinking about something different I could do with pumpkin.

I’ve made pumpkin brownies before (another kind here) but I didn’t just want to do that again.

What about brownie cookies?!

Genius!!

These little things are all soft and chocolately and pumpkin spicy and delicious! I couldn’t be happier with the way they came out!

And on the first try, even!!

I’ll share the recipe in tomorrow’s Tasty Tuesday post.

You’ll be okay. You can wait. I promise. 🙂

Finally, crockpots of yumminess bubbling away and neither one is dinner?

Madness!

OH! The extra pumpkin! Well, I had a 1/2 cup left and that chili recipe said to stir occasionally and I’ve made Pumpkin Chili before so……yeah!

Variety is the spice of life and I decided to make a double recipe of my Chana ma-Chicken for dinner and give us an additional leftover option this week.

*side note: my sailor has taken to calling this china man chicken. He thinks he’s funny.

Even though I followed my own recipe, this turned out a little spicier than the last time.

That’s fine for us but if you don’t do spicy, ease back on the cayenne.

Serve over rice or couscous or with naan to mop up all the delicious juices!

Random Spam Comment: “What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity concerning unexpected emotions.” This was in reply to my Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing post.

Talk to me: Did you food prep this weekend? What did you make? Have you jumped aboard the pumpkin train?

– jennifer

Cindy, some Paleo grub, and moving stress

Hello!

Happy Tuesday!

So, yesterday was my first day of “unemployment.”

I was busier at home than I probably would have been had I gone into the office!

We’ve got a move prep list that is a mile long.

source

Okay, maybe not really, but there’s definitely a lot of stuff on there!

We actually managed to get a fair amount accomplished – including setting up the house cleaning and carpet cleaning companies.  What a stress relief that was!

We can certainly clean the house ourselves but the prices that were quoted were just too awesome to pass up and, BONUS, now we don’t have to scrub the baseboards!

My least favorite part of cleaning.

Palpable relief. 🙂

This is my last week of CrossFit at Alpha Omega.

source

I’m such a nerd that, even though I’m just coming home afterwards now, I’m still getting up at 3:30 to make the 5am class.

(I live like 35-40 minutes from the box.)

The 5am class is my family.

I’ve planned out my “going away” WOD for Friday.

It’s going to be a good one. 🙂

Today, we did Cindy.

I actually LOVE Cindy!

I really liked that we worked on kipping pull-ups before the WOD.

Helped me focus my kip before the WOD.

I knocked out 14 rounds + 6 reps – all Rx!

WHOOP!

After a while, it was difficult to string together more than 2-3 kipping pull-ups at a time but I kept on.

I’m hopeful that the next time I do it, my kip will be that much more efficient and I’ll be able to get more rounds done.

So, I’ve tried some new Paleo meals the past few nights.

Sunday was Bacon Beef Butternut Squash from the Civilized Caveman.

Om nom nom!

The balsamic onions really make this dish something special so don’t skip that part.

Trust me.

*Note: 30 minutes may not be long enough for the initial cooking time for the butternut squash.  If the flesh doesn’t come out easily, put that baby back in the oven. You definitely want it tender.

Last night, was Bacon Chicken Bowl from Juli at PaleOMG.

Let me tell you something.

O. M. G.

This dish was the bomb x 12!

And, so stinkin’ easy!

And, I made some extra chicken and there’s a whole sweet potato left – JACKPOT!

I already claimed the leftovers for lunch.

Nope.  Not sharing.

#sorrynotsorry

Question: How many times have you moved in your life?

I was a Navy brat, an active duty Sailor, and am a Navy spouse, so I’ve moved a lot my whole life.  This will actually be my 26th move.

!!!!