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

Hello!

Happy Monday!

(wait, is there such a thing?)

source

So, did you have a good weekend?  What did you do?

After Saturday’s long run, I went and got myself a new do!

Sometimes, a girl just needs to be sassy. 😉

Then, I pretty much watched the CrossFit games all weekend.

Those athletes are amaze-balls. Every. Single. One. of. Them.

I actually (briefly) considered, after this 50k, just training and seeing how I could do in 2016.

I’d be in a whole new age group category!

Yes, that means I’m old. Old enough to be in the Masters grouping, that is.

I don’t know. We’ll see. I picked 2016 because there are still so many things I have to work on.

It might be fun! 😉

Anyway, on Sunday, while watching the Games, I food prepped all day.

With me at the 6pm CrossFit classes these days, I’m not usually home until 7:45 – 8:00pm and that’s just too late to cook dinner.

I was setting things up for my sailor to cook but his work life has gotten busier and last week, sometimes I beat him home! Plus, he doesn’t always remember to pack a lunch so he’s eating fast food or not eating at all. That will not do!

I figured if we discussed it all and food prepped together, then he would know what we have and be more prepared to take a lunch AND we’d have things we could toss together for dinner in a hurry.

So, here are some things that went down in our kitchen yesterday:

one whole cut-up chicken, roasted.

This was SUPER easy. I would have purchased a whole chicken but I didn’t get to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and the Harris Teeter only had organic chickens cut-up. So, I bought it.

Here’s what you do:

 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the chicken pieces in a pan (I used 9×13), rub all over with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees and roast 10-40 minutes more, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.  I took the wings, thighs and drumsticks out after 50 total minutes but the breasts had longer to go.

Once cooled, shred and use on sandwiches, salads, in pasta sauces, whatever. 🙂

(you can shred it when it’s hot, if you want to. just don’t be mad at me when you burn your fingers.)

Then, we got some chili going in the crockpot!

I used this recipe from PaleoGrubs but I left out the adobo sauce and added some Chipotle chili pepper for some smoky heat.

Chili is perfect on top of a sweet tater with some avocado (that may or may not have been my lunch today), or just heated up and served with cheese and Fritos or whatever you choose.

Of course, I had to make some of my triple chocolate avocado brownies. 🙂

Left the chia seeds out this time.

Okay, honestly, I needed to save them for my overnight oats in a jar. 🙂

And, for quick  breakfasts (I’m the only one who doesn’t forget to eat breakfast. How a person can FORGET to eat breakfast is beyond me!! Umm..doesn’t your stomach tell you it’s hungry?!?!) and/or snacks, I decided to make some of Lindsay’s Peanut Butter Banana Oat Muffins.

Holy YUM!

As you can see, I had one to sustain me while I was cooking. 😉

I have one today for my pm snack. Also have some fresh cherries. Om nom nom!

Not pictured are the overnight oats and the chopped veggies for lunches (mostly mine).

And last night, after all that, I made some “deconstructed enchiladas” with this green chili enchilada sauce.

I used a can of black beans, added some of the chicken we had roasted, and poured in the sauce. Heat over low heat about 10-15 minutes. Serve over rice.

So. Stinkin’. Delicious!

Too good for pictures, obviously. What can I say – we were hungry!!

And, the bonus is, there’s at least one serving left for a lunch or dinner later in the week! #winning

I’ve done food prep before but then, I’ve gotten lazy and fallen off the wagon.

It was definitely better with help!

And, the benefit is, everyone is invested and knows what’s in the fridge so there will be less uneaten food.

Pretty sure we’re going to make this a habit. 🙂

Talk to me: Do you food prep? What are your go-to recipe choices? Do you prep more for lunches or dinners?

– jennifer

Jen’s Quick & Easy Paleo Beef Chili

Hello!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Wine Wednesday programming for …. a recipe!

I’m in my final week of marathon taper and, out of the blue, I’m pretty sure I’m trying to get sick.

I felt like I got run over by a truck yesterday.

Tired, feverish, sneezy, achy – blech!

Well, with Flying Pig coming up on Sunday (EEEP!), I definitely don’t want to be sick.

So, I actively engaged my sickness in a battle!

I drank some tea

I put on my sweat pants  after work and enjoyed some cat cuddles

Molly is my lap cat. 🙂

and I made some spicy beef chili to help chase the ick out of my system!

I’m feeling a whole lot better today, but I’m still being cautious and loading up on Emergen-C and making sure I’m well hydrated.

You know you’re really well hydrated when you want to move your desk into the restroom. #justsayin

I decided on chili instead of chicken soup because 1. I had farmer’s market ground beef defrosted, 2. I didn’t have any chicken defrosted, and 3. I wanted chili.

I just kinda threw some things into a pot, simmered it for about 15-20 minutes, and dinner was born!

Jen’s Quick and Easy Paleo Beef Chili

2-3 tablespoons fat of your choice (coconut oil, bacon fat, etc – I used bacon fat because, duh, bacon makes everything better)
1/2 cup chopped onion (or more if you really like onion)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound grass-fed beef or bison
3 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 box chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Heat bacon fat in large pot or dutch oven. Saute onion and green pepper until vegetables have softened. Add garlic; saute 1 minute or until fragrant, stirring so it doesn’t burn. Add beef to pot and brown, breaking up with wooden spoon. Once meat is almost brown, add chopped chipotles, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and salt and pepper and continue to cook.

2. Once meat is browned and your kitchen smells amazeballs, add tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low (I set mine at 3) and simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings (add crushed red pepper here, if desired) and simmer for another 10 minutes.

3. Serve it up and NOM it down.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of my beautifully plated chili last night. I was hungry. Don’t judge me.

But, you’re in luck, I packed leftovers for lunch and had some over a sweet tater!

YUM!!!

Have no fear, Wine Wednesday will return as scheduled next week. 🙂

Talk to me: How do you battle an oncoming cold? What’s your favorite comfort food dish when you’re sick?

– jennifer