Pumpkin Overdose

I'll admit it, I do get excited when basically everything becomes pumpkin-flavored in the fall.  But, I always get excited for seasonal/ holiday food - hot apple cider around Thanksgiving, egg nog for Christmas, Reese's eggs in the spring (those totally count), and corn on the cob in the summer!!!

I did have my first pumpkin spice latte of the year while it was still warm out, but mostly I was excited to try out some new recipes.

First I made Mama Peas' pumpkin streusel swirl loaf.

It was delicious!!  I highly recommend it.

I used canned pumpkin for that recipe, but then I roasted a sugar pumpkin I got in my second CSA share.

And I roasted the butternut squash, too, following Angela's tutorial.

Lookin' gooooood.

I saved the seeds from the pumpkin and the squash so that I could roast them and make a delicious, iron-filled snack.  Once again, I followed another tutorial by Angela.

I just realized that it looks like I'm hiding an egg in this picture, haha, but it's really just a hard-boiled egg that I was trying to prevent from rolling off the counter.  

I coated the seeds in about a tablespoon of coconut oil (melted), about a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a hefty sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice

Oh yum.

Come in a little closer to see that gorgeous, crunchy coating.

They taste even better when eaten from an orange dish.

Once I roasted the pumpkin, I scooped out the flesh and put it in my food processor to make a puree.  Easy peasy.  Then I used the puree to make 3 more recipes.  I was on a roll!  First up - pumpkin granola.  It's got a great ingredient list and is very healthy.  It even contains quinoa, which I had never thought to include in granola before.  The quionoa gives it some extra protein, and a great nutty flavor.  (I know quinoa is a seed, but "seedy flavor" does not sound too appealing!)

By the way, old pasta sauce jars make great storage containers!

 I've been eating it with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  I'm in love.

I also made Kath's baked pumpkin oatmeal.  (And I think my oven must be slanted, judging by the slope of the oatmeal in this dish.)

I'm a huge fan of having breakfast ready to go in the morning, so I baked this on Sunday and had breakfast ready and waiting for me the rest of the week.

In the mornings I just scooped out a section of oatmeal, put it in a bowl with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk (a current favorite of mine, if you couldn't tell), and heated it up in the microwave for about a minute.  Perfection.

Finally, I tried out a savory dish - crock pot turkey white bean chili.  It might sound a little strange, but it was absolutely delicious, and easy to make.  And I just love using my crock pot - so convenient!

I could have eaten this for another week straight.

Sadly, I ran out of homemade pumpkin puree at that point.  But I think I put it to pretty good use.

Oh, and I bought some pumpkin soup from Trader Joe's, too.

It. Was. Incredible.  I first had pumpkin soup in France when I was studying abroad, and I absolutely loved it.  I searched everywhere for something comparable in the States, but the closest I could get was sweet potato and squash soups.  I tried making my own pumpkin soup one time from scratch, but it was an absolute disaster and completely discouraged me from making another attempt.  Luckily, after 5 years, I finally found what I was looking for.  Sadly, I only got one container.  I'll be counting down the days until it comes out again next year!

So is that enough pumpkin for ya?  I wonder what my next seasonal food fixation will be... gingerbread?  Cranberries?  Something peppermint?  Hmm, we shall see.

Song of the day:

"The Story" by Brandi Carlile.  I really love this song because it's such a good mix of pretty and raw vocals.  And it's fun to sing along to (but not fun to hear me singing along to!).

My Personal Chef

After class last night, I came home to such a treat: dinner was ready and waiting for me, courtesy of my personal chef (aka my crock pot).  To top it off, my apartment smelled ah-mazing - just like when my mom made stuffed peppers when I was growing up, even though she used meat and I made a vegetarian version.  So comforting.

I followed this recipe with a few substitutions. I used a cup of frozen corn instead of a can of corn, I went with brown rice, I used regular paprika because I didn't have smoked paprika, and I added about 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast + 1/3 cup water instead of cheddar cheese.  That ended up being a perfect substitution because I don't like cheese, but the nutritional yeast leant some creaminess to the mixture.  I used a tomato, basil, and mushroom jarred pasta sauce which worked really well, and I especially liked the slices of mushrooms in there. 

I prepped the mixture and stuffed the peppers on Sunday, put them in my crock pot dish and refrigerated over night.  In the morning I added water around the pepper bases and set the crock pot on low for 8 hours. 

For some reason I thought 1/3 cup of water didn't seem like enough, so I eyeballed it, but I should have followed the recipe and only added 1/3 cup of water around the bases because there ended up being more liquid than necessary.  They were pretty fragile due to the extra liquid, but it didn't affect the taste at all.

I served 2 stuffed peppers over some leftover brown rice and pasta sauce and rounded out my meal with a simple spinach salad (spinach, homemade Italian dressing, sliced almonds), and a juicy, delicious plum on the side. 

Sooo good, and really easy to prepare.  And the great thing about this recipe is that it can easily be altered depending on your taste preferences and what you have on hand.  You could substitute another grain like quinoa, couscous, barley, etc. for the rice, and add in whatever veggies you like - I think mushrooms would be great in there, or sauteed spinach, even pieces of bell pepper from the cut-off tops of the peppers (I saved mine to add to salads and other dishes this week). 

Like this whole wheat pita I made for lunch today - it's stuffed with hummus, spinach, bell pepper, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, and shredded carrots.  

Last night I made another snack to take with me while I'm traveling:  Amazeballz!!  I used vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder and agave nectar instead of maple syrup.  No chocolate add-ins since I gave it up for Lent, so I mixed in some dried blueberries, cherries, and goji berries.  Bring on the antioxidants!

I did week 4 of the Fitnessista's winter shape up plan after school today.  It's my second time through the plan, and this is the last week.  I'm going to have to put together a new routine for after spring break.  I just got my tickets to go to Florida in May with my mom, sister, and grandma, so it's officially bikini countdown season!
 

Now I'm slurping down this protein smoothie.  It has 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1/2 scoop Sun Warrior vanilla protein powder, 5 whole frozen strawberries, 1 frozen banana, 1 T peanut butter, 1 cup rice milk, and 2 ice cubes. 

Not the most appetizing color, but it's tasty.

I got to catch the last bit of the sunset from my apartment this evening.  Although I'm not excited to lose an hour when the time changes this weekend, I can't wait for the days to stay light later!!! 

Lots of work to get done tonight, so I better get to it.  Ciao!

Reader question:  If you could have any meal waiting for you when you got home from a day of work/ school/ errands/ shopping (!), what would it be?

Song of the day:

"Video Games" by Lana del Rey.  I've loved this song since I first heard it, and can listen to it on repeat for quite awhile, but she got a ton of criticism for her performance on Saturday Night Live recently.  I watched it and have to admit it was pretty awkward and she seemed super nervous, but I give her major props for continuing to perform on TV after the SNL debacle.  She was on Jimmy Kimmel last night and gave a much-improved performance, in my opinion.  And I still love the song, regardless.

Hopping into March

I learned something interesting from Kath this morning:  saying "rabbit rabbit" on the 1st day of each month as soon as you wake up is supposed to be good luck.  There are lots of variations of the saying, too.  I had never heard that before!  I am kind of superstitious and like quirky traditions, so I think I'm going to try to remember to do this.  Do you think it still counts if I set a reminder on my phone??  Haha. 

One of my "tricks" of balancing a healthy lifestyle with a busy and stressful school schedule is having ready-made meals on hand that are nutritious and quick to throw together.  This semester, I have one class that goes until 7:30PM and another class that goes until 8:00PM, so those nights I don't have time to cook a meal from scratch when I get home.  Plus, I'm hungry and want to eat right away!

I generally like to cook on the weekend and then either refrigerate leftovers to have throughout the week or, even better, freeze leftovers so they'll last a long time.

One of my go-to recipes for stockpiling frozen meals is sweet potato and black bean burritos.   I use black beans instead of kidney beans, add 1 cup of water instead of 2 cups, omit the mustard, use 8-inch whole wheat tortillas, and omit the cheese.  I also gently combine the mashed sweet potatoes with the black bean mixture rather than adding them to the tortillas separately; I think the flavors taste better that way. 

I'll have one fresh out of the oven, and then freeze the rest for later.  The recipe says it makes 12 burritos, but last time I made a batch I actually got 23!  This was because I used smaller tortillas (8-inch instead of 10-inch) and I used more sweet potatoes than the recipe called for.  

They're so easy to freeze and they reheat extremely well.   Just wrap each burrito individually in foil, then put them in a plastic bag (or multiple bags, depending on how many burritos you made) and store in the freezer.  when you want to re-heat one, place a frozen burrito in the oven at 350* (still wrapped in foil) for 30 minutes, then unwrap and put it back in the oven for 15 more minutes. (I just put it back in the oven sitting on top of the unwrapped foil - no need to dirty a pan!)  Add a side salad, veggies, and/or some fruit and you've got a great meal.  And I think waiting for the burrito to re-heat is the perfect time to get my lunch ready for the next day/ wash some dishes/ pick up around my apartment, etc.  It's a good excuse for me to be productive before plopping down on the couch and relaxing and/or studying for the night.

I also love to use my crock pot for making meals (including breakfasts).  It's so great to come home to an apartment that smells wonderful and to have a hot meal ready and waiting for me!  In the fall I made a big batch of veggie soup in the crock pot, and when I was tired of eating the leftovers, I froze a couple of containers for later.  This past Sunday when I was planning out my meals for the week, soup sounded good (go figure it was actually 60* yesterday when I ate it!) so I put it in the fridge to thaw at the beginning of the week and then heated it up in the microwave yesterday.  I topped it with some nutritional yeast (great source of protein and vitamin B12 with a slightly cheesy flavor) and had an orange on the side, which made a very delicious and satisfying meal.

I can't remember the last time I peeled an orange - it's been years.  And I know why: they are such a pain!  It tasted delicious (my grandparents sent a box of grapefruit and oranges from Florida), but I'll stick to my clementines; the orange was so juicy and had millions (seriously, millions) of seeds in it.

Today I did week 3 of the Fitnessista's winter shape-up plan again.  I can tell that my running is slowly improving, which is exciting!  My hair tie broke while I was on the treadmill today, though - luckily I was able to tie it together for a temporary fix and avert a disaster!  True story - one time I got to the gym, changed into my workout clothes, then realized I didn't have a hair tie with me, so I left.  It's a necessity. 

On the schedule for tonight: shower, eat dinner, watch 30 Rock, and bake cookies.  See ya later!

What's your favorite meal to make (or heat up) on busy days?  Any great crock pot recipes?

Song of the day:

"L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." by Noah and the Whale.  A good song for a new month and a fresh start!

Bribing Myself to Get out of Bed

Hey everyone, it's almost Friday!  What are you up to this weekend?  I've got a pretty busy day and weekend ahead of me, including some gym time, errands, phone calls (blah), school work, and some fun things mixed in there, too. 

This week I didn't have any classes in the morning, so I was able to go to the gym before school every day.  In order to motivate myself to actually get out of bed instead of sleeping in since I didn't *need* to be anywhere in the morning, it was really helpful to have breakfast already made!  I like to make breakfast cookies, and I also tried out a new recipe in my slow cooker:  apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal. 

What I woke up to in the morning!

I followed this recipe, using almond milk instead of fat-free milk, and I left the skin on the apples since that's where a lot of the nutrients are!  Since it cooked all night, the skin was very soft and I didn't mind having it in there at all.  If I make this again (which I'm sure I will) I will probably increase the amount of ground flax seed since flax seed is full of omega-3 essential fatty acids and has tons of health benefits - it's thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and breast cancer, among many other things.  (I buy whole flax seeds and grind them in my coffee grinder because whole flax seeds cannot be absorbed by our bodies.  You can also buy already-ground flax seeds.)

I would also increase the amount of cinnamon, because you can really never have enough cinnamon, in my opinion.  (Cinnamon also boasts a lot of health benefits, including having antiviral properties and reducing inflammation.)  The recipe is pretty basic, so I think it would be easy to switch up the ingredients - you could use pears instead of apples, throw some bananas in there, add dried berries, nut butters, and more!  Maybe even some carob or cocoa powder... mmmmm.  Definitely going to have to experiment with that.

It's pretty nice to roll out of bed and have a hot breakfast waiting for me :)

The leftovers warm up really well, too (just add a splash of milk), so this is perfect to make at the beginning of the week and re-heat during the week.  I wanted to try steel-cut oatmeal, but it takes a long time to cook on the stove top.  I'm never patient enough to wait very long for breakfast, so using the slow cooker was a great option.

How do you bribe yourself to get out of bed in the morning?  Or are you already a morning person?  I would stay up until 3AM every night if I didn't need more sleep than that.  Even when I was really young I would be sneaky and stay up late to read by the light from the hall (I don't know how I could even see my book!) or I would lay on the floor of the hallway and read by the nightlight if my parents had already turned off the hall light and gone to bed.  Oh kids, they do the craziest things... Ha!

Song of the day:

"Louie" by Ida Maria - I really like her kind of rough, screamy voice.  This is another song on my current workout playlist.