pantry and freezer week - day 10

Yesterday was a perfect day in regards to our Pantry and Freezer Week challenge. Take a look at the eats:

Breakfast

I amped up my usual steel cut oats with the last of our red quinoa that has been hanging out in the pantry waiting to be eaten. It wasn't enough to make a meal out of it - so using it my my oats was a great idea.

And the oats were amazing! I need to hurry up to a local co-op to pick up some more as I see this combo becoming a regular in my morning routine.



In the mix::

• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• scant 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1 whole frozen banana
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• sprinkle salt, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla
• topped with peanut butter and a little brown sugar

I then came across this variation of breakfast that I am going to have to make soon.

Lunch

Mystery soup from the freezer. Well, not a total mystery. In the Fall my favorite soup to make is a roasted squash soup seasoned with curry. Problem is, I never follow a recipe when I make it and am always adding in random ingredients depending on what is in our fridge.  I can, however, guarantee, that this soup is packed with good stuff.

It would have been good with a slice of toasted bread, but again - dug deep in our pantry to see what we had that might take it up a notch.



We topped the soup with the following:

• Rice noodles that were left over from our successful night of making spring rolls
• the 10 remaining peanuts from a jar that has been in our pantry for months (years??)
• the last six, yes SIX, raisins that were for some reason saved instead of being used in the last recipe/dish that raisins were used for. Like 6 raisins would have just totally ruined that last recipe/dish that they were used for...weird.

Great combo! The soup was thick and the noodles gave it added chew. We could have eaten this dish with chopsticks.

Dinner

Nic was working late, so I was on my own for dinner. I knew I wanted to use two ingredients for sure - kidney beans and squash puree - but really had no idea what to make. So I asked a few people and most suggested I create pumpkin chili. Okay!

I looked at a few recipes online, but seeing that most called for canned tomatoes or tomato paste (both of which were no where to be found in my pantry), I did what I always do and did my own thing.

Winner winner chicken dinner....without the chicken. :)

One-Half Cup Pumpkin Chili


We had absolutely no clean dishes...

In the mix::

• 1/2 T canola oil
• 1/2 cup onion - chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots - chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño - seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup bell peppers - chopped
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 cup squash puree
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup stock or beer (I had neither and used water)
• 1/2 cup kidney beans for you
• 1/2 cup kidney beans for me
• 1/4 t cumin, garlic, chipotle chili powder, salt, and oregano
• 1/2 cup spinach per serving

Over medium heat, heat the canola oil. Add onion, carrot, jalapeño, bell pepper and corn. Saute until tender. Stir in squash, water, and stock or beer, kidney beans and spices - bring to a simmer.  Simmer until heated through and you are ready to eat.

Spoon half of the chili over 1/2 cup of shredded spinach. This makes two servings.

The result was outstanding! I can't wait for leftovers.

For dessert I was absolutely craving chocolate. After the crappy day that I had just suffered through, I was set on feeding my emotions. Unfortunately we had nothing in the house that fit the bill, so I had to make something. 

What I wanted was a single serve brownie that was still gooey on the inside.  What I ended up with was close, but no cigar.  I am going to work on this recipe for a few days to see if I can't come up with something worth sharing.



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I am really hoping today is a much better day that yesterday. You know when you wake up and the all the little things just annoy and frustrate you? Well that was yesterday for me.  I know I shouldn't cave to letting the little things in life bug me, but sometimes they are just hard to shake. Top that off with Maia being an absolute brat (barking outside for at least an hour straight while I tried every trick in the book to get her in - of which, all attempts were unsuccessful and I was this close to calling the cops on her myself...), a few tears of stress were shed.

I was able to get myself away from the house for a meeting with our local Young Professionals chapter. I went just to share my thoughts and left being a member on the temporary board. Not my intentions, but the group is in need of a major revamp and I am happy to be a part of it.

The Y was next on my list. After I walked in a talked for a few minutes with people, I really just wanted to leave and had no desire to workout. However, I know better.  The knee hurt, so I jumped on the elliptical for a few minutes while I familiarized myself with the new lifts of New Rules of Lifting for Abs, Phase 2, Workout 1.

I am in love with this new New Rules book. The workouts are quick and I always leave feeling good. I must admit, I do usually skip the warm up as I normally run before lifting. So I might not be getting the full benefits of this plan - but I do see the beginnings of a beautiful six-pack forming! :)

pantry & freezer week - day 5

Phew! Another day done.  Another day done without a run.  Let's just say I was not pleasant to be around. Sorry Nic!  The knee wasn't as bad today, but still hurt.  I am going to try to get in a run tomorrow to test the waters again - I hate not running!  I turn into a cranky biatch and I don't even like when I am a cranky biatch.

I also worked right up until 4:30 (after leaving the house around 7AM) gathering daffodil orders and getting everything organized and in the system.

After I wrapped that up, I headed to the Y to meet with a high schooler that I will be working with for the next three months as she takes steps to lose weight, gain strength and minimize pain.  I will be working out with her three days a week and really hope we can get some good results!

Today's breakfast was easy peasy - and delicious.  Sometimes you just need to go the simple route.  Toast with PB, orange and a banana.



A coffee was enjoyed on the road, as well as another banana before I made it home for lunch.

Lunch was a mix of leftovers - corn soup with some couscous mixed in and topped with black bean hummus. Served up with a simple salad with hummus dressing - well not exactly dressing, more like the last of the hummus mixed with a little water to thin it out - you can't waste good hummus!





I snacked on a chocolate peanut butter ball from last night and a bowl of Kashi with apple chunks and a blob of peanut butter.



Dinner was another pantry and freezer week winner!  This is what I had in mind when I decided to embark on this challenge.

Lentil Tacos - Kier style

I knew I wanted to use up some of the lentils we've had in our pantry for a while and decided lentil tacos would be a great idea.  I prepared the lentils with a few adaptations from this recipe (I used chipotle chili pepper instead of regular and water instead of stock since we had none).

We did not have any tortillas in the pantry or fridge, so I thought I would mix up some using the corn meal mix we had in the fridge.

In the mix::

• 1 1/3 cups corn meal mix 
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 2/3 cup water (?? forgot to write it down)

Mix everything together and let sit for a few minutes.  Welp, it was a good thought, but this mixture was not really conducive to tortilla making.  My first attempt resulted in a crumbled mess. Instead, I cranked the oven to 450* and created thick cornmeal discs.  I brushed each side with canola oil and sprinkled with salt.  These were baked on each side for about 5 minutes, until browned.

We topped these crispy little discs with mashed black beans (1 can black beans, red onion, garlic and cumin), spinach, lentils, corn, carrots, and onions.



Seriously delicious!  Way surpassed my expectations.

Dessert was another combination of some leftovers and pantry/fridge staples.

Banana Couscous Pudding



In the mix::

• 3/4 cup cooked couscous
• 1 banana - sliced
• 1/4 cup soy
• 2 eggs
• 2 T maple syrup
• 4 T oatmeal
• 2 T sliced almonds
• sprinkle cinnamon
• 1 t vanilla
• dash salt

In a medium bowl combine couscous and banana. In another bowl, mix the next 8 ingredients and then stir into couscous.  Top with another generous sprinkle of cinnamon.  Bake in a greased baking dish at 350* for about 30 minutes.

My idea for this dish was a bread pudding type dish.  It was not as pudding-y as I would have liked, which makes me think I could have left out the 4 tablespoons of oatmeal. I got worried though as it looked a little too liquidy without it.

Despite that - once this came out of the oven I topped my serving with a drizzle of maple syrup and devoured it.  Amazing.  I am looking forward to eating the rest for breakfast...unless Nic steals it and takes it to work.  NIC - are you eating my breakfast??



Time to enjoy a small pour of wine before I hit the hay - talk about an exciting Friday night!