Pumpkin carrot muffins

I'm not sure how these muffins happened.

I woke up, headed creakily into the kitchen, and before I even had a few sips of coffee, my subconscious had taken over and the next thing I knew, I was looking at this:

I'm so glad my sleepy autopilot brain knows how to make muffins, because by the time I was ready for my second cup of coffee, these were ready to come out of the oven. And they are delightful.

Pumpkin Carrot Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix in a bowl:
1/2 c. gf flour mix
1/2 c. almond flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*

Mix in another bowl:
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T. light olive oil
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 c. shredded carrot

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and scoop into a muffin tin. Top with slivered almonds and a few dried cranberries. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This made 5 muffins that taste like fall and have veggies in them. Win.

*[Pumpkin pie spice:]
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t.ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves

quick trip travel meals

Sometimes, my job takes me to some pretty remote areas.

This week, I get to travel to a tiny town 4 hours away in East Texas where gluten free pickings are pretty nonexistent.

In cases like this, it's easier and safer to pack my meals instead of trying to find something there.

This trip is a quick one, so I'll only need 1 breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Here's what I packed in my cooler:

Breakfast: hard boiled egg and fruit, plus prunes and gummy vitamins.
Lunch:

Turkey and spinach roll ups with a mayo, mustard, and pepper dipping sauce
Grapes and orange
Cucumber and carrot slices
Pecan Nut Thins

Dinner: A loose interpretation of this salad, which travels very well.

Dinner: Salmon and veggies on repeat

You know what's really easy to make when your head hurts and you have been traveling, have no fresh food in the house, and haven't made up a meal plan but are really hungry for something nourishing and hearty and healthy?

This.

I always keep salmon and broccoli in the freezer, and I usually have some kind of grain like quinoa or rice in the pantry. (You might want to start doing that too because it's life-saving sometimes.)

It works because fish thaws and cooks quickly, broccoli cooks nicely dumped frozen next to the salmon on the pan, and quinoa is ready in 20 minutes.

Oh, oh, this hits the spot.

Here's what you do:

Turn on your "jamming in the kitchen" playlist. Or don't, because your head hurts. Pour a small glass of wine to sip.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Take the salmon out of the freezer, stick it in a ziplock bag, and thaw it in water in the sink.

Answer the phone and talk to your cute man for 20 minutes while you pack for your next trip.

Line a pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Stick the salmon, mostly thawed, on the pan. Pour some frozen broccoli next to it. Spray again with cooking spray.

Season the salmon with Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, because that stuff is the best for when you're not feeling creative and just need something tasty. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the whole pan. Stick it in the oven.

Put 1/2 c. quinoa in a saucepan, then add 1 c. water. Turn the burner on high to get it to boil. Then cover it and turn it on the very lowest setting. Set a timer for 15 minutes and park your ass on the couch with a hot compress over your eyes.

When the timer goes off, the quinoa should be done. Check the salmon. It should be 145 degrees at the thickest part of the meat. (A meat thermometer is the best thing I've ever bought) When the salmon is done, the broccoli is done. Easy.

Plate it, drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, and take an Aleve in the middle of the meal.

Toss a small amount of unseasoned salmon to the cat, because she's old and it makes her so happy.

There ya go. I feel so much better. Time to go finish packing.

Microwaved egg, hotel edition.

Microwaved egg? Really?

Don't knock it until you've tried it. And if you've tried it, you might prefer it to the questionable egg-like substance served at the hotel breakfast. I certainly do.

This recipe does require that you have a microwaveable container with you. I travel with one, but a forgetful moment is easily remedied by purchasing a container at the grocery store.

Microwaved egg, hotel edition:

1 egg
2 slices of lunchmeat, torn up
torn up kale or other chopped veggie
pepper

Mix the above ingredients in the container with a fork. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir and, if needed, microwave for another 30 seconds or until the egg is not wet.

See? Not bad.

I really enjoy these small warm meals to start the day. Sure beats staring at the same sad honeydew and dried up sausage (with probable gluten content) at the hotel breakfast and deciding it's best to do without.

Travel meal: Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

On the road again.

This week I was unable to book a hotel with a kitchen, so I booked a room with a nice big wet bar, and brought my crock pot with me.

Which is why I am now sitting in my hotel room enjoying tacos for dinner.

Hotel Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Put the ingredients into crock pot in this order:

crock pot liner
1 clove of peeled garlic, snapped in half if you can manage it
2 chicken thighs
1 stalk of torn up kale
1 package of GF taco seasoning
1 can of black beans, undrained*

Set it on low when you leave in the morning and put your do not disturb sign up. (I have no idea if crock pots are allowed in this hotel... I am normally a rule-follower but I don't care. I'm a hungry rebel.)

When you finally leave the lab and head back to the hotel, you'll be greeted by a nice hot dinner. Serve the lovely chicken-y, bean-y feast in a corn tortilla with the cutest little bowl of rice and avocado. Yum.

I know I'm not the only person out there who habitually overstuffs their tacos. Every. Time.

*The can of beans with the pull top was crucial because I do not routinely travel with a can opener, but I have ordered one to add to my travel kit.

I will easily get 2 other meals from this, and as usual, I'm thrilled to have a safe, gluten free meal that isn't a salad while I'm traveling.

This week's menu, travel edition

In this week's travel chronicles, I'm in the same city but staying at a different hotel. For some reason, the hotel I stayed in last week (with the full kitchen) is $30 higher this week and therefore out of company policy. Of course.

I booked the next best thing, a king suite at a Hampton. It's got lots of room, but also a wet bar area that has a sink, microwave, mini fridge, and plenty of counter space.

I did a little planning ahead and wrote out a menu so I could plan how I was going to feed myself without a stovetop and avoid eating salads for every meal.

See? Evidence.

I packed my crock pot + a liner in my suitcase and that thing is a game changer. Went to the grocery store and got a few things*, and also I of course packed my travel kit.

So. Here's what I ate this week:

Breakfast: Microwave scrambled egg with veggies, plus fruit.
(don't knock a microwaved egg until you have no other safe options)

Lunch: Turkey and avocado sandwiches (with udi's bread)

Dinner:
Crock pot chicken tacos
5 points
Tuna salad

The crock pot made plenty of leftovers, and I found a 100% gluten free restaurant, with a yoga studio right next to it, how wonderful, woo! This week I've got a happy belly.

*For reference, the grocery list:
Eggs
Fruit
Avocado
Kale
Chicken thighs
Garlic
Taco Seasoning
Rice
Beans
Bread
Lunchmeat
Mayo and Mustard
Wine
Water
Tuna

hotel room chicken and veggies

I'm back on the road again.

I try to book a hotel room with a full kitchen, and Homewood Suites is my top choice. There was a Hampton Inn 2 miles from where I was working today, but I'll drive 20 minutes to a full kitchen. Absolutely worth it.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way to the hotel, and picked up:

For breakfast:
-eggs
-plums
-blackberries
-a cucumber
-carrots
-prunes (regularity is key, man. these help.)

For snacks:
-almonds
-pecan nut thins and sunbutter- I brought some with me
-fruit/veggies leftover from breakfast

For dinner:
-boneless skinless chicken thighs
-frozen broccoli
-Green Giant riced veggies that I happened to see in the frozen veggie section.
[Contains mostly riced cauliflower, a few green peas, yellow onions, a tiny bit of carrots, and green onions]
-an $8 pinot noir

Anyway. Dinner.

I got "home," traded pants for shorts, and took off my bra so fast you didn't even see it.

I always wash the hotel dishes before using them; you never know what kind of gluten was there before you and how well things were cleaned.

I poured myself a juice glass full of wine, pushed play on my Spotify playlist, and fired up the electric stovetop. Armed with my handy travel kit, I tossed into a hot pan two chicken thighs seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Danced around a bit to some happy reggae music.
Stretched a bit on my travel yoga mat while I talked to my cute man on the phone.

When the chicken was done, I shredded it with two forks.

(The pan was warped and wasn't heating evenly, so I adapted and transferred the half-cooked chicken to the pot that was in the kitchen... Guess I'll be having a poached egg tomorrow morning, yay!)

Add in the veggies, and cook until they're warmed.

The riced veggies were really great. I usually try to bring a little garlic in my travel kit but I forgot, and the onions in this mix really gave this dish some great flavor. There is also a little ziplock seal which was great because I only used half of the bag. I will definitely consider this again for future travel meals.

Since the pot was more crowded than the pan would have been, I kinda mixed everything up into a casserole of sorts.

Dinner was so tasty, and so SAFE. Not a single gluten worry here.
Plus I had leftovers so lunch will also be tasty and safe. Woo!

*makes a note to ask the front desk about a new pan

snacky dinner because it's too hot to cook

When you're sweating through the armpit of summer, the last thing you want to do in the evening is turn on the oven or stand over the stovetop.

Particularly tonight, after spending lots of time outdoors and soaking in the millionth day of hot, humid weather.

I did not have time to set up the crock pot, and did not feel like a salad, so I am having a snacky charcuterie-ish dinner.

The idea is to use what you have, not heat up the house, nourish your body, and fill your belly.

Today's snack plate consisted of:

-Turkey lunchmeat
-Microwaved leftover roasted veggies
-Hummus with extra olive oil and pepper
-Carrot chips
-A few choice leaves from the spring mix that is rapidly getting wilty and sad
-Almonds
-some GF crackers (whatever is the cheapest at the grocery store that week)

Also frequently making an appearance in these types of dinners is:

-Sunbutter or peanut butter
-Snyder's GF pretzels
-fruit
-olives/ pickles
-whatever leftovers look good

I like the variety, I get to use what I have on hand, and the kitchen does not get one. single. degree. hotter.