quick travel meal

Sometimes, even when I book the hotel with the kitchen, the day is too long to cook. After driving for 5 hours, forgetting my delicious salad at home and having to stop at a gas station for a (crumbly, old) larabar and a bag of chips, then working for 4 hours, then having to get groceries, I was over it.

I dragged my weary ass to the store, grabbed a bottle of wine and a frozen dinner.

Thank goodness for Amy's. I can usually find these in every major grocery store and they are a life saver sometimes. Especially when you've had a long travel day.

I did pick up some eggs, kale, and fruit for breakfast, plus a fresh larabar for a travel snack tomorrow.

chicken stew

Hey, it's 57 degrees here! I've got all my doors and windows open and am loving this cool, fresh air. Hello, welcome cool weather, I hope you stay.

I had originally taken some chicken out of the freezer for chicken soup, but I wanted a different flavor profile today. Since I already had the oven turned on for muffins, and I ran out of crock pot liners, I decided to make some stew in the oven.

Chicken stew

Place in a small casserole dish:
1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh
1/4 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground thyme
1/2 potato, cubed
1 carrot, sliced
a few fresh parsley leaves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
salt and pepper
1/4 c. water

Place the covered dish in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. It will come out smelling like heaven.

I shredded the chicken a little and placed it back into the oven while it cooled, so the potatoes absorbed a lot of the herby broth.

So tasty.

Pumpkin veggie muffins

Today I have for you, another edition of "put as many veggies as I can into whatever I'm eating."

Inspired by the random bowls of shredded veggies in my fridge, today we get muffins, again.

These are so good, and you can't even tell there are veggies in them.

Seriously, when I took the picture, I thought to myself, "Did I forget to put in the beets?" because they disappeared. If you look closely, you can see tiny flecks of the zucchini, but the beets, I suppose, are a secret.

Pumpkin veggie 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
1 T. light olive oil
1 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. shredded beet
1 t. fresh shredded ginger

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 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Tip: If you're not making a full pan of muffins, and don't own a 6-muffin pan, pour a little bit of water into the empty wells. It keeps the muffins moist and prevents the pan from warping.

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

hidden veggies pasta

Today I made a pasta sauce completely loaded with veggies. I even used beets, which I've never cooked with before.

I tasted something with beets a long time ago and thought it tasted like dirt, so I've never been a fan. I always wondered why people ate them if they tasted like dirt. I gave them a second chance, and it turns out... they do not taste like dirt. I must have had a bad beet dish those many years ago.

Anyway, I started this sauce with ground beef, sauteed with onions. Then I added in some shredded beet, zucchini, and carrot. I like using shredded veggies because after you sautee them, they practically disappear.

Then I added a jar of GF pasta sauce and frozen peas, and let that simmer while the noodles cooked. 

I had a sample bag of Jovial brown rice penne from a GF festival a while back, and while it's not my favorite pasta, it worked just fine.

Such an easy, tasty meal that was ready in 30 minutes.

My kind of Thursday night. 

Quick travel meals

This week I had to spend 1 night in a small town.

Into the lunch bag went:

Breakfast: Boiled egg, fruit
Lunch: Salad
Dinner: Frozen chili and cornbread

Easy, safe, and healthy. Plus the frozen chili acts as an ice pack to keep everything cold until I get to the hotel room. It's nice to be strategic sometimes.

Pulled pork taquitos

Today I made a recipe that did not include pumpkin. It's October and I have every right to put pumpkin in everything... but I exercised my basic bitch right and chose not to.

Instead, I chose to deploy my other secret power.

I hid veggies in this.

Look. Do you see veggies?

I don't. But they're in there. Spooooky. Shredded zucchini virtually disappears in this dish and not only does it discretely spike the veggie content, it helps keep the pork moist.

I could have stopped there and made pulled pork sandwiches, but I felt like something else. Taquitos.

With extra veggies, because even though I choose to, I don't actually have to hide veggies from myself.

Pulled pork taquitos (with hidden veggies)

Layer in your crock pot, in this order:
a crock pot liner (essential.)
1/2 chopped onion
2 boneless pork chops from the freezer
a handful of shredded zucchini
a generous squirt of your favorite gf bbq sauce

Set it on low for 6 hours, until the pork is falling apart. Shred it with a fork in the crock pot.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Then, assemble the taquitos. Take a corn tortilla, stick some extra shredded zucchini on it, then add the pork. If you're feeling saucy, add a little more bbq sauce.
Roll up and place on a greased sheet pan, seam side down. Repeat until you're out of supplies, about 6 taquitos. Spray with a little cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until they get hot and crispy. I use my toaster oven for this and it works great.

Drizzle with extra bbq sauce and if you're feeling extra, some ranch dressing.

So good, so good. The cat agreed.