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.

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.