Let the new month begin – and I’m two for two in sticking with the budget. This week I’m trying to cook more healthy and less meat. Going hard after this until the half I’m running here in ATL on Thanksgiving Day. Then, maybe celebrate with a favorite piece of pie!
I think its been almost 2 weeks since I blogged. We’ve had family in town and then traveled to see friends – and I have a hectic 3 and 2 year old – that says a lot right now.
But, here it is the end of the month and it is the second month in a row I’ve stayed on budget!!! I’m so excited! I’ve even come under budget this month!
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara (even though I’ve heard bacon can cause cancer)
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Creamy mac and cheese
Greens and smoothies
Chili and Sweet potatoes
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (easy treat for Halloween morning from Trader Joes)
I’ll be posting some of these recipes if they turn out!
This is probably my favorite Fall recipe. I got it more than 10 years ago, and I finally decided to change it up, write it down, take more pictures, and have it more often.
I got this recipe from friends of mine – so really, food is all about community. My Mister can tell you how much this is true in my life. I love cooking for people – if people don’t like what I cook or don’t eat it at all I am really hurt (I know, I gotta get over that), and food is such a comfort for me. Really the saying is true that everything important happens around the table. The other night as we were picking out a place to go for our anniversary dinner, I got all mushy as we talked about restaurants. He definitely knows one of my love languages is food.
This is probably one of the first recipes I ever wanted to go on my old food blog. I always shared it with my college girls that I knew. It was warm and comforting. You eat it with a spoon. You put yummy stuff on top of it to make it better – like cheese, sour cream, bacon, avocados, cilantro – I mean – what could be better.
Creamy White Chicken Chili
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Author: kcreatives
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Creamy and comforting with a hint of kick – this is a perfect white chicken chili
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups homemade chicken broth (I don’t season mine at all, therefore I can season the soup as a whole)
1 can green chilies (as hot as you might like them), drained
1 can creamed corn
2 cans cream of chicken
1/3 cup whole milk
1 can great northern beans, drained
2 1/2 cups chopped chicken (I cook a whole chicken and chop up the meat and use the broth)
I mean, there you are, sitting cozily by a roaring fire (or a gas one, or just some pretty candles in your fire place), and you need something to munch on.
Or, you have a bunch of friends over in your backyard for a fire and smores – but you need something to munch on while the smores get perfectly roasted with the charred edges of sticky ooey gooey marshmallow.
Or you have some sports fans over to watch the game and there is an empty coffee table just needing a big bowl of healthy snacks to get every body through the game (or at least until halftime.
Snacks do not have to be bad for you. I think we often feel that snacks have to be unhealthy to be fun or to taste good – but that is so not the case. Nuts is on a mission to share recipes that are healthy, fun, and delicious, and will be good for tailgating, watching the games, or just to snack on at night while watching your favorite movie. And you can get your pumpkin seeds from a pumpkin and do a lot of work, or you can get them delivered to your door.
One of the things my mister always does for me, including this batch, is make the popcorn. We got some spices for a wedding gift, and have been making a special spicy blend of popcorn a few times a month since we got married almost four years ago. We took this special Campbell tradition and made it a little sweet too.
Fall Sweet and Spicy Party Mix
Recipe Type: Snack Mix
Cuisine: Snack
Author: kcreatives
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 7 cups
Sweet and Spicy and packed with everything you love about Fall.
Ingredients
For the popcorn
5 cups of popped popcorn
1/2 tsp Penzeys Jerk Seasoning (I’ve learned that all jerk seasoning is not created equal)
fresh cracked pepper and popcorn salt to taste
For the candied pumpkin seeds:
3/4 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T vodka
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 ground cloves
1/4 nutmeg
1/3 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp sea salt
pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup craisins
Instructions
Season the popcorn and let it get cool, but not stale.
For the pumpkin seeds: put everything in a saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until the liquid is dissolved and the sugar starts to caramelize and the pumpkin seeds pop.
Dump out on to parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Spread out.
Let cool.
Break into pieces
Combine popcorn, pumpkin seeds, white chocolate, and craisins all together.
but when I bring out the old youth group (yay Anastasia) tshirts that I’ve had for some 15 years,
I can make roasted jalapeno soup and call it Fall.
Back in August I attended my family reunion over in Northern Alabama. Southern cooking and fried chicken and pies and pound cakes are the name of the game. Woodworking and quilting. What I also received this year was a giant bag of jalapenos. Can life really get much better? Fresh grown jalapenos. Yes, from people who really know what they are doing in the vegetable garden arena (not me, I kill basil). What was I going to do with all of these tiny peppers that tasted so good with just a subtle amount of heat?
Make soup of course. And anything you can put cheese, bacon, and avocado on has got to be a good soup, right?
This has just the right amount of heat. You may want a glass of milk nearby, but most of you will probably be able to handle it. I just downed a bowl of it. My husband will have it tonight alongside a full-loaded baked potato. Not too shabby for a Monday night.
Creamy Roasted Jalapeno Soup
Recipe Type: soup
Cuisine: comfort food
Author: kcreatives
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6 servings
Bit of heat, delciously cream, fresh soup for the start of fall
Ingredients
6 jalapenos, no seeds
5 carrots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 cup chicken broth (homemade is best so you control the ingredients)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup diced tomatoes with green chilies
3/4 cup mexican shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Slice and seed jalapenos.
Place them cut side down on a baking sheet.
Roast at 400 for 15 minutes
Chop onion and carrots.
Saute in olive oil over medium heat (in a dutch oven) for about 4 minutes.
Add roasted jalapenos (chop them) and garlic powder
Add in butter and as it melts, stir in the flour.
Once combined, add in chicken broth.
Bring to a simmer.
Add in milk and simmer for another 3-5 minutes
Transfer to a blender to puree (or use immersion blender.
Put back in dutch oven.
Add tomatoes and cheese and heat through until cheese is melted.
Top your bowl of soup with more tomatoes, cheese, avocado slices, bacon.
