WIAW: Pumpkin Risotto {20 Minute Pantry Meal!}

Hello!!  Happy Wednesday!  We are halfway through the week--yay!

I expect most people are feeling a cold front in their neck of the woods.

Although I really don't know for sure.  I should do some research, but I think I'll just ride on that assumption ;) #lazyblogger

So, with assumed cold fronts coming your way, I'm sure you are in need of some comfort foods!  I have a million...no, probably not even 50, but whatever...comfort food fall recipes on the blog.  Feel free to search over there on the right side of the page for fall recipes to get you all warm and toasty.

But for anyone without the extra time for searching through my poorly organized recipes, I bring you another 20 minute meal!  This time it's pumpkin risotto!!! We'll get to that.  First, let's discuss the eats for the day...

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Breakfast: Healthy Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

These oatmeal cookie pancakes are super dense and healthy, but also delicious.
For breakfast, I whipped up a batch using 1 mashed banana, 1/2-3/4 cup of quick oats (I did not measure), 3 tbsp egg substitute and about 1/4 cup almond milk.  After all was mixed together, I just scooped out 1/2 cup portions onto the oiled griddle and cooked until they were brown on both sides.
I added some thawed (frozen) blueberries on the top and sugar free syrup.  Yum!
Also, I had 2 cups of coffee.

Morning Snack: Yogurt

For snack, I actually ate a yogurt.  I like yogurt alot, but it is one of those things that never sounds very appetizing to me.  So, this container has been sitting in the work fridge for a week, while I just ignored it.  But, today, I topped it with the remaining blueberries (from breakfast) and it was so super tasty.  Makes me wonder why I never want it as a snack.

Lunch: Fish Taco & Soup

For lunch, I made my boyfriend and I some leftover fish tacos and we split a can of Italian wedding soup.  Kind of a random meal, but it was filling and quite delectable.
On the taco--blackened tilapia (I made Monday night), shredded lettuce, cilantro, tomato, avocado and goat cheese on a carb smart tortilla.

For dessert, we had some knock off Samoa type cookies and some coffee.

It was too cold out to walk, so we just hung out with Reggie inside (Bizzy stayed home.  No use in driving her across town to watch us eat).

Afternoon Snack: Graham Squares

I got hungry for a snack around 3:30, so I went rummaging through my work snacks that I stash in the kitchen.  I found some unopened graham squares, so I enjoyed two of those...I might have added peanut butter after the picture was taken ;)

Perfect to hold me over until boot camp, which was filled with squats, jumping and shoulder presses..oh my.

Dinner: Pumpkin Risotto & Spinach

Dinner came together so very quickly!  I made this dish last week when I was just searching through the pantry for something to make.  A box of chicken broth, a box of orzo and a can of pumpkin and 20 minutes were all I needed to get me started.
This is comfort food, for sure.  If you aren't crazy about pumpkin, try it.  It tastes like the best mac and cheese of your life...without all the calories.  I added some cooked frozen spinach on the bottom of my dish.

Pumpkin Risotto
serves 4, as a main dish

3 slices of bacon--optional, but delicious*
2 tbsp olive oil
1 box of chicken broth (32 oz)
1 small box of orzo pasta (1 lb)
1/2 can of pumpkin puree (1 cup)
1-2 minced garlic cloves
1/3 cup goat cheese crumbles (or any kind of soft cheese-I also have used Lauging Cow Swiss wedges in this and they are amazing)
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Heat a medium sized pot over medium heat and add half of the olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.  Cook bacon until crispy, and remove from the pan. 
Add the rest of the olive oil and garlic & pour in your orzo, stirring to coat. Toast the orzo in the oil for about 2 minutes. Stir it the whole time (or most of the time) it is toasting.
Add 1 cup of chicken broth to toasted rice and stir, stir, stir. Once that liquid is absorbed for the most part, add another cup of chicken broth and repeat.  Keep doing that until it tastes done.  It takes about 15 minutes until it is done.
Stir in pumpkin and cheese.  Chop the bacon and add as a topping.

*Again, the bacon is totally optional.  If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, omit the bacon and use vegetable stock  instead of chicken broth.

*Also, you can use arborio rice instead of orzo,  if you want to make a more traditional risotto.  Or you can use brown rice to make risotto.

All mixed up..a beautiful mess!

After dinner, I did a few house chores and cuddled with this gal.  Unfortunately we had no dessert in the house, but I stuffed myself full of risotto so it wasn't really necessary.

Have an amazingly awesome rest of the week!  Thanks for reading :)

WIAW: Skinny Sweet & Sour Chicken {20 Minute Meal!}

Happy Wednesday!

It's time for another rousing installment of What I Ate Wednesday!

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The theme for this month is "falling into good habits."  I think my habits are mostly decent, but sometimes I make poor nutritional choices.  So for me, the theme is always "making better choices."

Sometimes I'll crave something like a BLT, so instead of driving to Sonic and picking up the gut bomb of a sandwich from them, I will make a healthier choice and make myself a turkey bacon BLT on whole grain bread (with no mayo).  See, it's still a BLT, but it is a healthy swap (plus it's cheaper to just make it yourself).  Yay!

Dinner on this night was a healthy spin on a take-out favorite of sweet and sour chicken.  It's so, so much better tasting and better for you.  I hope you try it!

Ok, onto the eats for the entire day...and we'll get to that healthy swap in just a sec.

Breakfast: Frosted Mini Wheat Cereal & Banana

I'm glad my boyfriend is cool with waiting to eat his breakfast until I take a picture of our meals together.  I wonder if he'll ever get tired of me doing that...
Anyways, we both had some frosted mini wheats with banana and almond milk.  Mine is the purple bowl.  Coffee on the side, as usual.

Morning Snack: Shake & Kit Kat

While I was waiting for coffee to brew this morning, I whipped up a shake to take with me for snack.  It contained half of a frozen banana, about a cup of frozen strawberries, a couple chunks of frozen mango, a squirt of honey and almond milk to get everything moving.
Also, there was a Kit Kat I had put in the office freezer the day after Halloween that I  found today.  So I ate it.  Sigh.  It's all about balance, right folks?

Lunch: Butternut Squash, Black Bean & Swiss Chard Quesadilla & Veggies

This concoction was leftover from Monday night's dinner.  It's such a quick and easy meatless meal.
I just microwaved some pre-cubed butternut squash, some pre-shredded swiss chard and some frozen rice/quinoa blend and combined it with a can of black beans.  Add some cheese and a Flat Out wrap (this was Light Italian-90 calories) and you got yourself a colorful and filling meal.
I also had some roasted carrots, peppers and butternut squash on the side from Sunday's dinner.  Leftovers Queen, I tell ya.

Here's the inside of the quesadilla:

Colors!!!

I had gone home for lunch to check on these cuties...who watched me eat, of course.

Reggie & Bizzy=Best Friends Forever! 

I had a cup of coffee with a dollop of fat free Cool Whip (and a sprinkle of cinnamon) and a handful of chocolate chips as my dessert.

 Sweet Tooth Satisfied!

Afternoon Snack: Peanut Butter Toast

I got home a little earlier than usual yesterday, so I fixed myself some peanut butter toast and got started prepping dinner for the next night.

I actually like chopping veggies.  It's therapeutic.  Plus, I get to work on my knife skills.

All packed up to make my favorite soup!

Then I went to my evening boot camp class before dinner time...

Dinner: Skinny Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice & Veggies

Here's a healthy swap on Chinese take-out for ya...and you know what?  It literally took me 20 minutes to make!

Skinny Sweet & Sour Chicken

serves 2

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized cubes
salt + pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup flour (whole wheat works great)

For the sauce:
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp sugar free pancake syrup
2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (I used garlic seasoned)
1 Tbsp ketchup
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp hot sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and either spray pan or line with parchment paper. Pour the egg substitute in a small bowl. Put some flour, salt and pepper and paprika in another bowl and stir.  Dip your chicken in the egg, then in the flour and put it on your lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-17 minutes. While it is baking, make your sauce.


To make the sauce, combine broth and cornstarch in a sauce pan and stir to dissolve. Heat the burner to medium low heat and add the other sauce ingredients Let it heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens up. Once the chicken is done, put it in a bowl and pour the sauce over it and toss to coat.

recipe adapted from Hungry Girl

Here's how I made it a 20 minute meal:

The first thing I did was throw the bag of stir fry veggies in the microwave for 5 1/2 minutes and got my chicken prepped and in the oven.  The chicken stays in the oven for 15-17 minutes, giving you plenty of time to cook your rice and peas in the microwave as well!

Then I mixed 1/2 cup of peas to the rice mixture and that's how I served it.  I just used about 1/2 cup for each plate, so there was half a bag of rice as leftovers.

Here's a prettier picture if you happen to want to pin this on Pinterest.

This recipe is easily doubled to serve 4...I just only had 2 chicken breasts.
It's probably a good thing, because I would have gobbled up more than one serving for sure, if I had made more.

After dinner, I was hovering around the freezer deciding if I wanted to spend 270 calories on Ben & Jerry's.  I decided NOT to.  So I rummaged around and found some frozen bananas and made banana soft serve, instead.

All you do is just pulse 1 1/2 frozen bananas (cut in chunks) in a mini food processor until creamy.  I added chocolate chips to mine, as well.  Then I put it in a bowl and nestled it in some ice in the freezer for about an hour.

Such a creamy, delicious alternative to high calorie ice cream (and frozen yogurt).  Hooray for smart choices!

Have a super fantastic rest of the week!

What I Ate Wednesday: Leftovers

Did everyone have a super fantastic Thanksgiving weekend?  I did, I did!

In fact, I made a little collage of some fun times that were had (above).

I'll start at the top and summarize.  I enjoyed the fall colors, ate Thanksgiving foods, did the Turkey Trot 4 miler with my Mom, played high stakes (sarcasm) poker, cuddled kittens, made nachos..and a flourless chocolate cake, hung out with my awesome nephews, went fishing and caught a leaf, went to the dog park, made pasta, sewed a shirt for Baby the Cat.

Whew.  that was the world's longest run on sentence ;)

Ok, so that was my leftover memories from this past week...now, onto leftover foods!  Well, not all of them..but you get where I'm going with this, right?

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Breakfast 1: Toast

Before getting back on schedule with 5 a.m. boot camp, I made my favorite pre-workout snack: peanut butter toast (Natural Jif on Sarah Lee's Delightful 45 calorie wheat bread).

Breakfast 2: Eggs, of course 

Boy, am I predictable!  Yes, I made an omelet for protein's sake ;)  My omelet today was 1/2 cup of egg whites (had some leftover from making pasta), chopped up Thanksgiving turkey and cheddar cheese.  On the side was the last of my wheat bagel thins with butter spread.  For beverages, I had gingerbread coffee and POM juice.  Super filling, indeed.

Morning Snack: Nuts & Berries 

I actually thought it would be harder than it was to make myself eat this snack...mostly because this has been staring me in the face since yesterday (they were a holiday gift from a customer--clearly a saboteur of diets).

I noshed on some of these yesterday (actually Monday, but whatever), but stayed away from them today (yay, me!).  I enjoyed my blueberries and almonds instead.

Lunch: Leftover Stuffed Shells & Veggies 

I made a pretty rockin' pumpkin stuffed shell with sauteed mushrooms Monday night...recipe will be on Endless Simmer by Thursday.  On the side, some leftover broccoli and green beans.

Dessert: Starburst 

Since I'm obviously not immune to temptation, I had packed 3 Starburst candies in my pocket this morning.  And, of course, they were consumed.

Dinner: Burger & Fries

This dinner sure did hit the spot.  I made a lean sirloin burger topped with goat cheese, avocado and tomatoes.  My bun was a 100 calorie English muffin.  Sides were sweet potato fries and roasted veggies.  Yum yum!

My brother came over after dinner and helped me set up Christmas decorations!  It's beginning to look alot like Christmas up in here.
I also snuggled with this cutie.

Have a grrrrreeeaaaatt week!

Flourless chocolate cake recipe comin' at ya on Friday ;)

WIAW: Veggie & Bean Soup

Well, hey there...it's time for What I Ate Wednesday :)

I'm almost completely over my cold.  Time to fall into good habits!

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Breakfast Part 1: Cereal

Before 5 a.m. boot camp, I had half a cup of Honey Nut Cheerios with some almond milk.

Breakfast Part 2: Veggie Scramble & Toast

After a tough work out, I made a veggie filled egg scramble (1 egg, 2 egg whites, mushrooms, onions & green peppers).  I also had a piece of Sarah Lee's 45 calorie bread with some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread.  Coffee on the side.

Morning Snack: Veggies & Hummus

I had some leftover steamed veggies from Jason's Deli leftover from Monday's lunch & I thought I'd try it in some hummus.  Um, awesomeness.

Lunch: Veggie & Bean Soup with Bread

I made a super yummy and healthy soup on Monday along with some rosemary peasant bread.  Recipes coming soon to Endless Simmer.

Afternoon Snack: Snack Pack

I went to Target in search of my favorite hummus snack pack, but got this instead.  I munched on some of this in the afternoon.  It had cheese, apples, Goldfish & brownie.  It was alright, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.

Dinner: Fish & Veggies

Went out to Humdingers for dinner.  I tried a new to me fish called "swai."  It was very much like tilapia.  I had it blackened with some grilled zucchini and sweet potatoes.

For dessert I had TCBY frozen yogurt with toppings, but I didn't take a picture :(  Sorry about that.  Refer to this post for a glimpse on how my yogurt typically looks.

I have a super yummy lamb recipe coming at ya on Friday...so check back!

WIAW: Brown Sugar Turkey Chili

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Ok, all this fair/festival food (not to mention dollar beer night) is making my jeans tighter.  I am not a fan.  So, my Fall habits that I'm focusing on this week are more fruits & veggies and less starchy carbs.  Let's see how I did today (actually Tuesday).

Breakfast Part I: Nutri-Grain bar

Ate a quick Nutri-Grain bar before 5 a.m. boot camp.  You gotta have some carb/sugars before a workout like that.  It's chilly out, so I wore pants as you may notice from the pic above.

Breakfast Part II: Scramble

This protein packed breakfast was a winner.  I had 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters scrambled with some frozen spinach and smoked salmon.

Of course, I also had some coffee ;)

Hey, Baby the Cat

Morning Snack: Apple

I am loving apple season!  Had a lovely, delicious gala apple for snack.  Snagged some honey crisps at the store today, so I can't wait to consume them.

Lunch: Bento Box of Goodness

Bringing back the bento lunchbox!  I had some butter lettuce topped with some leftover roasted chicken and sliced avocado.  I enjoyed some baby carrots & strawberries on the side.

As a dressing to my mini "salad," I used a scoop of this hummus.

Afternoon Snack: Trail Mix

Dangit, starchy carbs.  You plague me.  Eh, it was probably a better choice than most, though.  140 cals and possibly whole grains?  Whatever.

Dinner: Brown Sugar Turkey Chili

full of the magical fruit ;) 

My mom made this chili on Monday and shared it with me (sweetest, most awesome-ist mom ever).  It was yummy!  You should make it.

Brown Sugar Turkey Chili

serves 6

1 cup diced onions

2 tbsp mustard

2 tsp chili powder or to taste

1/2 c brown sugar

16 oz tomato sauce

2-15 oz cans of pinto beans

1 lb turkey 93% lean (cook with a little olive oil)

cook the turkey and onion til done, add chili powder, stir in mustard and brown sugar,

add tomato sauce and beans, either put in crock pot for 2-3 hrs on low or simmer for 30 min

and serve.

I hid some spinach under mine.  For the win!

All in all, not too bad.  Definitely going to try and stick to my healthy Fall habits from now on!

Baby & Boscoe say "hi!"

See y'all next time :)