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: Healthy Mushroom Orzo Risotto

Good Morning!!!
Guys, I'm pretty bummed about losing Google Reader next week.  There's gotta be people out there as dependent on it as I am.  I use it to read over 100 blogs every day.  I have a couple other dashboards in mind, but meh.  Still sad.

***Update--just read this post from Peanut Butter Fingers & imported all my blogs to Bloglovin'!  Eeee!

Ok, onto happier things--It's that time again.  Time to share my food consumption from yesterday.
Try to contain your enthusiasm.
The above picture is my art for this week.  Almost too pretty to eat.  Ha!  Who are we kidding.  Totally didn't even hesitate when eating it.  It tasted as pretty as it looked!
Let's get to it.

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Breakfast: Waffles & Berries

For breakfast I enjoyed 2 Eggo Nutrigrain low fat waffles topped with a smear of peanut butter (Skippy natural super chunk), sliced strawberries and sugar free syrup.

I also had two mugs of coffee in my cute new mug!

A.M. Snack: Pear & Graham 

For snack I had some (more) peanut butter on a half graham cracker and a lovely pear.  Such a great snack!

Lunch: Big Salad 

It was hot as the dickens outside, so we did not walk the dogs like we usually do.  Instead I chopped up some ingredients for a big ole salad.  It was so satisfying and refreshingly light.
In the mix: chopped romaine lettuce, ham and turkey deli slices, leftover broccoli, reduced fat feta cheese, avocado & a dressing of plain Greek yogurt mixed with ranch dressing seasoning.
How pretty is that bowl?  I love it!  It's not mine-just a borrowed bowl that I love.

P.M. Snack: Orange & Tea

Gosh, you know it's a slow, boring day at the office when I take the time to peel an orange.  This was the best orange I've had in a while.  So juicy and delicious.  I had also gotten a tea on the way back from work from the place that takes all my money from me.  Trenta unsweetened black tea wtih 3 Splendas, FTW!

Headed home to change for boot camp.  I made my first Instagram video of Bizzy doing her tricks (sit, lay down, spin).  She was very confused because when she sees the treat she automatically sits, but I wanted to start with her standing up, so I could tell her to sit.  So, she's a little frantic in the vid.  Also, she's full of puppy energy, which can be an overwhelming thing.

Dinner: Bacon Wrapped Salmon, Mushroom Orzo Risotto & Veggies 

Sometimes when I get home from exercise and I have a crazy puppy demanding my attention, I do not feel like cooking.  Such was the case tonight.
Luckily, I was able to throw something together in about 20 minutes.

First I seasoned my salmon & wrapped it in bacon.  My thought process behind this was that it will keep the salmon moist while adding a smoky, bacon-y (it's a word.) flavor.  It worked!

Before I cooked the salmon, I had to get my risotto going.  Here's how I made it:

Healthy Mushroom Orzo Risotto
serves 3-4 (as a side dish)

1-2 tbsp Olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups orzo
2 cups chicken broth (approximately)
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
2 tbsp goat cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup diced & sauteed baby bella mushrooms (or button mushrooms)

Heat enough olive oil to coat a sauce pan. Add onion and cook until onion becomes translucent (about 5 minutes). 

Pour in the orzo and stir to coat. Toast orzo for 2-3 min. Add 1 cup of chicken broth into the sauce pan. Stir occasionally until liquid is absorbed. Add another half cup of broth and repeat. Repeat one more time.  Taste the orzo throughout this process and when it is no longer crunchy, it's about done.

Add in goat cheese, seasoning & Parmesan.  Fold in mushrooms.

About halfway through the risotto, I started the salmon in an oiled grill pan.  Also, I microwaved some fresh broccoli & cauliflower.

My other risotto recipes: butternut squash risotto & healthy brown rice risotto.

For dessert, I ate a serving of these stupid jerks.  You know a serving is only 9 little cookies!  Ludicrous!  But delicious....

Then Bizzy and I watched Chopped.

Sometimes she finds it boring.

Happy Wednesday, all!

Fabulous Fall Fridays: Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

Ok, I know a lot of blogs out there switch over to all Fall recipes once the season starts. Since I am not really down with that, I thought I’d feature a Fall recipe every Friday. Let’s call it Fabulous Fall Fridays, shall we?

This first one is a real doozy. What does that even mean? They always say it in Bugs Bunny cartoons. I think it means it’s mind blowing. And this roasted butternut squash risotto is totally out of this world delicious.

If you have never made risotto because it sounds intimidating, try this because it was pretty easy. You just can’t leave the room and forget about it (that’s my husband’s style of cooking).

If you are looking for comforting Fall flavors, you’re welcome, friends.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

1 medium butternut squash
1 cup orzo (you could also use Arborio rice—I just had some orzo I wanted to use)
2 ½ cups chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup grated (or shredded) parmesan cheese
Garlic to taste
Salt to taste
Rosemary or another fresh herb (like thyme, sage or parsley)
4 slices cooked bacon, chopped

1. Cut the top and bottom off your butternut squash, then cut down the center long ways. Pull out the seeds and pulp and discard. Peel and dice the squash and line a 9x13 baking dish with the chunks. Drizzle olive oil, garlic and salt over the top and lay some sprigs of rosemary on the top. Roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Your house will smell of rosemary and garlic after this, so enjoy that (discard rosemary sprigs after roasting).

*My butternut squash made 3 ½ cups of chunks. Incidentally, you can also buy it already diced in the produce section of Wal-mart (or maybe at other places—I don’t know) and either roast it or steam it in the microwave.

2. You can either puree all of your cooked butternut squash or just do half of it like I did. I wanted some chunks in my risotto.

3. Heat a medium sized pot over medium heat and add 1-1/2 Tbsp of olive oil. Pour in your rice after the oil gets heated for a few minutes and stir to coat the rice in the oil. Toast your rice in the oil for about 3 minutes. Stir it the whole time (or most of the time) it is toasting.

4. Add 1 cup of chicken broth to toasted rice and stir, stir, stir. Stirring is essential in risotto, I’ve heard. Once that liquid is absorbed for the most part, add another cup of chicken broth and repeat.

5. Add ½ cup of broth after the 2nd cup is absorbed and stir some more. Never stop stirring (okay, you can stop for like two seconds if you need to, but stick with it). Taste the rice and see if it is done-ish. I wanted mine to be tender but still have a little bite. Season to taste.

6. Stir in pureed squash, cubed squash, parmesan and bacon. Garnish with sprinkle of bacon and cheese and a sprig of rosemary.

*This took me about 15-17 minutes from the addition of the first cup of broth. I’m sure cooking time would vary depending on your stove and the type of rice (or rice-like pasta) you use.

Serves 2 for main dish or 4 side dishes.


I brought this for lunch today. I kind of want it now, despite the fact that it is 8:45 a.m. and I’m still full from breakfast (oats in a jar). It is that good.