What I Ate Wednesday: Zucchini Chili & Scones

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Well, would you look at that.  It's Wednesday again already.  And the last Wednesday before Christmas.  I have so many more crafts to make!!!  Eeeeeekkk!

Ok, not panicking.  Let's talk about foods I ate, mmkay?

Breakfast, Part I: PB Toast

Yeah, this has been happening for the past 3 (maybe more??) WIAWs.  What can I say?  I'm a creature of habit.  Had some crunchy peanut butter (Skippy natural) on some Sarah Lee 45 cal bread before 5 a.m. boot camp.  For some reason my brain was awake this morning during the workout and it fought me every step of the way.  It's much easier when I am in a dreamlike state while working out, so I don't realize what's going on.

Breakfast, Part II: Smoothie 

Wow, I am a master of photography today--ha!  I made a super delish shake containing 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp peanut butter, a scoop of protein powder and 1 cup of almond milk. Had some coffee on the side.

 Snack: Peas, Hummus, Cheese

Why, yes, I started buying family sized containers of hummus...for one person.  Thanks for noticing ;)  I enjoyed some of this hummus with sugar snap peas and had a light cheese stick, as well.

 Lunch: Soup

Bought this new soup (below) and thought it sounded more appealing than actually packing a lunch.  So I enjoyed a bowl of this chicken, quinoa, poblano soup with fresh avocado chunks and a couple crackers.

It was pretty good.  Not as chunky as expected...although it looks like it in my picture.  Filling and decently healthy, though.

This guy looks so excited about the soup.  How could I not buy it??

 Then dessert happened:

Best lunch dessert ever.

No time for an afternoon snack today...so onward to dinner!

Dinner: Zucchini Chili and Scones

For dinner, I had the assistance of my awesome brother in the kitchen.  He threw together my zucchini chili while I tried my hand at Joy the Baker's feta & chive scones.  I made them with wheat flour, though.  Both quite yummy!

Then, I got down to some serious crafting business with my lady friends.  Gotta get them Christmas crafts done!

Follow me on Instagram!  If you wanna..no pressure or anything.

Have a super fantastic week!

Vanilla Bean Scones

I have had scones on the brain for the past few weeks.

Maybe it was my low carb eating plan.

But, scones are delicious.

If the only scone you have had is from Starbucks, you have not had a scone, because theirs are frozen, then thawed, leaving them mealy and dry (just my opinion).

Fresh scones are where it's at.

SCONES
3 cups flour
2/3 cups sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, chilled
1 large egg
3/4 cups heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

GLAZE
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 whole vanilla bean
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla "caviar" inside. Stir caviar into cream and add vanilla extract. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Get all the dry ingredients in your food processor (or a big ole bowl, if you don’t have a processor) and pulse to combine.
Cut cold butter into pats, then pulse it in the food processor with the other ingredients or use a pastry cutter until mixture resembles crumbs.
Mix vanilla cream with egg, then combine with flour mixture.
Ok, I’m just gonna quote the Pioneer woman on the rest of the preparation, because she made her scones more elegantly than I did:
“Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.
Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles.
Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.”

VANILLA GLAZE
To make the glaze, split the remaining vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the innards. Stir it into the milk, and allow it to sit for awhile.
Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.
One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour.



These were so good-not too sweet and not too biscuit-y. They just perfectly melted in your mouth.

We had a surprise birthday tea for my sweet aunt yesterday and out of something like 40 scones, these were the remains:


Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman.