a beertastic pumpkin dinner!

The month of pumpkin has been so much fun to host throughout October! My love for pumpkin is severe, but it is well deserved. Pumpkin adds flavor, nutrients and should be used as often as possible, in my opinion! 

My last recipe for the month of October  (I am in no way saying this is my last pumpkin recipe for Fall) is Pumpkin Ale Chicken Chili. It is spicy and earthy, and the perfect addition to a cold Fall night! I know I am bias, but this dinner was pretty darn good. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom for my beer bread recipe!

Pumpkin Ale Chicken Chili 

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts cut up into bite size pieces (or hamburger meat)

2 T of coconut oil  

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large carrots, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of chili powder (or ¼ teaspoon, if you want spicy)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup pumpkin ale (I used Shipyard Pumpkin Ale)

1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin puree

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can of black beans, drained 

1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained

½ cup chicken broth 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine beans, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato paste, and spices into a crockpot. 

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil and brown and cook the chicken. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of pumpkin ale, let simmer for 5 minutes. Dump into the slow cooker. 

In the same saucepan, cook the chopped vegetables (onion, carrots, and bell pepper). Once they are cooked through, add in the chopped garlic, cook until you smell the fragrance. Deglaze pan with remaining beer, let simmer for 5 minutes. Dump into slow cooker.

Mix everything in the crockpot and let cook on low for 2 hours. 

Served warm, topped with cheese and add pepper and salt to taste!

Enjoy!  

I served this chili with Beer Bread, as I am sure you have noticed in the pictures! I had made some in the past, but had neglected to sift the flour. Let me tell you, IT MATTERS! This bread is moist and SO easy to make. I used the same beer as the chili, Shipyard Pumpkin Ale, and thought it turned out perfectly. It was not pumpkiny, at all.

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups of whole wheat flour, sifted (trust me, do this step!)

½ cup of sugar

3 t baking powder (do not use if using self rising flour)  

1 t salt (do not use if using self rising flour)  

1 12 oz bottle of beer (I used Shipyard Pumpkin Ale)

½ cup melted butter

¼ t of cinnamon 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°

Grease a bread pan, I use coconut oil, making sure to completely cover. 

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well. Pour into well greased pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon. 

Cook for 45 min, and let sit for 15 min, before removing from pan.

Enjoy!

Happy cooking,

#freezerlovefriday pepper style

Stuffed peppers have become SO popular. I remember them being one of my four dinners that I used to cook as a newlywed, and I made it often! They are so easy and there are so many different ways to prepare them. We still do them occasionally (thankfully, I have learned to embrace new recipes), and consider them one of my easier #freezerlovefriday choices!! 

I use the crockpot for mine, because I love knowing that after a busy day, our dinner is done and waiting for us! Also, remember you are just freezing the filling, you would not want to freeze the whole pepper with the filling inside, fresh and crispy peppers are always the best! This recipe will make enough filling for your dinner the night of, as well as the dinner you will be freezing. There are so many different ways to make stuffed peppers, but this is one of our favorites.  

Ingredients:

5 bell peppers 

3 cups prepared rice or quinoa

2 pounds of ground turkey

2 can of stewed tomatoes 

1 cup peas

2 cup of cut yellow squash and zucchini

3 TB of cajun seasoning

EVOO

Directions:

Wash and prepare your peppers, by slicing off the top and clearing out the ribs and seeds. 

Cook rice or quinoa if needed, using directions listed on box. 

Add a dash of EVOO to a skillet and brown the turkey completely. 

Add in the tomatoes, veggies, rice (or quinoa) and seasoning into the skillet. 

Let that simmer for 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat. If freezing half the batch, place in a ziplock bag and let cool completely, than place in freezer. 

Add the mixture to the peppers and cook on low for 4 hours in the crockpot. 

We like to top ours with avocado and sour cream, or just eat plain! 

Enjoy!

                            

This is a recipe that you would want to let thaw completely before preparing it again. I would take the ziplock bag out of the freezer a day before and let thaw in the fridge, than prepare the peppers the next day. 

How do you stuff your peppers? 

Happy freezing, 

Meredith 

the beginning of #freezerlovefriday

I love freezer meals. They are such a staple in my house! They are perfect for nights where you don't have time to whip up a five course meal, or nights where you leave your significant other in charge of the household. I typically will double a recipe, eat half that night and freeze the second half. I have a few favorites, so I thought it would be fun to share them with you all, throughout a few different posts. Some of them are recipes that I have tweaked and made mine, while others are recipes that I have found on the amazing site, Pinterest. The recipes will be for one night, so if you want to freeze some make sure you double the recipe. If you are not into freezer meals and you feel like every night deserves it's own creation, then well just use the recipe as is!

Here is an example of how I label and pack my meal for the freezer. I really like the foil throw away casserole dishes, but I was out this night, so I just used a normal dish!

The first post for #freezerlovefriday is my Pantry Quinoa recipe, it is so easy and so yummy. It is hands down one of my top five favorite meals, and the bonus is that it is loaded with veggies! I call it the Pantry Quinoa, because I often use what I have available. I ALWAYS have cooked quinoa in my fridge, it is a staple in my lunch salad, and our family loves it. My veggie drawer always contains a yellow squash and a zucchini, mainly because I feel like you can add these two veggies into any recipe and they typically go unnoticed. I do not have picky eaters in my family, but I still get such a rush when I throw veggies into a meal and no one knows. It's the little things in life, I tell ya!

Our Pantry Quinoa typically has a southwestern flare, simply because we love taco seasoning and well we live in the southwest! But, the great thing about this recipe is that you can use what you prefer. If you don't love zucchini than throw in whatever veggie your family loves. This particular version we did not do any meat. This dish is so good with or without meat, but if you MUST have meat, I prefer to use shredded chicken or kielbasa. If you choose to add in chicken, make sure to check out my super easy chicken shredding post! 

Pantry Quinoa

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 can of black beans - drained and rinsed

1 can of chopped tomatoes - we really like the southwestern style, but use what you have!

1 yellow squash - chopped

1 zucchini - chopped

1 cup of corn - frozen or fresh 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

A few tablespoons of taco seasoning 

Toppings:

Avocado

Over easy egg

Mexican shredded cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°

 Cook your quinoa per package instructions. 

Use a large saucepan, add EVOO and chopped veggies, cook completely. Add in beans, tomatoes and taco seasoning. Let that sizzle for a few minutes. 

Add in the quinoa, mix well, and transfer to a baking dish.
Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese on top,pop in the preheated oven and and cook for about 5-10 minutes. 

Let cool and add whatever toppings you love! 

Freezing Directions:

Once added to the dish, let cool completely and cover with foil. 
Make sure to label the dish and add reheating instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Frozen  - 1.5 hour 
Thawed - 30 minutes or until heated through 

As promised here is a candid picture of Luke enjoying his portion! He has always liked things all mashed together, so this is a perfect meal for him. 

I hope your family loves Pantry Quinoa, as much as we do! Look for more #freezerlovefriday recipes in the future. I have some good stuff cooking!

Happy freezing,

how do you shred?!

We live in Tucson, which means that Mexican food is a staple in our diet. One of Luke's first words was taco, and to this day if you ask him what he wants to eat he will quickly reply, "TACO!" I like all meat involved in Mexican cooking, but the healthier version of me leans towards chicken based dishes.

 I love how versatile shredded chicken is. I can use it in so many recipes and I can use whatever I have left as the protein in my daily salad. Now, just because I love shredded chicken does not mean I love the process. This use to be a "Ryan only" job, mainly because it took forever and I don't have that kind of patience, (remember, he is the ying to my yang and well his patience knows no limits)! Then one day I had the brilliant idea of slow cooking the chicken, AMAZING. Now I know this idea (and maybe even a similar recipe) is out there, but this is what we developed in the Nye house, and I feel like I need to share this easy idea.

I will typically empty the tomatoes into the slow cooker, add my seasoning and stir that up. I then add 3-4 chicken breasts, place the beans on top of the chicken and start cooking. If you want more tomatoes, add more, or if you want to add in some corn, feel free to do that too. I like these base ingredients because they go with pretty much any dish I make. Keep in mind you can also do plain chicken, just add a bit of chicken broth or water. That way you can dress up the cooked, shredded chicken any way you want! 

Frozen chicken typically cooks 6-8 hours, while thawed chicken is around 2-4 hours. I always do mine frozen and set my slow cooker for 6.5 hours, it is perfect for mine but yours may differ slightly.  This is my slow cooker, and I love it! Specifically because of the programmable option, so I have no issues leaving it cooking throughout the day! When it is done cooking, use two forks and shred. This process takes all of one minute! Here is my finished product:

This is the easiest way to shred chicken! If you have a busy day, cook this during the day, come home and make tacos or quesadillas! The possibilities are endless. Whatever I don't use that night, I typically refreeze in a Ziploc and know that an easy dinner awaits. 

Directions:

3-4 Frozen Chicken Breasts

3 TB Taco Seasoning

1 Can Black Beans

1 can of Mexican Style Tomatoes

Combine all into a slow cooker. Cook for 6-8 hours or into chicken easily shreds apart. 



Happy Shredding,