Low-Heat Meal Prep

It's hot! We hit 118 several days last week, and the heat has not let up much this week. People in our geographical area have experienced power outages, and the city sent out an e-mail asking users to conserve energy between 3 and 8 pm by using less appliances that take a lot of power (as dishwashers, ovens, etc.). Meal prep is part of our current way of life, but given the heat and the city's request, I needed to do things a little differently. That led to this low-heat meal prep.

What is low heat? Well, since we keep our house at 80 degrees already, that meant meals that created as little heat as necessary to make. The oven was definitely off limits, and I wanted to use the stove as little as possible. Additionally, I wanted meals that could be eaten cold, or reheated with little extra energy output. 

Here is what I came up with:

Breakfast:

Carrot cake overnight oats (No cook/raw)

Stove-top granola (Not pictured)

Lunches:

Mexican chicken and vegetable bowls (Chicken cooked in the Instant Pot; eaten cold)

Sandwiches (Not pictured)

Dinners:

Ricotta/asparagus pasta salad with ham (Stovetop; eaten cold)

Spicy black bean and caramelized onion tacos (Stovetop; eaten cold)

Snacks:

Apples (Not pictured)

Bananas (Preferably frozen; not pictured)

Baked oatmeal (based on this recipe by Budget Bytes; eaten cold)

*I cooked this in the microwave for 14 minutes verses 45 minutes in the oven based on GE's microwave recipe conversion ratio.

Carrot sticks (Not pictured)

Cheese sticks (Not pictured)

Peanuts (Not pictured)

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Could I have reduced or eliminated stove-top cooking for this prep? Sure! I could have made raw meals, or solely used the Instant Pot, but this worked. I made the no-cook recipes at night, and spent a few mornings with the stove and voila, done!

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Readers, what are your favorite low-heat/no cook recipes? What do you eat to help survive the summer heat? Please share in the comments section.

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*For more inspiration, see Work Week Lunch's "Cold Lunch Ideas" blog post or no-reheat meal preps.

Simple Summer Suppers

Is it hot? Or is it hot??? 

In honor of the current heat wave, I thought I'd share a few of our current favorite dinners. Heat once, eat (at least) twice, and taste good cold are some of our pre-requisites for recipes these days. With that being said, here are a few of our favorites:

Cold peanut noodle salad with peanut lime dressing (Budget Bytes)

Instant Pot barley and vegetable risotto (Hot Rod's Recipes)

Instant Pot black beans and rice (Cozy Peach Kitchen)

Instant Pot Mexican quinoa (Cook with Manali)

Instant Pot zucchini linguine (365 Days of Slow Cooking)

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What are your favorite summer recipes? 

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Please share in the comments section!

Sriracha Turkey and Cheese Breakfast Biscuits

Quarantine cooking creativity? 

It comes and goes. I've been trying to make "special" breakfast on Sundays, but I had run out of ideas. In search for something new, I came upon a few interesting recipes, but didn't like any one specifically, so I combined them  to create this savory and satisfying entree. 

Butter, biscuits, cheese, meat, and heat, this breakfast has it all!

Ingredients:

1/2 t salt

4 T cold butter, diced

1/6 c powdered milk

1 t apple cider vinegar

2/3 c water

8 slices turkey meat

1 c grated cheese

Sriracha to taste

(Biscuit recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour. Sandwiches inspired by a recipe from Budget Bytes.)

Instructions:

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Cut cold, diced butter into mixture until it forms clumps the size of peas.

3. Mix powdered milk, vinegar, and water in a separate cup. Stir into flour and butter mixture.

4. Turn out on a floured surface and fold over until all ingredients are incorporated. Add water or flour a tablespoon at a time, if needed, to get to the right consistency.

5. Roll dough into a rectangle shape 1/2 inch thick.

6. Use a sharp knife to cut in 12-16 squares.

7. Lay half the squares face down on an ungreased baking pan.

8. Top each square with one piece of turkey meat, 2 tablespoons of grated cheese, and a squirt of sriracha.

9. Fold turkey meat over to encase the cheese. (Try to flatten each mound of cheese as much as possible to avoid seepage, some of which will happen.)

10. Add the remaining biscuit squares on top, pressing gently, to form sandwiches.

11. Bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove pan from oven.

12. Use a thin-edged spatula to push melted cheese back into sandwiches and serve.

Step-by-step photos:

Roll dough into a rectangle shape 1/2 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut in 12-16 squares.

Top each square with one piece of turkey meat, 2 tablespoons of grated cheese, and a squirt of sriracha.

Fold turkey meat over to encase the cheese. (Try to flatten each mound of cheese as much as possible to avoid seepage, some of which will happen.)

Add the remaining biscuit squares on top, pressing gently, to form sandwiches.

Make Your Own Happiness.

I made my own birthday cake this year. I wasn't sure how or if we would get to celebrate my birthday, and I wanted to do something. I felt a little selfish cooking for just myself, but knew I'd be happier for it. I think sometimes life is like that. We want people to make happiness for us, but sometimes we need to make our own.

My birthday came at an odd time this year. It was in the middle of a pandemic. It was in the middle of a work week. It was in the middle of college finals week. We'd planned to go see my parents the weekend prior, but didn't know if we could. I could let my birthday pass and be grumpy and mourn, or I could take the initiative and make my own celebration. That's what I did. In the end, I actually got to see my family to celebrate, and my mom made me a big cake. My mini celebration made room for a larger celebration with others.

Sometimes we need to take ourselves out for coffee. Sometimes we need to plan our own dates. Sometimes we need to make our own cakes. Sometimes we need to initiate our own celebrations of life. Sometimes we need to make our own happiness.

Making our own happiness prepares us to celebrate with others. Making our own happiness gets our brains ready to receive joy. I'm not saying be selfish. Still care for others. Still serve and give selflessly, but don't wait for permission to take care of yourself and live. Putting in a little time for personal celebration may make room for more, or at least make you a more pleasant person to be around. (In full disclosure, I ended up freezing the cake I made and brought it out later to celebrate my husband.)

So here's to celebration. Here's to happiness. Here's to a little self-care, a little more self-love, and celebrating with those we love when we can. May the world be better for it.

Give Yourself Some Grace (And Others, Too, While You're At It).

I know everybody’s like, “Be creative. Organize your pantry. Be productive. Do something during the shutdown." There are a plethora of posts about how to stock your pantry for a quarantine, how to home school your kids (when you weren't already a home school parent), how to clean out space, and what not. These resources are great, but I’m over here like, “I just want to relax. I don't need the extra pressure. I’ll cook with what I’ve got and what I can find at the stores. I’ll let the organizing go. I'll run slower (though I'm still keeping up with training distances while I can). I'll eat popcorn for dinner. I'll veg on the couch. I’ll welcome the slow down and change of pace."
If the how-to posts coming out like mad are helpful to you, great! Use those resources. But if like me, they create extra expectations and extra pressure, let them go. No use shaming yourself for just being right now, friends.

Let's give ourselves (and others) some grace right now. The world’s a scary place, so might as well be kind. Now might not be a time for new goals, or even keeping up with old ones (or maybe those goals are vital, sobriety or mental health recovery, for instance). Maybe now is a time to just live and let live. To be okay with extra messes from the kids in the living room. To let the closet organizing project go. To make an extra box of mac and cheese. To consume less fruits and vegetables. To sleep more and workout less . To watch some poor quality, not so great TV. To be with loved ones with no agenda. We as a nation need a slow-down. And painful as this situation is, maybe this is our opportunity. Let’s not waste it.

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Meanwhile, let’s pray for and ask how we can support our medical and healthcare professionals. They need an extra measure of grace right now. They aren't getting this slow-down. They’re in a fight for their lives and the lives of our fellow man and have probably never had such stressful times. And when this has abated, or is all over, let’s figure out how to keep supporting them and help them have a break, because they’re going to need it!

Pumpkin Recipe Round-Up (Year Two)

We all know I like pumpkin. So in an effort to care for myself and enjoy life, I made October about the pumpkin, vowing to make at least one pumpkin recipe a week. I succeeded, barely. 

Here's what I made:

Easy pumpkin masala (The Iron You)

Pumpkin baked oatmeal (a riff on my traditional baked oatmeal)

Pumpkin hummus (Kroger)

No-bake pumpkin oatmeal energy balls (Bless This Mess)

Pumpkin protein oatmeal (My own concoction)

Pumpkin spice granola (Budget Bytes)

Also, I realize I posted last November 1 about pumpkin. I guess it's a thing now....

10K Number Two (And Why Social Media is a Highlight Reel)

I've been trying to run more and run longer. Trying to stay healthy. Trying to get ready for maybe something bigger. But it's been a fight. This race was a last minute addition to my schedule. "Maybe you should run another 10K before you commit to more," Mom said. So I signed up. But then my husband was sick. I had days on end of late nights due to getting called out for work. I struggled to sleep and eat enough. Friday, multiple parts of my body were sick. I thought about not running. But I knew I'd probably feel better if I did.

I tried to go to bed early Friday night, but I also knew I needed to eat. So I choked down this cinnamon raisin bread bowl:

And then I got hungry, like insanely hungry. So I drank peanut butter hot chocolate and ate some granola and peanuts. That kind of backfired, though, as my stomach got upset in the night and I didn't feel like eating my planned pre-race banana in the morning. Instead, I stuck with sipping on some electrolyte water.

Mom and I met at a shopping center and car pooled to the race. (Read: I am terrible with directions and would have struggled to make it there myself.) The men folk were busy, so it was just Mom and I. Groom Creek is up in the mountains of Prescott, and this race benefit the local firefighter's association, a cause I wholeheartedly support.

After arriving, we took a few photos and watched the half-marathon launch. I started to get hungry and sucked on a gel. (My supervisor at work gave these to me. The verdict is out on efficacy, BUT it didn't make me sick and assuaged my hunger, which was a plus.)

My race started at 9 am. A previous runner told me this race was easier than Whiskey Row. I disagree. This race was anything but easy. I mean, look at these ups and downs: 

The race also started at a significantly higher altitude. I started off slow, which seems to be the name of my game. But I got faster as I went.

I was really trying to 1) beat my previous pace, 2) keep up with a runner near me, and 3) catch speed on the downhills. [The splits show where those were.]

The result: 55:09 and 3rd place in my division. Praise the Lord.

But here's where social media is a highlight reel. (I said this when I posted on Instagram.) I was out of breath when I finished. I felt like I was getting, but dodged, a bloody nose. I didn't feel like eating afterward and had to force down food again. I had to run like five errands after the race. I didn't see my husband basically all day because he was preparing to be in a wedding. My mom was sick the night before the race, which she told me after we arrived.

Did I enjoy running? Yes. Should I have run? Maybe, maybe not. In the end, I'm glad I did. I'm thankful for the opportunity and the health to do so. But...I don't want to glamorize my life or make it look like things come easily. Life (and running) is work. Sometimes you get out what you put in. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you need to press through the wall and sometimes you need to rest. Wisdom is rightly assessing all the information and making the best decision for yourself, and for others. That's hard to do. And social media can in no way fully represent that struggle.

Ten kilometers two is a wrap. We'll see what happens from here. Check social media for highlights, but always know there is more to the story.

Flops and Faves

Of the many things I'm enjoying about marriage, cooking is one of them. Sure, I cooked at my parents' house, but now it's kind of my responsibility (or at least a responsibility I've taken on, because my husband is also an excellent cook). Here are a few of our flops and faves from the recent days:

Flops:

This Moroccan split pea soup (Recipes from a Pantry)

We expected a thick, rich, soup, and well, this one wasn't. And the split peas didn't really cook all the way. Oh well. We enjoyed it anyway.

Zucchini lasagna (Skinny Taste)

Okay. This wasn't really a flop. It was good the first few times, but it was a lot of work, and I was TIRED of it by week's end. (Chris said he wasn't. So maybe we'll make it again, but probably not for awhile.)

Cajun cabbage and noodles (Budget Bytes)

Again, this wasn't really a flop. It was good the first time, but didn't reheat well, and well, we had it for days.

So maybe the lesson in this is that flops aren't flops. They're just not something I want to eat over and over again.

Faves:

The best weeknight pasta sauce (Budget Bytes)

We've made this twice. (I omit the butter sometimes.) It's so good. And so fast and easy. 

BBQ beef and beans (Budget Bytes)

This was easy and filling and good over rice or on its own.

Eggs Florentine breakfast pizza (Budget Bytes)

I made this several times at home before making it for Chris and I. But it's good, especially the garlic white sauce. And the ingredients needed to make it are minimal.

Noticing a theme here? Budget Bytes is seriously one of my favorite recipe sources.

Bonus:

Chris is a big fan of sauces, so I've been trying to make a new one each week. Here's what we've sampled thus far:

Creamy cilantro sauce (Gimme Delicious)

Homemade ranch dressing (Budget Bytes)

Tzatziki (Cookie and Kate)

The tzatiziki takes the cake (or the taco or rice plate) for now.

Any favorite recipes to share? Please post in the comments section. And we continue to try new recipes, so stay tuned....

Pat's Run 2.0

Pat's Run number two is in the books! 

And we made an enjoyable weekend of it. Chris and I went down to Tempe Friday night to run a wedding errand. Then we picked up my race packet and went to dinner at Oregano's. 

It wasn't the most amazing food ever, and the environment was a little noisy, but we enjoyed our time nonetheless.

My Italian flag lasagna (Seriously, though, the garlic bread was the best part!)

Then we walked around Arizona Mills Mall. 

Look at this lego statue!

And made a quick walk through IKEA. I mean why not?

He went to his sister's house and I went to my trusty Drury Inn. Drury is expensive, but quality is consistent. I somehow got a king room with a whole office area. 

Too bad I was just there long enough to sleep and head out again!

The pre-race pinning of the bib!

Then it was race day! I got up at 5 am. Chris picked me up at 5:30 and we were off to the Metro parking. We rode the Metro and then walked to the race corrals at ASU stadium. Some of the vendors were already out of giveaways, but we still picked up a few goodies.

And took a pre-race photo.

I got into my corral about 6:45 am. I was in Corral 4 this year, which was way better than Corral 13 two years ago. There were still 1,000 people per corral, though (28,000 racers total).

This year, it felt a little cramped.

The road felt congested too.

But I heard the national anthem. Our corral was led by a University of Arkansas graduate, which was pretty cool, since I moved here from Arkansas. 

The end of the race felt a little hard this year. I drank a little water on the way, but I felt a little like I wanted to vomit by the end. Was I running too hard, or was it the heat? I don't know.

But I finished.

 And I found Chris. (He took this photo.) 

That equaled success with all the people that were there!

We waited awhile for the Metro, but that's okay. People in Corral 28 were getting off the Metro when we got to the station. Corral 18 was starting when I finished. I felt like we made good time.

Post race, we brunched at The Egg and I with Chris' sister and family. We only had to wait 25 minutes to get a table, and the food came out fast, so I felt it was a success.

My Hiker's Benedict

We went to a game store in Gilbert, came home, and I did stuff at home and then made dinner.

Cauliflower carbonara, boiled carrots with parsley, and homemade freezer garlic bread

I mean sunshine, movement, and cooking are therapy for me, so why not do them all on the same day? 

It was a good weekend. 

Thank you, Lord!

Chipotle Hummus Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Lots of people eat black-eyed peas at New Year's for good luck. That's isn't me, but since we had black eyed peas and all of the other ingredients on hand, I decided to make this spicy chipotle hummus this first week of January. I ate the hummus with veggies and chips (and some cheese!) a few days for lunch.

But then I wanted something different. So I invented this chipotle hummus pasta with spinach and mushrooms based on a recipe I'd see from Budget Bytes.

Creamy, yet spicy sauce, wilted spinach, and umami flavor from the mushrooms? Yes, please! This is really a "use up leftovers" meal, too, so any other type of wilting greens (chard, cabbage, etc.) and vegetables could be used. I personally think a cabbage and mixed vegetable version could be good with the chipotle hummus flavor. (Other flavors of hummus could also be used). Ingredients here could be increased as needed, but the proportions seem to work well.

Ingredients:

1/2 c pasta of choice (I used elbow macaroni)
2 c mushrooms, sliced
3 c baby spinach
1/2 c hummus of choice (I used chipotle black-eyed pea hummus.)
Reserved pasta water

Directions:

1. Bring 2 c. water to a boil in a large sauce pan.
2. Once water boils, add pasta and cook as directed, adding mushrooms for the last five minutes.
3. Once the pasta and mushrooms have cooked, drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.
4. Return the pasta and mushrooms to the pot. Add the spinach and a little pasta water and stir over medium heat until the spinach wilts.
5. Once the spinach has wilted, stir in the hummus and additional pasta water until a nice cream sauce forms.

Dish up and enjoy piping hot!

Self-Care

I heard the term "self-care" for the first time in my graduate counseling classes. Professors stressed how important it was, especially when seeing clients. "Take care of yourself to take care of others," they said.

To be honest, I kind of blew them off. "Yeah right. Whatever." I told myself. I'm fine at taking care of myself. And then I got to practicum, the stage where I worked forty hours a week at my paying job while seeing clients for 10-15 hours a week. I got exhausted, and not just in a sleep-deprived way. I got worn out physically, mentally, and spiritually. I realized that I had to find ways to rejuvenate my whole person or I wasn't going to make it.

Rejuvenation during practicum mostly looked like hibernating at home during the weekends, cooking, and cleaning, and napping. Those were normal life things, but somehow they calmed and collected me and got me ready for the next week.

Now, out of grad school and into my "real" job, I find myself exhausted again. Lots of things are taxing me: work, life, family concerns, deaths of friends, etc. I find that I need to practice self-care again, even if I'm not working as a counselor. In fact, I think we all need to practice self-care. It's part of loving ourselves and being human.

A lot of great ladies have written about self care. (See My Uncommon Everyday, ImmaEatThat, and The Real Life RD.) I thought I'd follow suit and share a few of my own self-care practices. Just remember that these work for me. (Don't compare!) Find what works for you. Love yourself and enjoy every little bit of life you can.

Cooking: When I have time to craft a meal, to really get in there and cut and chop and baste and saute, I'm happy. Florianne Jiminez calls this type of cooking "indulgent." Recent research suggests that the activities of cooking may release dopamine, a pleasure chemical in the brain, too.

(Crockpot 3-ingredient balsamic chicken sliders and cumin-lime coleslaw)

Getting out in the sunshine: Feeling the warmth of the sun and feeling its brightness make me happy. The sun was one of the reasons I moved back to Arizona, after all. Whether it's sitting inside by a window, basking in the sun on the porch, or getting outside for exercise, getting sunshine is vital to my mental health.



(Willow Lake Trail stairway)

Painting my toes: It seems a little frivolous and vain, and to be honest, I usually put it off far too long, but after doing it, I get a little bit of joy every time I see my toes. They just make me happy and help me love and appreciate my body a little more.




Social media: This is a gray area, because overdoing social media is bad for my self-care. It leads to comparison and envy and discontent. But in the right context, social media reminds me of the beauty and joy of life. Recently, I've liked following the posts of My Uncommon Everyday and The Real Life RD on Instagram. I also like perusing Pinterest and Facebook. One strategy I (sometimes) use to make sure I enjoy social media is to single-task (more on that here) and set a time-limit using my cell phone timer.