Welcome to another round of what I’ve been eating lately, aka here are the recipes I’ve been making and loving. Except this time it’s the holidays and temptations abound!
Yes, I had three pieces of toffee at work today that a coworker made. Yes, I ate and drank way too much at my side gig’s holiday party on Wednesday. Yes, I am Erin, Goddess of Rum Cakes. But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on trying to eat a veggie or two occasionally. It’s difficult, but I’m making it work. Here’s how.
Cold weather favorites
I’m not a fan of winter, but I have to say, I rejoice every year when it gets cool enough to turn the oven on. You can make so many great things in the oven and I sincerely miss eating them in the summer.
Chili Garlic Sweet Potato Fries
I love sweet potatoes and have been making sweet potato fries practically non-stop since September. There’s a good reason they were part of my grocery price comparison! When I want something a bit fancier or different than your run of the mill basic sweet potato fries, I go for this recipe (I substitute plain Greek yogurt for the mayo).
Chicken Pot Pie
Straight comfort food, without the hassle of making a crust for an actual pie. Bonus: comfort food with a shit ton of veggies! I don’t own a dutch oven (those things are way too damn heavy and unwieldy, plus I don’t have the storage space for one), but I do have a Corelle casserole dish I inherited from my dad’s parents that works beautifully for this. Yes, it’s the classic cornflower blue!
Spinach and Mushroom Vegetarian Lasagna
This takes rather a distressingly long time to make because I’m so slow at chopping veggies and the small size of my kitchen makes this a bit logistically difficult to put together (where on earth are the noodles supposed to hang out after I cook them but before I assemble the dish??), but this is a great lasagna. I can confirm it freezes very well, too.
Things I cannot stop making lately
In case you haven’t noticed yet, I have somewhat of an addictive personality—there’s a lot of all or nothing in my life. I love food. I love variety in my food, but sometimes I just can’t stop eating something every few weeks for a few months in a row. Here are two recipes I’ve made multiple times in the last few months.
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
I found this recipe a few months ago and up until that point had never had white chili in my life. That changed really quickly. This is easy, delicious, and requires practically no effort. I buy my chicken frozen and don’t need to bother thawing it before I make this. Frozen chicken breasts go straight in with the other ingredients and they’re always cooked and ready to shred when this is done.
Plus it’s hard to overcook beans. There have been times it’s seemed like I’ve left something in the crockpot for a bit too long, and sometimes I hesitate to make a crockpot recipe because I know I’ll be gone longer than 8 hours—my thrift store crockpot doesn’t have timer options. Not a problem with this one!
Sweet Potato Grain Bowls with Green Tahini Sauce
I eat these all the time and I still cannot wrap my head around how or why these grain bowls are so damn good. The ingredients for the sauce sound like a fairly weird combination, and plain grains/sweet potatoes/black beans aren’t terribly exciting. WRONG. This is goddamn delicious.
It’s the sauce though. When added to my Vitamix, that odd combination of ingredients becomes something magical. This is not hyperbole. Make these grain bowls. (Also I told you I use tahini for things!)
Other
Creamy Pesto Mac with Spinach
This recipe has saved me a number of times when I’ve planned poorly and find myself with nothing to eat (or rather, nothing but frozen pizza). I always have frozen spinach on hand and usually have pesto, since I buy it at Costco and freeze most of the jar. For me, at least, this is a fantastic pantry staple to make in a pinch.
Brussels sprouts
They’re an acquired taste but I love Brussels sprouts now. I’ll make them with the basic salt/pepper/olive oil combo, but one of my favorite things to do is cook them for about 20 minutes, add in some balsamic vinegar and honey, and put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Try it. You’re welcome.
Not-so-healthy delicious things
Hah, you didn’t think I was going to skip out on the desserts, did you?
Cracker Cookies
CRACKER COOKIES. Okay, so full disclosure, I haven’t actually had any of these. Yet. But look at them—don’t they look amazing? Also good thing the Budget Epicurean lives near my parents: I’m orchestrating a swap where she gets my mom’s plate of goodies (including yes, the infamous rum cake) and we get cracker cookies. I look forward to eating these when I’m home for Christmas next weekend!
Lemon Poppy Seed Two-Bite Scones
Ohhhh these are good. And they’re small so you can have just a few and feel virtuous. Or eat a bunch of them because they’re addicting. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Alright, y’all. What have you been eating lately amidst all the holiday excess?
I take issue with you calling Brussels Sprouts an “acquired taste”. They’re a damn good taste and always have been, I friggin love ’em! And they’re so darn healthy. They’re little green orbs of magic.
Okay, acquired taste as in I’m pretty sure one or both of my parents doesn’t like them, so I never had them growing up and had to learn for myself that they’re amazing. Don’t worry, I’m working on disowning my parents for that horrendous sin!
I’m not sure if they’re necessarily an acquired taste, but an oh-my-God-they-can-taste-terrible if not cooked right. I hated them growing up (steamed and soggy) but I LOVE them now that I know how to cook them right.
Also, going to make that white chicken chili this week.
It’s true, mode of preparation is key to good Brussels sprouts!
Ahhhh excellent, it’s so good! Although the Budget Epicurean claims hers is better so I’ll have to make that and see.
My secret is to cut them in half before roasting, because the internet told me 🙂
Hey, I got that same advice too!
Oh cornflower blue Corelle. imma try that chicken pot pie! Sorry but i think my white chicken chilis the best… yeah, big fan of balsamic and honey! Try mixing in a little red chili paste or powder too. Amazing. I’m sooo excited to try the rum cake!!!
Making that pot pie tonight and I’m excited. And you get rum cake tonight-how exciting!
Haha I’m still obsessed with white chicken chili so I’ll try your recipe next!
I got myself a 9 lbs holiday ham and that’s going to be my meal for the next week. Ham is actually not as bad compare to the other meats I consume! Chicken pot pie doesn’t sound healthy though ;( I gained 3 lbs on it in Nov after getting some Marie Calendar pies. I thought they were healthy but no… It’s like loads of chicken fat!
I really hate ham and kinda wish I didn’t because it’s so easy to buy one and eat it forever/incorporate it into so many other different meals! Oh no, that’s no good to heat about the Marie Calendar pies. I used to eat those for lunch all the time back in high school. The good thing about making my own is I know exactly how much butter/other unhealthy stuff goes in it!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Lily!