Cozy, comforting AND healthy...

Hey all!  Hope you're having a great week.  I'm not sure if it's the change in the weather OR that I'm feeling slightly UNDER the weather lately, but I have been craving COZY foods (aside from today, when it's HOPEFULLY going to be the last day of 90-degree weather till 2017!) and vegetables.  Vegetables like CRAZY!  I was full on craving roasted brussel sprouts the other day and I would NOT say that unless it was VERY true because...umm...super random, no??

Well, I'm bringin back this great recipe to share with you for the Collingswood blog project today because it fits all the bills: cozy, comforting and packed with healthy veggies.  BOOYA!  I present...

FARMER'S MARKET MAC & CHEESE!

Weeeeeeeee!  Fun right?  Plus, what a happy way to use up a bunch of veggies I had on hand, right?? 

Oh yeah...and some bacon!  (because WHY NOT??)  The first thing I did was add bacon (You only need 2 strips for this recipe.  I crisped up some extra to use today in another recipe) and some cherry tomatoes to a baking sheet to toss in the oven at 350 while I got to working.  In the 30 minutes while I cooked on the stove top, these guys were doin their thing in the oven. 

While the baking was well under way, I took another bunch from the LOAVES & FISHES pile of peppers that just NEVER seems to diminish!  Every time I think I'm going to polish them up, they just seem to MULTIPLY in that bag! 

Anyway, I lopped off the tops, pulled out the seeds, chopped em into chunks and took the easy route and just pulsed em in the food processor until chopped.  

I just could NOT bear the thought of standing around dicing all of these (AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!), so THANK YOU FOOD PROCESSOR! 

I tossed em into a pan coated with olive oil cooking spray and let them saute for a couple minutes... 

Next, I de-eared 3 ears of fresh corn and added that to the pan and let everything cook for a couple more minutes... 

Next, I got my pasta cooking up, removed the pepper & corn to a plate and got to working on the cheese sauce right in the same pot... 

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan on medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk that together for 2 minutes until toasted.
2. Add 1 cup chicken broth & 1 cup 1% milk and whisk until combined with the flour.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Add 2 cups cheese and swirl until melted.

Next, add your cooked pasta and the corn & peppers and stir to combine.

By now, the bacon was crisped and the tomatoes were warm and SLIGHTLY caramelized... 

 Top your Mac with some bacon & tomatoes and chow down!

This dish was ULTRA creamy & dreamy studded with lots of fresh taste from the corn & peppers.  And don't even get me started on how much I LOVEDDDD the bites of tomato mixed in.  It just gave it that extra UMPH.

Oh yeah...and the bacon.  I mean, come on?  Do I even need to tell you that was a divine addition?

Hope you guys try this one out soon and let me know what you think!  Have a great day.

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As always...thanks for reading!

LESS whining always appreciated...

Thursday Recap:

Breakfast- Cracker Barrel 

Another Thursday/another morning at Cracker Barrel and another chance for Katie to play with the toys at the storeJ

I went with the wholesome fixins menu again, going for the 110 calories of turkey bacon & 150 calories of cheese grits.  I obv was in a SAVORY moodJ

Meanwhile, Katie didn't mind digging into Nona's blueberries pancakes.  Good thing Nona didn't mindJ

Lunch- Saladworks

I haven't had Saladworks in about 3 years and yet I think I've had it 5 times in the last monthJ  And even though they have a lot of good combos (and a FALL variationJ), I just can't STOP myself from having my traditional Cabo Jack Fiesta saladJ  Roasted red peppers, corn medley, white beans, cheese and grillled chicken = always a winnerJ

Dinner- Lasagna Soup

A chilly & rainy night just called for one of our all-time favorite soups...and one even Katie dug in to.

Truth be told, this was one of our most CALM dinners in QUITE awhile.  Katie's become a pretty big breakfast or lunch person, but usually dinner is a STRUGGLE.  She'll normally at least try a few bites of dinner, so I don't mind if she's not overly hungry at the end of the day...but LESS whinig about it is always appreciated, and yesterday was the LEAST whining in awhileJ  I'LL TAKE ITJ

Oh yes...plus the usual 'toddler fun' of her tasting and eating ANYTHING while she's at my elbows while I'm cooking, but put the SAME EXACT food in front of her at meal time and she has no interestJ  Such is probably the case for any other parent/toddler combo on the planetJ  "Sitting still" is certainly not high on her priotiry list at the momentJ

Dessert- Brown Butter Apple Custard Pie

Seriously SO GOOD!

Alright...well, I can't believe we are T-minus one week until Halloween!  Craziness...but this weekend will start all of the fun activites for KatieJ  We have some fun ones coming up this week and I think I'm more excited than everyone (does this shock you??J)  Hope you guys have some fun stuff planned!

Have a great weekend!!

The #1 requirement of breakfast this time of year...

Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast- 

Much like the same Trader Joe's Steel Cut Oats I posted about years ago, but this time with the additional POP of quinoa for extra protein.

And, of course, the odd joy of seeing your breakfast OATS like THIS:

Topped with some extra cinnamon & nutmeg, this was filling enough to last for HOURS, plus just enough sweetness from the brown sugar & maple to make it FALL LOVE.  Which is OBVIOUSLY the most important part of breakfast at this time of yearJ

Lunch- Leftover Lasagna Spaghetti Squash

Yep, we're still pretending it looked like the above pictureJ  It was, HOWEVER, just as delicious the second time aroundJ

Snack:  Skinnygirl Popcorn

Dinner- Baked Potato with Leftover Chili

This was an old picture (so we didn't have that side of roasted cabbage last night) but given my lack of REAL photo from my spaghetti squash, I figured an old picture was better than no picture.  (especially given that I was SOHUNGRY that I plowed through dinner before I even THOUGHT about taking said picture...oppsJ)

Workout:  Body Jam

The new release was intricate but soooooooooooooooo good!  Definitely a cardio workout!

Dessert- Slice of Brown Butter Apple Custard Pie

And we'll just pretend that was the amount of whipped cream I ate and not went all obscene after I snapped this photoJ

Well, another rainy day in Jersey today.  I guess we can't complain too much given that I can't remember the last time it rained + it makes it feel QUITE HALLOWEEEEEEEEEN-ish.  Can't even believe the big H is NEXT WEEK!  I'm slowly trying to convince Katie of her costume, which I foolishly bought in August (cause I'm a lunatic), unaware that she'd have an OPINION by OctoberJ.  She keeps telling me she's going to be Scooby-Doo, buttttttt that's not exactly the caseJ  We'll see how THIS one goes for my VERY indepandant thinking 2 year oldJ

Alright...better run out!  Have a great Thursday!J

And by fun, I mean horrifying...

Morning, all!  Hope you guys had a great weekendJ  I had the best one I could think of in a long while since it was PACKED with fun stuff from beginning to end, including...

...dinner with family on Friday night, complete with homemade cupcakes by Katie...

...followed by seeing my niece's band play at half-time (oh, those ole high school days)...

...Saturday brought some dancing school for Katie...

...and some Halloween fun at my friend's party on Saturday night.  (this costume's more appropriate than you'll ever knowJ)

And by fun, I mean completely horrifying since THIS happened all night...EKKKKKK!

And we rounded out Sunday with a little Harvest Festival...

...and a visit with friendsJ

...oh yeah, and teaching my FIRST EVER Yoga practice 'class' with 2 friends!  Oh, was I terrified before it started but very proud when it was OVAJ

Oh yeah, we also had some good eats mixed in there too, starting with our traditional German Apple Pancake for breakfast on Sunday morning...

...Pre-flip...

...POST flip...

This one may have been one of my favorites of all-time since it spent a LITTLE less time in the oven, leaving the center more custard-like.  Mmmmm...just divine.

And COLD FALL OFFICIALLY came to Jersey Sunday morning, as the weather went from mid- 70's to LOW 50's!  Brrrrrrrrr...that was a quick change, but not an unwelcome one after that mid-80 degree day last week.  And with that change, we knew WARM & COZY was on the menu in the form of chili cooked low & slow all day in the crockpot...

Scott created this Chipotle-laced variation and I hope he remembers the recipe for next time since it was sooooooooo delicious.  PACKED with lots of goodies with just a little kick of spice at the end, definitely one of our favs.

And, oh yes, cornbread also came to the party in the form of...

Mmmmm...I finally found the TJ's Pumpkin cornbread mix and I'm so glad I did.  It was moist and dense with just an extra little flavor kick from the pumpkin.  It was sooooooooooooooo hard to resist another piece.  The only thing that stopped me was knowing THIS was in my future...

Browned butter apple cutard pie?  Ummm...yes, please!  Still trying to use up ALL our apple pickin and pie just HAD to happen this weekend and this recipe was a pretty damn good one.  Give it a try!

And not long after my final bite of pie, I hit the hay for an EARLY bedtime after alllllll that busy-ness this weekend.  Hope you guys had a great one and are ready to start the week.  Me thinks SOUPS gonna be hittin the table quite a few times this week since it's going to be a BRISK one.

Have a good Monday!J

Back to baking...

Thursday Recap:

Breakfast- Cracker Barrel "Wholesome fixins menu"

Sooooooo, Cracker Barrel has become a bit of a Thursday morning tradition with my Mom, Katie & I.  So since we've been there the last 3 weeks and I had my taste of pancakes & sausage and biscuits, I kinda was in the mood for something else and something LIGHTER.  So after perusing their menu, I stumbled across their 'wholesome fixins' section and mixed and matched to make my own healthier breakfast.  Cheese grits (150 calories) for decadence, turkey bacon (90 calories) for protein and fruit (40 calories) to round it out.  Hit the spot all for under 300 calories, not too bad.

Lunch- Happy Salad

Snack- Skinnygirl Popcorn  

Dinner- Broccoli Cheese Soup

Since the temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees between Wednesday & Thursday, I was MORE than ready for a soup night and once I had this recipe stuck in my head, I knew it was going to be a hit.

Filled with broccoli florets & melty cheese and served with a mini loaf of pretzel bread, this will warm you from the SOUL.  My only regret was we didn't have enough for leftoversJ

Plus my favorite story from dinner was when I went to teach Katie how to dip pretzel bread in soup broth and she said "Mommy, use a spoon."  Touche, little one.  Guess I shouldn't tamper with that one too muchJ

Dessert- 2 Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with PUMPKIN SPICE CHIPS!

After Cracker Barrel, we took our dog & pony show to Target to check out all the Halloween and Christmas decorations and guesssss what I spied in the aisles of GLORIOUS Halloween treats:

OH YES!  So I KNEW they'd be a hit in this cookie recipe.  Katie helped me whip em up when we got home, making sure to check the pumpkin chips for quality control.

I haven't been in too much of a baking mood for a little while, but was SO GLAD to get back in the kitchen.  Dessert of fresh cookies always just FEELS better, ya feel me??  (besides, these Pinterest boards aren't going to make themselves...J)

Alrighty, well after last weekend's busy schedule, I'm ready to have a bit of a 'less overwhelming' one with some Halloween mischief & mayhem mixed inJ  Hope you guys have some great plans too!

Have a great weekend!

Barely made it...

Morning, all!  How 'bout we're already past mid-week AND the Kansas City Royals have made it into the World Series!  Wohooooooooooooo!  I'd chalk that up to a pretty good week so farJ

What also made this week pretty fun was visiting my Aunt & Godmother on Tuesday afternoon, where we had a DELICIOUS lunch of homemade hummus & pita chips (no pics...we were eating too fastJ) and these MONSTER burgers & salad....

And the highlight was my dear Aunt Annie CRACKING UP while trying to blow out her birthday candles....

After, we chowed down on homemade carrot cake...

...while Katie tormented chased my Godmother's dog around relentlessly all day.  Me thinks that dog got a good night sleep after an afternoon with KatieJ

And yesterday was a little more 'back to normal'...

Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast- Apple Cinnamon Oats yogurt & almonds

LOVEEEE this yogurt with its chunks of apple & chewy steel-cut oats.  The addition of almonds wasn't really even needed since the texture was so spot-on with all the add-ins.  I went and bought a new variation of this yogurt yesterday and think I'll be trying it out todayJ

Morning Workout:  Power Yoga

Not sure why, but this class seemed tougher than normal.  Probably because the humidity shot up about 24802384% yesterday and maybe the ole bod wasn't ready for it.  I honestly didn't think I'd make it to shavasana, but I did....barely!

Lunch- Apple with Peanut Butter

Snack- Skinnygirl Mini bag Popcorn

Was sooo excited when I saw my girl Bethenny's popcorn sitting on the shelf of my VERY 'local' grocery store (aka-not a chain).  I LOVEEE mini-bags, and 160 calories of butter & sea salt popcorn is just what the afternoon needs.

Evening Workout:  Body Jam

Another sweaty one, but sooooooooooooo fun since it was one of my ALL-TIME favorite routines last night...weeee!

Dinner- Salad

...with arugula, olive oil, grilled chicken (coated in Montreal steak seasoning) & white cheddar cheese, this salad was ACES.  One I'd eat 4 days a week, actually.  The creamy & cool cheddar matched so well with the slightly spicy chicken.  This one made me happy happyJ

Dessert- Pumpkin Cake and....

THE GREAT PUMPKIN!  Katie, Scott & I split those slices of angelfood/pumpkin cake (made by my Godmom) while watching the seasonal classic!

Katie was enamored!

...I mean, we've already watched it 10 times this year via my old 80's VHS tape (complete with 80's commercials!), but we couldn't help watching it again on its 'designated TV special' nightJ

Alrighty...gotta get movin on this day!  Have a great ThursdayJ