2013 - Week 43

Hello from Week 43 :)

Fall has finally arrived and we had a great time with some friends on a fall colors road trip and having fun at a farm market (complete with awesome petting zoo). We had so much fun :)

For my exercising, I did more Wii boxing and it went much better this week.

Looks good to me :) 

I didn't have any new recipes because I'd made a huge batch of chili that fed us for most of the week, but then I had a big summer squash that needed something done with it. When I cut into it I realized it was very hard on the outside, more like a winter squash. So, since I couldn't saute it like I was planning, I looked up other things to do with it and found these recipes: stuffed roasted squash template and quinoa stuffed squash. Using these for inspiration, I cooked some quinoa in chicken broth while the squash baked in the oven. I sauteed tomatoes with garlic, a jalapeno pepper, a chipotle pepper, some roasted red peppers, a little bit of applesauce and lots of spices. (As you can guess, I was trying to use up a variety of ingredients in my fridge and freezer) I called it chipotle Scarborough stuffed squash because there was parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in it :) I also made a three cheese blend (mozzarella, cheddar and Parmesan) that was mixed with the filling and melted over the top. It was a different type of meal than I usually make, but I thought it actually turned out pretty well.

If that wasn't enough . . . considering we are planning on moving very shortly, I wanted to get some crock pot meals prepped and put in the freezer so once we move all we have to do is pop them in the crock pot, go to work, then come home to a ready made dinner so we can work on our new house :) I had a few hurdles trying to get all of my ingredients, but finally, in four hours, we prepped twelve crock pot meals (my awesome husband took care of all of the meat for me). Of course I can't tell you how any of them taste yet, but I'll fill you in as we try them. It was kind of a crazy day, but I think the hard work will pay off in the end. These are the two websites I used: Six Sisters Stuff and Loving My Nest and this is the list of what I made:
1 - Black Bean Taco Soup

1 - Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

1 - Hearty Beef Stew

1 - Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans (although I forgot the limes so I used lemon juice)

2 - Bean Stew

2 - Pork and Veggies

2 - Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 - Chicken Taco Soup

And the grand total of almost all of my ingredients (I didn't have to buy too many new spices) was only $76.27 . . . and considering each of those meals should feed us for 2 meals, that's 24 hearty, tasty meals for only ~$76 (or about $1.60/person/meal . . . not too bad if you ask me :) I even had some carrots, potatoes, and hamburger left over :) I'm very much looking forward to trying all of these creations.

Food Part 1

Food Part 2

Food Part 3

Our Well-Stocked Freezer :)

Have any of you ever tried anything like this before . . . any good recipe suggestions? 

Okay, I guess that's all for now . . . see you all next week then :)