Pumpkin Black Bean Chili

Student teaching and night classes leave me totally drained and exhausted. That being said, using my crockpot has been a huge help. I know you just dumped your crockpot, Mo but I LOVE mine. I might even have a bit of a crush.

I found This recipe for black bean and pumpkin chili and put my own spin on it.



Sauteed 5 jalapenos, 1 red onion, 1 yellow pepper and some roasted garlic.



Threw in a can of pumpkin.



Threw in some carrots.



Yeah my crockpot is kind of dirty...



But this chili was soooo good. I used organic ground beef instead of turkey but you might as well sub more black beans instead of meat.



It doesn't have a pumpkin-y taste but it's filling and delicious. It was so appreciated after a rough day! I will make this again and again.

Favorite chili recipe? Link me!

I am so over Mondays.

I own this really nice wooden salad bowl from Crate and Barrel but I always manage to grab this lazy plastic salad bowl for huge salads. I need to stop being lazy. (The wood salad bowl can't go in the dishwasher.)

In the salad; tomatos, candied pecans, carrots, romaine lettuce, dried berries, garlic croutons and fat-free feta cheese. Is it weird that I prefer fat-free feta to the regular kind? It's good!



I used this raspberry dressing with the salad last night and loved it! I am a sucker for sweet dressings. Or ranch dressing but I am swearing off of it.



To complement the salad, I made a hearty fiberful chili. This chili had 1 can black beans, 1 can pinto beans, 1 lb ground lean turkey and chili seasonings. I'll admit it wasn't my favorite. What do you add to your chili to kick it up a notch? Vegetarian chili recipes will be gladly accepted!!!

Anyways that was dinner last night and will be my lunch today. I am trying to waste less food. So although I am craving black bean quesadillas, I will suck it up and eat leftovers. Go me?



This morning, I had an appointment with a private investigator to get fingerprinted. (For a job I swear!) So I ate my Chobani greek yogurt while flat-ironing my horse hair.



Chobani pre-mixing. I read on the packaging that Chobani is best enjoyed by scooping the fruit from the bottom rather than stirring. I always was a rebel. I love Chobani for 3 reasons. 1. It has 14 grams of protein in a six ounce cup. 2. No gelatin. (Gelatin freaks me out!) 3. It tastes like blueberry heaven.

Need more reasons to eat Chobani? Chobani Romance



Post mixing! After I finished my yogurt, I went and got fingerprinted and headed to the doctor for a TB test. (The things they make you do in order to work with children! YIKES!)

I tend to avoid breakfast so a yogurt was perfect for me. I got hungry again around 10am and had a banana nut vitamuffin.



This baby was GOOD! I wasn't feeling vitamuffins at first but I have changed my tune. I love banana nut muffins.

anyway, I am off to do more paperwork and errands before running 2 miles with Andy when he gets off work. I am making myself a mix on itunes. Lady Gaga is definitely going to be the star of my workout. Let's pray that my slow body can complete 2 miles in 20-25 minutes.

Sweet Potato Fries + Chili

First and foremost, I need to tell you about the fabulous dinner I had with Andy, his parents and grandparents. We had a great time. I love my new family!



We went to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. I ordered Paneed Chicken and Grits.



Large portions ahead. Beware. And fear not, I only ate half!



The chicken was topped with ham and cheese sort of like a creole version of chicken cordon bleu.



Andy ordered catfish. He said the breading wasn't his favorite but the side dish of potato salad was fabulous. And I HATE potato salad!



For dessert I had a slice of caramel apple cheesecake.



Andy got the bread pudding. I failed to try a bite. GRR



This morning, I was feeling a little queasy and dying for a run. I had a smallish breakfast of one huge honeycrisp apple and a little bit of magic on the side!



Emily, this peanut butter is 10 times better than I expected!!!



After breakfast, I ran 2.13 miles in 25 minutes. For me this is a small miracle. I felt great afterwards.



Lunch was leftovers. They were great! I'm glad I had a light breakfast!



For dinner tonight I made a small salad with pathetic ingredients. All for the $100 november challenge though right? I threw some tomatoes, feta cheese and salsa ranch on some romaine lettuce and called it a salad.





I cheated with the chili. I grabbed a can of Hormel Turkey Chili and threw in the rest of the tomato, some sliced shallots and green onion.



Then I heated up some sweet potato fries. For the fries, I simply spray some olive oil and add some cajun seasonings.



Added some lite cheddar cheese and sour cream and called it Chili Cheese fries. Note this is a salad plate. I wish it was a bigger plate. These were FREAKING DELICIOUS! Andy and I didn't even talk during dinner because we were so busy eating.

I am excited for the Foodbuzz festival on Friday!!! AAAAAWWWWW!!!

What to do when you have almost no food in the house!

Ugh! We JUST went to Whole Foods last night but I already feel like we are out of everything.

Tonight I combined

1 orange bell pepper
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can low sodium baked beans
1 yellow squash
1/2 jar habernero lime salsa
broccoli
and a multitude of seasonings!

I was nervous because we didn't have any tomato based anything! I felt like chili would be the best choice based on what we had but who makes chili without tomatoes? Enter Trader Joe's Habernero Lime Salsa and some organic ketchup. Tomato base, check!





YUM! It was really excellent despite the yucky pictures. And I'm thrilled because it's healthy, filling and I used all of the EXTRA stuff in the pantry and fridge. Now I can feel okay with shopping for more groceries!