Crockpot Meatball Vegetable Soup

This was another recipe my family really enjoyed recently. I made it straight into the crockpot this time, since we had a happy baby window but not enough time to start prepping multiple meals for the freezer. Everything I have made ahead and frozen from The Family Freezer has turned out great. We had enough leftovers that it made sense to use our Souper Cubes to freeze a few portions, so we ate this twice in one week and had a couple cubes put up for later. Win! 

If you are making this non-dairy (like I did), be sure to check the meatballs carefully. There are many good options, but you have to check the labels. This would also be good vegetarian - use vegetable broth and meatless balls. ;) 

Crockpot Meatball Vegetable Soup

From: The Family Freezer
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

15oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
16oz bag of frozen peas and carrots

assorted other frozen vegetables if desired - I added some frozen spinach and green beans I wanted to use up
24oz jar marinara sauce
1 pound frozen meatballs
4 cups chicken broth (not needed until day of cooking)

To Freeze and Cook Later

1. Label your freezer bag.
2. Add all ingredients to your freezer bag (except chicken broth).
3. Seal and freeze for up to three months.

To Cook

1. Thaw overnight in fridge or in morning in water.
2. Add to crockpot with broth.
3. Cook on low setting for 4 hours in a 6-quart crockpot or 8 hours in a 4-quart crockpot.

Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

 I'm always looking for new ways to make non-dairy versions of classics. Today's research lead me to a vegan alfredo recipe. Some of the directions were a little suspect for how I know these ingredients to behave, so this is my take on it. I'm pairing my version with some ingredients that were bouncing around my brain (and my vegetable drawer.) 

Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

Ingredients: 

For the sauce

• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp plant based butter
• 1-2 cups chicken broth 
• 1/2 can coconut milk or cream
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional - makes it a little cheesy without the dairy or non cheese melting issues)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional - gives the cheesiness a hint of smoked gouda) 

For the rest

• pasta (I used rigatoni) - about half the box, scale as needed
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced 
• 1-4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• dried or fresh thyme, to taste
• 2 zucchini, grated 
• salt to taste

Directions:

If you're really doing good, you can do all three of these at the same time and get them on the table faster. 

1. In a pot, boil water and cook pasta according to package directions. 
2. In a pan, make a roux using the flour or tapioca starch and the plant-based butter. Use coconut cream or milk and water or chicken broth to get a runnier pasta sauce consistency. Mix in the milk and broth alternatingly a little at a time so that it has a chance to smooth out and you can stop before it is too runny. When basically done, add nutritional yeast and liquid smoke and stir well. 
3. In another larger pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Add onions and garlic and cook on medium or medium low for a few minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up as you go.  Add thyme. Add zucchini. 
4. Finally, drain pasta and combine all three pans into one large serving bowl. You may want to spoon the turkey mix out of it's pan if the zucchini sweated and there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Toss to combine and serve! 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

 With a new baby at home, I am currently all about the crockpot meals. Lots are make ahead and freeze friendly. As I try them I want to share what worked well and what I plan to improve on next time. With any luck I'll remember to come back and share how those modifications went. ;) 

If you are new to freezer meals or batch prepping them I highly recommend the blog that this recipe came from, The Family Freezer. I learned so much from their site and they have some really great PDFs with lots of meals already grouped with shopping lists included. I will not step on their toes by trying to mimic - this is purely so I can remember what I liked to use it again. 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

from: The Family Freezer

• 1 pound of chicken breast
• 16oz bag of frozen fajita veggies (bell pepper and onions usually, I could only find ~14oz bags)
• fajita seasoning packet (I used this recipe and only did a tbsp - I will increase the amount next time)

Combine all ingredients either directly in your crockpot or in a freezer bag to store for later. Cook on low for 4-7 hours (4 is plenty, but I was cooking from frozen and started it when I had a calm and happy baby so it spent longer in the crockpot. 😂) 

If freezing: label the bag with what it is, how long to cook it, and what day you store it. Use it within three months for best results (not freezer-burned!)

I served this with tortillas, sour cream, and a side of beans. 

Next time I will double the seasoning and the veggies. We usually hold back on "whole packet of seasoning" directions but it really would have been more appropriate at this scale. Oops! 

Overnight Oats

 I've been making overnight oats a lot lately. With a baby at home, I need easy ways to make sure I'm feeding myself. Anyone who has breastfed will tell you that the constant refrain we hear is "EAT MORE OATS." The good news is this doesn't have to be boring, and these overnight oats recipes from Lemons + Zest have been amazing. 

So why am I sharing them here if they are so great? Well... a few reasons. 1) I want to list the ingredients in the order I find it makes sense to add them (based on what measuring spoons you have active). 2) I find a few of these need a little extra liquid, so I want to record my preferences. 3) I've had a few beloved recipes disappear when blogs get abandoned, so I don't want to risk losing these recipes I've been making multiple times a week. 😅

My method; I set out four mason jars and line up the ingredients. Add all ingredients to each jar, stir well, seal (I got plastic lids that are so convenient), stick in the fridge for at least 8 hours (but up to 5 days depending on ingredients... any fruit or veggie inclusions shorten this time), and enjoy hot or cold! I find that a 1/4 cup works best for me with the size of my mason jars... so I just do two of those to make the 1/2 cup of oats and milk. Recipes like the blueberry muffin oats call for a 1/4 cup of berries so that's a bonus one less thing to wash.

Below are my favorites, from best (I make this every week) to yeah ok (I rotate these through between the cold brew one 😜). 

Vanilla Cold Brew Overnight Oats

5 stars, I make this every week. Hands down my favorite and the recipe that made my husband go "oh wow, these are like REALLY good" - he eats oats 4-6 times a week now too. 

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I use oat milk)
• 2 Tbsp cold brewed coffee (I use Bizzy, but making a shot of espresso works great too)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1-2 tsp peanut butter (I scoop using the tsp and don't worry if it's mounded. Whatever goes in the jar goes in.) (The original calls for vanilla almond butter but I'm not buying any more variations.😜)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp maple syrup or honey (I go maple.)
• dash of sea salt

Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats

4.75 stars, I love these but they are heavy on the sugar so I don't do as often. 

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I use oat milk)
• 3 Tbsp vanilla greek yogurt (I use nondairy vanilla yogurt.. I've done both the 3 tbsp as written and just used two cartons for the four jars, splitting one carton between two jars. Both turned out great.)
• 1 tsp chia seeds 
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon (I do 1 tsp, since that measuring spoon is already out 😜)
• 2-3 tsp brown sugar (or maple syrup, but brown sugar is really more authentically cinnamon roll flavor)
• dash of sea salt

I never noticed the cinnamon drizzle and icing drizzle options she includes... those sound really decadent and I might try the icing next time. 😂

    Cinnamon drizzle: Whisk together 1 Tbsp maple syrup and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Drizzle over top of oats.

    Icing drizzle: whisk 3 tbsp powdered sugar, 1 tsp melted butter, a drop of vanilla, and milk (add 1 tsp at a time until desired thickness). Drizzle over top of oats. 

Blueberry Muffin Overnight Oats

4.75 stars, rounding out my top 3. 

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup milk of choice (I do just under 3/4 cup oat milk)
• 1 tbsp nut butter (The original calls for cashew butter but I'm not buying any more variations... I have been loving honey-roasted peanut butter in this.) (I scoop a rounded tbsp and don't worry about it being perfect.) 
• 1 tsp chia seeds (original calls for 1 tbsp ground flax - optional)
• 2 tsp maple syrup or honey (I do maple)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup blueberries (I use frozen - it takes a little longer to heat in the morning, but otherwise no issues with this substitution. Cheaper, easier to have on hand!)
• dash of sea salt

Peach Pie Overnight Oats

4.75 stars, tied with Blueberry, so still in my top 3? XD After discovering this one I hardly make the cinnamon roll ones anymore. 

• 1/2 c rolled oats, regular or gluten free
• 1/2 cup almond milk, or milk of choice (I do oat milk)
• 2-3 Tbsp vanilla or peach yogurt (I do nondairy vanilla)
• 1 tsp chia seeds (optional if not on hand)
• 1-2 tsp maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup diced peaches, fresh or frozen (I do frozen, same reasons as blueberries above. Sometimes the frozen are a little crunchy, fresh would undoubtedly be superior, but I never seem to have access. ;P)
• dash of sea salt

Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

4 stars. Good alternate, not my top 3, but solid option

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I use oat milk)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2-3 tsp peanut butter (I scoop using the tsp and don't worry if it's mounded. Whatever goes in the jar goes in.)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp maple syrup or honey (I use maple.) 
• dash of sea salt

Coconut Cream Pie Overnight Oats

3.5 stars. Good, but I would have preferred only having one of these prepped. Multiple in a row was too much. If I make it again, I will just do two jars. Also, my husband doesn't like the texture of coconut so I leave that out of his. 

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free) 
• 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk or milk of choice (I had almost enough in the can to do four jars - I put 1/3 cup in each jar, then filled the 1/3 cup measuring spoon halfway with coconut milk and topped it with oat milk. Anything to not open a second can. 😜)
• 2 Tbsp coconut flavored yogurt (I used two cartons of coconut milk coconut flavored yogurt.) 
• 2 Tbsp shredded coconut
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (I might just use 1 tsp next time, like all the other recipes do.) 
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• dash of sea salt

Carrot Cake Overnight Oats

3.5 stars. Doesn't last as long in the fridge as some of the others. I would probably only make two if I make it again. Again, I leave the coconut out of my husband's jars. 

• ½ cup rolled oats (regular or gluten-free)
• ⅔ cup milk of choice
• ½ large carrot, shredded (I used about 1/4 cup preshredded)
• 1 ½ Tbsp coconut shredded or flaked
• 1 Tbsp chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 Tbsp raisins
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1-2 tsp maple
• dash of sea salt

Pina Colada

3 stars. I didn't plan to make these again so I closed the tab and now I can't find this recipe. (It was from a different blogger.) 

My husband's ranking; cold brew, blueberry muffin, cinnamon roll, peach pie, chocolate peanut butter, carrot cake, pina colada, coconut cream pie. 

Chicken Lettuce Wraps - made migraine friendly!

Now that I'm testing histamine, I'm remembering some ground meat recipes I used to love. This one will not taste like a restaurant appetizer, since we don't have all of the prepared umami-filled sauces. But the crunch is there, and it has a satisfying amount of protein. 

Be aware that the water chestnuts have salicylates, so if you haven't cleared that chemical yet on your Good Days testing journey, or if you know you are sensitive to it, consider subbing in bamboo shoots. Just be sure you are checking that your can doesn't have anything added either way. 

Additionally, you can grind your meat at home if you are not testing histamines yet or are sensitive to them. We've used the food processor here since we don't even currently have access to our full kitchen arsenal. 

Migraine friendly Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

Inspired by and adapted from Damndelicious 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 shallots, diced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 (8-ounce) can of whole water chestnuts, drained and diced**
2 tablespoons chives, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 head butter lettuce

Directions: 

1) Heat coconut oil and add ground chicken. Cook until browned through,  stirring to break up meat as it cooks. 

2) Add the chopped shallots and grated ginger and cook for a few minutes until the shallots are translucent. 

3) Stir in water chestnuts and chives, cooking a few more minutes until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

4) Serve with a small mound of the mixture in the middle of lettuce leaves, taco style. How much mix you add will vary depending on leaf size, but you want to be able to pick it up comfortably. 

Baked Salmon with Butternut Squash and Kale - made migraine friendly!

 As with my last post, it has been a few years! Again, lots of life changes, including another move. But most significantly for my food blogger ways is that I have embarked on a journey using the Good Days Program to find my migraine food triggers and eliminate them from my life! If you are also a migraine sufferer or have one in your life, I strongly recommend checking out the program. Their partnership with Migraine Buddy has been life-altering for me. I have been on this journey for about two months now and safely reintroduced two food chemicals that I have deemed low-risk for me personally. 

Good Days has a youtube channel that shares great recipes from the completely safe for everyone "Isa's shopping list" (included in their plan). As I am adding new safe foods to my personal shopping list, however, I am finding I need to get a little creative with adapting other recipes and I realized I wanted to come back here to have a record of the recipes that were successes. Hopefully, it will help someone out there too. ❤️

Full disclosure - I am NOT being sponsored by Good Days or Migraine Buddy! These opinions are purely my own based on the fabulous success I am having so far. They do caution that not everyone has food as a sensitivity for them, so it is possible to do the diet changes and not have results. If that is the case, you just go back to eating whatever. But many migraine sufferers have 4-5 food chemical sensitivities, and the list they have developed is based on a LOT of scientific studies and articles, and I love me some solid data. 

(If you are working the elimination diet yourself or already know your trigger chemicals, please see notes at the end regarding optional alterations.) 

So, without further babbling/proselytizing... 

Baked Salmon with Butternut Squash and Kale - made migraine friendly! 

Inspired by CookingLight and Back to the Book Nutrition, heavily modified

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups chopped butternut squash 

2-3 large sliced shallots 

1/4 cup melted ghee or coconut oil (spray is very convenient here) 

salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil (in a pinch, though some people react to it) 

2 (6-oz.) skin-on salmon fillets 

2 teaspoons pure maple syrup 

3-4 cups torn curly kale 

Linseed oil for finishing, if desired

Directions 

1. Whisk melted ghee with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and an herb if desired (see food chemical notes at the end). Toss butternut squash and shallots with this and spread in a flat layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 400°F for 20 minutes or until tender. 

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Brush the salmon with maple syrup and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Cook the salmon skin side down 3-4 minutes. Flip, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, adding the kale to the pan to wilt.  

3. Toss the butternut, shallots, and kale together, adding a drizzle of linseed oil if desired. Top with salmon.    

Food chemicals to note: 

Unless your fish is EXTREMELY FRESH, like caught, gutted, and frozen within 30 minutes on the boat FRESH (which I can never find indicated anywhere...) then it has histamine. As this is the third chemical I am testing, this works out great for me. If you are not there yet or have a sensitivity to histamine as a migraine risk factor, consider cooking up some fresh chicken breast instead. 

Spices: If you have cleared the first chemical and are not actively testing a new one, then feel free to include rosemary and/or sage in the roasting your butternut step.  Friendly full time: basil, ginger, chives, or parsley. I recommend picking just one here. 

Chicken Wraps

 Hello out there! It's been a few... years! A lot has changed with me. I've moved again - this time to Florida. We're all obviously dealing with the major life changes the Coronavirus pandemic has brought to our lives, no exception here. For me, that has meant that I have been out of the classroom for almost a year now. It still hardly feels real as I type that - almost a year. I have dreams of teaching almost every night. It had been an extremely stressful few years, however, with very inadequate work-life balance, and it just wasn't sustainable. I was taking no time for hobbies, for family, for myself... the only me time was my drive home, which I would drag out playing Pokemon Go and make my husband worry since I lost track of time and he was trying to have dinner ready for us. So for us, quarantine has actually had some nice benefits. It's forced me to take the time I needed to really face myself and make some hard decisions, instead of just racing into the next job. We are so blessed that we have savings, so privileged that our support network set us up with opportunities to be prepared for this, and that I've been able to take this time. I am so so grateful. 

My shopping habits have changed significantly. For one, I've been so stressed the last few years, I fell out of the habit of menu planning, which had kept us strong for so long. As a result, when we got to Florida and had a little more income, we started doing a liiittle bit more "pick this up for dinner" style eating. In February, with rumors of Covid-19, and knowledge of how bad the restaurant industry is at letting employees take time off for illness, we stopped all fast food, take out, eating out... everything. It wasn't until May 2nd, for Brian's birthday, that we decided to risk getting a pizza from our favorite place, but we put it in the oven when we got it home. We're still about this "paranoid". I think we've added some made at the grocery deli items back and that one pizza place that we trust, but that's it. Our neighborhood has been doing a ton of food trucks, but almost no one is wearing masks to attend, so we pretty much don't attend. Unfortunately. 

For most groceries, we do curbside pickup, but I've been shocked to learn that for a lot of things it's cheaper to get them from Whole Foods and have them delivered since I'm a Prime member. So I now shop both the Publix app and the Amazon/Whole Foods app. Mostly I've based it on if there are any name brand things I particularly need from Publix right now or specialty things I want from Whole Foods, or if anything, in particular, is crazily overpriced at one or the other or out of stock... but this week I've started my crawl back towards menu planning and I've actually got orders going for both at the same time to complete this weekend. *shrug* I'm saving $3 on eggs, $0.75 on fries, about $0.25 on each of several kinds of produce, $8 on shitake mushrooms, and on and on and on. It's always surprising which goes which ways. 

One of my main motivators to start menu planning again was that I'm often unmotivated to get something good put together for myself for lunch. Breakfast is generally ok... for one, Brian often offers to help, and makes good suggestions. For two, I love breakfast foods. But lunch I'm always kinda... meh. And if I don't eat something decent at a proper time, I tend to get weird blood sugar levels and develop a migraine. Unpleasant. I figure, if I already did the hard work of planning it, all I have to do is look at the plan and go "oh yeah, that sounded good" and make it. Easy peasy. 

Enter, this chicken wrap. It was inspired by this wrap I've had pinned forever, but with some modified ingredients to a) make it quicker and easier and b) require less Covid shopping/use what we have and c) match my tastes better. 

Chicken Wraps

Ingredients

• multigrain flatbread
• 3 oz chicken breast
• 1 Tbsp sundried tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp cherry cranberry pecan mix (or similar)
• 1 Tbsp plain nonfat Greek yogurt or mayo
• lettuce blend
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• flavored vinegar (original used tarragon, I have pear, a bunch of flavored balsamic, etc, pick what you like. It needs an acid. lemon juice works too.) 

Instructions

1. Sous Vide (or otherwise cook) your chicken breast ahead of time. You can cook several on the weekend to make lunches easy. For this wrap, cut 3oz into strips. 
2. Dice up the sundried tomatoes and toss with the cherry, cranberry, pecan mix, and the mayo or yogurt and chicken.
3. Sprinkle with a couple shakes vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste, and stir well to incorporate. 
4. Roll up the wraps with a flatbread, lettuce, and chicken.