Meal Planner

Life gets so busy at this time of the year!

Most days I'm feeling frazzled, beyond busy and unorganized and as a result I find myself eating ice cream out of its container and calling it dinner.

This meal planner is a great freebie and a great way to begin a new (and potentially healthy), organized week.

Meal planning is great because you can plan for busy days, you will eat a variety of meals and you will save money.

While this meal planner won't give me the self control to step away from my favorite ice cream I can at least plan to have a salad on the night I'm going to indulge in some decadent dessert!

To download a full size of the image above, click here for further instructions.

Enjoy!

Created by graphic designer Alma @ Ollibird.

Black Bean 'n' Pumpkin Chili

As we've previously established, pumpkin is one of the best things about fall.

Exhibit A: This chili (... and these and these).

And, this is another recipe made it the slow cooker; my new best friend.

The pumpkin in the recipe makes the consistency thick and creamy. The pumpkin flavor is quite subtle but gives the entire dish a subtle sweetness that's incredibly tasty.

This is delicious, healthy* and perfect for warming up on these brisk fall days we are enjoying right now!


Black Bean 'n' Pumpkin Chili {Slow Cooker}
Adapted from: Taste Of Home

Ingredients

2 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups low sodium Chicken Broth
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package of ground turkey
1 can solid-pack pumpkin
1 can diced tomatoes, un-drained
3 teaspoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large skillet, saute the onion, yellow pepper in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker; stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through.

*1 cup equals 192 calories, 5 g of fat, 7 g of fiber and 16 g of protein.

Add sour cream, avocado or shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy!

Better-Than-Crack Brownies

 Okay, stop licking your computer screen....

...seriously, it can't be healthy!

I have no words.

But, I'll try to convey my love for these to you.

I'm sold on a recipes picture. Aren't we all? We see it, we want to eat it, we make it. Well, I saw these, read the list of ingredients and knew I had to make them. Immediately.

Give me a brownie and I'm happy.

But give me a brownie with pieces of peanut butter cups, topped with Rice Krispies mixed with melted chocolate and peanut butter and I'm in sugar heaven.

Unless your middle name is Will-Power prepare yourself to be seriously addicted. These are sinfully delicious. 

But, like Jessica, from How Sweet It Is says, it's all in the name of chocolate!

Amen.


Better-Than-Crack Brownies
Adapted from: How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

1 batch brownies (boxed mix)
1/2 cup salted peanuts (if don’t have salted, add sea salt)
1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon butter
3 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Directions

Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Remove from the oven and top with chopped peanuts and peanut butter cups and bake for 4-6 minutes.

While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

These really are as good as they look!

Sweet & Sour Chicken {Slow Cooker}

I love my slow cooker.

Like, love... a lot.

It completely simplifies my life. (Especially since my cooking skills aren't quite to par with my baking abilities. Shh).

In this recipe the tender, juicy, shredded chicken soaks up all the flavors the sweet and tangy sauce provides. This tasted wonderful served over rice with a side of veggies.

This will definitely be made again. I mean, a meal that requires five minutes of prep and tasted marvelous, how could I not?

Enjoy!


Sweet & Sour Chicken {Slow Cooker}
Adapted from: My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 onion, diced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup low-sodium beef broth

Direction

In a large skillet, heat the butter/olive oil. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook them for 1-2 minutes on each side, until nicely browned but not cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken to the slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine all the other ingredients. Whisk well. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with rice or noodles.

The Sweet Room

Sleeping on these pillows will definitely give you sweet dreams!

I need those pillows in my bedroom. Stat.

Can you imagine, waking up to a cupcake?

The Sweet Room (above) is one of Hotel Maison Moschino’s gorgeous rooms located in the old neoclassical railway station in Milan, Italy. The common thread connecting each guest room is a fairy tale theme – because to sleep is to dream, and dreams are fairy tales that we are allowed to experience first hand.

I need to plan a trip to Italy (or just take up sewing). These are so fun!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies

Can we talk about these? Just for a minute?

Pumpkin cheesecake and rich, fudgy brownie. Amazing, right?

My first batch was a disaster. I repeat, disaster! I attempted to create mini pumpkin cheesecake brownies using my mini muffin tin. Cute, right? The result? A huge mess! Despite my best efforts these tasty morels did not come out of their tins. I had to use a spoon to scoop the brownie batter out and failed at my attempt to mold them back together.

I then opted to use my muffin top pan to allow more surface area in case the unforgiving scenario was to repeat itself. That, and the fact that I drenched the pan in cooking spray, worked like a charm. They aren’t the most beautiful dessert, and my girlfriends did coin the term “delicious disaster” for them but the pumpkin-chocolate combination with its touch of cinnamon in the brownie batter marries the two flavors beautifully.

I hope you're able to make a batch of these delightful delicious (disasters)!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies
Adapted from: Bakers Royale

Ingredients

Brownie Portion

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4oz. unsweetened chocolate (I used semi-sweet)
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ tablespoon salt
2 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Place butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over simmering water. Stir frequently until mixture is melted. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring until each is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon until mixture is glossy (about 1 minute).
      
Pumpkin Mix Portion

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spices
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of sugar, plus two tablespoon
2 tablespoon flour

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and using your electric blender, mix until blended.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease muffin top pan with cooking spray. Fill muffin top pan 2/3 of the way up with brownie mix and gently pour a spoonful of pumpkin mix on top. Using a skewer or a toothpick, lightly swirl brownie and pumpkin mix together.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Allow Pumpkin Swirl Brownie to cool in pan for five minutes on a cooling rack before removing.

Look at that layered beautiful-ness...

This combination of flavors strikes a glorious taste bud...

...Enjoy!

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

Nothing smells like a fall kitchen like the aroma of pumpkin cranberry bread!

The incredibly moist inside is studded with tart cranberries and pecans. That combined with the wonderful blend of pumpkin and spices gives the bread a delicious burst of flavor!

This recipe makes a lot of quick bread. I used one bundt pan and four mini loaf pans (which, I might add, are adorable and great for giving away as gifts) or you could use two loaf pans.

You'll be thanking me after you make this! Enjoy!


Cranberry Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from: Shared Sugar

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup chopped pecans (optional, I added)
2-3 cups fresh or frozen (not dried) cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two loaf pans (I used one bundt pan and four mini loaf pans). In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, water, oil and eggs until just combined. In another bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients.

If using frozen cranberries, place them in a strainer and run them under water for a few minutes until mostly thawed.

Then, add cranberries and pecans to the dry ingredient mixture. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix with a wooden spoon by hand. Mix until the batter is combined, but don’t over mix. Distribute the batter equally in the pans, which should fill each about half way.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center (I took my bundt pan out at 50 minutes and the mini loaf pans out at 35 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

Look at those savory ruby jewels...

....gorgeous, festive and flavorful!