One Pot Wonder… Chili-Mac

Evening fellow food bloggers and lurkers! Today was my first day back at school. I drug my heels all the way, but I guess I am ready to get back in to this thing called a crazy school year! It is our preplanning week, so today was rich and heavy in information. The rest of the week will be filled with meetings and getting prepared for my precious babies that will be arriving next week!!! I saw some of their sweet little 10 year old faces and I think I might have shed a tear or two; they are too cute!

Speaking of cute, have you ever witnessed a large room full of cheerleaders? Like a huge high school cafeteria full of K-12 cheerleaders all together in one place? Probably one of the happiest places on Earth. I have these two cuties starting practice this week. Last week was camp and they were just so precious I almost couldn’t stand it. 11811533_10153467846048334_3668629814638028212_n 11817148_10153467845868334_1665413994084710059_n

So I got off work, picked up the girls, and got Becca ready, (she has practice 3 times a week and Katie has it twice), and I dropped her off at cheer practice. While she was there, I relaxed a bit, then cooked dinner. The hubby picked her up while I finished up cooking dinner. Here is what I made.

Chili Mac

Ingredients

1 pound macaroni noodles
1 pound ground beef (chicken, turkey, or even black beans or soy crumbles if you want to go veggie)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon of onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder
red chili flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of water
3/4 cup of heavy cream

Directions

Brown your meat. Add in spices.
Add in tomato paste. Cook down for about 3 minutes. Add in canned tomatoes. Mix well.
Add in pasta and water. Cook about 8 minutes. Stir pasta at the 4 minute mark. If it looks thick, add in a bit more water. Stir well. After 4 more minutes, check pasta. It should still have a bite to it. Add in your cream and cook until done.
image

Popsicles for dessert!

image

image

image

Weekend Wrap Up

It has been a great weekend! Here are some fun pics from the weekend!

Katie being a diva…image

Pizza for lunch. Love pineapple on my pizza =)image

Finally a bottle of Coke with my name on it! It was sooooo good!image

I finally cleaned out and organized the “junk” drawer!wpid-20150801_171448.jpg Lots of fun at the pool!wpid-20150802_154401.jpg wpid-20150802_154359.jpg

A fun trip to the farmer’s market with the family. I made a little tomato art ❤


image

Also got some pretty purple potatoes. Had them with some steak tonight. Everyone loved them! Just cut them thinly on a mandolin. Cooked them in olive oil and salt and pepper until crispy and tender, about 25 minutes.image

wpid-20150802_184529.jpg

Brutus does not like jewelry!wpid-img_20150802_194000.jpgBack to school tomorrow…my room is still all packed up, but I am not worried. It will be ready by the time the students show up. wpid-img_20150801_214039.jpg I also got these cool pencils to make sure my 6th graders don’t forget theirs! wpid-img_20150729_190556.jpg

Spinach Salad with Chicken, Bacon, and Eggs

Hope you are having a terrific Tuesday! Here is a quick dinner I made for myself that is both healthy and indulgent. I added some of my oven roasted chicken (3/4 chopped breast), 2 boiled eggs, and 3 slices of chopped bacon on top of a generous serving of spinach. I topped with a few croutons and a tablespoon or so of dressing.

image

image

Oven Roasted Chicken Two Ways

Summer has been super amazing! Lots of relaxation, pool time, beach vacation, sleeping late, and cooking whenever and whatever I want. While I am super bummed that it is coming to an end for us, I am still looking forward to a great school year. I can’t believe I am going in to my 17th year of teaching!

Soon school will start back; cheer practice, Girls on the Run practice, homework, weekend ball games at the park, etc. Meal planning always gets tricky, so hopefully I will keep coming up with some fast easy meals for those crazy school nights. Look for lots of crock pot meals, throw together one pot recipes, and super fast meals that will hopefully save us a lot of time and money!

So this week is going to be a bit crazy. The girls have cheer camp everyday, so my dinner meal plan for the week is a great big question mark. I did a little prep to have some things in the fridge to grab for quick snacks and fast meals. I made a whole pot of hard boiled eggs (which after breakfast today are almost gone!), an entire pound of bacon, and cooked up the 2 chickens that I got from the farmer’s market. I love buying those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store in a pinch, but roasting your own is much cheaper and you can do different flavor profiles.

The first one was simply olive oil, salt and pepper. The second one I used this Moroccan dry rub. First I browned all sides on the stove top in my cast iron skillets. Then I put both in a 350 oven for about an hour. Now my family has 2 chickens for our disposal for sandwiches, chicken salad, pasta, etc.

image

image

image

image

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

It is a beautiful Sunday morning here in Georgia. We had a lazy morning sleeping in a bit, then I woke up and made the girls one of their favorite breakfasts, homemade french toast. My goal for the new school year is to make a batch of something on the weekends to freeze for breakfast during the week. The mornings can get hectic, so I know I rely on frozen waffles and french toast sticks a lot. Not only is it cheaper to make your own, it is also much healthier. This recipe was a hit, as my girls will eat anything drenched in cinnamon sugar =)

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

4 pieces of bread- I used the challah bread that I got from the farmer’s market yesterday. PERFECTION!

Mixture- I really don’t use particular recipe… or exact measurements. Usually it just depends on how much I am making and what kind of bread I am using. Today I whisked 4 eggs in about 1 cup heavy cream. I added about a tablespoon cinnamon and 1/2 tablespoon of nutmeg,and a bit of salt to taste. I whisked it all together, then dunked the bread on both sides and let it soak up all that yummy goodness. On medium heat, I warmed up about a tablespoon of butter in a pan and cooked on both sides until browned, about 2 minutes on each side. I topped with cinnamon sugar and warm maple syrup.
003007

008

011