Gathering the staples...and feeling thankful

Readying the house and kitchen for the holiday...making ahead, what I can...thinking of the many things I'm truly thankful for..the list is long...

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One  Roasted Chicken: 3 Meals

 

Sometimes, to save a bit of cash at the supermarket, I'll buy a whole chicken and roast it, using the meat for several of our meals for that week...
(Shown below are my portions, N's portions and lunches the following days were about four times the amount shown. It may not look like a lot of meat but it was..)

Here's what I made with my roasted chicken:

Chicken Vegetable Chili

 

Chicken Legs, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes, and Crusty Bread

Chicken Cheddar Quesadillas

I love trying to get the most out of my groceries (actually I don't "love it" , it's more out of necessity;), and this is an excellent way to get creative with meal planning, and to make the most of a delicious whole roasted chicken.

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Hurricane Stew

In the last few days, with only the generator to power the house, I've had to get creative with our meal preparations. Since the oven/stove is not available, I have the microwave and my slow-cooker to work with (they can easily be plugged into an extension cord).  Yesterday I decided to make a hearty vegetable stew to warm our bellies:)  I had to choose ingredients that I had on hand in the pantry, and that could just be thrown into the slow-cooker and didn't require any pre-prep on the stove.

Hurricane Stew

2 butternut squash (Peeled and cubed)

1 14oz can of low sodium chicken broth

1 can of organic, whole leaf spinach

1 can canellini beans

2 cups chopped celery

1 1/2 cups chopped carrots

1/2 cup of pre-cooked bacon, chopped into 1/2" pcs

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp of ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp crushed garlic

2 tbs Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top when serving

I literally just put all of the ingredients together into the slow-cooker and cooked it on High for about 3 hours, then reduced the temp to Low and cooked for an additional 2 hours.

I also saved the "butt" ends of squash, cleaned and dried to use as little serving bowls:)  

This was a delicious, mildly spicy, stew that really did the trick for us on a chilly night. Needless to say there was plenty left over for lunches:) I would definitely make this again, hurricane or not...

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Kale Chips

After our little Halloween party, I had some beautiful kale left over from my mom's "creepy eyeball" platter. I couldn't bear to throw it out, so I decided to make some crispy kale chips!

Crispy Kale Chips

Fresh curly kale, washed and thoroughly dried ( I used about 4  large leaves, but you can increase amounts for larger batches)

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon approx. sea salt

Pre heat oven to 350*. After washing and thoroughly drying the kale, separate the leaves from their thick center "spine". Then tear the leaves into chip sized pieces, a little bit larger than you want the final chips to be (they will shrink in size as they bake). Place the torn pieces in a ziploc bag with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Massage the olive oil into the leaves and shake the bag. Spread the leaves in a single layer onto a large baking sheet and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.  Bake at 350* for about twenty minutes. 

Remove from oven and spread chips onto paper toweling to drain off any excess oil. 

Allow them to cool, and enjoy!

They were delicious! Kale is an amazing superfood, these chips are an excellent and healthy snack option.

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Halloween "Happy Hour"

 

We had a wonderful afternoon yesterday with our families at our annual Halloween get-together...

 

Every year, it seems, the costumes get better and better...

This year we had a lovely Gypsy, a Cowboy, a Safari Guide, a Nifty-Fifties Child in a poodle skirt, an Order of Bacon n' Eggs and a couple of Day-of-the-Dead Skeletons...

Aren't they great costumes??  The best part was I got to keep that awesome amber "crystal ball" from my mama's gypsy costume:)

We also had some yummy treats

Everyone brought a little something..We had chips, dips and creepy mozzarella eyeballs, and for dessert? Bone-yard cupcakes and some delicious pumpkin bars..

I made an extra batch of the Bone-yard cupcakes because, later that night, N and I popped over to our friend Lesli's house (visit Lesli Marie's blog here)  for some more tasty treats and some good company;)

Happy Halloween!! 

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