Pumpkin this.

Oh hey there.

So I have been trying to fill up my boring life with pumpkin-y things. Here is an update of my life lately.

1. Eating.

2. Eating butternut squash ravioli and drinking wine at Maggiano's.

3. Eating Vietnamese food and saying "Pho" a bunch of times in a row.

4. Hiding in our apartment for fear of a shooter (not funny at all, very sad) and then thinking it would be a good idea to watch Prometheus. At night. Lights off.

5. Making a pumpkin spice cake with chocolate pecan frosting...under-baking the cake part with my awesome baking skills, and then piece-mealing the cooked parts together to resemble a cake that a four-year old attempted, and then abandoned for a nap and a bottle (more on this later).

6. Eating (surprised?) amazing Colcannon cakes, which are a kind of fried potato (surprised!?!?!?!) patty, stuffed with kale and gruyere. Spending the rest of the day doubled over in glorious pain.

7. Delightful conversations with amazing friends.

8. Pretending I'm good at High Intensity Interval Training.

Do you see why I need the pumpkin?

This recipe I am about to share with you...will..blow..your..mind. But also, very spicy. But also, so good and spicy. This was seriously amazing and you all should go out and make it right now except maybe tomorrow because it's late now, unless you eat dinner like Steve and I..probably should figure that out. This BBQ spiced chicken with pumpkin chipotle polenta was the perfect blend of fall and spice. We nixed the salsa salad however, and subbed some teamed lemon brocc what whaaat. Here is the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/bbq-spiced-chicken-salsa-salad-and-pumpkin-chipotle-polenta-recipe/index.html

Also, check out these two new favorites: www.skinnytaste.com/2010/10/pumpkin-butter.html and http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/09/easy-pumpkin-spiced-granola.html. Pumpkin butter and pumpkin granola were the perfect combo when I tried to smush everything pumpkin into this one weekend. I've been eating oatmeal every morning, with 1/4 cup of the granola, and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin butter. For less than 300 calories, that's not a bad gig. Plus..tasty.

Cakes and other boring tidbits to come soon. Happy eating :)

Food and Stuff

Hey guyz.

I wish I could say that all these exciting things are happening in my life and in my kitchen, but that would be an exaggeration. So I'll just talk about how boring life has been.

Highlights:

1. Working on one stats assignment for 7 hours. It was the wrong assignment.

2. Eating lean cuisines on a Saturday night (yes, sometimes I eat lean cuisines, let's talk about it).

3. Watching old episodes of Parks and Recreation. Over and over. Endlessly.

4. Going to urgent care thinking I had a kidney infection. Pulled muscle.

5. Seeing Ingrid Michaelson in concert, picking apples with my love, fantastic food, and fabulous friends. Okay, so that one wasn't so boring/ironically evil like the others.

Let's talk about food...in a Parks and Recreation analogy. Sometimes I am loving Chris Traeger's views on food, but sometimes I just want to pick up some meat at Food and Stuff and have a lovely meal with Ron Swanson. So here is one recipe with meat and one without :)

Steve is quickly becoming more than a sous chef around here, especially with my late night clinic/class evenings. Also we have been breaking out the crockpot more often...so easy, and makes the apartment smell delicious all day.  So we (he) made crock pot honey sesame chicken! Served with brown rice and plenty of veggies, so relatively healthy and well balanced. I'm all about the balance, especially if it includes ice cream after dinner whaaaat? Who said that.

Here is the link: http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/08/crock-pot-honey-sesame-chicken.html

I kept this asian dish vibe going throughout the rest of the week, finishing with another noodle peanut type concoction. Really can't get enough of those. Soba noodles with spicy peanut sauce was almost as addicting as those crack-like peanut noodles I posted several months ago.

 is the link: http://cupcakesandkale.blogspot.com/2011/08/soba-noodles-with-spicy-peanut-sauce.html


So that's about it for now, folks. The rest of my night will be spent reading stats (like I'll ever understand that, come on Cate), watching Steve yell at the Yankees, and brainstorming Halloween ideas. My cute idea was Calvin and Hobbes...Steve's was himself as Frankenstein, and I the pitchfork wielding villager. Sigh.

Can't wait to share more boring/ironic things with you next time! Plus buffalo chicken soup and broccoli with spicy sriracha. Stay tuned.

Happy eating!