Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oatmeal

In mama land, sometimes your own lunch takes the back seat to your kiddo's lunch. And sometimes your coworkers will point and laugh at your lunch and ask if you accidentally brought your kid's lunch. That was me yesterday, lol. But I most certainly had intentionally packed this deliciousness!! I mean if breakfast for dinner is amazing, breakfast for lunch has to be equally as great, right??

In reality, breakfast for lunch usually means that we are super low on groceries--the fall has been so ridiculously busy. Regardless of how empty the pantry looks, I can almost always scrape together the ingredients for a quick overnight oats recipe. My standby contains the same first three ingredients, but doesn't have the same fall flavors.

The Most Perfect Fall Overnight Oats Ever
(aka Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup traditional oats
1/3 cup almond milk
1 tbsp plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
1 tspn raw honey (maple syrup would be a yummy sub, too!!)
1/4 tspn pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tspn cinnamon
2 tbsp chopped pecans or walnuts

Method:
Combine all ingredients except nuts in a container with a lid. Store in fridge overnight (but as few as 5 or 6 hours works fine too!). Stir in nuts, and enjoy!!

Healthy Chicken Enchilada Stack

I have been SO proud of the gals in my current 21 day fix group--almost all of us juggle full-time jobs, many have kiddos running around (and some even have sweet little bitty babies!), and ALL have committed to taking 21 days to make significant changes for themselves.

While I'm certainly no nutritionist, I do offer to put together a weekly meal plan and grocery list for my challengers--heck, I'm eating that way too, so really I'm just sharing what's happening at our house :) One of my gals sent me a hilarious text last week when I asked her what kind of meals she'd like to see next week--"Less insalata, more enchilada!"

While the 21 Day Fix is SO super forgiving and flexible, I had never, ever imagined putting together an ENCHILADA recipe for it! I accepted the challenge whole-heartedly though...I want my gals to be successful and to NOT feel like they are sucking the fun out of their food. I did a bunch of "research" this weekend reading recipes galore, and finally settled on combining a few different ideas.

Out of sheer laziness, this turned into a "stacked" enchilada, but could totally be rolled up to make it appear more traditional. I feel obliged to say this is a teensy, weensy bit of a cheat meal--the use of a small tablespoon of butter and flour to make the sauce thick is a tad outside of Autumn Calabrese's nutrition guide, but it feels SO much more decadent than it is.

Here's the "before"!

Healthy Chicken Enchilada Stack

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 small can diced green chiles
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tspn garlic powder
Salt and pepper, pinch each
6 corn tortillas, halved
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I made a batch of crock pot salsa chicken!)
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded cheese (I mixed cheddar and mont jack)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and spray a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Melt butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add flour to melted butter, and whisk for about 60 seconds (until color ahs changed slightly). Add half of the stock, and whisk till combined. Stir in remainder of stock, green chiles, and spices and cook for about 3 minutes till thickened. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt till combined.

Layer four of the tortilla pieces on the bottom of the pan. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over tortillas. Then create a layer of chicken (1/2 cup) and sprinkle with 1/3 of the black beans and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat layers till you've created three layers.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

21 Day Fix-ers: It's a teensy stretch, but I divided the pan into four servings. I counted my serving as one yellow, one red, one green, and a blue. We enjoyed this alongside a side salad for another green container.

Hellooooo Fall! *Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash*

We've had a couple of "chilly" mornings (one even prompted me to put the babe in a cute little hoodie!) recently. Mind you, it's still 90 degrees by the time I get in the car after work, but I'll take what I can get. There's a whole heck of a lot I like about fall--football, the holidays (y'all get ready for C and Scoot's Halloween costumes this year!), daylight savings time (#momprobs)....but definitely the FOOD. Even though we aren't quite to sweater weather yet, it's hard to ignore the growing varieties of squash available at the store.

I stumbled across this recipe on The Kitchn, and made some teensy changes to fit our tastes. Hubby laughed when I handed him a plate with half a spaghetti squash on it...but then he devoured every last bite. I prepped the four squash pieces, but wrapped up two pieces to deliver to a dear friend. She waited a day, and baked them for just ten minutes longer than the instructions and they turned out just as delicious.

What's your favorite way to enjoy spaghetti squash??

Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash


Ingredients:
5 pounds spaghetti squash (2 medium-sized squash)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced 
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground Italian sausage (casings removed, if present)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 tspn dried basil
1/2 tspn dried oregano
1/2 tspn dried thyme
2 cups ricotta, whole or 2%
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped 
7-8 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Chopped parsley or basil, to garnish

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the squashes in half and scoop out the seeds. Lay them cut-side down in a roasting pan or other baking dish, and add about an inch of water. Roast for 45 to 60 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork. Transfer to a cooling rack until cool enough to handle.

While the squash is roasting, heat EVOO in a saute pan.  Stir in the onions and cook until translucent,  about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the ground beef and sausage and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until well-browned, breaking up the beef into small crumbles, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering the sauce until the squashes are ready, 5 to 20 minutes. Taste the sauce and add more salt if desired.

Use a fork to shred the inside of the squash, leaving about a half-inch of squash left in the shell. Mix the shredded squash into the tomato sauce. In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, 1/2 of the parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs.

Wipe out the roasting pan and arrange the squash shells inside, like bowls. Divide half of the ricotta mixture between the shells, using a spoon to spread the ricotta evenly over the bottom of the shells. Divide half the tomato sauce between the shells, spooning over top of the ricotta. Top with another layer of ricotta and tomato sauce. Sprinkle mozzerella and remaining parmesan over the top layer of sauce.

Bake the shells for 25 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Sprinkle parsley or basil over the tops and serve immediately. Leftovers are delish :)

(21 day fixers--this would count as a red, prob two greens, and a blue)