Black Bean Butternut Squash Crockpot Chili

For the life of me I cannot remember where I got this recipe so if you know, let me know so I can link it up. We love it though. My husband was shocked when he was mid-meal and I told him there was no meat in it. We had A LOT left so I stuck the rest of it in a gallon freezer bag and froze it for later. It was as good as the first time.

Here we go:

3 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

2 14.5 ox cans of diced fire roasted tomatoes (or regular)

4 15 oz cans of black beans, rinsed and drained (or 8 cups of your pre-made beans)

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and shopped into 1/2 inch cubes

salt and pepper

Spray large skillet with pan spray and add onions, peppers and garlic until tender. Put in slow cooker and everything else, except the squash. Arrange the squash over the chili. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Update: I found this recipe on Crockpot Girls site.

Dried Fruit

I have loved all this fruit going on sale for 77 cents a pound! I have been buying it in the truck loads to freeze and dry. My lovely momma has a dryer. I was SO excited to dry TONS of plums this year. They are my favorite dried, next to pears. They are awesome for food storage AND for when you need fruit and run out. We love to snack on them too.

Give it a try!

EASY Peasy Jam!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I have been opting to make my own jam lately because I am sick of feeding my kids sugar by the sandwich-full!

Get this: all you need is fruit, sugar, and modified cornstarch...SERIOUSLY...totally not kidding.

I wish there was a step by step instruction for you to follow on this one but there isn't. You just guess and throw it together.

I, so far, have made: Strawberry, apricot and peach jam...all the exact same way.

I chop and pit my fruit, puree it, stick it in a pot with about 8:1 ratio of fruit:sugar and then add some modified cornstarch (I use stuff from Kitchen Kneads). I boil it until it thickens (sometimes I have to add about 2 cups for 16 cups of pureed fruit). Put it in bottles or 2 cup tupperware and either bottle it or freeze it after it cools.

THAT IS IT! Feel free to ask questions if you need to. We LOVE this. We can actually TASTE the fruit and it is SOOOO yummy on toast or PB&J's!

Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Tray

This was SUPER fun to make. It was also SUPER delish. Here is what I used:

Red: strawberries and red peppers

Orange: Carrots (could also use orange peppers)

Yellow: pineapple (could also use Yellow peppers)

Green: cucumber and broccoli

Blue: (you could use blueberries)

Purple: Plums (you could also use cherries since they have such a dark color)

Pasta or Zucchini...you choose.

You can either pan fry it to eat with a different texture OR you can shred this zucchini with a peeler and use it in the place of noodles. That means you have the option of spaghetti squash OR zucchini as a veggie replacement for a car. Just peel it until you get to the seeds and discard the seeds. This is from 1 small zucchini. If I were to do it again I think I would make slices in the zucchini and THEN shred. I really liked this. The nice thing about Zucchini is it takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking. LOVE IT!

Watermelon Popsicles

You kids will think these are SO COOL and you have to do virtually NOTHING. Just slice watermelon, cut it with a cookie cutter, stick it on a popsicle stick (i got 100 pkg at dollar tree) and put it on foil n plop it in the fridge!

I know it is a little late in the year. Remember for next time :)

Avocado and Tomato Melt with balsamic vinegar

This is another one of my momma's masterpieces. I LOVE this...and it has a little kick of flavor.

This one is very similar to the Turkey Avocado melt but this one has a little kick and is SO EASY and SOOOOOO NUMMY!

Whole wheat bread

Avocado

Tomato

Balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil

Italian Seasoning

In advance soak sliced tomatoes in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Italian seasoning. Broil bread until toasted. Put sliced tomatoes and thinly sliced avocado on top. Put your favorite cheese as a topper and broil again until cheese is melted.

We LOVE this!

Sauteed Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes

2 med zucchini, sliced

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp dried basil

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

Heat pan on med-high. add oil, garlic and zucchini. Cook until zucchini is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are warm.

Turkey Avocado Melts

This would be an AWESOME thing to make with your Thanksgiving leftovers

Have you tried the new sandwich thins??? I didn't think I would like them but I am IN.LOVE! We use them for sandwiches, hamburgers and...well anything else. They are actually cheaper than bread in some cases. These were scrumdillyumptious!

We used left over roasted Turkey we had in the freezer. You can use any kind of turkey your family likes (I am not big into lunch meats).

Avocado

Tomato

Slice of cheese

Laughing cow cheese (wedges of soft cheese we use in the place of mayo, they are 60 calories for each wedge, we used one wedge on 4 sandwiches)

Your choice of mustard

Just pile it all on there and broil until the cheese is melted. If you like crispier bread rather than soft bread just broil the bread until it is crispy before you add the other toppings, then RE broil it once the toppings are on.

Organize Your School Lunches

I loved this idea for healthy school lunches...and I LOVE her blog because I am also an organize FREAK!

Check her out at IHeart Organizing