Day 245 - Autumn Sweet Vegetarian Chili

So I LOVE chili.

Here you can find my usual go-to fall favorite made a bit healthier. Today's yumminess is brought to you by my lovely boardies over at Weight Watchers : )  It's also brought to you because I tend to over-buy. I get excited about odd things, and the sweet potatoes and squash got me on one particular shopping trip... I digress.

So my lovelies at WW suggested a few good uses for my overabundance and this is what I did for dinner last night. Well, I did a slight variation on it. My variation is below, this link takes you to the original at Eating Well magazine.

Sweet and Spicy Vegetarian Chili

Served over a bed of brown rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile (see Note)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 14-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
•  2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy stock pot over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato, both squash and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften for about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Yields 10 - 1 cup servings (approximately) at 2 Points Plus for Weight Watchers (I build my recipes without the veggies added into the builder... It adds points that it shouldn't. Feel free to ask me more about this.)

I would easily count this as 2 servings of veggies, and I would add a teaspoon of safflower oil when serving to get in a heart healthy oil. I'm serving this over a bed of brown rice (left overs from the previous night) and perhaps having a cup and a half : ) Yay Autumn flavors!

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Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

• Note: Chipotle peppers are dried, smoked jalapeño peppers. Ground chipotle chile pepper can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets (I got mine at Wegman's... McCormick Spice Islands line) or online at penzeys.com. 

Tomorrow- Weigh In number 2. Let's see how well I've readjusted to eating well again. I did have a few cookies this week. Not good with cold turkey type behavior.

Day 240 - Peanut Butter Chocolate Apple Bowl

I'm into bowls. I'm also NOT into meals right now. This is mostly due to lack of time and energy caused by newest love (Baby). So I'm thinking outside the plate.

I needed to get some fruit in for the day and I was craving protein of some kind. So this is what I created, and it made a great mid-afternoon snack/meal-thing. Check it out...

Peanut Butter Chocolate Apple Bowl

Hmmmm.... just noticed that gigantic chip in my bowl. Time to head to Pier One : )

Here's the recipe and Weight Watcher's Healthy Checks breakdown:

• 1 small/medium apple (I like Granny Smith)
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup Bear Naked Heavenly Chocolate granola
• 1 tsp safflower oil

This provides:

• 9 Points Plus
• 1-2 servings fruit
• 1 serving heart healthy oil
• delicious whole grains and satisfying protein

It may seem like a lot of points, but when you have to squeeze in meals in the form of snacks, feel satisfied, and demand yummy things in your mouth... this works perfectly! The peanut butter adds the heftiest portion of points and I'm thinking of changing it up slightly for tomorrow using fat-free Greek yogurt instead. I'll let you know how it goes : )

How would you compose your snack bowl? I would love to hear your thoughts below!

Day 178 - Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Why, hello Autumn! So glad you dropped by...

My mind turns to warm and comforting foods once the mercury ceases to climb to it's summer highs. Soups, stews, chili and toasted sandwiches begin to grab my appetite's attention. As I mentioned yesterday, while I was perusing the produce aisle at the grocery store I saw a wonderful display of butternut squash (amongst others) and immediately thought of soup. I love thick soups, and squash does a great job to create a thick, hearty soup without needing cream for body (unless you can't do without it, I'm learning).

Some suggest 1-2 Tbsp light brown sugar for sweetness.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

4-5 1 cup servings (depending on squash size)

• 1 large butternut squash, seeded peeled and cubed
• 1 1qt box of vegetable stock/broth (I like the low sodium kind)
• half of a large sweet, yellow onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• fresh ground nutmeg
• pinch cinnamon
• salt and white pepper to taste
• pinch dried sage (or fresh if you have it laying around)

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees; line a baking tray with aluminum foil and mist with cooking spray (Pam)
2. Peel your butternut squash, remove the seeds and cut into 1 inch cubes. Spread the cubes evenly on the tray. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until fork tender.
3. Heat olive oil in a 2 quart sauce pot over medium heat; add sliced onion and cook until translucent and deep brown, stirring frequently.
4. Once squash is roasted, place squash and onions into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add one cup of vegetable stock while processing. (If you don't have a food processor, you can use a standard blender, a handheld blender, or a hand mixer. If it isn't as smooth as you would like, you can strain the soup through cheesecloth).
5. Pour soup back into the sauce pot and return to medium heat. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir frequently until soup thickens a bit. Add remaining vegetable stock to achieve desired consistency.
6. An interesting (and optional) serving suggestion: garnish with crushed Amoretti cookies. Yum!

(For Weight Watcher's this is 2Points Plus per serving (I do not use the nutritional information for the squash in this recipe--I count it as a 0 PP vegetable.). This does not include the crushed Amoretti cookie garnish... By my approximations, one full Stella D'oro Amoretti cookie as garnish would yield 5 PP.)

In other news... Yesterday was not a good day. I made bad, bad food choices. I made conscious choices to over-eat in response to stress. Cheetos Twists, chili, pizza and spoonfuls of home made apple butter do not mix well. I had to sneak onto the scale this  morning for a bit of a reality check... Let's hope I stay below 200.

Tomorrow: Apple Cinnamon empanadas : )