Month: December 2019

In case you haven’t noticed, I get bored of eating the same things rather quickly. While I don’t really have a regular meal rotation, I do have some favorites. Here are some of the meals I made the most year, with some hacks for faster prep on weeknights. I’m also including some new favorite recipes I made this year that I anticipate will top my 2020 list.

BREAKFAST

1. Coconut turmeric overnight oats. The best oats I have EVER had. I prep them for the week on Sundays and they hold up well for 4-5 days.
2. Blueberry oatmeal breakfast bars.
3. Favorite pumpkin muffins. If you’re looking for a fluffy muffin, this is not it. If you’re looking for a tasty muffin that is relatively healthy and good for breakfasts on the go, this is an option I find myself circling back to in the fall and winter.

CHICKEN

1. Chicken tzatziki bowl. I use this recipe for the chicken marinade and riff on the rest. I do not use skewers and cut the chicken smaller for faster stovetop cooking.
2. Slow cooker buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes. I honestly don’t even like buffalo chicken that much (/unpopular opinion) but this is SO good. You can roast the sweet potatoes separately if you prefer or cook them in the microwave.
3. Easy homemade burrito bowls. Infinitely adaptable; you can shortcut almost any element and still get solid results. For example, I often do chicken in the crockpot with a jar of salsa instead. Goes from good to amazing if you serve it with this restaurant-style salsa.
4. Best anytime baked chicken meatballs. I love these so much. Could not be easier and no sauteeing required. If I have time I like to make my own simple marinara using the sauce recipe from here as a base.
5. Easy shredded harissa chicken. I like serving this with rice, cucumber, olives, hummus, tzatziki, and sometimes the red pepper sauce mentioned below.
6. Instant Pot coconut tandoori chicken. A new recipe that will probably replace other similar Indian-inspired dishes I’ve made previously, as it is both easier and more flavorful (winner).

BEEF, TURKEY, PORK

1. Greek turkey and rice skillet. I prefer to cook the rice separately (in water or broth) while browning the meat so I can skip the boiling/simmering step and save some time. Mix together when rice is done.
2. Banh mi bowls with lemongrass meatballs. I don’t even bother to form meatballs; instead, I break up the meat in the pan after mixing in the other ingredients. I also find that the carrots taste sufficiently pickled after 30 minutes or so if you’re in a rush. Basil, sesame seeds, and spicy mayo are my fave toppings.
3. Taco stuffed zucchini boats. You could easily spiralize the zucchini separately to save time and just serve the meat on top.
4. Turkey stuffed peppers. I love the filling in these. So flavorful.
5. Turkey meatloaf. Is this going to blow your mind? Probably not, but it’s a decent meatloaf. I don’t bother to saute the onions first, and sometimes I make my own seasoned breadcrumbs if all I have is plain with a mixture of oregano, herbs, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder.
6. Signature spicy, smoky, sweet chili. I make a few adjustments to this because I prefer a thicker chili that is more spicy than sweet, including decreasing the tomato sauce to about 8 ounces, increasing the cayenne, and reducing the brown sugar. I also sometimes swap out the beef for pork and the baked beans for other kinds of beans.

SAUCES (for pasta, pizza, salads, veggies, snacking, and everything in between)

1. 5-minute magic green sauce.
2. 5-minute sunshine sauce. I love that this uses only pantry staples (I don’t add the fresh herbs).
3. Roasted red pepper sauce.
4. Restaurant-style salsa. Mentioned in the burrito bowls above, this is SO. GOOD. I drain the tomatoes slightly to make it a little thicker. I especially love it with eggs.

VEGETARIAN/VEGAN

1. Glowing spiced lentil soup. One of the only recipes I may have burned myself out on after making it approximately 398434 times. Spice mixture is 👌
2. Crispy baked tofu. I could eat these like chips. It’s a versatile protein that I add to salads, soups, and curries.
3. Actually crispy baked chickpeas. Ditto #2 above. Add to a romaine mix (or whatever lettuce isn’t currently going to kill you) with some roasted veggies and a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing, and you have my work lunch for 95% of the days I spend in the office.
4. Cozy autumn wild rice soup. This was a new recipe this fall and I could not be more obsessed with it. Have made it 3 times in about 6 weeks which is a lot for me.
5. Roasted portobello tacos.
6. Vegan sheet pan fajitas with chipotle queso. A new recipe I will keep making.
7. Sheet pan BBQ tofu.
8. Spicy sweet potato and green rice burrito bowls. This is a bit complex for a weeknight so I probably won’t be making this all the time, but this might be my favorite new meal of the year so it will definitely be made again in 2020!
9. Veggie lasagna zucchini boats.
10. Quinoa tabbouleh. A light and refreshing lunch option.

I did it! I rounded out my 52 new recipes in 2019 with a bunch of desserts, which seems pretty on brand for this time of year. I’m going to wrap up this entire series with a summary of my favorites/meal staples because I love reading those kinds of things, so maybe someone else will too. My 2019 Christmas cookie post will also be up soon. Here are my reviews on the final 13. I’ve also started cooking on Instagram occasionally, so follow me there.

1. Pumpkin dream cake (4/5): I enjoyed this but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were an icing person (#TeamCake), as both the quantity and sweetness of the icing were just a little too much for me. The icing also stuck to the lid of the pan I baked this in which was highly annoying (that one can be chalked up to user error).
2. Stuffed pepper soup (3/5): Meh. This was fine but I much prefer just making stuffed peppers. Don’t think I’ll be repeating this one.
3. Korean BBQ chickpea bowls (4/5): This was a delicious light dinner that was easy to prep. However, I should have gone with my instincts on this one, which were “this sauce is way too thin, I don’t know how this will fare in the oven.” Next time I’ll probably just roast the chickpeas and brussels sprouts with a little bit of oil and salt and add the sauce at the end.
4. Vegan sheet pan fajitas with chipotle queso (4.5/5): It’s taken me a long time to venture into the cashew cream/queso/sauce world because I’ve always been convinced it couldn’t possibly be good. I was wrong! It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten neon orange queso, but I couldn’t believe how much this reminded me of it. 👌👌 The whole recipe is so easy to prep.
5. Crockpot spicy vegetarian tortilla soup with quinoa (4/5): I made this in the InstantPot and sautéed all the peppers/onion/garlic in a drizzle of olive oil first. I also chopped the peppers in a food processor to get them more finely diced. This was very easy and tasty. Often “spicy” recipes don’t have much of a kick to them but this one definitely did– warning if you don’t like spicy food! Tip: cut corn tortillas into strips with a pizza roller, spray with oil, and bake for approximately 10 mins at 350 degrees. Top soup with these plus avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.
6. Cinnamon nut mug swirl cake (4/5): Sometimes I’m in the mood for something sweet that isn’t chocolately and this satisfied that craving. As with all mug cakes, the texture isn’t going to be perfect, but this was pretty solid.
7. Orange glazed cranberry bread (5/5): Yum! I appreciate that I did not have to chop cranberries as they roll all over my counter but could instead fold them into the batter whole. This was definitely my breakfast every day the week of Thanksgiving 💁‍♀️
8. Cranberry crumble pie bars (5/5): Very similar flavor profile to the bread in #7 above and the icing is the same, but overall the orange flavor is a little less detectable than it is in the bread. I overworked the dough a little bit so it was very sticky and I had to add more flour to form it in the pan, but otherwise this was very easy and delicious. Might be a new holiday staple for me.
9. Vegan ginger cookies (3.5/5): This recipe also has a GF option. After the stickiness of the pie bars (see #8), I highly appreciated how easy the dough was to handle.
10. InstantPot coconut tandoori chicken (4/5): Really liked this a lot! Could not be simpler to put together. The only thing that took more than a second was measuring the spices, of which there are many (so many tbsps of things!). The final dish has a little bit of heat and a lot of flavor. Because the thighs are fairly small and there isn’t a ton of liquid in the pot, this came to pressure and cooked very quickly. It was so fast dinner was accidentally ready at 4:30pm 😆 I added some frozen peas (no need to thaw) and spinach at the end to add some veggies and served over jasmine rice. There are also freezer meal directions for this recipe to make assembly even easier.
11. Golden coconut lentil soup (4/5): This is a super easy, cheap, vegan meal. I made it on a day that I ate a bunch of Chick-fil-a for lunch and it was a nice reset to my diet. 🤣However, it is also a very light meal, so having some sort of salad or bread on the side is a good idea, which lead me to make #12 below.
12. 3-ingredient coconut oil biscuits (3.5/5): I like to think I am a pretty good cook but this recipe was a solid reminder that you do usually have to pay at least a little bit of attention when making something new! I distractedly added the milk before cutting in the coconut oil and also took some other shortcuts (e.g., did not use a biscuit cutter). So unsurprisingly, these didn’t rise much and didn’t have a flaky biscuit texture, but the taste was good and they are vegan which makes them good for a crowd. I’ll probably try these again the right way.
13. Better for you Instant Pot chicken and spinach ramen (3/5): Not gonna lie, the smell of this was pretty unappealing after cooking, but fortunately it tasted better. This was fine but I honestly probably would have preferred a ramen seasoning packet.
14. And one more I forgot about from earlier in the year: easy vegan burrito bowls (4/5). I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the cauliflower walnut “meat.” Yum!