Lately I’ve been feeling more creative than usual- and actually came up with another recipe last week! I used the ingredients I was planning to cook with anyway, plus some other things I had on hand.
My meal plan was initially to just cook up some boring chicken on the stove, with some spices on it. I was also going to roast some butternut squash and make green beans. But how boring does that sound? So I decided to change things up by adding some bacon, oils, and spices, and turning it into a one-pan roast!
The nice thing about meals like this is that I was able to do all the work for the meal (cook the bacon, chicken, etc) and put it all into the pan before we were ready to eat- clean all of that up- and then put the meal in the oven right when we are ready. This allowed me to enjoy some wine while dinner was cooking plus made the post-dinner clean up easier!
[yumprint-recipe id=’7′]I’ve also been hit with the baking bug lately- it must be the holiday season! On Friday night I came home and got in the Christmas spirit by baking cookies and wrapping presents. I made these Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies by The Cookie Chrunicles.
Then, during my weekend meal prep I made these Paleo Chocolate Pecan Bites by My Healthy Happy Home. I was a little nervous to make these because they require more steps than I am used to, but they actually were pretty easy to make! (But mine don’t look anywhere near as pretty as Giselle’s:))
What kinds of holiday foods have you been eating lately?
Thanks, Jenn, for hosting the link-up!
I love cooking everything in bacon fat! Makes it feel like I’m getting the most out of my bacon. I was also going to work on some sort of butternut squash recipe this week but couldn’t figure out what. This looks delicious!
Bacon fat is just so delicious. I can’t believe how scared I was of it for so long!
oh my gosh, yes to both! bacon and squash recipes. I’m addicted! Lisa, this looks amazing!
Thanks! It was a great combo of flavors!
I am not creative at all and would have done just boring chicken…haha.
Those chocolate pecan bites sound delicious.
They were really good!
OHHHHH what did you think of the cookies? I think, if I recall correctly, that was the recipe that came about when my son wanted to bake. Those were real good and even slightly “healthy”. lol. I love butternut squash. Like love. I can eat the whole thing if I roast it all at once, I just stand there picking pieces as it cooks in the oven. Like candy!
The cookies were great! I hadn’t make regular cookies with butter and sugar in awhile so it was a nice change. But they didn’t have a ton of that stuff so yes Id consider them slightly healthy:)
I really like butternut squash but I do get bored with eating it plain!
MMmmmm delicious. And with a pecan pie esque muffin tart thing UM YES
Yes a perfect combo!
I love dishes where you just have to use one pot or pan! On those nights sometimes I even use paper plates so that I can truly minimize clean up, haha! #lazy
I’ll have to save this one and make it as we get deeper into the holiday craziness and I need quick fixes!! Thanks!
Me too! Even though I had to use another pan in the beginning it was nice that I could get the rest of the dishes out of the way.
I love the combo of the squash and the green beans! I also need to make the PB chocolate chip cookies – one of the best flavor combos!
I think my favorite combo of all time is peanut butter and chocolate!
Love the combo of bals, thyme and rosemary!! It’s been forever since I’ve used it though–gotta get that going!
It was a good combo and a nice change!
That all looks soo good! Especially the peanut butter cookies. I’ll have to check out Meredith’s page for the recipe!
Yes definitely try the recipe! You can’t really go wrong with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies right?!
Just bookmarked this dish because it sounds so good! Perfect winter food.
I hope you like it if you try it out!
Glad you tried the pecan bites! They look like they were pretty tasty!
They were so good! I may have overcooked them a little but I still thought they were great. Not nearly as pretty are yours though:)
That looks delicious! I’m always looking for more squash recipes and my SO really likes chicken breast but I get bored with it, so this could be a good win-win dish.
I’m not usually much of a sweets person, but I made chocolate covered fresh cranberries the other day. They are so simple and so tasty and I love that they aren’t too sweet.
The dish would be perfect for you guys! Its really not too intense, and you could always leave out the bacon if one of you doesn’t like it.
I go through phases with sweets, and right now Im all about the baked goods!
Squash is a favorite of mine. I haven’t had green beans in a while. I really should add them back in to my meals once in a while!
They ended up being a good combo!
i am in love with butternut squash!
Isn’t it so good?!
I love how this dish combines all of my favorite things: fresh herbs, squash, green beans, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Now, if only I could find a way to get chocolate in there ;).
I recently made a cooking and baking blog, too.
http://kcolescreativecorner.com
I would greatly appreciate it if you would check it out!
Thanks so much!