Slow Cooker Sunday, um.... Tuesday

How did it get to be Tuesday night already?  It was a crazy busy 4 day weekend; I guess that's how.

We went on a mini adventure to the PA Ren Faire on Saturday and Sunday.  It was a gorgeous weekend, and it was fun to get away to one last faire to close the season.  We saw some people we don't get to see much anymore, got lots of hugs, did a little shopping, and enjoyed lots of sunshine and hot mulled wine.  And then we drove home Sunday night and watched the season premiere of The Walking Dead.  Yay for Fall (and the DVR)!!

As I missed Slow Cooker Sunday, I decided to take advantage of Monday and Tuesday off to do some extra cooking.  I threw a roast in the crock pot on Monday with a bunch of seasonings and a cup of red wine and let it cook all day long.  Then I removed the roast, added some Wondra and stirred the juice into gravy.  Add some mashed potatoes and roasted veggies, and it was a wonderful dinner.  No pictures of that, I'm afraid.

Today was destined from the start to be a soupy kind of day.  And hour and a half at the gym, followed by an hour and a half in the garden confirmed the absolute soupiness.  I decided it was going to be a squashy soupy day.  I took one butternut and one acorn squash, and two sweet potatoes, peeled and diced them and added one carton of broth (you could use any kind, I just had chicken broth on hand) and simmered until the squash was kind of mushy.

Then I pureed it all together with an immersion blender (you could cool it and do this part in batches in a regular blender or food processor if you like, but I find the stick blender SO handy!) until it's smooth.  I added another carton of broth at this point, along with some garlic and onion, cayenne pepper and a good sized squeeze of chipotle paste.



This stuff:

The hubby got it as part of his last Birchbox.  He gets some really cool stuff in that; I do too, actually, in the women's edition.  Check it out; it's pretty awesome.

Anyways, I put it back on the stove on medium low and added some cheese.  I used about a pound of shredded cheddar, because that's what I had on hand.  Then I just let it simmer and stirred occasionally until it was perfectly smooth.  It's pretty awesome served with a dollop of sour cream.

While the soup was cooking I made a double batch of oat muffins for breakfasts and snacks this week.  I tried two different combinations this time.  The first are applesauce with peanut butter and peanut butter chips.  The second are applesauce with cinnamon chips and fresh apple chunks.  They are wheat free, packed with protein and fiber, filling but not heavy, and portable, which makes them great for the commute and before the gym.  I think it's going to be a yummy week.

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

Now it's time to go watch X-Men: Days of Future Past and snuggle with my guys.

Thanks for listening.