Farewell Spooky Season!

Healthwise I've haven't been puttering along so well the past week - flares and C-PTSD flashbacks/night terrors are a horrible combination - so food hasn't been remotely fancy, in fact, one evening last week we had McDonalds (trying out world heist menu stuff which was fine) and then Monday night we had it again. It's not ideal and I tried to make best choices possible but I'm not going to keep beating myself up about it. This happens incredibly rarely considering we're a neurodivergent, chronically ill household. 

It didn't help with good decision making that we were low on easy frozen options such as prepped burritos, etc so after the fast food extravaganza I made some bean, cheese and brown rice burritos using the pinto beans and brown rice recipes from Amy and Jacky. 

I find my rice turns out better with a 1.25 cup of broth/water but otherwise follow the recipes as they are. The pinto beans in particular are great and a low-cost meal option - we use them for burritos, enchiladas, burrito bowls and nachos. 

PB assembled sixteen burritos and ten went to the freezer, six to the fridge. The freezer is very full at the moment but mostly with meal parts rather than all-in-one stuff and it's a chest freezer which makes organising/meal planning a bit of a pain. One day we'll be able to remodel the kitchen and bring in our beautiful american style fridge freezer combo in from the garage...

Feeling a bit naughty after our fast food/eating out spree, I remembered I wanted to try the Bistro Broccoli Chowder from Appetite for Reduction which is an excellent cookbook for anyone wanting to increase their veggie intake. It read like it would be very flexible and easygoing so I raided the fridge, roughly chopped and threw everything into the slow cooker on low for eight hours. 

Originally it's prepared on the hob but spoons are in short supply so slow cooker it was. I used dried dill instead of rosemary, dairy milk instead of vegan and less potatoes/more parsnips because that's what we had on hand. It is incredibly difficult to go wrong with a basic veggie soup though - and a soup this did become thanks to my immersion blender - my chunky chopping was too chunky for a pleasant chowder anyway. Really wholesome and warming, we had some baked-at-home rolls and sliced cheddar with it on Wednesday and there's plenty in the fridge ready for the rest of the week. 

Heading into the chilly times now...