Skip to main content

Tex-Mex Skillet Bake, Running & Picnic Lunch

Skillet Bake Sunday
Last night's dinner ended up a semi-refrigerator/freezer special. I had some frozen rice that helped make this dish super simple and fast. Jason mentioned casserole, since I haven't made a casserole in ages. In the past, a casserole meant pasta or rice, cheese, frozen veggies, and a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.

These days, casseroles are comprised of none of those ingredients. So, they can be more complicated. And I think it's safe to say I have a tendency to complicate things anyway. Last night I peered into the cabinet, fridge, freezer. I thought pumpkin = creamy, so that's where that comes into play. The rest I just had on hand and thought it sounded like a good pairing.


Tex-Mex Skillet Bake
Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 package tempeh, crumbled
1-2 tbsp minced garlic
1 small can green chiles
1 can no-salt diced tomatoes, mostly drained
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 - 3/4 cup almond milk
To taste: salt, pepper, red pepper, chili powder, cumin
Daiya Vegan Cheese (or your choice of cheese)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large, oven-safe skillet, saute onions, peppers, tempeh, and garlic until veggies begin to soften. Add in tomatoes, chiles, black beans, corn, and seasonings.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and almond milk and seasonings. It should be a creamy consistency, not runny.

Pour pumpkin mixture into skillet and combine all ingredients. Remove from heat and sprinkle the top with Daiya then put into oven. Bake until "cheese" is melted.
 
I must say, this turned out far better than I had even expected. I was nervous, I won't lie. But it was so good, so creamy. Even if you hated pumpkin, I think you'd like this one. 

1st Post-Half Run

I wasn't sure how I was going to be feeling after the half marathon, so I decided to treat myself to an extra day off today. It was such a gorgeous day out too, perfect for being off work.

I slept in until about 8 then got up and made myself breakfast, basically just taking my time. It started off rather chilly, so I wasn't just itching to head out for a run right away. Instead I went ahead and got the grocery store trip over and done with.

Once everything was put away, I decided to take my legs for a test spin. They really don't feel too bad after the half. A little heavy, more like I did a ton of squats rather than race. The temps were about 60 degrees and the skies were blue and clear. Lovely.

As soon as I started running, my legs decided they really weren't as excited about the run as my head was. After about 5 minutes, however, they did start to loosen up and were more willing to work with me. In my head, I was dreaming of 4 glorious miles. In reality, I stopped at 2. I didn't feel like I just had to stop necessarily, but I thought it would be smarter on my part to stop rather than push on.

Picnic Lunch
Jason took off a little early to spend part of the day with me. It was so nice that we decided to go walk some trails, no serious hiking mind you, just leisurely stroll through the woods.

I packed up a picnic for us to enjoy after the walk. We used to do picnics much more often and need to remember to do them more often. It's just nice way to spend part of the day, relaxing outside.
 
 
 
 
After eating our lunch, Jason wanted to go "exploring." Had my legs not been fatigued, hiking and exploring would have been perfect. However, I just didn't feel like trekking through the woods too much.

Instead, we "explored" by driving...and driving. Jason is one who could just drive around and look at views. Me...not so much. But, I will admit that it was a beautiful day. The leaves are just starting to change, so the scenery was spectacular. 

Do you like just driving/riding around in the car for scenic drives?

Don't forget to enter my Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes Cookbook Giveaway - you have until Thursday night to enter!

Daily To-Enjoy List:
  • Day off
  • Running
  • Picnic lunch
  • Gorgeous day

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package