Football – My Blog Made Me Fat

Stop. Judging. Me. If you’re asking me if I put chocolate chips in these, the answer is YES. Why would I NOT put chocolate chips in these? Don’t be ridiculous.

Before I tell you how to make these amazing pancakes, I need to talk to you about something. It’s fall. Basically my favorite thing on the planet. I’m not sure I love anything as much as I love pumpkins. And as such, whenever it becomes fall (or pretty darn close to it), I talk to Mr. Grumpy about nothing else but pumpkins. Pumpkin patches. Pumpkin carving. Pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin-scented candles. Pumpkin-colored sweaters. Pumpkin-colored football jerseys (Go Browns!), Pumpkin pancakes.

Now, this makes Mr. Grumpy very annoyed because he CLAIMS that I do not pronounce the word, “pumpkin” correctly. He seems to think I say, “punkin.” He also says my mother says it this way. I refuse to acknowledge his ridiculousness. Also, it’s a near-impossible word to say that many times correctly.

When I stumbled upon this recipe from Overtime Cook on Pinterest, I stopped dead in my pinning tracks. I had to eat them. And fast. Of course, I added candied pecans and chocolate chips and changed a few things to make them extra sweet – and then, we dug in to our stacks (with a side of bacon). Oh. my. god. These were so good, but I have to be honest – they were really filling. I could only eat half of my two-cake stack. Mr. Grumpy did eat the rest of my stack plus three more cakes… but we all know about his addiction to sweets.

Side Note: I had purchased caramel apples at the grocery store while buying the ingredients for this recipe thinking, “Oh! Perfect! This can be our dessert.” Then, after coming home, I realized that was a bit much. Don’t worry – they will be eaten soon enough.

What You’ll Need:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (we used the Quaker dude’s)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup almond milk
Hot syrup

For the candied pecans:

1 cup pecans
2 tbsp natural buttery spread (we use Earth Balance)
2 tbsp brown sugar
Sea salt

First, let’s make the candied pecans. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the pecans and stir to coat. Add the brown sugar and stir to coat again. Pour the pecans out onto a piece of parchment paper and let them cool (this was the kiss of death. I ran six miles and was SO hungry while I was making dinner that I literally ate half of these while I was making the pancakes).

Now, in a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Then, add in the remaining ingredients (except the hot syrup!) into the same bowl. Stir until it makes a batter. You don’t want it to be too runny – if it is, add a bit more flour. It should be slightly thicker than a cake batter but not as thick as a muffin batter.

Heat your griddle to 300 degrees. Spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour your batter out into small circles. Let those cook. Usually pancakes will get little bubbles so you know when to flip them. This won’t happen here. So, instead just watch them. They’ll start to set a bit, and that’s when you should flip them. It will take about 6 minutes on each side.

Stack up the finished pancakes and cover them with about 1 tbsp each of candied pecans. Drizzle with hot syrup and GET READY FOR THE BEST DINNER EVER!

Weeknight Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Weeknight Dinner: Fantasy Football Crock Pot Meatballs, A Day Late

Mr. Grumpy and I had committed this weekend to running 9 miles as part of my half-marathon training. So, naturally we waited until Sunday when it was 90 degrees outside. It. Was. A. Nightmare.

We drove out to the Cleveland Towpath for our nice, sunny run. Now, mind you, we had not been outside for nearly 36 hours (remember, Downton Abbey addiction?) and were not expecting the heat. In fact, before we left, I asked Mr. Grumpy if it was cool outside and he answered, “Yeah.” Which I now realize means he wasn’t listening to me… (shocker).

I thought, it can’t be that bad trying to run 9 miles in the sun. So, we began our trek down the trail, smiling at cyclists and runners alike as they passed by. Then, the first mile passed and I thought, “Man! This is going to be so easy.”

Cut to me at 4.5 miles down the trail. Dying, practically. Most likely having a stroke from overheat. And dare I say it, my ankle hurt. I was in poor form, friends. So naturally, as any calm girl in half-marathon training would, I flung myself onto the grass and pretended to pass out. When I looked up at Mr. Grumpy to see his reaction, I was not surprised to see him hovering over me, unconcerned, hands on hips with one of his unapproving glances (like this one, but he was wearing running clothes):

Also, while I was drenched in sweat (and now subsequently covered in dirt and grass), he was not even glistening. He was NOT EVEN PANTING. So, now I completely question whether or not Mr. Grumpy is an actual human. I’m sleeping with one eye open, but really. 90 degrees and you’re not even tired. You must be from another galaxy. Right???

So needless to say, we only managed 6.5 miles Sunday. But I am not giving up. And neither should you if you’re training like I am. Seriously – we’re almost there!

Anyway … I was really excited about a funny surprise I had planned for my alien boyfriend on Tuesday. Mr. Grumpy had mentioned that his Fantasy Football draft was that day, and I was so excited to make him faux Super Bowl dinner – aka, those delish crock pot meatballs that everyone knows about. I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate every girlfriend’s favorite time of the year – football season. Sigh. [INSERT FAKE SMILE HERE]

But, as you know, Mr. Grumpy and I are trying to be healthy and watch what we eat. I decided that after dealing with my meltdown on the towpath Mr. Grumpy deserved a little BBQ sauce in his life, so this was my happy compromise. I found the recipe for the meatballs on Cookin’ Canuck, and adapted it to be more BBQ-friendly. I liked the idea of using quinoa and zucchini to thicken up the meatballs. Plus, I had zucchini left over from our taco boats on Monday – awesome! In fact, I made these Monday night before I made the boats, and then just heated the meatballs up on Tuesday. It was SO NICE coming home to a crock pot meal, let me tell you. Phew.

So, what’s up with my headline? A day late, you ask? Well, yeah. His fantasy draft was actually on Monday. So I was a day late with this one – but it’s the thought that counts, right? I TRIED, OK?!?!

What You’ll Need:

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup quinoa
4 slices of light oatmeal bread
2 eggs
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 white onion, grated
1/2 cup of zucchini, chopped (smoosh the water out of it)
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 12 oz. jar grape jelly
1 18 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, in a small saucepan, boil 1 cup of water with the 1/2 cup of quinoa mixed in. Boil on full speed for 5 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let it sit covered like that for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, in a mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients EXCEPT the grape jelly and BBQ sauce. Now, because this is made out of ground turkey, it’s not going to feel as thick and sticky as the meatlballs you’re used to using ground chuck/beef. That’s ok – these will turn out really moist (hate this word), and I promise you’ll like them! Once your quinoa is done cooking, add that into the meat mixture. Stir everything together until it’s nicely combined.

On a large baking dish, spray it completely with olive oil-based cooking spray. Then, using a large melon baller, dish out your meatballs. They should be about 1.5″ large. About the size of your palm. Unless you’re a fembot and have really small hands. Then… just guess. (Eye roll)

Bake your meatballs on the mid-top rack (a few inches from the top) for 10 minutes. You want them to get nice and brown around the edges, but stay moist (really, really, really hate this word) on the inside. They won’t be completely done, but that’s ok because they’ll cook more in the crock pot.

Next, in your small crock pot, combine the grape jelly and the BBQ sauce. Once your meatballs are done cookin’, add them into your crock pot. Cook that on low for 6 hours. Stir gently every once and a while to make sure they are evenly coated. And…. enjoy! Even if you don’t have the fantasy draft binging every five minutes in the background (Mr. Grumpy, it must be your pick AGAIN!)

We wrapped ours up in leaves of Boston Lettuce – like lettuce wraps!