cooking ala mel

Pantry Pumpkin Chili

January 8, 2013

Today, we’ll take a short break from sweets to share a healthy, super quick, and easy chili for those cold winter nights – the kind of night that your fridge is totally bare of anything fresh, but you want something with at least a few vegetables. In comes this chili, made pretty much entirely from things you probably have in your pantry.

This chili was a life saver the night we got back from PA. Our fridge was completely bare, and there was no way I was going to the store after a 3 1/2 hour drive. It was extremely cold that night, too, and we were waiting for our heat to get back up to snuff (Alex left it at 59ºF while we were away). Chili and cornbread was just screaming my name.
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Vanilla Bean Marshmallows with Free Printable Gift Tags

January 5, 2013

Today, I found out that my foot is “healed” (with just a tiny bit of fracture left), so that I can finally get back into exercising. Well, slowly, anyway. I’m supposed to gradually start with lower impact stuff and gauge my pain as I go. I think I’ll start with some yoga and hopefully a bit of skiing next week before I get back into classes! There’s still a bit of pain without doing anything really, but I am SO excited to have the go ahead from the doctors. We have a pretty nice small heater, and I’m thinking about making my own “hot yoga” room with it so that I don’t have to shell out a lot of money for classes. I’ll let you know how that goes if I do!

Now, time for these vanilla bean marshmallows I talked about in the salted caramel hot chocolate post. I made these to go along with the hot cocoa mix for Christmas gifts, but I plan to make them again and again as the winter goes along. It’s extremely easy (you do need a candy thermometer, though), and the taste is out of this world. You will definitely NEVER buy store bought marshmallows again after you try this recipe!

My favorite part about these marshmallows is how they melt on top of steaming hot chocolate so that it almost seems like a layer of whipped cream, but it has all the marshmallowy flavor you’re looking for. They’re pretty sweet, so you only need two or three for each mug, which I think is the perfect amount!
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Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix (with free printable)

January 4, 2013

Today, Alex and I drove back to Buffalo with the kitties from our fun-filled (and super busy) holidays with my family in PA. The weather was perfectly clear the entire way, which is always a surprise in January, since we drive right along Lake Erie for about half the trip. Although the weather was perfect, the kitties were not fans of being put into their carrier for yet another car ride; they sat there head butting the door and scratching at it as much as they possibly could. When the ride was over, there was a nice little pile of kitty nails in front of the carrier on the floor, and Tesla had a swollen nose. Suffice it to say, they’ve been sleeping pretty much since we got back.

I got a little way through unpacking before I fell asleep for about twenty minutes, then I got most of the Christmas gifts unpacked and made chili and cornbread for dinner. I then parked myself on the couch to watch some Doctor Who, and I haven’t moved since. This night definitely calls for a huge mug of hot chocolate – this salted caramel hot chocolate, specifically.

I made this mix to include in each of my Christmas gifts this year, along with some homemade vanilla bean marshmallows. It’s rich and chocolatey, with the perfect amount of salty caramel flavor. It’s so perfect for a cold winter night being curled up on the couch with a big cozy blanket!

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