Photo: The Pioneer Woman

Tired of food… cooking… eating? We are definitely still recovering from Thanksgiving—I’m guessing you are, too—and so tonight is all about simple, quick sustenance. In fact, I’m going to get straight to it because, honestly, I’m even tired of thinking and writing about food. I still need a few days!
This is a staple recipe in my house. Another amazing dish from The Pioneer Woman (we also love her Simple, Perfect Chili). I am not exaggerating when I say that this takes 20 minutes. And not the television version of 20 minutes, where everything is already perfectly measured and prepped before cooking time begins. In fact, this is quick enough to qualify as a weekday, weekend or packed lunch.
Sometimes, when I’m super tired, we just eat the noodles plain or tossed with some frozen peas (my lame attempt to eat some green). Other times I quick stir fry chicken tenders (in canola oil with a dash of sesame oil, salt, pepper, soy sauce and rice vinegar) and broccoli florets. I’ve also added peanut butter before, to boost the sesame noodle flavor and add protein.
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Just yesterday I posted that I was sitting Thanksgiving out. But by now you probably know that I didn’t mean that literally. Right? I mean, I couldn’t keep from cooking all together. That’s just silly! I just meant that I’d make a little something something… like this Apple Cranberry Chutney.

Making a cranberry sauce was a risky choice. See, my mom isn’t that into cooking. She doesn’t have recipes to pass down, nor does she have any signature recipes. Well… except cranberry sauce, which is why I probably should have left it alone. But I couldn’t help myself. It’s so easy to make and, even though her recipe will always be the holiday recipe, I had to entertain some ideas I had for making it my own.
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Photo: Martha Stewart

I’m having such fun reading about all of the mouth watering Thanksgiving preparations happening in the homes of my favorite food bloggers. Tofu-less vegetarian feasts, turkey a hundred ways, roasted veggies of all kinds and tons of ridiculously delicious desserts. No such preparations are happening here, though. I’m a little disappointed, but it’s by choice. I’ll be hosting a low key Christmas and also cooking for Hanukkah, so I’m happy to sit this one out and cuddle with my ChowBabies while my mama serves up a feast.
In lieu of offering new Thanksgiving recipes, I’ve pulled together a handful of my tried and true ChowMama dishes that are perfect for the holidays. As always, these are quick, easy, healthy and will work for everyone at the table, whether 6-months or 60-years old. Enjoy!
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Photo: Martha Stewart

Food News, Things I Crave, Green Your Eats, Tips, Tools & Techniques, and the Weekly Roundtable (a roundup of the most recent ChowMama posts).

I’m going to take next Thursday and Friday off, so no digest next week. This is the last one until after the holiday. So, before we dive in, in honor of Thanksgiving, I want to say THANK YOU for reading and supporting ChowMama. A long, strange and sometimes very challenging journey brought me to ChowMama—and I couldn’t be happier that it did. I’m excited to keep growing and, in an effort to give you the most valuable resource possible, I will share an exciting update come the new year.
Also, I’ve decided to skip “Things I Crave” this week. As much as this girl loves to shop (especially for food and cooking related items!), I wanted to find a small way to express my gratitude for the things that I have. I’m lucky, thankful and know that, when it comes down to it, I don’t need anything more than what I’ve already got. I hope you feel the same. Have a great holiday!
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I love avocado. I’m envious of folks who live in places like Southern California where the fruit is local and abundant. Instead, I settle for avocados shipped thousands of miles that could stunt double for rocks. (Thankfully, they soften after some time on my counter.) Not perfect, but still pretty good. And the best part, avocados are super healthy. A nutritional powerhouse, they are especially good for your heart thanks to oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol.
Avocado is also a perfect family food. It can be fed to children as young as 6 months. In fact, it was the first solid food my oldest ChowBaby tried! It’s great on its own and mixes well with other early foods like banana, cereal, tofu, peach, and pears. And—yes, there’s more!—you can freeze avocado, mashed or in slices. Just expect a little browning (it doesn’t impact flavor).
Here are 6 easy, delicious ways to enjoy avocado.
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Many of you have likely heard of—if not experienced—the ravenous appetite that breast feeding causes, not to mention the cravings for sugar. The amazing thing is that, so long as you don’t massively overdo it, you can eat tons and still lose weight. It’s magical… so I hear.
For the second time, I’m experiencing serious milk supply issues. I won’t tell you what I went through trying to increase my supply for my first ChowBaby. This time, prepared for complications, I called my lactation consultant before my new ChowBaby was born. That led to an amazing doctor who refers to herself as the breast feeding doctor. With the help of these amazing women, I’ve come to learn that a) I have an underlying health issue (nothing too serious) that keeps me from making over a certain, small amount of breast milk and b) it’s not fair to my family, especially Isaac, to constantly breast feed in an attempt to defy my body’s nature. So, despite the pain it causes me (I know that sounds dramatic but, as should be obvious by now, feeding the people I love as well as possible is at my core), I am supplementing.
I digress!! More to the point, my breast feeding issues mean that I, sadly, do not have a ravenous appetite! Even more sad is that I keep eating as much as my breast feeding friends. I tell myself it’s fueling the little milk that I manage to make but, really, I’m just eating my way through disappointment and taking a little time before I start the post-baby weight loss regimen.
So, what’s this have to do with cookies? Isn’t it obvious?!
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