52 for 52 Week 5

Hello again!  So I decided it might be a bit unrealistic to find something new to eat for dinner for 52 weeks out of the year.  I based this off of my family's requests for certain dinners, my goal to use what is already in the freezer, and time.  So this week I tried a new salad dressing for kale salad.  The recipe is a miso and tahini based dressing from Cookie and Kate. I'm not really to familiar with both of these ingredients so it was a newish ingredient and a new recipe.  I was a bit skeptical that the recipe didn't call for olive oil or have the salad rest for a bit to soften the leaves.  However I followed it and the salad turned out great. It was a little creamy and also kept for a few days.  

I didn't' serve the salad with the nuts or cheese since I wanted a more composed salad on the weekend.  But I'm sure it would be delicious.  My salad included a poached egg, an orange, 1/4 avocado and roasted cauliflower.  A very filling lunch.  I also brought the rest of the salad today for my school lunch, minus the egg. 

My other new food was a new tea, candied pistachio from my local tea shop.  It actually tastes like a dessert.  I love trying a new tea for snack or after dinner. 

As always I hope you are inspired to try something new, be it big or small.  

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 4

Hello!  I'm settling into my winter Saturday routine. That includes yoga, an indooor farmers' market (if there is one) and then a delicious breakfast.  Today it was buckwheat pancakes for 1. It's just me this morning so I thought I'd write my week 4 blog while I have some more coffee.  I've really enjoyed the challenge of trying a new recipe and/or food each week so far.  Hopefully I can keep it up.  

This week was Chicken Antipasto from Eating Well.   This was a delicious main course and very quick to put together.  The only ingredient I didn't have was pepperocinis; I forgot to pick them up on my weekly grocery shop and was too lazy to go back. Instead, I subbed capers and red pepper flakes, both of which I always have on hand.  It truly does pay to have a well stocked pantry. I served this with roasted potatoes and cauliflower. I always try to roast multiple things at once.  The recipe calls for broiling the chicken at the end.  My roasted veggies and potatoes just sat on the stove top for the 2-3 minutes that I needed to broil the chicken, and everything just worked out great. 

The next new thing I tried wasn't really new, a beet.  I've had them multiple ways but I really don't like beets, except for very few instances.  Today, thanks to a food demo at the farmers' market I found a new way.  This is a roasted beet on top of a seeded cracker, topped with blue cheese, carrots, arugula and balsamic reduction.  Maybe it's because I tasted a lot of blue cheese, which I love, that I enjoyed the small bite of beet.  But who knows?  Maybe I'll learn to love beets as I get older. 

That's all for now, keep trying new recipes and food to get out of the foodie rut.  

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

A Winter's Day

Hello! Well it's 5 pm and dark outside, pretty typical for Wisconsin in January.  I just finished shoveling the snow and thought I should sit down and write.  Yesterday I tapped into my creative side and mixed poetry with art.  I feel that I am at my most creative self during the winter. The past few times I have gone up to Door County I have been inspired to write a little bit of poetry. (I've often thought about writing a book.) This usually happens after I take a quiet walk by myself.  I love to go on walks with others, but sometimes just a quiet stroll to nowhere in particular can be just what you need. It forces you to listen to what is around you and allows you to hear yourself think.  As I sat down with my sketch book yesterday I decided to not copy something and try to create from what I know.  This was great! I didn't feel like I had to get something "right"; I just created.  I took a picture of the final creation, the pen and ink and the rewritten poem.  

I thought I'd also share some pictures of walks I've taken around the area in the past month. 

How are you spending your winter? 

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 3

Hello. It's been a different week here.  I'm finishing up one semester and getting ready for the next for work. I'm also trying to squeeze every last minute in with my girls before they go back to college.  However that being said I still got in a new to me recipe.  This week I tried butternut squash soup from Eating Well.  This recipe was incredibly simple to make and, I really liked the spice profile in the soup.  I made it on Sunday for lunch and served it with a small grilled cheese sandwich, made with cheddar and sourdough bread.  The combination was delicious and kept me full.  I brought it a few days later for lunch and it was equally good then.  I served it with the last little bit of curry chicken, it was a very orange lunch.

I also tried another new food for some of my family.  My eldest needs to be grain free so she's been eating a lot of chickpea pasta, from Banza. I tried it last summer and loved it.  I decided with our pumpkin sausage pasta to make the Banza pasta for everyone, and they ate it without any complaints.  It is much more expensive but it is a nice change of pace especially if you are serving a vegetarian pasta. 

I hope you are inspired to try a few new things this month and year.  

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 weeks 1 and 2

Hello! My daughter told me about a challenge she heard on the radio the other day called 52 for 52.  This really could be for anything, but we thought could we do 52 new recipes or foods for 52 weeks. Honestly I try to do something new each week but that doesn't always work out.  I also forget to take pictures - so hopefully I'll do better at remembering that piece. But I thought this would be a fun new weekly blog post, maybe instead of what I ate Wednesday.  Maybe you are up for the challenge as well. 

So here are weeks 1 and 2  

January 1 - Cinnamon Rolls from Ambitious Kitchen   

I've made quick cinnamon rolls before but not "real" yeast ones.  The idea of making these overnight made it so easy.  The next day I pulled them out of the fridge, the frosting ingredients and turned on my oven before I went for a run.  While they cooled I  quickly made the frosting. I will definitely make these again.

January 6 - Instant Pot Chicken and Sausage Creole from Pinch of Yum.   

I was a bit skeptical of this recipe because of the lack of ingredients. Boy was I wrong.  This was quick and easy. I made it grain free for my one daughter by carefully reading labels for the sausage and the creole seasoning. Most of the family ate this with rice, corn and salad. My eldest, Madeleine, at it with cauliflower rice and salad.  I had a combo of both rice and cauliflower. The leftovers heated up really well for the next day for my son's snack. 

I hope this 52 for 52 challenge makes you think of 52 new foods or recipes to try this year or maybe 52 new other things in your life.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth