52 for 52 Week 12

Hello!  Even in this crazy time I'm still finding new recipes or food combinations to try.  It's been almost 2 weeks, as I write this, since I have gone to the grocery store.  I planned for 2 weeks of dinners for my family that would give a variety, some old favorites and some new.  One of the new recipes we tried was a variation on my regular my sloppy joe recipe.  I added lentils to the meat in order to make our beef go further.  I really liked it.  Honestly there wasn't any taste difference.  I will say my husband did not care for it at all.  He doesn't like his beef messed with.  I served it with broccoli and for those who wanted it either bread for sandwiches or sweet potatoes.  It was a good comforting meal.

Sloppy Joes: (original recipe)

1  pound  ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup ketchup (or a bit more)

1 T vinegar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 t dijon mustard

1 t brown sugar

1 t paprika

Lentils: 3/4 cup dried lentils cooked in water for about 20-25 minutes. 

I added about 1/2 of the cooked lentils, but I could have easily added more and made more sauce.

The leftovers reheated beautifully. 

Stay well!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Recent Eats and More

Hello! I hope this post finds you well, both physically and mentally.  So much has changed for all of us in a week.  Last Saturday we were still wondering if our college children would go back in a few weeks, the answer is no.  We found out the Friday before that Monday was our last day of school with students, so my juniors last day of school for a while.  I now teach French completely online.  I'm learning a lot of new skills.  However, I'm still taking time to make delicious meals, enjoy my hobbies and in general try to enjoy the new "normal".  So I thought I'd share some delicious eats for the week.

Chicken Marsala, parsley buttered potatoes and roasted broccoli.  I love mushrooms and chicken. It's always such a comforting flavor to me. 

My eldest made me vegan mac and cheese, leftover roasted veggies and spinach.  Neither of us is vegan, but this was really good.  We also used Banza pasta which amped up the protein.  This is a make again. (Last lunch at school)

Leftover steel cut oats, topped with avocado, egg and micro greens, a kiwi and tumeric-ginger juice shot on the side. 

Chickpea scramble for lunch one day with spinach. I topped it off with 1/2 avocado and salsa.  This was delicious.  I also had 1/2 a honey crisp apple from our favorite farmer, who gets them from an orchard in Michigan - they are last years apples and still fantastic!

What else have I been doing? 

Exercising: Running, walking, and yoga (both on my own and virtual classes from my studio) 

Watching: Frankie & Grace, The Crown and finishing up Victoria

Listening: Podcasts while I fold some laundry and fining new music on Spotify 

Reading:  I'm a big fan of Julia Child

And of course I have to have a pandemic knitting project.  I just need to finish the thumb.  

Stay well,

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 11

A coworker of mine sent out this poem a few weeks ago to our staff. I loved it then when things were not quiet so uncertain,  and I love it even more today.  I am reminded that so many good things are for certain in this life, one of which is a family meal.  We may have less to talk about at the moment, but we are still sitting down for family dinner.  The Return by Jonathan Greene We are heartened when each year the barn swallows return. They find their old nests, teach their young to fly, lining up on the barn roof for their first flight. They remind us, for now, some rituals of this good earth continue. Of course another ritual I'm still trying to practice is a new food or recipe.  This week my daughter made me a homemade juice shot.  I'm not quiet sure what recipe she used, sorry.  However  I know it had turmeric, ginger, a splash of honey, lemon and cracked pepper.  We cut it with coconut water.  I felt instantly healthier drinking it.   Of course my entire breakfast wasn't too bad either: Steel cut oats (leftover from the other day), 1/2 avocado, sunny side up egg and micro greens  Stay healthy! And as always with love from the Midwest, Beth

52 for 52 Weeks 9 and 10

Hello! Well the snow is really starting to melt here. I'm so excited for spring that I've been trying to use up what I have in the freezer so I can get ready to save more seasonal foods.  This led me to trying a new blueberry muffin recipe from Jubilee.  I picked up this cookbook from the library because it was The Kitchn's February cookbook of the month.  There is a lot of really interesting history in this book.  I also found these cornbread blueberry muffins.  They use very little sugar along with whole wheat flour and lemon juice.  The result is a light not sweet muffin that is perfect for my breakfast.  I served it with scrambled eggs and more fruit and veggies this morning.  The recipe makes 8 muffins so that is just perfect: 4 for now and 4 to freeze. 

For week 9 I tried a new recipe for key lime pie.  I've made plenty of pies before, but since really just my husband and I enjoy this particular one I was on the lookout for a smaller version.  If you are smaller family the blog dessertfortwo is a great place to start.  I made this pie in a loaf pan and just made the slices horizontally and at an angle.  I really liked the subtle flavor of the lime here. I'm going to add zest of 2 limes next time.  I'm also going to make sure I have whip cream.  The pie got better the next day, so it's an easy make ahead dessert.  

As always I hope I've inspired you to keep cooking and trying new things or even if it's a simple change in a recipe!

Happy Cooking (thank you Jacques Pepin)

And as always with love from the Midweset,

Beth 

Some Delicious Meals Lately

Hello! I hope you are all doing well. The snow is starting to melt, and I feel a bit of spring in the air.  I've decided I really like this format of some of my favorite meals over the past week, or in  this case week and a half.  Recently it was my birthday so there were some extra yummy treats of course.  

So what have we been eating in our house?  Here it goes..

Croissants!  I don't usually make a special trip for croissants, but I was already at the bakery picking up a cake so I couldn't resist.  I paired it with my homemade cherry preserves.  Delish!

Crèpes complètes.  We had some extra ham in the fridge so I made crèpes for dinner and filled them with ham and cheese and topped with an egg.

Huevos Rancheros:  This was a great way to start my morning. Honestly I happened to have extra refried beans from a taco night in the fridge, tortillas and salsa.  In the morning all I had to do was heat up the beans, fry the tortilla and then the eggs. I also added some extra spinach.  

Another good breakfast: I had a small bit of cinnamon swirl bread left and it was getting a little old.  I made it into french toast.  This was a decadent start to my day. 

Cheese soufflé:  With the start of Lent, last Friday we had this for dinner along with French bread, and a green salad.  

I hope you are inspired to enjoy some yummy meals this week. You are worth it.  

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth