My Midwest LIfe February 6th, 2021

 Hello! It's a cold afternoon in Northeast Wisconsin. We got about 6 inches of snow Thursday and now it's bitterly cold. The snow is here for a while.  It's time to just stay inside and enjoy some of the inside things I like to do.  Currently I'm reading Belonging. It is a fascinating book about finding out who you are.  The illustrations and the way the book is put together is really interesting.  I don't know if reading it on a Kindle would do it justice.  I've also been cooking a lot, knitting and working on my art.   I'm also blessed to have a treadmill so I've been watching Brigerton while I'm on the treadmill.   

Speaking of snow I took this picture before our extra 6 inches came down. I love the sun setting in the distance. 

A few days later,  4 pm

5 pm - I love how the light changes. 

I'm working on growing more plants.  Greenery is so good to have around the house.  These are grapefruit seeds.  I need to get them in some potting soil pretty soon.

My sister-in-law gave us this grow pod, yummy fresh herbs in the winter. 

As I said, I've been working on more art.  Watercolors inspired from a walk.

I might do more of this, make it into a whole word or on a different medium. 

Of course some good food.  Italian quinoa soup. I used black beans and veggies I had in the freezer and fridge and less cream.  You could make this vegan, by subbing plant milk and nutritional yeast.  

Also so proud of this breakfast: local eggs, topped with local micro greens, homemade cracked wheat toast topped with raspberry jam from local berries, (not local peanut butter -but no sugar) and peaches I canned last year from Tree Ripe Citrus. 

And what could be better than a filet mignon with a red wine sauce, mashed potatoes and broccoli and a Spanish red on a a cold night. 

I hope you have wonderful week and find ways to bring joy and creativity into your life.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

Inspiration from the Kitchen

 Hello! It has been a while. Over the past few weeks I've just been enjoying time with my girls before they went back to school in Madison.  So I took a break from posting. However I haven't taken a break from making nourishing and delicious meals for myself and my family, because hey I'm worth it.  We all are.  So on with a little inspiration.

Breakfasts: Slow cooked PB and J style steel cut oats.  I served the oats with Smuckers peanut butter, thawed blueberries, hemp seeds and a little extra collagen for added protein. I had a small glass of sweetpotato juice too.

Madeleine gave me this idea. Sautéed frozen peppers and onions and I then add my eggs to scramble.  I top it with Tajin and avocado.  I served it with a strawberry rhubarb muffin from my freezer.  

Simple French toast made of cracked wheat bread. I added more peanut butter and the banana. A perfect winter morning dish on a day off. 

A few dinners: We had tacos with guacamole and black beans. I made a simple arugula salad on the side. 

Stromboli was also a requested dinner before Sophie left. I fill ours with prosciutto and cheese. I also made a simple green salad and sautéed mushrooms. We had a tomato sauce for dipping from the tomatoes I canned this summer. 

And of course a few lunches: A tuna melt with guacamole on top of the cracked wheat bread. I only had cheddar cheese but it tasted very good. I had a small bit of kale salad left and some roasted veggies. This made a yummy Sunday lunch. 

This may not look pretty, but it tasted good.  Lentils and mixed with sautéed mushrooms, my chanterelles from the summer and kale.  I served this over cauliflower rice and potatoes during the week at school. 

I've also enjoyed this chick pea scramble with garlic kale.  I made some energy balls too last week so they have been a little extra snack with my lunch. 

I hope this inspires you to take some time in your kitchen and make something delicious for you and your family.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life January 12, 2021

 Happy New Year!  I'm finally sitting down to write the first post of  the year.  We've been out on a lot of hikes in Door County these past two weekends, which has been great. The weather has been very mild for Wisconsin in January.  My book club met for a walk and talk Saturday morning.  This month we read A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson.  I enjoyed the book; it was a simple read and there were a few parts I could skip. But overall the book made me want to go out and hike.   Most of my pictures these past few weeks are from Door County.  It was just beautiful.

I also made a quick individual French apple tart for dessert one night.  The base is puff pastry and I top it with sliced apple and cinnamon sugar.  Cook for about 20 minutes at 425 (check the package directions on the pastry).  When it comes out of the oven I glaze the tart with apricot or peach jam. 

And of course Magic is ready for dinner.  Some things never change.

I hope you've had a pleasant start to the new year.

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

My Midwest Life December 31st

 Hello and Happy New Year's Eve! I love an excuse to celebrate. And what a great thing to celebrate the end of 2020. It has definitely been a year; we've had our ups and downs this year for sure.  But I thought I would still stick with my posts of my Midwest Life, a theme I really enjoy and will continue.  As I write this I look outside and see snow.  In the past few days it snowed about 5 inches so we are in a winter wonderland. It's beautiful; I just hate shoveling when it's wet and heavy. It makes it time to retreat indoors and get creative.  So on with the past week or so.  

Sunday dinner during the Packer game: Sloppy joes with lentils, baked sweet potato fries, arugula salad and a few homemade pretzel bites that my husband made. 

Monday I spent a relaxing morning reading and enjoying the Christmas tree. My book, A Walk in the Woods is a hoot.  

Tomato Soup for lunch. I used my own canned tomatoes, homemade chicken broth and dried herbs from the summer. I added some tomato paste that I had in the fridge and sundried tomatoes as well.   Delish!! 

A snowy 7 am.  So calm and beautiful. 

A snowy morning means pancakes for breakfast.  I topped them with frozen cherries.  The smoothie is peaches and greens from Kelly Leveque. 

I'm working on the most intricate cowl ever. I'm definitely learning new skills with this knitting project.  So far so good, but it might take the year to finish. 

Made sourdough bread with my local flour.

Made a rutabaga soup with mashed rutabagas and served with hummus deviled eggs and carrots with peanut dipping sauce. 

My husband gave me new watercolors for Christmas so I took time to play. 

I with you a happy and healthy new years!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

My Midwest Life December 18th

Good Morning! I hope you all are well this Wednesday.  I just found out last night that my son, the youngest, has been accepted to UW-Madison! Hooray!  He's so happy.  Otherwise these past few weeks I've been doing my Christmas thing, which I always enjoy.  We've been baking and eating cookies, looking at lights, enjoying Hallmark movies and listening to Christmas songs during dinner. 

I also made a squash chili in the instant pot.  I cooked my dried beans I had kicking around the pantry too, my squash from the summer and then cooked it all in the Instant Pot for 7 minutes. I love when I have lunch for the work week.

We went on a light viewing drive.  This picture doesn't do this house justice, but it is huge and fantastic.  

I made these coconut almond macaroons from Sally's Baking Addiction for my daughter who needs to be grain free. They were delicious and a welcome gift for St. Nick's day.

Speaking of St. Nick - here he is and he makes me happy.

We still had some packets of leftover turkey in our freezer, so turkey pot pie it is.  I thought I made way to much for 3 people, but my son ate all of the leftovers. 

Yummy breakfast one day - scrambled eggs with broccoli and kimchi and a slice of avocado toast with everything but the bagel seasoning.  

A snowy and windy Saturday morning. I stayed inside and read and did yoga.

I finally finished my hat I've been knitting and went to our local knitting shop for the poof. I'm very proud.

One more creative piece - another miniature painting. 

I hope you have a great weekend full of doing things that make you happy.

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

 

My Midwest Life December 3rd

 Hello! I hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving.  I also hope you have remained healthy so far.  We were able to see my parents and my mother-in-law on separate days this year at our home.  And now that Thanksgiving is done it's on to Christmas and holiday baking and decorating.  One of my favorite things to do.  I don't have too many pictures of this past week; I guess I've been too busy baking and getting ready for the next holiday. I started our Thanksgiving with a home edition of our local Turkey trot. A 5 mile run is always a good way to start the holiday.  

I followed with breakfast and of course a Bloody Mary for lunch. Lunch was a tuna salad full of veggies on homemade sourdough toast.

The table for Thanksgiving dinner. I like to use my good china and silver.

Pies, because I love them.  Apple and Pecan.  

The rest of the spread: turkey, roasted veggies, kale salad, sweet potato apple purée, potatoes dauphinoise, cranberry sauce, pickled veggies. 

Now our table is ready for Christmas time.  I picked up these darling napkins last year and the end of the season and it is so nice to use them.

Our Christmas tree at night. We always have a real one.

I just discovered coco nibs. They are delicious on my steel cut oats in the morning. The oats had the last of my sweet potato puree, coco nibs, hemp seeds and a touch of molasses.

Holiday baking: chocolate covered pretzels. Yum.

I'm also currently reading Pachinko for my book club.  It is long, but is really a worth while read. Since it is dark outside much earlier it's nice to have a good book.

I wish you a pleasant week

 And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth