What I ate Wednesday 19

Hello! The time is going by so quickly; I can hardly believe this is the last post for May.  My school year is winding down, but I'm still busy with year end work.  I finally got the majority of the garden in, see last week's post, and the weather has been lovely, 70's and sunny.  On to Wednesday's eats.

Breakfast:  Soft boiled egg, avocado toast on homemade cracked wheat bread with homemade sauerkraut, mixed berries and coffee.  

I love soft boiled eggs.  I've finally perfected my egg. I bring the egg and water to a boil and then turn off the heat.  I cover the pot and let the egg rest in the  water for 3 minutes. I put cold water over the egg pick it up out of the pot and then let it sit a minute and crack it open. Yum!

Lunch:  Leftover cilantro rice, refried beans and mixed veggie (broccoli and green beans).  

My daughter brought some leftovers home from her office and so I got a little treat for lunch today.

Dinner: Chorizo and potato burritos, roasted cauliflower, salad with homemade creamy Parmesan dressing. For dessert I had a salted carmel chocolate chip cookie (not pictured). It was really good. 

This is one of my son's favorite meals and he has been asking for it for several weeks.  I finally got around to making it.  I added some frozen cauliflower and salad to add to the veggie total for the day. 

I hope you are inspired to play around in your kitchen.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

First I would like to take a moment of gratitude for those men and women who serve and have served in our armed forces to keep this country safe, thank you.

This weekend, whether we've been helping my in-laws or working on our own house, has been thought of as a gardening/work weekend but always adding in something fun.  This year was no different.

Saturday started with the Green Bay farmers' market, the first outside market of the season! Yippee!   The weather was also beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees.  There were a lot of plants for sale, and I picked up some fresh asparagus, canned pitted cherries without sugar, which are delicious, and brie from a local cheese maker.  

Next we put in our garden.  We put our black tarps down and put in the seeds and baby plants.  I got a bunch of plants this year from the Master Gardner Association of Door County so my zinnias are fully grown.  Hopefully I can cut flowers faster.

Sunday afternoon my eldest daughter wanted to go for a hike at High Cliff state park.  Again it was another beautiful day so I said okay. I always love a good hike. 

After our hike I planted some more flowers in pots on our patio.  I always love a little color.

I hope your weekend was enjoyable!

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 18

Well this was not the normal start to my day.  I woke up to the flashing light of my alarm and had a brief moment of panic since the power went out and I didn't know.  Fortunately I woke up 4 minutes before I usually would so I had time for my morning run.  I also knew I only needed a small breakfast at home because we were going to have a catered breakfast at school to honor our retirees.

Breakfasts: One piece of peanut butter toast with hemp seeds, pineapple, mango carrot orange juice (see last weeks post) and coffee.

When I got to school I saw no lights only to realize we had no power.  However our meeting went on without a hot breakfast in the dark.  I'm very picky so an overly processed muffin will not do it for me.

Snack: Hemp, date, espresso balls and a latte from  the local coffee shop.  

My eldest was off from work today so she made me the snack and picked up the coffee to keep her mom warm.  Love this!

Lunch: Black bean soup, tortilla chips for crunch and leftover quinoa veggie salad from my daughter's job.  

Dinner: Kielbasa, trumpet mushrooms, leek sauté with steamed broccoli and kraut with orzo pasta.  Of course a glass of wine too.

We had an awards ceremony for my middle daughter and dinner needed to be quick and easy.  This was.

Dessert: Gluten Free Rhubarb Crisp and a bit of ice cream.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart; I always cut it in 1/2 and now use GF oats so everyone can enjoy it.  

As always I hope this gives you inspiration in the kitchen.

Bon Appétit

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

Final Review of Run Fast Eat Slow and Run Fast Cook Fast

As I posted a few weeks ago I've been working my way through Run Fast Eat Slow  and Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky.  I've now tried several recipes and need to return it to the library. This is a book I would definitely recommend to purchase. The recipes are doable and are based off of real whole foods.  You can also keep it seasonal and local if you want; just choose what season you would make some of the foods. 

First as I've mentioned before I made the Can't be Beet Smoothie and I actually liked the smoothie - I would say I'm not a fan of beets.

The next juice I made was Carrot Orange Mango.  I also used my Vitamix for this as for the previous juice/smoothie.  I used regular  water and added 2 dates as the recipe directed since I don't have coconut water around.

The picture below is Tempeh Scramble with kale.  This warmed up quite nicely for lunch.  I forgot to post last week, but this is what I had. I paired it with 1/2 an avocado for a little more filling lunch. 

The Thai Quinoa Salad was also delicious, kept well in the refrigerator for several days and easy to make.  I took a bowl of this and a small bowl of carrot rhubarb soup for lunch for a few days last week. 

I've also made the Superhero Muffins.  They are moist and tender and are packed with veggies and fruit.  It's a winning combination.

I hope this post inspires fun in the kitchen and as one of my favorite chefs, Jacques Pepin, says "happy cooking"

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 17

Hello! Another week has quickly passed.  I've been able to get outside more for walks and runs which has been so appreciated.  Also are farmers' market, indoors, has started to have spring veggies.  What a sight for sore eyes.  I also tried a few new recipes as well.

Breakfast: Orange, mango & carrot juice, whole wheat parsnip bread with natural peanut butter, berries, scrambled eggs with spinach and coffee.  

The juice was another excellent recipe from Shalane Flanagan's Run Fast Eat Slow .  And I treated myself to scrambled eggs with spinach on a weekday because for some reason I had just a little bit of extra time.  Lots of great color to start my day; it makes me so happy.

Lunch: Kale salad with quinoa, chopped dates, dried pineapple, grilled local veggies of trumpet mushrooms, asparagus, and the last of the cipolini onions.  We grilled the veggies in our Ooni grill on Sunday, and I just kept them in the fridge for the week.  I added some strawberries on the side.  They weren't local but it is really nice to have a change of fruit.

Dinner: We celebrated my middle daughter's 18 birthday a few days early.  She requested grilled chicken Cesar salad and homemade croutons.  Of course my husband and I had some wine.  It was a chilly night, but again the salad was such a nice change of pace.

Dessert: Pecan Pie. 

 I made the crust the day before so I just had to roll it out after school and put the filling together.  

I hope you had a delicious week of food as well; Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

What I ate Wednesday 16

Hello! Another week has passed by so quickly. I've been spending a lot of time with my husband watching our son play tennis over the past few weeks.  It's a great sport.  Also in the early evenings I've been reading a lot for my book club.  Look for a future post of what we've read so far.   However on to Wednesday's food.  

Breakfast: Avocado toast on my homemade sourdough bread, spinach, sunny side up egg, a few tomatoes and coffee.  

This is really my favorite breakfast on a school day, or maybe any day. It keeps me full and with the spinach and tomato it's almost like I'm eating a salad.  I also use local free range eggs that haven't been washed so they can sit out on my counter.  They are really delicious, so I have one almost every morning.

Lunch: Leftovers from Tuesday night, quick king ranch chicken casserole, roasted broccoli and some black beans. The chicken casserole was a new try and all of my family liked it.

Dinner: Instant Pot curry fish, rice and roasted carrots, and some wine.  I used cod for this dish and again it was a winner for the majority of the family. I'll definitely keep it in my rotation.  I made some changes, so I'll have to type it up and add to my Instant Pot repertoire.

Dessert: Bourbon Praline Ice Cream.  Yum! And yes I finally remembered to take a picture. As I've said I really do like just a little bowl of sweet to end my day. 

Have a great week and Bon Appétit!

As always with love from the Midwest, 

Beth