Eats in Madison, WI

Hello! I recently spent a quick overnight in Madison to see my middle daughter. Now I have 2 girls at the University of Wisconsin Madison which means more time in a city filled with great eating. 

 I arrived in Madison in time for a quick walk around one of the last farmers' markets with my middle daughter.  Next we had lunch at Miko Poke.  Our food was fresh, delicious and kept me full all afternoon.  I had a base of fall vegetables, rice and lettuce topped with Ahi. 

My middle daughter and I spent the afternoon painting at the Madison union and doing errands.  After that it was time for wine and snacks at my hotel.  I like to stay at the Madison Concourse.  It's right downtown and so easy to walk to everything.  We had some snacks and wine in the governor's club. 

We had dinner at Graze.    My main course of salmon, roasted tomatoes scallions was delicious but the appetizer selection was a bit small as was the dessert. I have been here for lunch and love it.  However this view is great -right next to  the capitol.

Bradburry's Coffee on the other had has wonderful crepes for breakfast.  I had a fresh made buckwheat crepe filled with pickled fennel, greens and topped with a fried egg.  It was a short walk from our hotel.  The coffee is also fantastic.  It's a tiny restaurant so get there early.  After that the two of us went on a morning walk along lake Mendota.

I met my eldest daughter for a quick lunch at Fair Trade coffee.  They have good salads and sandwiches also made to order.  This is the black bean burger on an Asiago bagel with a small side salad.  Way more food than I needed before I traveled home, but it was delicious

I hope you can try one of these local establishments if you find yourself in Madison.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

What I ate Wednesday 29

Hello!  I know it's been a while.  I'm still having troubles with my computer and I've really  missed posting.  Which really brought me to think why I post so much about food and a few other things.  I look at blogs for inspiration so really my purpose it to inspire you to try something new, be it a food, recipe, book or whatever.  

So here are the eats for Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jelly, baked apples and coffee.

I just love my baked apples. Honestly I'm on such a peanut butter kick right now I put it on all of my breads - it's a super easy filling breakfast.  I topped it with homemade peach jelly and hemp seeds. 

Lunch: Kale salad.

This is another make over the weekend.  I make a big batch and it keeps well for several days.  Today I topped it with smoked salmon, leftover corn (the very last bit from the farmers' market), roasted veggies and pepitas.

Dinner:  Broiled whitefish, steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes

We got the whitefish at the Green Bay farmers' market frozen so we could have it during the week.  I'm not sure why there is no whitefish catching aloud at this moment, but there isn't. I mashed the local Yukon Gold potatoes with milk, chicken broth, a little butter and salt and pepper.  The broccoli was also the last of  the fresh from the market. 

Dessert: French yogurt cake

I've shared this recipe before from Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard. It's super easy and last for several days.  I like to top it with my homemade jelly that I melted into a quick sauce and whip cream.  

I hope this inspires you for some delicious eating.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

A Week of Breakfasts

Hello! It was a busy week last week and continues to be this week.  On top of that we are having computer issues so it is not always easy to write a post.  However I squeezed in a bit of time today and the computer worked! Hooray! I thought I'd share a couple of quick breakfast ideas for the work day.  I usually spend about 10 minutes making my breakfast.  That means something needs to be pre-made or very quick.  Here's last week's eats. 

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday:

Egg cups, butter tomatoes, pumpkin bread, blueberries and peanut butter. 

What a delicious big breakfast and yes it took less than 6 minutes to make.  I made the egg cups over the weekend along with the pumpkin bread.  I just had to reheat it all.  The butter tomatoes (my new favorite) also just had to be reheated.  I just slathered on my Smucker's natural peanut butter and put some of the last blueberries on my plate and done! 

Wednesday:  Sourdough peanut butter and jelly toasted, baked apples.

I love toasted peanut butter and jelly, especially when it is my jelly (peach this time).  I also love my baked apples.  Again this takes about 6 minutes to prepare.  I just have to toast the bread and make the open face sandwich and heat up the apples I made the night before. 

Friday: Sunny side up egg, roasted veggies, pumpkin bread with peanut butter.

Roasted veggies from last night come together quickly with a sunny side up egg (again about 3 minutes) and they are a delicious combo.  Also you are starting your day with veggies and we always need more of those.  The bread just needs to be cut and topped with peanut butter.  

I hope this gives you a few ideas for your before work breakfasts.  

Bon Appétit!

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

September's Eatings, Readings and Doings

Found this article on starting your day out well from yoga journal.   I do a lot of these things and mornings are really one of my favorite times of day.

Speaking of starting your day well the Kitchn has some tips for adding protein to your breakfast.  I always have a protein rich breakfast.  If you read my What I ate Wednesday posts you know how much I like my eggs, but in case you are not an egg lover here are some more ideas. 

Lately I've been making a whole bunch of these buttery tomatoes with all of  tomatoes that have been coming in.  I love it as a side dish, on eggs or on savory oatmeal.  It reheats very well and keeps for several days in the fridge.

New wine I tried. Vinho Verde. This wine is a great sipping wine before dinner, maybe a celebratory lunch or anytime sitting on the patio. If you can find some, please do buy a bottle or two.

What I'm buying: Well I'm still at the farmers' market weekly and stocking up on winter squash and enjoying that last bits of summer fruit and veggies.

What I'm reading:  I just finished The Guest Book and enjoyed an evening with my book club ladies discussing it.  Currently I'm reading Ordinary Grace by William Krueger.  So far I'm enjoying it very much.  

What I'm watching:  I found the very first few seasons of Great British Bake-off on Netflix.  It just makes me want to bake more cakes and happy in general.

That's this month's round up.  I hope September treated you well too.  

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 28

Hello! Wow the days in September just go buy so quickly I hardly have time to make a blog post.  These days I find myself writing something over the course of a day or some posts over the period of 2-3 days.  We all have 24 hours, but wow the day passes so quickly.  Big disappointment of the week was my 1/2 marathon was canceled due to thunderstorms.  This was a huge disappointment for me as I have been training for months.  I'm going to try to run it on Saturday, but we'll see.   However, on to what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast: Ezekiel Cereal with berries

In general I like a warm breakfast, however during the summer months I found there were days that I just wanted some cereal. Yesterday I topped the cereal with the last of the local berries (sad), a scoop of Smucker's all natural peanut butter, hemp and flax seeds and almond milk.  I really love this combination, and it keeps me full until lunch time.

Lunch: Veggie curry on cauliflower rice.

I've made this veggie curry from Cookie and Kate before.  It just so happened that last weekend I was looking through my fridge to see what to have for lunch and I had every ingredient.  Even the coconut milk.  What I made on Sunday lasted for 3 lunches. Yippee!

Dinner: Cranberry beans, sausage and rice.  

I cooked the beans and sausage using my Instant Pot. I bought local cranberry beans and the end of the winter last year and finally found a use for them. They really need to cook for at least 30 minutes, if not 40. I did not do that. I made some rice for us in the oven and at the same time roasted some brussel sprouts. I also happened to have some leftover Zinfandel from the night before.  What a cozy dinner. 

I actually was quite full after this meal so I didn't have dessert. I know this is a very rare thing.

I hope you've had a good week or two creating memories and delicious meals in your kitchen.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 27

Hello! Well the weeks are just speeding by especially with school starting. I have several classes to prepare for which has been keeping my life after school very busy.  However I know it will calm down when I get more into the groove.  However I'm still always trying to make interesting and delicious meals for myself and my family.  Here's what I/we ate yesterday.

Breakfast: Softboiled egg, cracked wheat bread with peanut butter, melon, blueberries and of course coffee.

I've been trying to make different types of eggs during the school day this year. I must say it really doesn't take that much time to make a 3 minute egg.  I just make sure I start it first thing.  The peanut butter is Smucker's Natural; I really love it on my morning toast.  This way I know I'm not adding a lot of sugar in the morning. I love this breakfast because everything in the picture is local - okay maybe not the coffee or the peanut butter.  

Lunch: Kale Salad 

If you've read other weekly posts you know I love my kale salads.  I really can't get enough.  I can make a big salad and then have enough for several days of lunch.  Yesterday I added leftover shrimp, tomatoes, roasted peppers and broccoli and blueberries yet again. 

Dinner: Breaded chicken breasts, fresh corn and buttered tomatoes.

Breaded chicken breast is a family favorite. I always pound it evenly and thin, dredge it in egg and bread crumbs and saute it in olive oil.  I cook it about 3-4 minutes per side and serve with a lemon wedge.  Yesterday we also had some corn from the market and of course tomatoes at this time of year.  Please try this recipe it is delicious. The leftovers keep really well and are great of eggs and savory oatmeal.

I hope you are inspired to have fun in the kitchen. Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 26

Hello! Well I'm back at school and with that a busy September.  It always takes a few weeks to get back in the groove of things. The hardest thing is remembering to make my lunch. I always make it the night before along with my coffee in the coffee maker and a plan for breakfast the next day. It sounds silly but it works for me. 

Breakfast: Avocado toast, local sunny side up egg and local melon.  Of course there is coffee.  I still try to keep mostly local, but I had an avocado in my fridge so why not use it.  It always makes a great breakfast.

Lunch: Zucchini fritters topped with ratatouille.

I made a big batch of both of these for the week.  I figured the ratatouille is so good on a lot of things and fritters I finished up with this lunch. It may not look super pretty but it did taste good and reheated well; of course it was all local. 

Dinner: Homemade pasta, sausage, shishito peppers and chanterelles. (local veggies of course) (Wine not pictured)

My husband had  some extra time to make homemade pasta.  This dish is really just sauteing all the sausage and veggies together adding some herbs and garlic and about 3/4 cup chicken broth.  I then toss the past a in and add fresh grated cheese.  So easy!

No dessert- after the pasta I actually wasn't hungry.  

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth