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 

Images of the Holidays

Hello! Happy end of 2019.  I thought I'd share some images of the holiday season from the past few weeks.  I'm very blessed that I have a holiday break and this year it was delightfully long.  I was able to cook, host, travel to Door County, get to yoga classes and run outside! This last piece is really unusual for the last week of December.

I thought I'd share a picture of our family room.  I love that we have a wood-burning fireplace.  It makes the holidays so cozy.

I got a new Christmas apron which says "sleigh all day".  Too cute, who doesn't need a new apron?  

On an evening walk in Door County, my path was lit by a single star or planet and a crescent moon.

I went out for coffee with my middle daughter. I had the affagato with bourbon pecan ice cream.  Yum!

Just a few scenes from our house decorated for the holidays! I'm not sure when I will take it all down, but I love having the house decorated. 

I love a live tree; it always smells so good. 

Happy New Years,

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Christmas Lists

Hello!  Well Christmas has just finished, all of the Spode Christmas china is put away, the dishwasher is running, and now I'm relaxing by writing a blog post.  I've cooked 4 meals for 7 plus people and had family stay until today. All of this I love and I'm thankful I was able to do it.  How do I manage?  With lists!  I've created meals and purchased Christmas gifts all with the help of lists. 

The below picture is only one of the 2 lists I had going.  We celebrated Christmas Eve at my in-laws and I brought dinner.  That was a list in its-self.   The below list are the meals for Christmas Day, along with how far ahead I can make the item.  Some are just assemble at the moment, like Chicken Cesar Salad, others such as coffee cake I could make ahead.  Really whatever your meal is for a large group of people I highly recommend a list! 

I always think my table looks so cute, before we start the multiple meals on it.  Also talk about something else you can do ahead, set the table! If you have gusts staying for multiple meals let them set the table for the next meal.  Almost everyone knows how to set the table and people like to be useful.  I've learned that as I've hosted more get-togethers.  They may do something differently than you or at a different pace, but it is okay.  

We started our Christmas Day with Eggs Benedict.  I thought about making it for 9 people, brunch and then thought about poaching 18 eggs and decided no.  10 eggs for a family of 5 is plenty, plus making the Hollandaise Sauce.  So we enjoyed Eggs Benedict, grapefruit and coffee before we set out to 9 am mass. Even for this meal my eldest offered to cut the grapefruit and my husband whisked the sauce!  Take help when you can. 

Now here was an easy make ahead meal. Blueberry coffee cake, Florida Satsuma oranges, sausage (not pictured) and coffee.  Again people can take as much or as little as they want, eat when they want and feeling useful.  Also the dishes after breakfast were quite easy.  

So now the lists are away, except for the dinner plans for the rest of the week on the side of the fridge, and of course a few other lists of things to eventually get done, but that's it. 

I wish you a relaxing rest of the holiday season.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

Meal Prep Sunday

Hello! I wasn't planning on spending my Sunday cooking my meals for the week, but that is how it turned out.   I love looking at recipes so many times if I have a few free minutes I'm looking at blogs, reading magazines or reading my cook books. 

The other day I came upon a recipe for a cauliflower zucchini egg bake.    I thought it looked good and had potential to be a  grain free breakfast for my eldest daughter when she comes home for Christmas. Unfortunately, many of the easy to find convenience ingredients like enchilada sauce and taco seasoning are not grain free. I would have had to make my own if I were to make this again.    Honestly I thought the end result was just okay.  I would add more seasoning to begin with, 1/2 tsp is not nearly enough.  Also really follow the directions to get all of the moisture out of the zucchini.    All in all I would give this a recipe a 3 out of 5.  I think there is better.  I decided to eat it for the past several days and add salsa which really helped.

Next for breakfast I made one of my favorite juices.  I've mentioned it before.  This is a 1/2 avocado, a handful of spinach, 1 grapefruit and 1/2 cucumber, 3 ice cubes and 1/2 cup water that I put in my Vitamix.  It's super easy and keeps for several days.  

Lunch this week is Italian Quinoa Soup.  I've made this before, and I always love it.  The soup is packed with veggies, quinoa and beans.  I've substituted other beans for the garbanzo beans in the past and the soup is just as yummy.  I do add about 1/2 of the cream.  This warms up really well. I bring a container of it and a piece of fruit for a delicious lunch. 

If you have a little bit of time to prepare some things on the weekend it's totally worth it. It can save a ton of time and stress during the work week. 

Happy Cooking (thank you Jacques Pepin)

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

What I ate Wednesday 30

Hello!  Well I've certainly not posted every week as I had hoped to do.  However 30 weeks is way over half of the year, so I've done the majority of times.  It's snow covered here and about 30 degrees.  I just finished a walk with my dog and the the sky is dark at 5 pm and the Christmas lights are on.  They make me so happy.  As for yesterday's eats here they are...

Breakfast: Roasted veggies, 2 sunny side up eggs and a mandarin orange from Tree Ripe Farms.  I love their fruit. It's direct from a the grower and shipped or trucked up here.  I had the veggies leftover from Thanksgiving and honestly they are one of my favorite ways  to start the day. Of course I had a warm cup of coffee to drink.  The veggies are all from my local winter farm market: carrots, Brussel sprouts, and a little bit of broccoli.   

Lunch: Lentil and veggie soup and an apple. I made the soup over the weekend and had enough for 2 days of leftovers.  The apple is one of the last Honeycrips from the local orchard.  

Dinner: Macaroni and cheese, collards, and tomatoes from Mighty Vine.  I love mac and cheese and so does our whole family.  The tomatoes from mighty vine taste excellent.  If you can find some at your small grocer they are worth purchasing.  They are grown in Illinois and don't travel more than a few hours away from the source.  Whey I see them in the winter I always pick them up.

Dessert: Mocha Crinkle Cookies.  These chocolate Christmas cookies and have just a hint of spice.  They are perfect after a winter meal in December.  

I hope you have had an enjoyable week so far.  

Bon Appétit! 

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

November Round Up 2019

Hello!  Finally my computer is up and running and I'm able to log on to my account.  This gets to be such a busy time of year with all of the holidays, yet I really want to be able to keep up with my creative pursuits, blogging being one of them. I do feel that during the winter months there is a bit more time to sit and be or create.

Speaking of just being and a winter mind shift. This article about learning to enjoy winter with a simple mind-shift made me really think. To be honest I think a mind shift is essential for many things we encounter in our lives. 

I took this picture yesterday, December 1st.  I have a feeling we have a long winter coming. 

I found this recipe for left over cranberry sauce - a coffee cake. Yum.  I definitely want to try it. 

Speaking of food..I'm really enjoying these teff flour pumpkin pancakes from Run Fast Eat Slow. They're delicious with maple syrup and baked apples.  I want to try these cookies too using teff flour. 

What I've been reading: I just finished Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.  I can't really say I am a fan nor where many members of my book club.  I'm currently reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, and I really enjoy it.  It is about 2 couples and how their lives intertwine.  Part of the book takes place in Madison, WI; I always think it is enjoyable when you know the are that a book talks about.  

What I'm listening to: Christmas Music!! I must get it all in 25 days.  

I hope you've had an enjoyable few weeks, 

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

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