52 for 52 Weeks 18 and 19

Hello.  Well time slipped away from me with the 52 for 52 project.  So I'm posting 2 recipes together.  They are both raw veggie salads, but with different veggies so it isn't cheating.  My family liked both of these, much to their surprise and mine.  The first one is Bon Appétit's Celery Salad.  This was light and crisp and went very well with our macaroni and cheese.  Also I don't know about you but I always have celery in the veggie drawer.  It's nice to be able to use it for an actual dish now and then.  I used walnuts and not as many dates.  It turned out great and kept well for lunch the next day.

The next recipe is an asparagus salad.  This is just beautiful with fresh local asparagus, please don't try this with something icky from the supermarket. I served this last night with Indian Spiced meatballs and couscous.  The family ate it all up.  I found the original recipe in Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden, but again I altered it for my grain free daughter and with what I had on hand on hand. Again it was delicious.

Asparagus Salad

1 pound of thinly shaved asparagus - purple is fun if you can get it.

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

chili flakes

salt and pepper

good quality olive oil -about 1/4 cup or maybe a little less -depending on how wet you want your salad

Just mix everything together and adjust seasonings.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

A Wednesday Morning in Quarantine

Hello! As I was enjoying my Wednesday morning the creative photography bug came to me to take random pictures.  I thought I'd share some scenes of what this morning looked like.  I got up at my usual time and practiced yoga.  By the time I came upstairs from my yoga area the temperature had climbed 10 degrees and promised to be a beautiful day.  

I had a breakfast of fresh fruit, soft boiled egg, and 2 slices of walnut cinnamon swirl bread from Great Harvest bread that I had in the freezer. 

Moved my computer into our makeshift second office since my girls were taking finals in the main office. 

Got outside in the early morning - some scenes from my yard.

I'm trying to be patient for the humming birds to come back. 

I love bleeding hearts.

Enjoyed a second cup of coffee in my sun room.  I have a lot of plants in there too. 

Made my son s'mores pancakes for breakfast.  I've been making these for years.  I use 2 leftover pancakes, warmed up.  I spread Nutella between the 2 and top with fluff.  Then I put it under the broiler for a few minutes until it's like a roasted marshmallow. He loves this.  It also works with a leftover waffle. 

The dog, Magic. She always finds a sunny spot.  

I hope your Wednesday morning was just as lovely.

Stay well!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 17

Hello and happy May! I can't believe honestly how  the time has gone by.  It's the first weekend of May and it is beautiful. The sun is shining and I had breakfast outside.  If you've read my blog before you know I'm a huge fan of eating outside. It just puts me in such a happy place.  This weeks new recipe was hidden veggie pasta sauce.  My husband and son are not big fans of too many veggies so I'm always trying to get just a little more something for them.  This worked.  No one was any wiser to what was in the sauce.  I must credit this to my daughter Madeleine.  This was all her idea.  We served this with grilled chicken and a local green salad with a papaya seed vinaigrette. A great spring meal. 

Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce  - this makes about 6 side dish servings

1 1/3 c marinara - please use a brand without extra sugar - I like Silver Palate

3 t nutritional yeast

11/2 t Italian seasoning

2 cups chicken broth - or one can is just fine

2 cups shredded carrots

1 t garlic powder

4 cups riced cauliflower

salt and pepper to taste 

Blend in a blender and warm through on the stove. Top with either more nutritional yeast or cheese.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Some Delicious Meals

Hello! I hope this post finds you healthy.  I thought today I'd share some delicious meals I've been eating during our safter at home time.  I must say since I do have some more time in my day I've been enjoying some pretty delicious food.  I'm also very lucky to have several local farmers that I shop from as well as relatively well stocked grocery stores when I do go. Luckily, cooking has always been a hobby of mine so the fact that I can do more is okay with me.  On with the eats...

Breakfast: Avocado toast with sunny side up egg, spinach and micro greens.  I used my homemade bread, yum and served it with a mango - a nice change of pace.

Scrambled eggs, topped with sauerkraut, kale salad, spelt banana bread and a kiwi.  

Lunch: Lentil salad with vinaigrette, tuna, celery, olives and capers.  This was nice and briney and kept me full until dinner which is  along time. 

Mini baked flaffels.  I served these with a quick sauce of cottage cheese mixed with dill, garlic powder and salt and pepper.  On the side I had pickled veggies and some local hot house tomatoes.  What a treat!

Sunday lunch outside! Tuna Spanish fritata, topped with those same tomatoes and kale salad. I also enjoyed a glass of wine in the 60 degree sunshine! Yippee!

Dinner: Red wine spaghetti with red onions and sausage. I served it with local salad greens and red wine.  This was a great way to start the weekend. Again something a little different, and new.  I think next time I might ask my husband to make homemade pasta for this.  

It's morel season! Chicken thighs with peas, ramps and morels.  I served this with wild rice and roasted parsnips - since I had some left in my veggie drawer. 

Sunday dinner was mac and cheese and celery salad.  I'll post the recipe and thought for the celery salad later this week.

I hope I have left you with some inspiration in the kitchen.  

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 16

Hello! I hope you are staying healthy, both mentally and physically.  That is something I pray for everyday in my family.  Well finally the weather is starting to get a little more spring like.  We're working on tilling our garden and new spring veggies are showing up at my local farmer stand.  Yippee!  As I mentioned in past posts my daughter Madeleine needs to eat grain free.  So I'm always looking for recipes that either are grain free, that the whole family would like, or recipes that I can easily convert to grain free.  We always call this Madeleine friendly food.   This last week is my grain free version of almond encrusted tilapia   from 100 days of Real Food.  I'll be honest I had to make the sauce twice because the first time the phone rang and I burnt it. Oops! However if you have all the ingredients its super easy to put together a second time.  

Almond Encrusted Tilapia with Modified Beurre Blanc

1/4 cup white wine or dry vermouth

2 T cream - divided

1 stick of butter - divided

4-5 tilapia filets (I bought mine frozen)

1 egg -beaten

1 cup or a little less of almond flour - just enough to dredge the fish

fresh Parmesan - about 1/4 cup

salt and pepper to taste. 

1. Pour white wind and 1 T cream into a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook gently until it is reduced by half.

2. Meanwhile dredge the fish in the egg and the almond flour mixture

3. Heat a large skillet with 2 T of butter and start to cook the fish - you'll get a brown crust.  Wipe out the pan and add more butter to cook the remaining round of fish if everything doesn't fit into the pan at once.  When you flip the fish if you would like add a small bit of fresh Parmesan cheese on the top.  It is very yummy. 

4. While the fish is cooking check your sauce, and add 1 T of cream and then 4 T butter. Keep sauce on very low heat and whisk until nice and thick. 

5. The fish is done when it flakes or just a bit before, remember there is carry over cooking time.  Remove from heat and top with the sauce.

I served it with roasted local red cabbage and roasted potatoes.  We served our house chardonnay to drink. 

Bon Appétit and stay well,

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Art During Quarantine

Hello! As I mentioned in a past post I'm really trying hard to include time in my day for creative pursuits.  One of my favorite is drawing and painting.  I've always loved art.  I have a B.A. in Art History, and I've always loved painting. Honestly it is something I've always tried to do more.  Well now I have time.  I thought I'd share some sketches etc. that I've been working on in the afternoons.  

I picked some daffodils so I would have something lovely in the house when it was cold outside.

First time using Prismacolor pencils. I'm a fan.

Charcoal and pencil

Gouache watercolor - I love the bright pigments

Bookmarks with Gouache 

Charcoal -bananas on the counter

Oil pastels and charcoal 

What creative pursuits have you been doing?

Stay healthy

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Fruits and Veggies during Quarantine

Hello!  I'm truly thankful to say that fresh fruit and vegetables are not things we are lacking in our grocery stores. I know some people are, but thankfully we are not.  Honestly for the most part I eat local fruits and veggie that I grow or get from my farmers' market. Right now I have a great farmer who delivers to our door!  Thanks Rick!  So last Sunday my eldest daughter, Madeleine, and I thought can we still eat 30 different varieties in a week, after reading about a 30 day post in Eating Well magazine.   We decided you needed to eat about 1/4 cup of something to merit putting it on the list.  We did it.  She finished 2 meals before I did, but I still did it.  I thought I'd share some meals where I sneaked in a few more varieties.

Here's the list -

Lunch ideas: leftover pizza from the week before that I topped with olives, mushrooms and spinach. I served it with kale salad and 1/4 c radishes.  

Another day- quinoia veggie sauté. I do this alot.  The new veggie was snap peas that needed to be used soon and pea shoots. (I also had more mushrooms and spinach)

Breakfast - Harissa baked eggs. (There are bunch of tomatoes in the sauce). We served it with socca, a chickpea flour bread. This was really yummy. 

Dinner - A double veggie of roasted brussel sprouts and cranberries, from my freezer.  I served it with hummus baked chicken and pasta with lemon cream.  My husband made homemade pasta. 

Some other ideas include smoothies (we had 2 different types over the week), of course a snack, omelets with veggie filling and fruit on the side, and a fruit based dessert. Yes I think it counts.  

Give it a try!

As always with love from the Midwest and stay healthy and safe,

Beth