My Midwest Life October 8

Good Morning! I'm writing this blog in shifts this week.  I just sometimes don't want to sit down at the computer again after "teaching" from a computer all day. I know a lot of you feel the same way. So here's last week's recap to keep my time short.

I picked what I thought would be the last zinnias, thankfully it wasn't. I love having my own flowers in the house.

I had some savory crock pot steel cut oatmeal a couple of days.  Definitely a fall and winter favorite. I topped it with leftover broccoli, kimchi and a poached egg. Delih!

Sausage with apples, cabbage for dinner.  This was a new recipe.  I would say it was okay.  I have a recipe with grapes that I prefer, but hey fun to try something new. 

A frost warning: had to bring in the plants. Luckily I had space, and a lot of dirt to clean up when I put them outside the next day.

Celery from my CSA, cool!

A Saturday breakfast of buckwheat pancake, sausage and topped with pears, pecans and of course maple syrup. 

The dew last Sunday on my morning run. This is probably my favorite photo from the week.

Another view from my run.

My haul from the fall farmers' market.  I love the farmers' market. 

My first carrots this year. I think it looks more like a bush! I think they are the best carrots I've ever grown. It helps I thinned them out earlier on, like you're supposed to. 

I hope you have great week and stay healthy!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

 

My Midwest Life September 27

Hello! Well as I write this about the last week of summer the trees have all of a sudden changed color and the temperature is cooler along with cloudy skies and the smell of fall is in the air.  But the past week was like we knew we had the last bit of summer to get in.  Even the foods I ate are the last of the summer.  

For lunch yesterday I made this corn quinoa chowder from Hummusapien. I made it in the Instant Pot and subbed black beans for pinto - since that is what I had. It makes a lot so I probably have lunch for at least 3 days next week.  This is always a plus. I served my summer feast with the last of my garden tomatoes, mozzarella and  basil.  Of course I served it with  glass of Prophecy  rosé.  It was lovely. 

Breakfast this week used up the last of my ratatouille.  Also an only make in the summer with local veggies. And I finally got back to making smoothies.  This one was a kale and peach smoothie from Kelly Leveque's second book. 

The highlight of last weekend was a walk around the Sturgeon Bay land trust canal walk. These are miniature "trees" in the wooded area.  They look like baby trees.

Of course I love the lake.  The is the opening to the Sturgeon Bay canal from Lake Michigan. 

On the beach, my happy place! 

Looking into the canal and the Coast Gard Station.

More beach of course. 

Got to the farmers' market too and picked up ginger yesterday.  I've never seen it for sale so of course I bought it.  

I hope you have a great week.

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

 

My Midwest Life September 18

 Hello there! It's been a while since I've done my random pictures of what's going on lately.  I've been busy with virtual school, and sometimes I just don't want to do anything more with a computer.   However I've still been able to have some fun, get outside and make some good meals.  My husband went to the farmers' market for me Saturday and came back with 40lbs of tomatoes, and some other things as you can see!  Needless to say we spent the weekend canning tomatoes.  

I've been having cereal lately for breakfast, just something different.  I love the Ezekiel Brand almond cereal. There is no extra sugar and it has some protein. Today I added extra peanut butter, apples and flax seed.  I served it with almond/coconut milk.  Yummy and easy!

The sunrise the other day on my run. 

Last weeks dinner of filet mignon topped  with a quail egg, wild rice, foraged mushrooms and roasted cauliflower.  I felt this was bringing the summer and the fall together.

Book club was on a rainy Saturday morning. We sat in a garage, with Bloody Marys, which her daughters help decorate; it was so cute. 

Another end of summer dinner: artic char with the last of the herbs to make pesto, buttered tomatoes and chanterelle risotto. 

My mother-in-law gave me flowers.

They inspired a painting of course. It's nice to be creative.

Looking to the golf course in Door County during cocktail hour. 

I hope you are staying well and are enjoying some of life's little things.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 31

 Hello!  As you may know if you've looked at some of my past posts Chris and I have been doing a lot of mushroom foraging.  A new mushroom we picked was mycelium, our's was either lion's mane or a coal tooth.  Don't worry we had them checked out by a delightful woman, Sharon, who runs Door Karma Farms in Sister Bay Door County.  I've had lion's mane that I purchased at the farmer's market before so it is not a new mushroom.  However what was new was the preparation.  Super simple and and made a nice sautéed side for a simple protein.   I've included 2 pictures of the mushroom, both whole and cut up.

Sautéed Lion's Mane

In a skillet with that is big enough for your mushrooms add a good quantity of unsalted butter.  Please use unsalted.

Sauté the mushrooms until they start to wilt and add either Worcestershire sauce  or soy sauce.  1-2 tsp is really plenty and continue to sauté until done.  

That is it, super easy!

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life September 3

 Hello!  It's been along time since I posted a Midwest Life post.  A lot has been going on, yet at the same time its all been surrounding the start of school.  For the moment my (and my son's as well) school is virtual.  Perhaps in the future we will be a hybrid school. This whole summer I've been doing quite a bit of work, but this last week we've had in-service and the actual start of school.  I thought I'd include the picture of my classroom without students.  It's really a different place; yet I am blessed that I get to go to work. 

Of course other things have been going on like a trip to Door County, food preservation and of course cooking, eating and drinking wine.    I'm making sundried (ok dehydrated) tomatoes.  I packed them in oil.  I'll try them this weekend so hopefully they're delish. 

I'm also trying sauerkraut again using the Ball pickling and fermenting lids.  So far so good no weird stuff growing in the kraut.  It is just not tangy enough yet, so I need to wait. 

We also made 10 pints of tomato sauce. Yup I had to get 2 pots out to start with. 

My CSA box dropped of local beans, black, red and pinto (I think). 

I finally caught a humming bird at the feeder.  I just think they are so cool, no reason why. 

Painted some more. 

Sunrise on a run.  The picture doesn't do it justice. 

A new foraged mushroom, lion's mane, or something within that family. 

I hope you've had a great couple of weeks and a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 30

 Hello friends! Wow time is going by super fast as I get ready for school.  There are a lot more things to learn and do this year.  However yesterday I took time to create a lunch for me that I can have for 4 days.  Vegan Bean Burgers.   This is a super simple recipe that makes 4 patties. I'd share the link but my daughter printed the recipe and I don't see a URL.  I know they may not look super cute, but they taste delicious.  

Here's the recipe:

1 can beans of your choice

1/3 cup flax seed

1/2 cup cooked vegetables

1-2 T sauce of your choice

Mix everything in a food processor.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes.  Flip the burgers at 10 minutes. 

For these burgers I used black beans, roasted cabbage and BBQ sauce, Stubbs original is my favorite.

I dressed them up with tomatoes from our garden, avocado, feta and a little sauerkraut for some crunch. They were delicious.

So the sky is the limit with possibilties of bean and veg choices, maybe you can add more spices if you want something a little spicier too.  Have fun and prep a few lunches while you're at it.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life August 18

 Hello friends! Wow has it been a busy week or so.  My husband, Chris, my son and I went up to a last summer get away to Door County, we've moved our 2 daughters back to Madison, in apartments, and I'm getting ready for school.  However along the way I took a few pictures.  I hope you enjoy. 

Our garden is still doing well. This is one day's harvest.  The black and red tomatoes are new this year, Midnight Snack.  I highly recommend. 

Sunday morning breakfast as almost always.  Still have our peaches from Tree Ripe, Michigan blueberries and sausage from my favorite butcher.   

Dinner one night: pork schnitzel, sliced garden tomatoes, roasted local cauliflower,  and individual spoon breads. 

The mom and baby turkey have been a regular siting in our garden.  They are so quiet and fun to see.

Lunch the other day.  Grilled whitefish tostada.  I topped it with a quick salsa of corn, tomatoes, red onion and oregano. Yummy!

Yes we've still found some mushrooms.  We've dried a few lobster mushroom; I'm looking forward to using them in the fall and winter. 

I also made and froze mushroom duxelles.  I'll use these in sauces, in ravioli and maybe something else.  Let me know if you have an idea. 

I pulled out the sketch book after I read a poem about sunflowers and saw several fields on our way up to Door County.  They really are a happy flower.

Finally I have zinnias! The rabbits ate some of my earlier ones, or it could have been a deer I saw in our garden too. 

I wish you safe and wonderful week.  

Until the next life update,

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth