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 

52 for 52 Week 29

Hello and happy Sunday!  It's a quiet morning here so I thought I would take a few moments to write a post.  I may be a bit short on my 52 for 52 challenge, but as I said last time we'll see when the year ends.  Recently I made refrigerator pickles.  I've never done pickles with cucumbers either canned or refrigerator style. However this year I have a bumper load of cucumbers from my 2 plants and my CSA.  I've given some away, but I needed to do something else with the cucumbers.  My sister in Boston sent me this link for easy refrigerator pickles.  This could not be any easier.  I cut my cucs a little on the thick side, okay really thick, but they are nice and crunchy.  Just the way I like them.  I think I'll be making some bread and butter pickles for my husband to use some more.  I highly recommend this recipe if you need to do something with an overflow of cucumbers and your friends don't want them all.    I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and start to your week.

As always with love from the Midwest,Beth 

My Midwest Life August 4th

Hello there! August! My how the time flies.  I've spent the majority of this past week taking care of an overload of veggies among other things.  It's quite cool here for August so I thought it was a perfect time to sit down at the computer and write my blog post. 

Magic has definitely been enjoying outside time.  She loves to sit in the sun as much as possible. 

I have an absolute ton of cucumbers this year.  So I thought I would try refrigerator pickles; we'll see  it it works with regular cucs. 

A wonderful summer lunch, all green except for the hummus.  Zucchini Soup, which I'll serve warm or cold, and cucumbers with hummus. 

A highlight this summer has been foraging for wild mushrooms.  This last trip we found chanterelles and lobster mushroom. 

My mushroom monday omlettle gets some chanterelles this week.  I served it with peaches, blueberries and cracked wheat bread with peanut butter. 

Melons are finally in season here.  I served mine with blueberries and local currants.

More zucchini soup topped with chanterelles and tomato (from my garden) and burrata salad. A feast for lunch! 

I've spent a lot of time in my apron this week. 

I made corn salad and canned it.  My daughter, Sophie, and mother-in-law love it. 

I also started making pesto to freeze for the winter

The haul from my garden this morning: zucchini, green beans, tomatoes (early girls, midnight snacks and sun gold.)  I really love the sungolds and midnight snacks.  

I hope you have a spectacular week and stay safe and healthy.

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

52 for 52 Week 28

Hello all! I hope you are doing well.  My weeks are starting to fly by and it's the end of July today!  Wow!  This week's new product is these juice shots from Numi Organics.  I've been able to try them as a sample here and there from a friend and I really enjoy them.  They are expensive but yummy.  The mind tonic has coco and coconut along with rishi and lion's mane mushrooms.  I wasn't sure about them at first but the flavor really grew on me and it's just this delightful richness. I also really love  the immune support.  This was a love right away.  If you are into juice shots I would recommend giving them a try.  Amazon sells a sample package.   I love just trying something new now and again.  

Have a great weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life July 24

Hello again!  Well this week has been kind of quiet. We went up to Door County again for a few days; I'm grateful to get away here and there.  I've also been working on putting away peaches and other food from our CSA.  It's a lot of work but I'm always super happy during the winter. I've also been doing some school work for the upcoming year getting ready for some sort of online teaching.  We still don't know what is happening.   But here are a few pics from the week.

Cocktail hour in Door County with a rosé.

Juniper trees are all over the county.  I think their berries are so pretty.

Another gorgeous view from Peninsula State Park.

Pasta salad for lunch with Banza pasta, cucumbers, herbs, feta and vinaigrette (white wine and olive oil) dressing.

I started making dilly beans.  I get a lot of requests for Christmas presents.  These beans are from my CSA and my plants are starting to bud.  

We have 2 boxes of peaches at the moment so I made a feast for lunch yesterday: peach, prosciutto and buratta salad with balsamic vinegar and zucchini fritters topped with tomato jam from last year. 

More peaches went into peach salsa too. 

Oh and peach muffins.  I use a recipe from Cookie and Kate for strawberry muffins, but sub peaches for strawberries - they work out great. 

I hope you had a great week and have a lovely weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 27

Hello! I hope you are doing well this week.  I may be a week off from my 52 for 52.  Oh well I'll see at the end of the year. This week I tried a different recipe for teff flour pancakes.  The picture may not be beautiful, but these pancakes were delicious.  I have another recipe from Run Fast Eat Slow, but they are pumpkin based and sometimes in the summer I don't want pumpkin.  If you never have used teff before the grains are crazy small.  Also if you have time let the batter rest for at least 10 minutes, my other recipe said for overnight if possible but I didn't try it with this one. I don't always think that much ahead for my breakfasts.  I love maple syrup and these pancakes sucked up the maple syrup - just a word of warning.  I served them with seasonal fruit; right now it is peaches, blueberries and raspberries. Please give teff a try even if you are not gluten free, but maybe this is something you can pass on to for your gluten free friends or family.  They really are delicious.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth