Mexican Stuffing...? (Thanksgiving leftover casserole)

(Aplogies for lack of pictures, didn't realize I would blog this one until after dinner!)

I had: 3/4 box of broth, half bag of stuffing bread, a large amount of broken tortilla chips at bottom of bag, and half of a butternut squash.  My mom had also sent me home with a can of creamed corn and a jar of roasted red peppers. Usually always have canned black beans on stock which would be an easy protein.

My original thought was to use the bread and broth since it would go bad first, however, making normal stuffing after Thanksgiving was way to boring!  Plus I didn't have all the ingredients for that.  But "stuffing" using bread and broken tortilla chips sounded like fun!  Both will soak up liquid and become soft and yummy.
Thinking of my other ingredients, it became clear this was going to be a dump and bake casserole!

Instead of sauteeing a mirepoix like normal stuffing, I sauteed chopped butternut squash and onion.  I added salt, pepper, sage and cumin towards end.

In the meantime, get a large bowl and start dumping ingredients!  Bread, chips, creamed corn, (rinsed) black beans, chopped peppers, some grated cheese, broth, and as much other liquid as needed.  This can all be broth if you have enough, otherwise water, milk, wine, etc will also work.  Add more seasonings.  I added more sage, cumin, salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes. As always, get creative or use what you like. 

Cover and bake at 350-375 until hot throughout, then uncover and sprinkle grated cheese on top.  Bake until melted.

"Big bite."  Henry approved.

Turnip Potato "Stoup"

(Sorry for the delay, technical difficulties....)
My vegetable of choice at the grocery store was organic turnips.  I love turnips and it seemed like time.

They sat in my refrigerator for a few days until I had formed my plan of action.  I realized that I did not want to roast their tender and subtle flavor.  I felt that moist heat would serve them best.  I also had a half bag of organic potatoes in my pantry and after the pumpkin sauce, I also had a half container of vegetable broth.  This signaled only one thing: Turnip Potato "Stoup" (thank you Rachel Ray).
As for protein?  With soups like these, its easy to throw in a handful of quinoa toward the end and call it a meal.  Quinoa is one of very few vegetarian sources of 'complete protein' and is quite easy to cook.  As always, choose your protein of choice, or just enjoy a lower protein meal!

Soups are very easy and when you know the blueprint you are then free to make any kind of soup you can imagine.  1. Saute 2. Add liquid  3. simmer until done.  (Please note, sometimes soups can be done even easier with just boiling, or canned vegetables and a blender)

1. I started with the standard french 'mirepoix.'  A saute of onion, celery, and carrots with enough olive oil to cover entire bottom of pot.  This can become technical with exact ratio's etc.  But like usual, I like to keep it simple and use however much I want or have, omitting or adding as wished.  I also added half of the garlic I chopped.

After this has time to 'get happy' (thank you Emeril Lagasse) and has started to soften, add the chopped potatoes and turnips.  I add salt, pepper, and my hardy herbs and spices now so they have a chance to open their flavor in a saute before adding liquid. Because I think garlic's flavor can get cooked out sometimes, I waited and added the rest of it now so there would be less total cooking time.
The somewhat sharp horseradish flavor of turnip made me think of pickling which made me think of dill and then dill seed.  Perfect!  I had just dried and stored a jar of dill seeds last weekend and was wondering how I would use them.  They have a slight caraway flavor and I thought it would be tasty.  At the end I would add dried dill weed and fresh parsley.

You can get creative here potatoes, and probably turnips too, are very open to many flavors.  I'm sure thyme, rosemary, basil, sage would also be good.  You could also go Eastern and try Indian spices like curry powder, turmeric, cumin, etc.  Go with what you have and/or feel like.

2. Once everything is starting to get soft and stick to the bottom nice and good, add your liquid.  This can be stock or even plain water.  I usually use a mixture of both since store bought broths tend to have almost too much flavor/salt for my taste.  Add enough to cover everything in the pot and turn up the heat a bit.

Quinoa takes approximately 15 minutes to cook.  So I estimated when that would be (pretty soon after adding the liquid) and threw in 2 decent handfuls.

3.  Once its boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer and sit back until everything is tender and delicious.  Now you can add even more layers of flavor.  I added a little bit more dill seed so that some would taste 'fresher' than the first batch.  Also added chopped fresh parsley.  I waited until nearly done before adding dill since it is a much more fragile herb.  Again, use flavors you feel like.

At the end you can also choose to add a splash of cream to make this a 'creamy' soup or keep it vegan.  Another choice is to blend or not to blend?   I always appreciate some texture to soups but like the thickness blending offers.  So I usually use my immersion blender and blend half of the soup.  This basically creates a thicker base for the 'stoup.'  You can also use a blender if you don't have an immersion, and blend as much or little as you like!

I blend about half of the soup.

 Delicious, hearty, and healthy!

Pumpkin Cream Sauce with Pasta

Yes, I know, 2 winter squash and pasta recipes in a row!  Will get diversity next time, but trust me, this one is worth the monotony!  And great for a pre-'trick-or-treat' meal!

I'm always looking for savory pumpkin recipes so that I can use up the leftover can of pumpkin after making pumpkin cookies, scones, or pancakes this time of year.  Some of you might remember my very first meal on here and total blunder with the 'pumpkin encrusted tempeh' from last year!  yuck... So I was really excited when I saw a pumpkin pasta recipe on the back of my Kroger whole wheat penne.  I personally don't like following recipes (feels too restrictive and complicated and less creative in my opinion, but to each their own!), but they are great for getting ideas!  I just perused the recipe and got the 'gist' of it.
It was basically a pumpkin cream sauce with cheese, sausage and pasta added.  I can make that my own, and if Kroger thinks it's good, it must be good!

Of course this meant I had to make pumpkin cookies first!  Which made for a perfectly pumpkin day since we were going to carve ours when Cody got home.  :)

To start dinner get the pot of water for pasta going and the pan ready to saute onions and garlic.  I used a small white onion and about 3-4 cloves of garlic.  Add your choice of protein (or not.  Pasta has decent amount on own).  I was just going to use tofu, but the fake vegetarian sausage was on sale right next to it and I thought I would splurge!  I don't usually like to eat a lot of processed meat alternatives but this one actually didn't have any isolated soy protein, just gluten (main protein in wheat, barley, and rye) and tofu.  I am okay with an onslaught of gluten in my body once in a while!  Saute with some olive oil or coconut oil until onions are tender.

Then add some broth of your choice--maybe 2 cups or so, and the pumpkin.  I just used what was left of the can I had for the cookies, maybe 1 cup.  The recipe called for 12 oz I believe, just make as pumpkin-y as you like!  This is when you should add the spices and any vegetables you want.  I liked Kroger's idea of cinnamon and red pepper flakes.  I added a sprinkling of those and a dash of nutmeg.  I love nutmeg to add a subtle sweet/spicy depth to savory dishes, especially when winter squash is involved.  I also added some frozen peas.

Let this simmer for a while and reduce.  Towards the end add a splash of cream and let simmer a few more minutes.  If you wanted this sauce cheesy, add your choice of grated cheese now. 

Can someone tell me why sometimes my pictures are sideways?? Looks right side up when I upload.. I don't understand

 When pasta is done, add it right to the sauce pan.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.  We sprinkled some grated Parmesan on ours.  Seriously delicious!

Farmhouse Gourmet: Homemade pasta with butternut squash tomato sauce

Saturday night at the Thompson's house turned into a gourmet event!  But have no fear, like all my meals, still inexpensive and simple.  I promise!
We had a few of our last tomatoes and a small butternut squash that wasn't going to keep well.  I was thinking something simple for dinner like spaghetti and since it wasdecided to make a sauce with the tomatoes and squash. And, ever since my revelation with the ease and delicous-ness of homemade pasta this past summer, I knew this sauce, and our bellies, deserved this heartiest of noodle.
Start with the squash since it takes longest to cook.  I like to cut the top off from the round bottom before I cut away the skin.  Makes it a little easier and gives it a flat surface to put on cutting board (sorry for lack of pictures, didn't think to post until after!).  Cut the squash into small cubes, the smaller, the faster it will cook.  Get those sauteing on medium heat with olive oil.  While that is cooking, dice up a whole onion and your herbs of choice including a few cloves of garlic.  I was thinking that hardier herbs (sage and rosemary) are good with winter squash and Italian herbs (oregano and basil) since it is pasta sauce. 
Let the squash saute for several minutes and then cover it for a few more minutes to give it a head start before adding the onion, garlic, and herbs (wait to add basil until end since it is more delicate).  Let the onion get a head start before adding the chopped tomatoes.  Deglaze (add liquid to saute pan to remove stuck and delicious food from bottom) with balsamic vinegar or sherry or anything you desire.  Tomatoes will also deglaze with their juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

While everything is simmering in the pan, get started on the noodle dough.  A few months ago, I would have been intimidated by this but I promise it is easier and tastier than you think!  There are many recipes out there but I appreciate 'The Pioneer Woman's' recipe on her blog the best.  She breaks the recipe down to 2 eggs per 1 cup of flour so you can make as little or much as you like.  Plus she makes it without a pasta machine however, you can do either way.  Tonight, I decided to try cutting with a knife like Ree instead of using our little pasta maker.  The noodles were extremely fat!  Which is fine, roll it to your liking.
Get a pot of water boiling and add basil to the sauce if you haven't already.  Keep stirring and letting the sauce simmer.
I used 2 cups of flour and 4 eggs, mixing by hand then kneading a little bit on a floured cutting board and rolling it as thin as I could.  Cut the noodles however you want!  Then drop them in the salted boiling water.  They don't take long to cook, rule of thumb is they are done when float to top.  Take them out of the pot with a slotted spoon and add right to your pan of sauce.  Season with salt, pepper, and/or cayenne pepper to taste.  Serve with salad (trust me with noodles like these, you don't need bread!).  Sit down with your loved ones, a candle, and a glass of wine-- Enjoy!

Leftover Pasta Tuna Salad

Post Market Day dinner yesterday consisted of a simple garden zucchini and onion saute with butter, olive oil, and herbs over whole wheat pasta.  I made too much pasta for the amount of saute.  So I wanted tonight's dinner to clear some room in the fridge and use up the pasta.  A can of tuna and our garden would do the trick!

Tuna pasta salad.  I think of it as tuna salad with lots of veggies and pasta--mayo dressing with vinegar for some tang. We had tomatoes and cucumbers that needed eaten and lots of onions from farmers market trades.  Chopped those up and threw into the bowl of pasta and tuna along with the last of our carrots and fresh dill.  You can truly add any vegetable you have or like it doesn't matter.  We had just finished a jar of our 'refrigerator pickles' and the brine had become so garlicy, spicy, and delicious!  I couldn't bare to think of tossing it so I chopped up the garlic and used some of the brine as my vinegar.  A couple dollops of mayo, pinch of salt, pepper.
Cody brought in our very last head of lettuce and I topped it with the tuna salad.  Delicious!

Garden Harvest Pasta Primavera

We are lucky enough to have an over-abundance of kale!  (Seriously, anyone in the area who wants some, please stop by).  We also started harvesting zucchini and I had carrots left in the fridge.  There was half of a box of pasta and lots of lentils in the pantry.  Low on pasta sauce so I thought immediately of pasta primavera with a butter/olive oil/garlic sauce.
Wash and cut all vegetables using what you have in your garden or fridge.  I chopped up the kale, some zucchini, a yellow squash from a neighbors garden, and a few of our carrots.  I am not one to worry about cutting in a consistent size, because I don't mind if things cook differently.  I am a terrible French chef...

 Boil the pasta water and add lentils first, let them go for a few minutes before adding the pasta.  Then let the pasta cook for a couple minutes before adding all the vegetables.  I left some of the kale leaves out to add at end since they really don't need much time.
Since I think boiling onion and garlic eliminates their flavor, I chopped them up with the herbs and added at the end.  I chose fresh basil and dill but you can use any fresh or dried herb you like.
I also added a dab of butter and splash of extra virgin olive oil with some salt and pepper.  Delicious, fresh, and healthy!  Serve with a lemon slice for added flavor and nutrition (the vitamin C in the lemon will help you absorb more iron in the lentils).

Connie and Kale!

It was a perfect day:  Connie was here!  We ran at the park, we picked some kale from the garden, we made stir fry and cocktails...pretty sure doesn't get much better!

We definitely had fresh kale, but I was pretty low on other produce.  Pulled out some old carrots that were still good, onion and garlic of course.  And that was all we needed.

I chopped the carrots and kale.  Connie cut the onions into bigger pieces and I really liked it that way.  Seemed to enhance it's flavor and sweetness.  She also used rice vinegar along with soy sauce and the taste was out of this world!  I mean, we love stir fry's over here any way it falls on our plate, but this was especially tasty...

Stir fry usually means higher heat for a shorter time.  Turn off the heat at any point and call it ready when the vegetables are the way you like them.  Use olive oil, coconut oil, canola it doesn't matter.  If you wanted extra protein add some tempeh, tofu, or meat.  We just put ours over brown rice.  Delicious.

I will call it, "Mujadara Lasagna!"

Mujadara Lasagna

In my fridgerator I had a massive amount of lentils and rice.  I way over-estimated how much I would need for hosting 2 meals for friends.  I also had a nearly full jar of marinara sauce and a whole package of white corn tortillas barely touched.  We (I) was getting pretty sick of just rice and lentils for dinner so I decided to make a mexican style lasagna using the tortillas as noodles.  I have seen this done a couple times before.

I chopped some onion and garlic.  Sprinkled half on bottom of dish with some sauce.  The next layer were oiled tortillas overlapping to cover entire dish.  Lentils and rice was next, then sauce, grated cheese, more tortillas, onion/garlic, rice/lentils, more sauce and topped with cheese.  You can obviously layer however you desire-- Have fun and be creative!

I seasoned with oregano (for the Italian part of it) and cumin (for the mujadara part!) and baked in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes covered then 15 minutes uncovered. 

Would be perfectly completed with a fresh green salad!

Tempeh, Turmeric, and Trader's!

Pasta with tempeh "meat" sauce

I had carrot, onion, garlic as far as fresh vegetables go.  Chopped carrot finely and sauteed with chopped onion, garlic and cut or shredded tempeh in olive oil.  Once getting golden add pasta sauce and spices: I  used turmeric, oregano, paprika, and smoked pepper.   A splash of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan would be delicious.  Let this simmer until pasta done then add to drained whole wheat pasta. 

Tempeh is one of the healthiest versions of soy because it is fermented.  This breaks down the sometimes hard to digest proteins and other benefical compounds into a more human-friendly form.   Fermentation also creates 'new' healthy ingredients.



A 2 pot meal.



Mini Baked Potatoes and Eggs

I got a great deal on organic potatoes at Kroger the other day (potatoes are one of the 'dirty dozen,' make sure you always buy organic!).  The only other fresh vegetable I had were a few radishes and 1 head of romaine.  What for protein?  We picked up some fresh eggs from a family down the street on our way home from the park.

Cody always makes great fried potatoes and eggs for breakfast.  I decided to bake my potatoes because they were small and I figured it wouldn't take too long.

Scrub potatoes then pierce with a fork a few times, cover in olive oil, and place directly on rack in a 400-420 degree oven.  These little ones took just under an hour to be done.  Test with a fork until tender.

I made a salad, then fried the eggs once the potatoes were out.  Add a pat of butter to the center of each potato and top with a fried egg.  Couldn't be easier and of course, a very healthy meal :) 

Grains with Fresh Garlic and Ginger

For lunch I made some rice with quinoa and frozen vegetables.  I used the leftovers for dinner along with 'Masala Burgers' from Trader Joe's.

Cook brown rice until about 15-20 minutes remaining and add quinoa.  When grains are basically done, add frozen vegetables.  I used slivered green beans and lima beans for added protein since these vegetarian burgers don't actually have much protein in them.  Season as desired.  I have been into turmeric lately because it is so healthful and I somehow ended up with a lot of it!  I also used epazote, salt, pepper, butter, and dill. 

Cook 'burgers' according to directions. 

Before serving, mince some fresh garlic and grated ginger.  Encourage everyone to top their rice with as much as desired.  Adds a lot of flavor, freshness, and major health-packed  'superfood' bonus points to the meal! 

Welcome Spring! Eat your weeds!!

Dandelion greens salad with 'creamy' ginger dressing

Stop the war-fare on dandelions and pick up your trowel!  Consider a (chemical-free) yard of dandelions a free lunch instead of a pest.  Dandelions are so healthful they are used as medicine with herbalists.  Rich in vitamins A, C, B, folic acid, iron, calcium, and zinc to name a few, these greens are packed with nutrition!  They also promote digestive and liver health and are perfect for a spring-time body cleanse.  So before you reach for your Roundup, look at this and other recipes:

After I harvested 2 armfuls of dandelions I soaked them in a tub of hose water for the initial rinse.  Then I brought them inside to cut the root and separate the leaves from flowers.  I soaked the leaves again in a sink of cold water to wash off the rest of the dirt.

With any tough/bitter green it is advisable to blanch.  This eases the bitterness (however, bitter is a vital and missing component to our western diet!) and makes it easier to chew and digest.  Dump the greens in a small amount of boiling water for a minute or two then drain in colander.  I then rough chopped them and put back in the pot with a little extra virgin olive oil.

At this point, you can go in many directions: Sautee with onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Sautee with ginger, garlic, honey, and tarmari.  Toss with a yummy thai peanut sauce.  Or, what I did was toss with other greens I had in the fridge (organic spinach from Morgan and baby romaines) with this delicious dressing recipe from 'Feeding the Whole Family' by Cynthia Lair:

1/2 pound tofu
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced (only if using blender, food processor will chop for you)
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs lime juice
2 tsp tamari or shoyu
1/4 cup water (less or more as needed)

Blend in blender or food processor until smooth and use on greens, salads, pasta or as a dip!

We ate our dandelion green salad with leftover lentils and rice from Taco night!  But this salad is a great side dish for any meal/meat especially fish.

Saturday night TACOS with great friends

It was so nice to sit on the patio in the sun with some beautiful company, and I am so glad they stayed for dinner!  Rice and lentil tacos seemed perfect-- easy to prepare and easy for people to grab themselves.  Think of the rice and lentils as the 'meat' and then add whatever fixin's your family likes. 

I seasoned my rice/lentil mix like mujadara; with a lot of cumin and garlic powder.  You could add a taco season packet (as long as there is no msg or other nasties!), use fresh herbs, or add curry for a totally different flavor.
Making lentils with rice is as easy as adding lentils to your rice!  I used green/brown (or standard 'regular' lentils), but you can use any type.  Use equal parts rice and lentils and make as you would rice:  2 parts water to 1 grain, add seasonings, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover until water soaked up and done.

While that is cooking, chop all your taco toppings.  I love avocado, salsa, lime, cheese, onion, and then any other fresh vegetable that needs eaten in your fridge!

[Remember when shopping for tortillas to buy corn, or find trans-fat free wheat tortillas.  Which means no 'hydrogenated oil' in the ingredient list.]

Chili with g-ma!

Chili and cornbread.

Didn't have any fresh vegetables.  It was cold today.  When I saw the cornmeal in the cabinet it inspired me to make cornbread.  And I remembered I had one more can of Amy's chili in the pantry.  There was going to be 3 (yey--Grandma visited!) so I knew I needed to bulk up the can with some goodies to make it spread.  Easy peasy, I have lots of quinoa, leftover lentils and carrots, and plenty of frozen vegetables.
Since the cornbread will take the longest, started on that first. Use any easy cornbread recipe.  As usual I was out of eggs so I just improvised (threw in some ground flax seed, used honey instead of sugar, and a little extra milk) and got it in the oven. {if you want to make actual egg substitute using flax, here: http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2011/10/how-to-make-a-flax-egg-for-vegan-baking-the-right-way/  I was too lazy!  Figured maybe it would do something miraculous in the oven or something ! haha}
Quinoa is next.  Get it going in the pot you will use for chili. 2 to 1 water to quinoa, I used half cup quinoa.  Ater it was nearly done add the soup and any frozen vegetables, I chose corn.  Then added the leftover lentils.
Plenty of butter for bread, big spoons, and some beans picked out for Henry.  A good meal with good company :)


I think we did some spaghetti and homemade  garlic bread, and frozen pizza 'beefed' up with some extra veggies middle week.


Simple, elegant, delicious: Roasted beets and Brussels sprouts with quinoa/millet and fried egg

Scrub and chop beets into cubes.  Wash sprouts and trim bottom and outer leaves.  Coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Throw on cookie sheet and in oven at 400-420 degrees.  It will take between 25 and 40 minutes depending on how large vegetables are.

Make some quinoa (like rice, 2 parts water to 1 grain, bring to boil, turn to low and cover until done, about 10-15 minutes).  I had leftover millet 'mush' from Henry's breakfast that we mixed in with quinoa at end. 

Fry up a couple eggs over-easy and serve on top of grains.  Delicious and so healthy!

Indian food and health mash.

Indian food, thanks Trader Joe's:

A fun and EASY meal that I also believe is healthy and super thrifty.  Trader Joe's sells these amazing foil packages of Indian food for $2!  I can usually use one box for a meal for both of us, but we were feeling zealous tonight and cracked open two :)

I made a large pot of brown rice (2 parts water to 1 part rice, bring to a boil, reduce to low and cover until done).  I didn't even heat the Indian food but let the hot rice do the work.  Couldn't be easier.  Welcome to add whatever you like to this meal or leave as is.  I think it could be fun with kids, let them choose their own 'box 'o Indian food' and share with everyone...  Enjoy!

As you can see, this was a 'serve yourself' kind of meal!



Rice, lentil, vegetable mash:

Had leftover rice from Indian food.  Carrots and celery were my only fresh vegetables.  I thought of making up the rice with vegetables as I would with buttered noodles.  So that is where my seasoning inspiration came. 
For protein I used lentils and quinoa.  First saute up carrots, celery, and onion in oil.  Then add lentils and 2 parts water, bring to a boil with salt and pepper, garlic powder, and anything else you like, cover and turn to low.  After 10 minutes or so, when you think there is about 10 minutes left, add the quinoa and its 2 parts of water.  When its almost done and water almost soaked up add any frozen vegetables you wanted to use, I added peas. 
When done add butter and any seasonings you like.  When I make buttered and veggie noodles I like to use dill, garlic powder, and/or Mrs. Dash.   Surprisingly tasty and extremely healthy!

Easy Risotto for 2 Days

Easy Risotto Two Ways

Mushroom and Pea Risotto in Spaghetti Squash Bowls:

Had a small spaghetti squash and only about 1 cup of risotto left.  Thought about making the rest of the risotto ahead of time so I picked up some mushrooms last time I was at the store (love mushroom risotto). 

Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  The only hard thing about cooking with winter squash is cutting it!  Be careful.  Scoop out inside, oil the bottom and top and place 'meat' side down on cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 or so degrees for about 30 minutes or until soft.

Saute onion and mushrooms (and/or anything you want in your risotto) in oil until getting translucent, add some salt, pepper, and other spices you like, then toast the dry risotto for a couple minutes.  At this point there are some good brown nibblets stuck to bottom of pan and you can 'deglaze' this with any liquid.  Wine, vermouth, or vinegar are good options.  Then add some water or broth, just enough to cover the bottom and get it going.  You will need roughly 3x as much liquid as risotto. 

Let this simmer and soak up the liquid, stir frequently and keep adding broth/water as necessary.  I added tarragon because I think it tastes good with mushrooms, but also could use sage or any other herb.  Towards the end add the frozen peas (or any other frozen vegetable you want) and let them simmer for the last several minutes.  Taste the risotto to see if it is cooked through.  Just keep cooking and adding liquid as needed until done.
Usually risotto is finished with grated Parmesan.  I had my very favorite cheese, raw sharp cheddar so I grated some of that.

Risotto a la tomato soup:

Couldn't believe 1 cup of risotto lasted until day 2 but there was a good portion size leftover.  I refrained from eating this for lunch and instead made it into another dinner.

Enter: Amy's tomato soup.  Open soup can, pour into pan.  Then dump leftovers into pan.  Heat over medium low until hot.  Serve with bread (I toasted Ezekial with butter).  Done and done!

And for tonight's trick, Cody cooks!

Yes!  Thank you.  Just wasn't in the mood to cook tonight. 

He wanted to make oven fries with the rest of our potatoes.  We have lettuce that needs eaten stat!  So fries (cut and coat potatoes with oil and seasonings, bake at 425 degrees)and a salad...we need protein source:  Amy's chili was on sale last time I was at store, perfect. 

Soup, salad, and fries.  Sounds good to me!

lentils, rice, and avocado

The simplest, healthiest, most delicious meal!

Hadn't thought about dinner all day.  Cody mentioned beans and rice. Didn't have time to make beans so lentils and rice it is!  Our staple meal around here. 

I decided to go 'mujadara' style.  After I measured 1 cup each of  lentils and brown rice and dumped them in the pot with 4 cups water, I added lots of cumin and garlic powder (not garlic salt), salt and a lot of fresh cracked black pepper.  I also added some smoked pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low until done. 

We had 2 ripe avocados.  I diced one on top of our bowls, it was creamy and flavorful and made the dish complete!  With urgings from Henry's highchair, we cracked open the 2nd...just as delicious!   Add some cholula or salsa if you prefer.  I thought it would be good with a wedge of lime squeezed on top.  The vitamin C in the lime would also help our bodies absorb more of the iron from the lentils.  Next time!

chicken noodle soup week (yes I said 'chicken.')

After much urging from acupuncturist and craving it since pregnancy, I decided it was worth a try for my health to make chicken noodle soup ("not the chicken that is killed after 45 days, the chicken at Whole Foods" he says).  Cody said he would support me as he likes the idea of a 'cohesive' kitchen.  No 2 different meals going on here.

I have literally never cooked meat in all my life.  No joke.  I stopped eating it shortly after moving out of my parents.  So, here is probably the easiest chicken noodle soup recipe, although it may not be 'right' it was tasty!

I didn't even know where the meat section was at Whole Foods, and after seeing how lost I was, the butcher offered to chop the thigh meat up for me so I didn't have to do anything with it at home, yes!

I filled a large pot halfway with water and turned it on to get to a boil.  Meanwhile I chopped up a couple carrots and kale.  Did not have onion or celery.  I also chopped up about an inch of fresh ginger.  Then I added the vegetables, ginger, and chicken to the pot with the water.  salt and pepper to taste.  When it came to a boil I added some whole wheat pasta and cooked until done.  The chicken pieces were big so this was good amount of cook time.  If smaller, add pasta with everything else.  It was very good!  A little weird to eat for us, but good.