quinoa beef vegetable soup

I stumbled upon this recipe by adding ingredients that we had on hand. I even had it as an after-hours snack in lieu of my usual bowl of ice cream (it turned out that good- or just happened to really satisfy an intense craving for vege'bles).

Here's what went into it--

1 lb ground beef
5 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes (to be dissolved in 4 cups water)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 medium potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil, chopped (I used freeze dried)

I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to the how or order of things going in. Just how I thought best. And I think this would actually be a good crock pot meal with the ground beef replaced with cubed beef (and the cooked quinoa reserved until the end- or added, uncooked, in the beginning). I have to add, too, that I got "Thank yous" from at least two of the four kids for making this meal tonight.

butternut squash soup with thai gremolata

I love soups this time of year, and this recipe sounded tasty, so I gave it a whirl-- so good, and so easy. We had ours with bread topped with pecan pumpkin butter.

butternut squash soup with thai gremolata

2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups vegetable broth
1 14 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tsp. Asian chili sauce (Sriracha sauce or crushed red pepper) (I skipped this)
2 Tbsp. lime juice

1. In a 4 qt. slow cooker stir together squash, broth, coconut milk, onion, brown sugar, fish sauce, and Asian chili sauce.
2. Cover; cook on low for 4 to 5 hours (or on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours).
3. Use an immersion blender to carefully blend soup until completely smooth. Stir in lime juice. Ladle into bowls and top with Thai Gremolata. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Thai Gremolata:
In a bowl stir together 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or cilantro, 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, and 1 Tbsp. finely shredded lime peel. (i didn't have peanuts or limes, so i did without those, though peanuts would have been an excellent addition).

creamy corn-potato-ham chowder

Seems like we've been having a lot of chowders lately, but they're good when it's cold- and extremely easy when you can just throw a bunch of ingredients into the crock pot in the morning and dish it up at dinnertime. I tried this one last weekend since we needed to use up some ham that had been taken out of the freezer that we didn't eat all of a few nights prior. It turned out alright, but I think they could have cooked for a couple more hours. The carrots and potatoes were a little too firm still. Mike added some cream of mushroom soup later in the week and said that improved it some- that the veggies had softened a bit.
Nevertheless, I'm ready for some lighter foods. After being sick and sluggish for almost a week, my stomach has shrunk, and most foods seem too heavy or something. Maybe it's the warmer weather too. I'm excited about starting to cook with spring produce.

crock pot chicken jumbalaya

6 boneless, skinless chicken breats, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 lb kielbasa
1 can tomatoes, undrained (I added two)
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cajun seasoning- I made my own with cayenne pepper, oregano, salt, pepper and paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery (I used 3)

Put everything in crock pot and turn on low for 7 hours.

We served this tasty dish with short grain brown rice, bread and spinach salad. I was afraid the jumbalaya might be too spicy for the kids, but they all liked it (we had some friends over).

What we're having-- every day of the week

lOne thing I've wanted to do is start writing out weekly meal plans. I jot out makeshift plans on the white board on our fridge, but there are usually a lot of arrows or erasures. I'll give it a whirl here.

Monday-- Easter leftovers and cantaloupe

Tuesday-- Chicken vegetable casserole dish that I combined from several different sources (you can easily go vegetarian by not adding chicken and then vegan by not adding cheese. In a crock pot (on low for 4-6 hours), I cooked a little bit of chicken I needed to use up, 1 12 oz. can garbanzo beans, 1 12 oz can cannellini beans (both washed and drained), 1 chopped onion, 4 cloves minced garlic and 2 or so tsps of Italian seasoning. Then I added some fresh spinach, tomatoes and cheese.


For lunches we've been having the crock pot chicken and Easter leftovers plus fruit.


Wednesday-- "Fagetti" with marinara and whole wheat garlic bread and salad with veggies.


Thursday-- Tuna buns (to use up old buns and dyed Easter eggs), tomato soup, grapes

Friday-- Baked lemon pepper tilapia, brown rice, broccoli and cauliflower, blackberries

Saturday-- We're hosting our 13-person teams meeting at our house, so we make the main dish, and other couples bring salad, bread, dessert and drinks. I am planning on making an Italian chicken and tomato dish that my mom used to make-- over brown rice or spaghetti (I'm making both, as I think it's better over spaghetti, but there are diet restrictions- including no flour)

Sunday-- I think we may go out to celebrate. Someone's having a birthday ;)

Indian, Indonesian & caramalized garlic chicken

Another dinner courtesy of Saving Dinner-- Caramalized garlic chicken, which we had with asparagus, roasted potatoes and salad. The chicken was very flavorful. And it got rave reviews from Mike. Really simple.

3 TBSP olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 chicken breasts
6 tsps brown sugar

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Line shallow raosting pan with foil, oil, chicken
in small pan, heat oil, add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft-- do not let garlic brown. Remove from heat, add brown sugar. Cover shicken with garlic mixture. Cook for 10-15 minutes until juices run clear. Done.

*****

I've been making some things in the crock pot for us to have for lunch throughout the week, along with any leftovers. Yesterday, I made Crock Pot Chicken Indonesian from Saving Dinner. the recipe said to mix the non-chicken ingredients first, but I just threw everything into the crock pot and stirred it after a half hour or so.

1 TBSP soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsps grated gingerroot
1 1/2 tsps sesame oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 skinless chicken thighs (I just used the chicken I had leftover)
1/3 cup peanut butter

cook on low for 6-7 hours

*****

Eating at Taste of India frequently during college got me into Indian food... that and the fact that Mike likes it probably more than I, which seems odd to me, considering he usually likes blander foods. Nevertheless, last night, I made some curried tofu with onions. And then I opened up a bag of Trader Joe's Byrani Rice (an Indian dish with peas, red bell peppers, apples and raisins) and a box of Punjab egglplant. I've tried a bunch of their other Indian sides before, and this one was pretty good, but a little too eggplanty for me. The folks at Trader Joe's enticed me to buy a box last week when they were giving away samples. I've actually tried to be adventuresome and create some other Indian dishes from scratch, like raita and punjab choley, but give me a break.

Crock Pot Roast

Dinner--
Crock pot roast (yukon potatoes, baby carrots, celery, onions, chuck roast)
Yeast rolls
Grapes

In the bread machine--
Honeyed Walnut Bread (1 1/2 lb loaf on basic cycle)

1 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 TBSP walnut or cooking oil
3 cups bread flour
1/4 nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast or bread machine yeast
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted