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.

avocados & cherry tomatoes with lemon pepper

From 02/22/2012 (by Eye-Fi)

My parents introduced me to California bagels after they had them while in CA for my cousin's wedding-- with avocado, tomatoes and lemon pepper, and I found the combination a winning one. The topping by itself is simply satisfying. Lately, this has been a favorite snack of mine.

sweet potato cranberry bake

From 01/13/2012 (by Eye-Fi)

When we were in Wisconsin after Christmas, we finally got Jack to try some of the Apple Mallow Yambake that Grandma made (not before pulling some teeth). Afterward, he told me I needed to make it every day. While I haven't had a chance to make that yet, I tried a recipe tonight that reminded us of that one- but instead of apples, I used some cranberries I've been wanting to use, and instead of a marshmellow topping, there was a walnut, (minimal) brown-sugar and cinnamon topping. And Jack said tonight's dinner was the best he's ever had. For the record, the accompanying foods were baked tilapia, mixed veggies (corn, edamame and red peppers) and homemade wheat rolls. I'll be sure to duplicate this one again... we had not a leftover. It's gluten-free and can easily be made dairy-free, as well.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• (less than) 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• (less than) 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

Directions

1. Place sweet potatoes in large pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until tender. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place half in a medium baking dish. Top with the cranberries, brown sugar and butter. Pour orange juice over the top.
2. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. In a bowl, combine the walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown.

lentil stew and honey mustard glazed chicken

lunch--
crock lentil stew (from Saving Dinner) with leftover feta dill bread

dinner--
honey mustard glazed chicken (from Saving Dinner) over basmati rice, roasted almond sweet potatoes and broccoli


Feta Dill Bread (1 1/2 lb loaf, basic cycle)

1 cup water
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 egg
1 TBSP margarine or butter
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup packaged instant mashed potato flakes or buds
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp dried dill
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast/bread mach. yeast

It's brutally cold outside.

So for dinner I made my favorite spring vegetable sauté. Wishful thinking, I suppose. Along with that, we had lemon pepper garlic orange roughy, basmati rice, cherries and some of our honeyed walnut bread from last night.

Spring vegetable sauté (I don't measure any of these things-- it turns out good however)

2 TBSP olive oil
1-2 tsps thyme
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
about 2 cups cut up baby carrots
a bunch of asparagus- cut up
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts- quartered, drained
edamame, shelled

Sauté thyme, garlic and salt in oil on med. high heat for 1/2 min., then add carrots and asparagus-- sauté for about 2 min., then add everything else and cook another couple minutes. So yummy.