National Night Out. 8/5/25

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Beebamom

August 5th was National Night Out and one of our neighbors organized a party for our cul-de-sac. People brought food to share and two of our city’s policemen came around to say hi and chat with us for a while. We have lived here for 32 years and it is the first time we have had a block party. Our block is pretty small with only twelve houses and not everyone could come but we had around a dozen people.

Some people brought sandwiches for themselves. Others ate the shared offerings. John and I brought shrimp cocktail, Chardonnay, and fresh cut-up vegetables with a dill dip. The shrimp were definitely a hit with the yellow jackets!

Shrimp cocktail, veggies, and Chardonnay
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Lentils stew. 8/4/25

Posted on August 5, 2025 by Beebamom
Lentils with turkey sausage

Lentils with turkey sausage makes for an economical and comforting dinner. I start chopping the vegetables and John starts the cooking right away. First I chop the onion and garlic which he starts cooking in some olive oil. By the time he’s got the onions ready I have finished chopping the celery and carrots. They go in the pot. Next we add the herbs and spices followed by chicken stock and the lentils. Lastly the sliced turkey goes in. The whole thing cooks at a simmer for about 25 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through. The whole dinner costs less than $5.00 and is packed with flavor, fiber, vitamins, and protein.

Posted in American, Easy, Healthy tips, Legumes, Poultry, stew, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Family Cook-out. 8/3/25

Posted on August 5, 2025 by Beebamom
Caprese salad

For our family cook-out we had the usual Zayde burgers (hamburgers grilled excellently by John aka Zayde to our grandkids), guacamole and tortilla chips, sliced mango, spice cake and ice cream, and the lovely Caprese salad that I made with ingredients from Sarah’s plot at the Community Garden. Yum, are tomatoes that you grow yourself so much better than the ones at the grocery store! Caprese salad is just sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, and basil leaves finished with kosher salt and good EVOO. It’s easy to make, beautiful to look at, and delicious to eat!

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Weekly Menu. August 4-10, 2025

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Beebamom
Screenshot
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Shrimp, vegetables, and beans over rice with nuoc cham 8/2/25

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Beebamom
Shrimp, vegetables, and beans over rice with nuoc cham

After a non-cooking Friday night due to an event we attended we were supposed to have shrimp tacos on Saturday. As often happens towards the end of the week I was not feeling like what had seemed a good idea when we put the menu together. So I made a weird concoction. John was still eating shrimp tacos so I took my shrimp, the green onions, cabbage and beans from the tacos and added shredded carrots. I enveloped this in a nuoc cham sauce and served it over rice. Vietnamese/Mexican fusion!

I was perfectly happy with my conglomeration.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Legumes, Mexican, pescatarian, rice, Vegetables, Vietnamese | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Skillet lasagna. 7/31/25

Posted on August 2, 2025 by Beebamom
Skillet lasagna

Tonight was Sarah’s night to cook. With some leftover components from the lasagna she made last week she cobbled together a lasagna bowl. She had tomato beef sauce, pasta, ricotta, and mozzarella in it. With your eyes closed it tasted, smelled, and gave the consistency of a real lasagna. We always look forward to her pasta nights and this did not disappoint!

Lasagna bowl
Posted in American, Beef, Chinese, Italian, leftovers, Pasta, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chile-garlic salmon, rice, cauliflower. 7/30/25

Posted on July 31, 2025 by Beebamom
Chile-garlic salmon with rice and cauliflower

The salmon we made was adapted from a NY Times Cooking recipe which included a mango/cucumber/avocado salad. The recipe below is for the fish and the salad. I did not make the salad so I cannot vouch for how it tastes. The original recipe called for maple syrup and chile-garlic sauce. I substituted sriracha and a little sweetener because I am not a huge fan of sweet savory dishes. Our dinner turned out really well and I imagine we will make it again.

CHILE-GARLIC SALMON WITH MANGO CUCUMBER SALAD

Screenshot
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BBQ ribs and asparagus with mustard soy sauce. 7/29/25

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Beebamom
BBQ ribs with asparagus in a mustard and soy sauce

We did not make these ribs. Our local grocery store had a BOGO sale on them in their deli department. To be honest I have never made ribs so this is probably the only way our family will get to eat them. My critique on these ribs is that there was way too much bbq sauce and it was too sweet. The too sweet factor is just me. No one else complained about it.

To make up for the fact that I had not done any cooking I made asparagus with a soy mustard sauce. I adapted an old Mark Bittman recipe and it turned out pretty well.

ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH SOY MUSTARD SAUCE

Screenshot
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Classic chicken dinner. 7/28/25

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Beebamom
Sliced rotisserie chicken breast in chicken gravy, mashed potatoes, and broccoli

Sarah bought a rotisserie chicken so that there would be some food in the house when we got home from vacation. We already made a burrito bowl out of one of the chicken breasts and on Monday we ate the other one. The chicken was warmed up in some chicken gravy that was also tasty on the mashed potatoes. Broccoli crowns were on sale so that was our vegetable.

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Quick pasta dinner. 7/27/25

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Beebamom
Spaghetti with onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes

On Sundays we usually have some sort of egg dish but I just was not feeling like it. I decided I would boil up a couple of ounces of pasta and add it to some sauteed onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. It turned out great and was a quick and easy dinner.

Posted in American, Easy, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment