February 8, 2016 – Grilled shrimp with polenta and asparagus

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Beebamom
Grilled shrimp with polenta and asparagus

Grilled shrimp with polenta and asparagus

See all those shrimp? They only total up to about 150 calories. We put them on two skewers so they wouldn’t twirl around when grilled. The polenta is from Bob’s Red Mill. It is good quality and very tasty with a few herbs and a little butter.  Our ratio is 5 to 1 for creamy polenta. While John grilled the shrimp my job was to stir the polenta and steam the asparagus. Asparagus is on sale this week for $2.99 a pound. I used to only buy it when it was $1.99/lb. but I am afraid those days are not coming back.

This is a delicious and filling dinner in the 300-350 calorie range.

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February 7, 2016 – Noodles with peanut sauce

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Beebamom
Noodles with peanut sauce

Noodles with peanut sauce

First, since this involved pasta, I was too much in a hurry to eat it for any photo taking.  This picture comes from The Girl Who Ate Everything blog. If you want to learn how to make peanut sauce, I’d check it out.

For me this is a fast and really easy dinner. Boil three ounces of spaghetti. I used whole grain. Eight minutes and it’s done. Add two tablespoons of bottled peanut sauce, some sliced green onions, and toasted sesame seeds. Dinner!

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February 6, 2016 – Warm Niçoise Salad

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Beebamom

Tonight’s dinner is a version of Niçoise salad. It has all the usual ingredients except that they are all served warm.

Warm Niçoise salad

Warm Niçoise salad

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February 3, 2016 – Lentil soup

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Beebamom

served_354_wm-e1454277253507I found this recipe for lentil or dal soup on eat2health , a blog that I have started following recently. This is her picture and I hope she is okay with the fact that I used it.  My soup looked similarly. It’s a big combination of lentils, ginger, turnips, carrots, onions, parsnips, etc. I spent a lot of time chopping.  The original recipe called for tomatoes which I omitted and more oil than I used. John liked it a lot. I liked it less well. There is a lot of ginger which I felt overwhelmed the soup a bit. I also would have preferred a little texture. This soup is a little one note. I think the next time we make this there will be less ginger and I will try to figure out what to use for a little crunch.

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February 2, 2016 – Pan-roasted chicken, butternut squash and broccoli

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Beebamom
Chicken, butternut squash and broccoli

Chicken, butternut squash and broccoli

Not sure why my iPhone has decided to take smaller pictures. It is something which I must have done inadvertently.

Here is Chicken Monday on Tuesday. No doubt I shall be confused about which day of the week it is for the rest of the week. Anyhow, this is comfort food for me.

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February 1, 2016 – Scallops, collards and corn, and new potatoes

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Beebamom
Scallops, collard greens and corn, new potatoes

Scallops, collard greens and corn, new potatoes

This is a real favorite of mine as you can tell since we ate the same dinner last week. John seared the sea scallops while I steamed the potatoes and cooked the collards and corn.

This time when making the collards greens, I put in some carrot shavings. The collard greens we bought were huge dark green leaves and tasted more bitter than usual. I figured that the carrot would sweeten the dish up. With the corn and carrot to counteract the bitterness and a teaspoon of butter for a hint of richness, the dish was a success.

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January 31, 2016 – Too tired to cook!

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Beebamom


I got a Fitbit while we were in Utah and I am totally obsessed with it. Who knew that a gadget on my wrist would make me eat better and exercise more!! By the time we got finished with all the exercise for the day and had showered it was 6:30 PM and I just did not feel like going through all the rigamarole of making a proper dinner. So we had breakfast for dinner.

John made himself some eggs and toast but I was lazier. A bowl of Cheerios and an English muffin with butter and cinnamon were enough for me.

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January 30, 2016 – Lamb chops, rutabagas, and green beans

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Beebamom
Lamb chops with rutabagas and spicy green beans

Lamb chops with rutabagas and spicy green beans

I haven’t been cooking much the last few days as we have been closing up the Utah house and taking the long ride home. We stopped in Bakersfield and ate at Macaroni Grill where I had a salad and penne with vegetables in a pomodoro sauce. I think there was enough in the bowl of penne to feed two hungry people so I ate all the vegetables and a little of the pasta. All in all it was a pretty successful eating out foray.

Now that we are home I feel like I need to throw John a veritable bone and let him have some red meat. He grilled up some lamb chops, I pulverized the rutabagas in my trusty pressure cooker and made a concoction of green beans, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and a super hot chile with a touch of butter. What could make John happier than some grilled meat and a spicy vegetable?!

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January 27, 2016 – Penne with tomato mushroom sauce and zucchini

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Beebamom
Penne with tomato mushroom sauce and zucchini

Penne with tomato mushroom sauce and zucchini

It’s time for our eat-down since we are leaving for home on Friday. Looking around the refrigerator I see that we have leftover spaghetti sauce, probably not even a half of a cup and certainly not enough to make a meal. So I use this “spaghetti sauce starter”, add a can of diced tomatoes, a little tomato paste, onions, garlic, and mushrooms.

Because I want a small portion of penne, I also cook up some zucchini with onions and garlic. So a reasonable pasta dinner which was still filling.

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January 26, 2016 – Scallops, new potatoes, collard greens and corn

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Beebamom
Scallops, new potatoes, collard greens and corn

Scallops, new potatoes, collard greens and corn

This is probably my favorite dinner. Scallops, yum! Prep is easy. Steam the potatoes, sauté the collards and corn, and sear the scallops. It’s delicious, quick to make, and low in calories – a real winner.

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