Chili 4/5/24

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Beebamom
Chili

We have not had a ground beef chili in years! I pulled a recipe out of my binder which said this one was good from March, 2014! Since I am still under the weather, my contribution to the dinner was chopping up some onions and peppers. I was really not interested in preparing or eating dinner on Friday. John soldiered on without me .

The odd thing about this chili was that it did not taste like chili at all! It was more like a middle eastern stew of ground beef, tomatoes, beans, spices, and peppers. John had put some zip into it with chili powder and a little chipotle chili powder. Still, there was an undeniable sweetness to it like he had put in coriander and cinnamon. I don’t know, maybe that is just my feverish flu imagination taking over!

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Legumes, stew, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Grilled lamb chops with mixed potato mash and broccoli. 4/3/24

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Beebamom
Grilled lamb chop with mixed potato mash and broccoli

I cannot claim much credit for this dinner since I have been sick and not doing much prep or eating. I did peel the potatoes.

John did his usual masterful job of grilling the lamb chops and our daughter prepared the potatoes and broccoli. The potatoes which were made of one medium sweet potato and three small russets were enhanced with some butter, salt, and milk. The broccoli was simply steamed. The picture is of John’s plate.

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Vegan Chana dal. 4/2/24

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Beebamom
Chana dal with rice

When we first started making Chana dal (dried split chickpea stew) in our Instant Pot we followed the recipe from this website. https://pipingpotcurry.com/instant-pot-chana-dal/

As time went by we changed the recipe so it would be more in sync with our tastes. For instance we use a can of Rotel for some spicy tomato kick. We also lay down a bed of raw kale followed by steamed rice, and then the Chana dal. A sprinkling of cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice dress the top.

Last night I was not feeling up to all the components since I have a bad cold caught on the airplane coming home from vacation so I just plated rice, Chana dal, and cilantro. I had it again for lunch today. It seems so healthy, I hope it makes me better.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Indian, Instant Pot, Legumes, rice, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Roast chicken breast with rice and asparagus. 4/1/24

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Beebamom
Roast chicken breast with rice and asparagus

We bought a package of chicken breasts recently. They were on sale at a good price. The only problem is that they are gargantuan! Our half boneless breast weighed one pound (453 g)! Being so big they take quite a while to cook and tend to be sort of tough. John cooked the breast for 40 minutes at 350F (176C) and kept testing it along the way until it registered 158F (70C). The one breast was ample for the two of us and we even had leftovers.

We served the chicken with some packet gravy, rice, and asparagus. I cut the asparagus into pieces so that it would fit in the pan better. Asparagus is on sale around here for $0.99/lb. and it is so reminiscent of Spring.

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Error in yesterday’s recipe

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Beebamom

John, ever eagle-eyed, caught a mistake in yesterday’s recipe. It should read 2 cups of water or broth not 4! Here is the updated recipe.

Screenshot
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Cheese-y polenta and spicy black beans. 3/30/24

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Beebamom
Cheese-y polenta and black beans

Since I returned home from vacation we have made scrambled eggs Thursday night and skipped dinner altogether on Friday. The 8 hours of jet lag makes it hard to contemplate making meals. On Saturday, though, we decided that eating a regular meal at the correct time would help put me back in the Pacific time zone.

This is an easy dinner with lots of flavor. John made the polenta while I made the beans and the little salad on top. Wish we would have had an avocado but they were all hard as rocks.

Here’s the recipe as I have adapted it –

Posted in American, Easy, Grains, Legumes, Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Weekly Menu. April 1 – 7, 2024

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Beebamom

Here is what we are hoping to eat this week! Each week I print out the menu and hang it in the kitchen. Doing this insures that I will have put frozen items in the refrigerator the day before and that I will have the ingredients I need. It also gives our daughter a chance to peruse the menu and check off the dinners she will be opting in for. That way I can plan on which nights I will need to be feeding 3 and not 2.

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Oven roasted tilapia with mustard sauce, broccoli, and potatoes. 3/29/24

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Beebamom
Oven roasted tilapia with broccoli and potatoes

Hi, I’m back from my wonderful vacation with our daughter. I hope you enjoyed the couple of posts from John while I was gone. I think I am going to try the chicken enchilada casserole he made one of these days.

It is so good to get back to the food that I normally make and eat. I certainly ate a lot more red meat and fried things than I usually do. Tonight’s dinner was easy, nutritious, and certainly less calorie-dense than my cruise food.

John roasted the seasoned tilapia in the oven for about 12 minutes at 400F. I steamed the combination of russet and baby red potatoes and cooked the broccoli in a little water. I also made a mustard sauce out of mayo, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, chopped cornichons, a little Splenda, and a tablespoon of water to make it more sauce-y.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Chicken enchilada casserole and toor dal. 3/21/24

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Beebamom
Chicken enchilada casserole

John seems to be doing fine cooking for himself. One of the things he made is this chicken enchilada casserole. It looks easier than our regular chicken enchiladas since it is stacked instead of rolled. Maybe I will try this the next time I make chicken enchiladas.

Toor dal over kale

I see that John has decided to cook once and eat twice. Planned-overs are great especially if you are cooking for one. He used our chana dal recipe but substituted toor dal. I find the toor dal too mushy so I am glad he is eating it while I am away.

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Looks like John will have leftovers: Lentil stew with carrots and turkey sausage. 3/18/24

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Beebamom
Lentils stew with carrots and turkey sausage

I had no question about whether John could survive for almost two weeks without me there peeling and chopping his vegetables. Lentil stew is one of his favorites and a good dish to clean out the fridge of growing-old vegetables. Looks like he put mushrooms and celery in the pot as well.

Unless he is exceptionally hungry this pot of goodness should last for a couple of lunches too!

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