October cook-at-home challenge!

[treehugger]

Hey, treehugger, go soak your beans! (have to go check the crockpot now...)

Nope, later still. I'm at work for 2.5 more hours.

Kara

[Rosemary]

Trying to stay caught up, spent an hour after dinner tonight chopping vegetables for quick lunch and salad prep. DD asked for fruit salad in her lunch tomorrow, so that's ready to go, too.

[Bastelmutti]

Have gotten into a rut lately - dinners have been repeating: pasta, black bean & rice bowls, rice & veg & tofu. Did make some hamburgers which were good. I used the Bittman suggestion of plain ground beef and salt from his How to Cook Everything book & they were better than the ones I have made before.

I like to read healthy eating blogs & just love the colorful food, but forget some of those options when shopping and cooking time rolls around. Also I'm in a salad rut (greens & ranch, greens & lime vinaigrette, greens & lemon vinaigrette, you get the idea!) So, I had this idea to do a rainbow of salads over a week or two - here's what I've found recipes for so far:

Red - Raw Red Beet Salad w/ Sunflower Seeds & Feta
Orange - Sunburst Carrot Salad
Yellow - Spicy Mango Salad, Thai Green Mango Salad
Green - Raw Kale Confetti Salad, Vegetarian Green Sushi Salad (w/ brown rice)
Purple - Crispy Red Cabbage Salad

If some of them turn out well, I can post the links to the recipes.

[Rosemary]

It's much colder than 2 weeks ago and warm breakfasts are in order. I made some gingered black-eyed pea soup and had that for a few days. Today I had some red beans that cooked overnight in the crockpot for chili tonight... for breakfast, I took some out and cooked briefly with some frozen spinach, turmeric, ginger, a dash of cinnamon, and a little coconut. Beans make a warm, very filling breakfast... I find them much more satisfying than oatmeal.

I'm trying to keep the rainbow of produce going but the local season is definitely winding down. I roasted some beets from the farmers' market for my salads. I've finished the last of the summer squash that was in my fridge. We're eating lots of carrots.

Recent dinners -
tonight - chili with small red beans, turkey, and acorn squash; salad
roasted chicken (from the freezer) and roasted cauliflower (that was very tasty, with a nicer texture than steamed cauliflower)
omelette, roasted potatoes with fines herbes, and broccoli
poached salmon and steamed cabbage
sausages and the rest of the cabbage (noted how quickly a cabbage disappears when cooked compared to raw in coleslaw!)

[Bastelmutti]

Mmmm, roasted vegetables. Have to put that in the rotation.

Yeah, it's the season (in the Midwest, anyway) - the season when cabbage has taken up permanent residence in my crisper!

[Rosemary]

Yesterday's lunch mushroom-barley soup was really good, and super easy. I had sauteed a big container of mushrooms from Costco and frozen them in 3 containers. I sauteed some onions in the water that was left after steaming bok choy leaves, added the mushrooms to get them warmed up, and some chicken soup base, and put it all in my small crockpot with some added water and 1/4 c barley. It cooked while I was Zumba-ing. When I got home, I added a big handful of fresh parsley, and we stirred in the steamed bok choy at serving time... which just cooled off the soup to a perfect temperature.

Last night we had a stir-fry for dinner - the bok choy stems, red bell pepper, and tofu. Tonight is chicken, mashed cauliflower (trying this out to see if it fools DD & DH!) and salad. DD is still taking chicken-spaetzle-veg stew for her lunches, and I've been finishing various soups each morning for breakfast. Soup is an immensely satisfying breakfast.

[treehugger]

About a week ago I had bought a big bag of "Spring Mix" at Smart N Final. I don't know why; I don't usually buy lettuce mixes since they don't seem to last very long. But it was a good price and even I (ha!) am subject to impulse buys occasionally. ~

Anyway, Monday I noticed it was starting to get a little too past its prime to eat raw. So, last night, I sauteed some garlic, red onion, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, the rest of the greens (which had very little lettuce, but lots of spinach, arugula, radicchio, frisee, etc.), and tossed with hot pasta, and some feta cheese. It turned out very well.

Saturday I harvested the last of the tomatillos and pulled the plant; got five pounds. I roasted them all, along with some garlic and jalapenos. Tonight I need to puree the whole pot and add some onion, fresh garlic, and cilantro to make 5 batches of salsa verde. One batch will go right into enchiladas (I have some shredded roasted chicken in the freezer). The rest will go into the freezer for future meals.

Kara

[Bastelmutti]

Spaetzle sounds like a great fall meal. YUM!

treehugger, your lettuce-rescue pasta sounds awesome, too.

I'm about to throw black beans in the cooker again & make some fresh salsa, then later cook some rice in the rice cooker so the family has dinner while I'm at school. They can eat it with tostadas, cheese, etc.

Haven't started my new salad plan yet, but glad I wrote it down here, so I can start next week. I am trying to get by on what we have in the house until next week (only buying essentials) & then stock up again.

[Rosemary]

Cauliflower used to be DD's favorite vegetable, but she declared last spring that she no longer liked it. I like to have it at least occasionally, so have been experimenting with different ways of preparing it, other than steaming, my stand-by. Last week I roasted it - which I liked very much, but she said she did not. Last night I made mashed cauliflower with a very small amount of potatoes in it, unannounced. Both she and DH loved the "very good mashed potatoes." I revealed the surprise ingredient after DD asked for, and ate, seconds.

Tonight's dinner will be a one-pot green bean, carrot chickpea dish with cashews and rice that everyone really likes. I'll add some leftover chicken from last night. I up the veggies and decrease the rice when I make this.

[Anne Lee]

I'm on the road this week. I brought my food to eat at the motel since the noon meals are provided. I brought a containers of lentils and rice to eat with tortillas and a leftover container of beef stew (I travel with a small cooler when I drive in state). I added some baby swiss to the lentils and rice last night. It added a nice little touch of fat to the meal. I don't trust myself to travel with EVOO. Oh heavens, I just KNOW I would spill it - probably in the car, probably on my work materials - and wouldn't that be a mess to clean up. Breakfasts are yogurt, cereal and fruit. Except this morning when I had an English muffin from the continental breakfast and the natural peanut butter which I also travel with. I tell you what, I feel so much better not eating out regularly, especially when I'm in a small town and the selection isn't always the best. Tonight I will treat myself to something from Panera as I otherwise won't eat until 9PM or so.