I eat in phases, I’ve always done this. Sometimes it will be a bagel sandwich every day for months, or once it was a pretty serious Kale phase, that I’m now thinking of renewing. Then there are the egg phases, where my breakfast is always an egg, always. My current breakfast victim is oatmeal studded with walnuts and pears, and I’ve been doing this for longer than I can remember. All this to say, I’m not very creative from day to day in what I eat for breakfast. Since I’m doing a little black bean “segment,” I will share a former breakfast obsession that I was eating for a while. Let me preface, because I am sure you were wondering, I’m a girl who needs protein. Coffee and toast just leave me hungry in an hour, well so does oatmeal but I still eat it anyway. This meal, though, is nice and light and very satisfying. If you like or love beans, this is for you. Seriously.
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Yesterday was a great day. Andy was finally home, it has definitely been nice to have a second parent again. We had a great day riding carousels, eating cookies, and running around Neato Burrito playing free pin ball (thanks Tim). We came home and actually took a nap, my first in a very long time. Or maybe we just passed out from exhaustion, it doesn’t really matter. It was 51 outside, the warmth was literally lulling us to sleep.
After gorging on burritos, quesadillas and olympia, a nice light meal for dinner was definitely in order. I love, love, love cauliflower — roasted, steamed or baked in a gratin, I love it all. So, I needed to try this soup. Thankfully it did not have heavy cream in it, because frankly I just don’t need any more cream right now. Rest easy my friends, I also had caesar salad with homemade dressing and toasted pecans. Then I had two chocolate chip cookies.
I think i was sufficiently confusing in this post. Did I use canned beans or dry beans? I don’t think you be able to tell by reading this. So I’ve edited. Here it is: I eat a lot of black beans in my life. For the most part I eat canned since a) they taste pretty equivalent and b) I cannot remember to get them out the night before to soak. And yes, I have tried quick soaking them followed by a cooking phase, but this never seems to work like intended or as quick as it should, I’m just too impatient (yes, I have tried a crock pot too!). But this time I tried again with dry beans and did the old fashion soak. Anyway, I love black beans in all their simplicity. I cooked them the other night and paired them with a less than impressive carne asada dish, but it was the beans that were the standout. I am eager to make a black bean soup again or a black bean burger, and very soon I will share my other favorite way to eat black beans for breakfast.
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As a kid my dad tried to institute a NYE ritual where we ate a dish from a different culture, or at least something new. I’m not sure how many years we actuallly did it, but I distinctly remember some sauerkraut that was wholeheartedly undervalued. I would eat it now dad, I swear. So, taking this idea very liberally I made a French dish of sorts. Ok, ok it’s not really that French but it was good. I’m no Julia Child, no marrow bones and liver for me. But nothing says happy new year like some steaming hot soup, right? After tasting this soup, (Ina’s provencal vegetable soup), at my friends house on this glorious night, I needed to make it, like I need more caramel corn in my life. Despite the fact that I didn’t have tomato paste, and my pistou tasted more like pesto, It was great. And who cares about tomato paste anyway? Half the recipes that call for it, ask for like a tablespoon or teaspoon and I just cannot bring myself to throw away any more food. On a whim I tossed in a handful of yellow split peas and added some chopped zucchini, using up whatever vegetables were in need of eating, satisfying my internal leftoverist desires. It doesn’t hurt that I served it with my new favorite bread of all time. I skipped the bleu cheese this time and they were just as good, maybe even better.
While doing my hair this morning, an amazing feat in the land of mothering, I put my hair cream in my hands, rubbed it around and then, proceeded to put it on my face. My first thought was, “Katherine! Pull yourself together, that stuff’s expensive!” Is this indicative of how it’s going without Andy? I really hope not. Truthfully, it’s going well. There are no dishes in my sink, unless you count a crocodile, but he’s just a friend. My bathroom is clean, I’ve managed to wash a couple loads of laundry and strew it about the house, and I’ve played lots and lots of candyland. And trains, oh the trains.
I even took a shower this morning and shaved my legs! Which is overrated, by the way, specifically when you have kids. Because inevitably somebody will come in, fling open the shower curtain, and cause such a horrible case of goosebumps that you must stop shaving all together. So I have half a shaved leg, no big deal, at least now I have Thomas and Percy bath squirters to play with during my shower. It’s a tough call people.
But just to show Andy that I’m on to him and his leaving town schemes, I have stolen his shirt. I may or may not keep it OR I may or may not douse it in bleach. The verdict is still out. The real question is: who doesn’t like buffalo (see fuzzy image on shirt)? So take that Andy. Take that.
Yet again, another thing I had never made. I had friends in high school, (that is, I think I had friends) that made caramel corn in a paper bag, which always seemed suspiciously tasty. I was happy to discover that it’s actually pretty easy, it involves making a syrup, and then drenching the popcorn in that gooey wonderfulness called syrup. It began as a search for a fun NYE snack and ended with mass consumption. Recipes had been popping up on my radar on various sites here, here and here with a recurrent popcorn theme. I made the second and third recipes and they were both good, but the third one was the best by a landslide. It involved baking the popcorn after putting the syrup on it and it turned out really light and crunchy with a definite caramel taste. Try. It. Now.
In true holiday form I did some baking this year, but mostly in the form of candy. It seems, from my observation , that much of food trends aren’t really new, per se, but just flashbacks. Take marshmallows, for example, not a new or novel idea but apparently back in full force. I’ve never been a huge fan of marshmallows, but I have never had a homemade one. So, in an effort to win the heart of my niece, I flung myself into marshmallow making. I was pleasantly surprised with both the taste and how (relatively) easy they were to make. I made this recipe from my friend’s friends blog, but this one, and this one, and this one look equally enticing. A friend of mine also made this recipe which was very similar ingredients, and undoubtedly equally tasty. I think the general appeal for me is because I have children, and hot chocolate abounds this time of year. But more than that, there are some foods that I have never had for real and I am glad to check this off my list. I will definitely never be eating packaged marshmallows ever again.
If you’ve never tried Brussels sprouts, here is the best introduction. They are sweet and savory, and I wanted to eat the entire pan, actually I tried. It was definitely a first for me that I over ate on a healthy dish, I mean pancetta’s healthy, right? It’s always a good sign when everyone else eats them too, leaving no leftovers. Overall the dinner, and christmas were a huge success. I made a nice variety of dishes, including a good ole staple from Ina Garten, Roasted Butternut Squash Puree, fresh apple pie, and some classic rolls made whole wheat style. There isn’t anything fancy about these rolls, just soft and simple and you can make them and refrigerate them a few days in advance, an ideal and low maintenance option. The bottom three pictures are my favorite recpies that I made on Christmas Eve. Since we spent the two days prior to Christmas at Silver Mountain Resort, low maintenance was vital. I consider it a holiday success that we only had a few minor catastrophes in the form of a flood in the crawl space and Addy nearly knocking her teeth out on Owen’s head. I guess that’s the reason there are kids books about not jumping on beds.
I eat in phases, I’ve always done this. Sometimes it will be a bagel sandwich every day for months, or once it was a pretty serious Kale phase, that I’m now thinking of renewing. Then there are the egg phases, where my breakfast is always an egg, always. My current breakfast victim is oatmeal studded with walnuts and pears, and I’ve been doing this for longer than I can remember. All this to say, I’m not very creative from day to day in what I eat for breakfast. Since I’m doing a little black bean “segment,” I will share a former breakfast obsession that I was eating for a while. Let me preface, because I am sure you were wondering, I’m a girl who needs protein. Coffee and toast just leave me hungry in an hour, well so does oatmeal but I still eat it anyway. This meal, though, is nice and light and very satisfying. If you like or love beans, this is for you. Seriously.
