Best Laid Plans

November 14th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (2 Comments)

Today, I had a plan.

That plan was to make dinner early, so that when we got home from an outing with friends late this afternoon, dinner would be mostly ready. All that would be left to do would be to make some guac to top it all off.

And that plan worked. For the most part.

I did indeed make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with quinoa this morning before setting off on the day’s adventure.

White Bean Blondies

October 15th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (7 Comments)

It’s Saturday. And at the moment, I am home alone.

The kids are out, the husband is out, I am in.

With the house cleared out, I opted for a few of my favorite things.

I tested out my knee with a short run (3 pain free miles + 1 naggy mile) on a cool, breezy, temporarily sunny, autumn afternoon.

I listened to The Biggest Loser on Hulu while I stretched out my IT Band and did some unplanned push ups too.  Bob Harper screaming “LAST! CHANCE! WORKOUT!” is curiously motivating.

Retrace Your Steps

September 14th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (7 Comments)

Have you ever found yourself eating a grilled hummus and coleslaw sandwich for lunch and wondered how on earth such a concoction happened to land on your plate?

Coleslaw and Hummus Sandwich

Oh right, I think it started because I was making soup.

Soup and Sandwich

Soup that began with potatoes.

White Potatoes

And then some beans were added too.

Cannellini Beans

And then Bean and Potato Soup turned into Bean Potato Onion Carrot Cabbage Soup as I went pawing through the CSA produce to find more soup ingredients.

Onions, Carrots, Red Cabbage

Stuff It, Quinoa

September 7th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (1 Comments)

When I bought my bag of flax seed over the weekend, I snagged a bag of another now-infamous pseudo-grain/seed –>

Arrowhead Mills Quinoa Black Bean and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

oh, Quinoa – it’s been a while!

And with quinoa in my cupboard, suddenly I had quinoa stuffed peppers on the brain. That meant digging through the blog archives to remind myself how I made Quinoa Stuffed Red Peppers in the past.

Ummm, that was like my second post. Ever.

Nostalgia rules. Stuffed peppers make me drool.

White Bean Garlic and Rosemary Spread

August 15th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (Comments Off on White Bean Garlic and Rosemary Spread)

One day last week I read a post by blog friend Erin who shared a simple recipe for a white bean dip.  Seriously simple, seriously fast and seriously delicious-looking, thus totally qualifing as the perfect unplanned dinner.

Beans, herbs, salt, oil, into the food processor, contents scraped into a bowl, veggies prepped, Ezekiel bread into the toaster oven.  On the table for a fast summer meal for the man before running out the door to my favorite yoga class mere moments after he got home from work.  I didn’t even have a chance to sample a single bite.

How to Make Awesome Hummus

August 4th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (57 Comments)

Have you ever run your finger along the side of the near empty Sabra container and wondered:

“how the heck do they make hummus so dang smooth?”

Have you then stuck that hummus covered finger in your mouth and wondered:

“how the heck do they make it so dang creamy?”

Well wonder no more.  I’ve busted two of Sabra’s smooth and creamy secrets and I’m here to spill the beans.

The naked beans, that is.

Secret #1You’ve got to peel the skin off your chick peas.

Naked Beans

Say What You Mean

November 26th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (4 Comments)

Within the last year or so here, the Mexican restaurant Chipotle has made its way onto our landscape.  I do enjoy going to Chipotle and it’s one of the few chain restaurants I patronize.

Of course when I say “patronize”, I mean – to frequent as a customer – not that I treat Chipotle condescendingly or anything.

Oh and when I say “frequent”, this would mean on the occasion when there are no picky children in tow. And as the case may be, this means I get there once a month if I’m lucky.

Loafing Around

June 1st, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (17 Comments)

From my omnivorous days of yore, I think I miss meatloaf the most.  I mean seriously now – how have I been getting by without eating a loaf of meat these past three and a half-ish years? It’s a meatless mystery for sure, and it’s time to do something about it!

That’s a joke in case you couldn’t tell. Actually I miss turkey subs the most. OK that’s a joke too. Who needs turkey when you’ve got lettuce, tomato, onion, red, green and banana peppers and (gasp!) mayo and provolone cheese on a sesame seed roll from Wegmans? I rest my case.

Not So Fast

January 6th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (19 Comments)

Tonight I had my hopes set on a fast and easy dinner. I was ready to slice up a Kabocha squash that I found recently (at a store, not in my closet or something) but after it’s photo shoot on the cutting board, I flipped it over to find mold growing on the bottom and a bunch of soft spots on it too.

Kabocha

Well alrighty then. I had a few choice words for this Kabocha squash, chucked it into the compost and moved onto the next orange fleshed vegetable on my shelves.

Well Fine Then

Eating Out of Their Hands

December 14th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (18 Comments)

Why, hello.

Half a Face

This would be my view for much of our 4 hours in the woods today. Who wants to walk when you can be carried?

Despite lugging around 30 lbs of toddler, we had a great time with our homeschooling friends and our day outside!

Into the Woods

We walked the trails at a local park and spent the day exploring the woods. We inspected animal tracks in the snow, listened to birds and best of all, waited for chickadees to come eat pumpkin seeds and walnuts out of our hands.

Isaiah and Ava Waiting