Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. Perhaps you were blessed with prettier weather than we were in Minnesota? It pretty much drizzled all weekend and stayed in the 60s. Since my dad, step-mom and little sisters were visiting from Idaho, I was hoping to have a little bit better weather. But we made the best of the weather and gave them a great taste of Minneapolis. It was also so much fun showing them … Read More
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Lately, I’ve been trying to do a little bit more “organic” blogging and a little less blogging for the sake of blogging. Can we make the phrase “organic blogging” a thing? What I mean is this: Joe and I keep a pretty busy schedule. I don’t mean to say we are too busy to enjoy life. In fact, a lot of the things that keep us occupied and busy are actually related to enjoying life and packing a lot of … Read More
Vegetarian “Meatballs” with Spaghetti
Lately, I’ve fallen into a bit of a cooking rut. It’s not that Joe and I have been eating takeout every night, but I haven’t really been cooking anything interesting. Most nights, I find myself falling back on easy staples like roasted veggies, baked chicken breasts for Joe, and some whole grain, such as quinoa, whole wheat pasta or brown rice. Tasty? Sure. But I’ve hardly been pushing myself out of my culinary comfort zone. This week, I set out … Read More
Garlic Feta Burgers
Hey, everyone! How was your weekend? We had a wonderful weekend over here. My mom arrived on Friday night and stayed until Sunday after church. And she brought Nutmeg with her, too! I can’t tell you how good it feels to be reunited with our little fur baby after two weeks without her. The weather in Iowa was absolutely unreal this weekend, too, so we made the most out of it by spending a lot of time outside. Tennis … Read More
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
You know me. I’m all about simple weeknight meals. In fact, I think everyone I talk to is looking for more easy meals that don’t require a bunch of ingredients or a lot of time. This is especially true when it comes to meat. Being a vegetarian, most of my meals are quick to prepare. Roasted veggies, sauteed tofu, loaded up salads – they’re all quick and easy. So it’s probably no surprise that I have less patience when cooking … Read More
Maple Glazed Grilled Chicken
Before Joe and I got married, one of my greatest stressors was what we were going to do career-wise. I was working (very happily I might add) in my current job in Des Moines and Joe was searching for a job back in Iowa (he was working in Illinois at the time). Knowing how much we both loved our jobs, I was worried about one of us having to sacrifice a career we loved. Thankfully, Joe’s company ended up giving … Read More
Tamale Casserole
Being someone who loves to cook, I didn’t anticipate the stress that would come from having to prepare a meal for our little family every night. Before Joey and I got married, dinner used to be the meal I used to round out my day. If I had eaten a lot of fruit for breakfast and lunch, I would choose whole grains and veggies for dinner. And if I was low on protein earlier in the day, dinner would … Read More
Salmon Salad Pizza
Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Joe and I had friends over on Saturday night to watch the Broncos game and eat chili. And as an added surprise, my mom joined us for the weekend. And although the Broncos lost, it helped to have company (and ice cream) around to keep us from feeling the pain of the loss too much. And since my mom was around this weekend, we took advantage of having her snap a photo of us … Read More
Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken
Hi again! How was your weekend? Joey and I spend a bunch of time watching football, like four games worth. Since it’s the playoffs and all, we figure we’re justified spending hours on the couch for the next few weekends knowing the dreadful stretch of football-less weekends is coming up quickly. A tried and true Florida Gators fan, I am still basking in the glow of the Denver Broncos-Pittsburgh Steelers game and the glory that is watching Tim Tebow pass … Read More
Easy Three Bean Beef Chili
I can hardly believe that 2012 is already here and 2011 is just a memory. While I spent the most of last week and this past weekend sick with a killer cold, we did manage to have a little bit of fun ringing in the new year. Joey’s sister and brother-in-law, Amber and Jake, along with baby Baylen, as well as Joey’s brother, Jason and his fiancé, Ali, all made the trip to Grinnell to stay with us for the … Read More
Dutch Saucijsjes (aka Dutch Pig in the Blanket)
I’d like to take a minute and introduce you to a very special woman, my grandma Dorothy Bomgaars. Dorothy is my mother’s mother and happens to be a very good (Dutch) cook. My mom grew up on a farm in Iowa with four brothers, and my grandma was in charge of feeding a family of seven every day. I can’t imagine cooking for that many people every day. And although she will be 91 in March, my grandma is incredibly … Read More
Sweet and Sour Tempeh Salad
I got an e-mail from a reader last week asking about how I eat vegetarian even though my hubby doesn’t. When we first got married, I was wondering the same thing! Since I do most of the cooking, figuring out how we could still eat healthfully at home within our dietary constraints was up to me. This salad is a perfect example of how we eat together. My protein source for this dinner salad was tempeh glazed in a super … Read More