I made your lunch: creamy pea soup

I took a few minutes Monday afternoon to make some lunch.  I used Cara's recipe for a healthy pea soup with creamy avocado instead of actual cream.  I didn't miss the cream at all!  I thought the avocado taste (which I like, don't get me wrong) might be overpowering and it would make the soup too thick. I was wrong on both accounts!  What a delicious simple soup.  I topped it with some of that cilantro, pumpkin seed and lime pesto as those flavors go very well with avocado.  I only made a half recipe and look forward to making it again tomorrow with the other half of the avocado that is tightly wrapped in plastic, just hanging out in the fridge. 

Weekly Menu April 22-28

Some spring vegetables are starting to creep into the menu!!

quinoa with carrots, asparagus and spinach

frittata with asparagus and goat cheese

stacked enchilada
(it appears that this recipe is only available online now to subscribers of Taste of Home ) this dish has appeared here a few times now and is proving to be an easy to prep, tasty dish. I look forward to adding some things to make it better... but not this week.

pasta with the leftover cilantro pesto from Sunday and a salad

roasted chicken, red pepper and mozzarella panini with salad
    note:  I bought a rotisserie chicken to use in lunches and salads this week, and will use some for this sandwich.   I have been doing this a lot lately and decided that one of my "as soon as this semester is over" cooking projects will be to roast a chicken on my own!  It's about time I learn some new kitchen skills, and I need to find out if it's a lot cheaper and tastier than buying an already cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store for $6.99. 

I am also hoping to try one of Cara's healthy Spring recipes for lunch... the creamy pea soup with avocado!

Sunday Night Dinner

Baked salmon with cilantro, pumpkin seed (aka pepitas), and lime pesto (recipe found here)

with baked yukon gold potatoes:
     take about 1/2 pound yukon golds, wash and dry, then toss with olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper.  roast at 400 for about 40 minutes.  

Now I have some leftover roasted pumpkin seeds (found them in the bulk bins at Hy Vee) to snack on this week as well as leftover pesto. 

spring cleaning

Hello Kitchen Table Friends! I'm been away for a bit, blogging over on the Bliss Journal about my Spring  cleanse. I'm just wrapping it up and thought I'd share with you a few clean and simple spring recipes that I've enjoyed this week.

If you want to learn more about what sort of "cleaning" happens in my spring cleanse, read this post: Six Tips for Spring Cleansing.


Ginger Banana Breakfast Shake

Beet Salad with Lemon & Mint and Blender Beet & Carrot Juice

Steamed Asparagus and Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

Creamy Pea Soup

A gal and her kitchen knife.

I love chopping things.  Today I prepped some peppers for tomorrow's crock pot dinner.  Just a few minutes of prep work will save some time tomorrow morning...  Chopping veggies helps me think about other things, or nothing at all. 

2 peppers and my hand me down knife

My knife is my most essential kitchen  tool.  Sometimes I travel with it if I know I'm going to be doing some cooking at a friend or relative's house.

Weekly Menu: April 15-21

I'm a bit behind on my regularly scheduled grocery list compiling and shopping.  Sunday the power was out all day due to a huge rain/wind storm.  Trees and power lines were down all over my neighborhood.  I just made my list and hope to get to the store tonight or tomorrow between classes.

Believe it or not, it's a busy week again in Des Moines.  I have three weeks left in my school semester, Ryan has a log going on this week and I'm working with my family to prepare for Grandma's 90th birthday party on Saturday.   This has forced me not only to plan dinners for the week but to plan which days these easy dinners will be made...

I just made the curried chickpea salad from Mark Bittman to eat for dinner tonight. UPDATE! I just ate it  and it was great!  Easy to make too.  I can envision many variations on this salad (tuna salad anyone?) as the coconut milk is a substitute for the oft used mayo that is found in many salads...

Tuesdsay: Leftover kale pesto with pasta.  I think I'll add tomatoes this time...

Wednesday: crock pot pork stew peperonata from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker. This was a wedding present but I haven't ever made a recipe from it... her goes! 

Thursday: black bean burritos with brown rice and cheese

Friday: leftovers or frozen pizza

Have a great week everyone!

Dinner tonight: Cara's kale and walnut pesto

 kale and my beloved food processor 

 kale, garlic and walnuts. i like how you can still get a sense of the texture.

it looks a lot different with the olive oil and lemon juice.

 yum!

 

Dinner.  Kale with veggie pasta and a salad!