I'm needing some whole-foods inspiration! Most of the fresh garden veggies are done, and I'm back to buying vegetables in the store.

Do you ever get kinda "stuck" on one food or cuisine type, and can't think of anything else to make but variations of that type? I'm kinda like that with rice and bok choy this week. I need some non-rice ideas!

Tonight, I made fried rice ... basmati rice (usually I use brown, but I'm out), carrots, celery, bok choy, spinach, onion, egg, Chinese 5-spice, sesame seeds, soy sauce, rice vinegar.

Last night I made black pepper shrimp with bok choy and mushrooms, served over brown rice.

I promised my son we'd eat meat on weekends, so tomorrow night will be steak, baked sweet potatoes, and stir-fried bok choy. Then the bok choy will be gone.

What are you serving for dinner these days?

We had chicken breast, pounded flat and in a cocoa tomato sauce, recipe courtesy of paula Deen, de-fatted by me. Last night I served it over spaghetti squash. Tonight, I had some shell roni stuff, so that's what I fixed. We don't do much pasta these days. I shoulda fixed some barley or quinoa, which would've been really YUM.

We do turkey burgers with salsa a lot, the good kind of turkey, not the greasy mystery meat kind, and oven baked sweet potato fries and a huge salad.

Last week, I bought some super lean pork loin, then cut off even more of the fat and made homemade italian sausage patties and regular breakfast kind of sausage from it. Incredibly lean, with a 4 oz. patty under 200 calories, plus almost zero sodium since it's made from scratch.

We are away from home and the kitchen starting tomorrow, so it will be insta food, but when we get bac, I will have a go at roasting some green beans and maybe some cauliflower just because I need to eat more veg gain adn I'm sick of spinach!

Barb

Vegetable only

We are having venison with carmalized onions and mushrooms, frozen corn from the garden, acorn squash, small spinach salad. For me to drink, Keifer, for hubby and kids 1% milk.

My favorite type of thread! I have just recently got back into cooking after a few months of being totally lazy.

Last night I had beef stroganoff, made with no cream of mushroom soup (yuck). I made the gravy with red wine, chicken broth, sour cream, worcestershire sauce added to grass fed stew beef, onion, baby portabellas and garlic. I served it over whole wheat egg noodles, it was delish!

Here's the plan for the rest of week - big salad with romaine, hard boiled egg, turkey bacon, onion, carrot, cheddar cheese. Frozen wild caught Alaskan salmon (from Sam's Club) with brown basmati rice and broccoli. Butternut Squash risotto with a simple green salad.

Sounds lovely Jelma.

I made this the other day and have been eating it for days. It's very filling and delicious!!! I love collard greens!!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/01...ard-green.html

I never follow recipes directly- soups like this are very flexible based on what you have (i didn't soak the beans first, i used chipotles from a can, and powdered ginger, etc. also, i didn't have orange juice, and it was awesome without it. i got an orange another day and squeezed some in- that was good, too.)

Thanks 3forus Your meal sounded good as well, I have never had luck at carmelizing onions, I think I am too impatient.

I ended up trying a new recipe last night - barley with mushrooms. I have never made barley before, unfortunately I bought the instant kind but it was still pretty good. I would like to try the regular kind sometime.

Jelma on the carmelized onions - a trick I use is to cut onion in half and then into thin half moons, separate out the "strands" and put into a sprayed large pan, toss with a touch of olive oil or a tsp of butter (I shave it from the freezer), cover loosely and put into a hot oven (400), stirring every once in a while as the edges cook faster. I let it go until they are where I want them. They are more chewy than a carmelized onion but almost no fat and the flavor is excellent. I divide them up into packets and use them as needed in dishes. Nice to have around and really deepens flavors.

Last night we had smoked pork chops (from the farmer's market pork producer...sooo good, if a bit salty), beet risotto (SO PRETTY and ruby red), and roasted cauliflower.

Tonight's dinner is a big pot of chili, made with locally farmed beef, red beans, and a ton of veggies, topped off with a crumbled baked corn tortilla, a little sour cream, and chopped cilantro.

Mmm...I love cooking threads.

Tonight is sweet -- I'm making slow roasted sweet & sour pork & chicken, but I make that with Splenda brown sugar, so I'm not sure it would suit the whole foods requirement.

Tomorrow though is savoury -- It will be chicken breasts flattened then rolled up with feta and spinach in the middle. I brown these in a pan with olive oil, then add tomatoes, eggplant, a bit of broth to the pan and finish cooking them that way. I'll probably serve it with spaghetti squash tomorrow, though normally it's over rice.

Tonight is lentil and sweet potato stew. Cheap, very flavorful and lots of good nutrient stuff. Tomorrow is leftovers. Turkey burgers with avocado on Friday.

Barb

Chickpea/tomato/broccoli casserole with a curried tahini sauce served over forbidden rice.

nelie
Please share your recipe with me.

Tonight was chili, and 2 thin slices of 8 yr old cheddar, with pears. And my kiefer milk.

3forus - it is actually from a cookbook but it is soo simple.

Sauce (blend the following in a blender or whisk by hand)
1/4 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of water, broth or almond milk (I used almond milk)
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2+ tsp thai red curry paste (basically to taste, I put a bunch in because I like spice)
1/4 tsp salt

Casserole -
1 pound of frozen or fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes (fresh tomatoes can be used as well, 1.5-2 cups chopped)
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (fresh chickpeas can be used as well, 1.5-2 cups)
1 medium onion, diced

Mix all the casserole ingredients in a casserole pan. Pour the sauce on top and stir in. Cover with foil, bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, uncover, stir and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.