It’s in my crockpot right now, and in a few minutes your house could smell amazing, too. This is the easiest way to make applesauce, with just a few ingredients and some peeling and chopping while you sip on tea. I love cooking year-round, but particularly when rain taps at the house, skies are moody and candles are lit throughout the house.
Anyone, and I mean anyone, can make amazing applesauce with a slow-cooker. You can delegate this entirely to a fairly responsible kid, if you’d like.
I’m barely squeezing this in, since it’s April in less than an hour, but I’m determined to make this into a series! If you read last month’s post, I put together a weekly menu round-up after realizing I actually prefer the structure of assigning a meal to a specific day. My weekly menu plans attempt to include lots of variety, copious amounts of veggies and meat or fish once or twice a week. My goal is always to have my little family of four, with kids aged 11 and 2.5, eating the same thing (in some form).
Below is the exact menu we followed for a week (Saturday – Friday), with notes where I modified a recipe, or deconstructed to better meet the desires of a kiddo. I’ve linked to the cookbook or recipe where I can – several of these recipes are mine, but many come from other wonderful sources! As I mentioned in the last round-up, my menu plans always include a few “other” items intended to help with breakfasts, snacks and packed lunches.
I like attractive food. I like bringing a dish to the table that elicits an anticipatory sigh of happiness. Sure, I love homely-looking dishes too, like this wild rice casserole, or these stuffed mushrooms I can’t seem to take a good picture of (and so aren’t yet posted).
I love the look of these eggs with bright, healthy greens throughout and wrinkled, vibrant tomatoes on top. Our farmer’s market opening day isn’t until May, so I’ll have to wait for local asparagus until then. But in the meantime, this spring veggie is available at an affordable price at the local grocery.
I’ve made these pancakes so many times over the past few months, it would be inconsiderate not to share the recipe! These pancakes are my go-to for weekend breakfasts. (Though I did bust them out this past Tuesday to celebrate the first snow day of the year with my kiddos.) You’ve probably figured out by now that my style of cooking and eating always to aims to hit that sweet spot of food that makes me feel good, and food that is delicious. Sometimes I weigh more heavily to one side than the other – this Chopped Kale Salad with Lemon-Dijon Dressing is oh-so-good for you but still tastes delicious; this recently posted Butternut Squash-Sage Galette is ridiculously tasty while filling you up with veggies and herbs, but also a bit richer with its flaky, buttery crust. These pancakes have more whole wheat flour in them than all-purpose, a hearty amount of plain greek yogurt, and a little bit of butter and sugar. Every person in my family eats them faster than I can churn them out. Let’s get them on your weekend breakfast table, too.
Happy New Year! Ah, the promise of a fresh start. I love turning the page to a new year, even if only in my mind. There’s something about it that leads to new possibilities, that somehow didn’t exist in December. I realize that’s not exactly logical, but January 1 always holds promise. Perhaps this will be the year I *finally* feel organized, or accomplish some other lifestyle goal. Maybe I’ll travel to new places I really want to visit, like Oregon and Italy. Some of you may be lucky enough to currently feel the sun on your face in the tropics. For the rest of us, we can start the new year on a delicious foot and live vicariously through this smoothie.
The Kitchen Beet 