Ground Beef Helper Skillet {Local doesn’t have to be fancy}

helper

Sometimes people hear “eat local” and they picture expensive, fancy food. I went out to dinner the other night with friends to a burger joint that we like because they source some things locally. “It doesn’t have fancy buns, does it?” they asked the waitress. While made on site, I’m not sure one would consider them “fancy.” But I digress. This week’s Dark Days Challenge entry is most definitely not fancy, but is fast, easy, and–local.

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Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

pumpkinpasta

There was a gorgeous hubbard squash (a small-ish one) sitting on the counter for the past few weeks. I was waiting to decide what to do with it. When DH went hunting, I decided that I wanted to make something with squash. Nothing fussy, preferably something I could use as a main dish (for myself, and I don’t mind vegetarian). Rachel Ray to the rescue!

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Super Speedy Supper with #NewKnorrStock

knorr

Collective Bias sent me on a mission to try out the new Knorr Homestyle Stock. The result? A pulled chicken sandwich in no time at all!

Recipes, Although Inspired, are Not the Bible (Or, how I had a revelation and skipped the pizza on CSA pickup night)

chard

So I was standing in line at CSA pickup tonight STARVING. For breakfast I had a half cup of granola and some raw milk. Lunch was a leftover piece of grilled KFC and about half a cup of leftover vegan chili from lunch out the other day. I’ve been eating crappy the past few days as I never did get around to meal planning and have had some late nights at work. Pizza crossed my mind . . .

Southwestern Corn Chowder

soup

It feels great to be back in the kitchen! After a hiatus from Simply in Season, I’m motivated to tackle the remaining 54 recipes. This one is super fast, cheap, and tasty! Best of all, it features some of summer’s best vegetables.

East Indian Chard and Lentils

lentils

Last Saturday I took a class on Simple Cooking. We had delicious beans, rice, and coleslaw dishes. I was inspired to find the local store that someone said had a great selection of dried beans and lentils. Tonight I dug out my copy of Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook and decided to try a variation of the recipe for East Indian Spinach and Lentils.

Lemon Rice

lemon rice

On a recent stock-the-pantry trip to Costco, DH picked up some stuffed salmon fillets. For some reason after a long day of shopping I really don’t feel like cooking, so we took the easy route. He grilled the salmon while I made this easy-peasy side dish. I’m always looking for an excuse to get out my rice cooker!

Honey Mustard Chicken & Rice Pilaf

chicken

I chose this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine because one can never have too many kale recipes. And it sounded good.

Chickpea & Colored-Carrot Couscous

couscous

When I saw this recipe in one of my old Clean Eating Magazines (July/August 2010), I thought “aha! What a good way to use up the carrots that have been hiding in my refrigerator.”

Creamed Chicken Over Noodles

chicken

I know, I’m not usually a fan of making leftovers into something else. But I had a free range chicken just begging to be used as DH and I barely put a dent in it the other day. So I turned to  More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) and found a recipe that would put it [...]