Using fresh kale in place of typical salad lettuces is a pretty exciting concept in my world.  I am always looking for ways to include more good-for-you ingredients in my meals and sneaking it into a salad at lunch is especially convenient.  Kale is perfect for work lunch salads because you can dress it the day before and it doesn’t wilt.  I actually like to give it a day to marinate and soften just a bit.  If you live in a town that has a Central Market you may have tried this wonderful salad from their to go food station.  Theirs includes slivered almonds as well but the pepitas are enough for me.  Crystallized ginger is some pretty potent stuff so be sure to chop it finely.  Click here for the recipe »

I have never posted a pot roast recipe here because I have never been happy with any of the elaborate pot roast recipes I have tried since I started cooking for myself.  Why is pot roast so hard?  Because everyone (yes, me included) wants to fancy it up with wine and veggies or smother it in cream of mushroom soup.  Which is unfortunate because the very best pot roast is just slow braised beef that tastes like, well, beef.

This is my Aunt’s pot roast with homemade noodles which was Grandma’s recipe before her and probably Great-Grandma’s before her.  The pot roast is great-juicy and beefy-but what really make this meal special are the homemade egg noodles.  Chewy and tender, these noodles are closer to what you would find in a Southern chicken and dumplins recipe than to typical egg noodles.  Feel free to use a pasta maker but I like them best rustic and hand-cut.  Click here for the recipe »

It’s not particularly soup time of year but sometimes you just have a craving that demands fulfillment.  If you spend any time at all on Pinterest then you know a perfectly unseasonable craving can hit any time.  Luckily Glad® sent me a case of their new Freezerware™ containers so I could entertain my weather inappropriate craving.  Now I can have my soup and put away the rest for later too.  Click here for the recipe »

Thank goodness it’s summer vacation!!  We have been struggling pretty hard with making dinner after work and still getting the kids to bed on time.  Luckily, now there’s less concern for bedtime and I can focus more on quality time.  Not that this isn’t a quick dish.  It’s just that in the absence of bedtime pressure, I’m a little more courageous when it comes to tackling dinner after work.  So instead of having 30 minute macaroni and cheese or spaghetti, we had 45 minute salmon, polenta and spinach.   Click here for the recipe »