Yummy but no takers...plus a recipe

A week or so ago, I bought two large fresh beets at the store intending to roast them for dinner one night. I didn't get around to it until I saw this recipe from the Weelicious site for a hummus dip. I thought it would be perfect. Bright pink!! What more could these 3 girls want? Pink food would fit right in. Boy, was I wrong about the girls.

But let me put this all in order. I made the beets Monday night for dinner. If you are going to make this, let me give you a tip...beets do not microwave cleanly! I thought that since it was 105 yesterday evening, I would do them in the microwave instead of roasting the beets in the oven. Big mistake, kind of.

Here's the recipe and what I did: I cut each one (I did two so we could eat one for dinner) into about 8 pieces and put them in a microwave safe dish. I added a couple of tablespoons of water, some diced garlic, and a few dashes of dried rosemary. I popped that into the microwave for 10 minutes, planning to check it but expecting it to need about 10 more minutes (for a total of about 20). Well, when I checked it, the water was a beautiful pink and boiling out all over the microwave. I decided that since it was already messy, I might was well finish. So I did. When I took them out, the pink water was everywhere but wiped up nicely and I now have a very clean microwave.


Anyway, at that point, I let the beets cool a bit and then peeled them with a knife and fork. I cut them into bite-sized pieces and reserved half for the hummus recipe (it ended up being right at a cup). I thought these were super yummy but the girls would not eat them.

Tueday for lunch I figured we would have a Pinkalicious lunch, since they love those books, the beet hummus being the pink part.  I followed the recipe from Weelicious, except that I had done the beets the night before. The food was a beautiful dark pink.

And it was so yummy! But, alas, they would not like it.

You know what that means... I had to eat it. I did not eat it all in one sitting, though that was VERY tempting. I will probably finish it up in two, though. I had bite-sized wheat crackers and bell pepper strips to dip with. So good!

I think this one will have to come back a few times and if they don't ever like it, more for me!!

 Oh well... on to the next attempt.
Enjoy!

Baked Beans Recipe

I learned to cook from my mother. She was, and is, a wonderful teacher. She taught me well. By the time I was a teenager, I could cook (and clean up) an entire meal. When I was able to drive, I could go do the shopping by myself, too. So, why in the world am I finding it so difficult to cook for my family now? One word: staples.

No, not the metal kind. The keep-the-pantry-full, go-to-meal kind of staples. Hamburger meat, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, tomato sauce, pasta, frozen veggies, etc. I have always stocked my pantry with those things and many more and relied on them for cooking. Due to the food allergy diagnosis, much of that has flown out the window so I have to reconfigure this. One day at a time.

Today, that looks like baked beans. We need a good source of protein. Our go-tos were milk, cheese or peanut butter. Now, I don't know what it will be but beans are pretty good. Baked beans, though, was a new one for me. It was a hit. Most recipes call for canned pork and beans as the basis of the recipe or included bacon. Due to a pork allergy, those were not great for us. So I created my own. Here is what I did instead.

BAKED BEANS:

1 lb bag of dry pinto beans
2 T mustard*
3-5 T Worchestershire sauce*
1/2 - 3/4 C brown sugar*
Prepare your beans according to the package directions, omitting any salt. (I did the quick soak method - boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and soak for 2 hours, simmer until tender.)

Place your beans in a large pot and add the mustard, W sauce, and brown sugar. Start with just a little of the brown sugar, mix it up really good, and taste. You may want more, you may not. I was probably a bit shy of the 1/2 C mark but I know some folks like their baked beans nice and sweet. Bake them next. Put them in the oven at 375 for about 25 or 30 minutes, just to let the flavors blend. I skipped baking them because I didn't want to heat up the house and wasn't going to use them for almost another 24 hours. I decided the flavors would blend well enough and they did. Serve these hot or cold. This makes a ton! We have a couple of containers in the freezer but all 3 of my children loved these beans.

*I just guessed at these amounts but like the results that I came up with. Feel free to adjust them to whatever suits your tastes.

If you try this, please let me know how it turns out. I welcome feedback. Things that I put down are trials that worked out (or maybe not) for me. Every recipe is open to interpretation and substitution. That is how something good becomes better. Enjoy!