This recipe came from a blog called Seasonal & Savory, which no longer exists--that's why I'm posting the recipe here! There are many recipes for Gallo Pinto online, but none of them seems to be quite like this recipe that my family has been enjoying for years. One thing we like about it is that … Continue reading Gallo Pinto: Red beans & rice with carrots
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Mexican Casserole
Do you happen to have some stale old corn tortillas (or corn chips), some leftover roasted peppers and onions, and someone demanding a "different" meal from last night? Throw this in the oven!
Sweet Potato Soup with Beans, Kale, and Garlic
This wasn't my recipe originally, but it's been one of my favorite soup recipes for more than a decade! Now that the "365 Days of Kale" blog where I found it is gone, I'm sharing the recipe here, with a few tweaks I've made over the years. This hearty soup makes a full meal--maybe you'll … Continue reading Sweet Potato Soup with Beans, Kale, and Garlic
Plastic-Free Bean Dip with Roasted Vegetables
We're drowning in tomatoes and also have a lot of bell peppers and onions from our farm share. Is it 3 weeks in a row now, or 4, that Daniel and/or I have done a weekly tomato-roasting binge? It's a lot of work, but it does make it possible for us to eat all of … Continue reading Plastic-Free Bean Dip with Roasted Vegetables
Hummus and Vegetable Flatbread Sandwich: You deserve this lunch!
Whoever you are, reading this, you deserve a tasty, healthy, homemade lunch! This one is easy, inexpensive, and low in environmental impact, so there's no need to feel guilty about it. Perhaps you're not struggling with that and would like me to get on with telling you the recipe. Well, first I'm going to show … Continue reading Hummus and Vegetable Flatbread Sandwich: You deserve this lunch!
How to make it from scratch instead of a package: Chipotle Simmer Sauce
My son Nicholas is 12 years old and often tells us about meals and snacks he enjoyed in his friends' homes. Last month, when we were shopping at Target, he pointed out a package of sauce that was the exact type his friend's mother had used on the delicious fajitas. I told him I wasn't … Continue reading How to make it from scratch instead of a package: Chipotle Simmer Sauce
Vegetarian Yuletide Stew
Food styling and photography by Nicholas Efran. My brother Ben Stallings invented this meal last night, and all 8 assembled relatives liked it! The red and green colors are appropriate to the season. It's healthy, inexpensive, and quick to make. To make about 10 main-dish servings, you will need 1 small onion 2 Tbsp. olive … Continue reading Vegetarian Yuletide Stew
5 Fish-Free Family-Friendly Meals for Lent
UPDATE: Just before the beginning of Lent 2020, I'm linking up to Meatless Monday--because these are great meals for Mondays as well as Fridays or any other day! I've added some links to more recent articles. It's the third week of Lent, and if you observe the custom of fasting from land-animal meat on Fridays … Continue reading 5 Fish-Free Family-Friendly Meals for Lent
All-Natural Vegetarian Non-Refrigerated Convenience Foods
This is not a sponsored post. This is a recommendation of products I tried and liked. Daniel and I try to make enough real, from-scratch, healthy food that I (working in an office) can take leftovers for my lunch every day and he (working at home) can get something ready to eat within a few … Continue reading All-Natural Vegetarian Non-Refrigerated Convenience Foods
Grildebeen Burgers (homemade veggie burgers)
Most supermarkets these days sell convenient frozen veggie burgers. We've eaten a lot of these, and most of them are quite tasty and nutritious. But they tend to cost around a dollar per patty, and they're packed in plastic, and they've been shipped across the continent in a freezer truck, and many of them feature … Continue reading Grildebeen Burgers (homemade veggie burgers)
Ginger Black Bean Soup (slow cooker)
We got a slow cooker a little over a year ago, and we like it a lot! It's a great way to make a lot of food without having to stand over it stirring, which is a relief in hot weather and convenient anytime. So far, we've only made other people's recipes, as we develop … Continue reading Ginger Black Bean Soup (slow cooker)
Flexican Cornbread Pizza
This recipe has a history. It started with my mom's trusty recipe for Mexican Pizza. Then came my serendipitous discoveries that (a) it can be adapted to a non-Mexican-flavored version, which my family loves just as much as the Mexican version, and (b) it can be baked in a toaster-oven. More than a year ago, … Continue reading Flexican Cornbread Pizza
Knock Out a Cold Quickly and Naturally!
Last Wednesday, I felt like I was coming down with a cold: runny nose, itchy throat, ominous heavy feeling in the middle of my head. The typical cold lasts 7-10 days. Bummer. Today is Tuesday. I'm still having an episode of sneezing and nose-blowing every few hours, but otherwise I feel great! I've been feeling … Continue reading Knock Out a Cold Quickly and Naturally!
Bean Wraps with Smoked Gouda and Pineapple
UPDATE: Eight months later, I'm sharing this recipe at Meatless Monday. It's a great quick meal at any time of year because all the ingredients are shelf-stable except for the cheese and wrapper; it doesn't use fresh foods that are in season at a particular time of year--unless you live in pineapple country! Don't eat … Continue reading Bean Wraps with Smoked Gouda and Pineapple
CONTEST: Name This Recipe!
I've developed a main dish that my family really likes, but we can't figure out what to call it! "That non-Mexican-flavored Mexican Pizza that fits in the toaster-oven" or "Beans and veggies and herbs baked on cornbread" is too cumbersome. Surely someone on the Internet will be able to think of the perfect, short, catchy … Continue reading CONTEST: Name This Recipe!
Mexican Pizza
I mentioned in my most recent multi-week menu post making Mexican Pizza, an easy and versatile meal that my mom makes frequently. As I wrote that, it occurred to me to ask Mom if there is a recipe for Mexican Pizza or she's just been winging it all along! She has no written recipe, but … Continue reading Mexican Pizza
What to Serve for Coffee Hour
Many places of worship, and a lot of non-religious organizations, have a "coffee hour" or "fellowship time" or some other name for "when we all mill around and have a little something to eat and drink." At our church, this is a particularly vital time. Many interesting conversations happen, friendships are formed, and plans for … Continue reading What to Serve for Coffee Hour
EASY Homemade Baby Food!
This is NOT a paid endorsement. This is my unsolicited review of a product I liked. This is an idea that's been around a while (both my mother and Daniel's say they had something like this when we were babies in the early 1970s) but I hardly ever see today's parents doing it or talking … Continue reading EASY Homemade Baby Food!
7 Delicious Meatless Recipes from Other Sites
We enjoy plenty of our own recipes, but I also have fun browsing recipes online and copying down recipes we might like. Here are 7 that have earned pages in our recipe binder. If you are vegetarian or vegan or have given up meat for Lent or are observing Meatless Mondays or meatless Lenten Fridays, … Continue reading 7 Delicious Meatless Recipes from Other Sites
Instant hummus and falafels!
My mostly-vegetarian family likes to eat hummus (garbanzo bean and sesame seed dip) and falafels (garbanzo bean and pea fritters) but both of these foods take a while to make from scratch. Practically every grocery store sells ready-to-serve hummus these days, but it is pricey and gets moldy quickly. A few stores and restaurants sell … Continue reading Instant hummus and falafels!
The Earthling's Handbook 