Diary

Diary

Sep 28, 2025

Another Week of Fun!

Veggie Cashew Stir Fry

I’m working on more vegetarian recipes. Now if I could just grow may own vegetables… I quit because the squirrels always win. 🐿 Here’s what I made this week:

  • Vegetable cashew stir fry (a work in progress)
  • Cabbage soup
  • Pumpernickel bread
  • Dark chocolate dipped coconut macaroons
  • Turkey meatballs with pesto pasta + salad
  • Tortillas
  • Custard pudding
  • No knead whole wheat bread
  • Baked ziti + salad
  • Apple pudding
  • Granola bars

homemade-granola_bars-recipe

  • Crispy oatmeal cookies (no chocolate chips)
  • Chicken breast with rice and steamed carrots & green beans
  • Dark chocolate-cashew clusters
  • Taco salad
  • Vegetable cashew stir fry (2nd version)

(Not all recipes that I made this week are posted. That usually means they are not ready for prime time yet! 🙂)

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Sep 21, 2025

This Week In My Kitchen

mexican-black-bean-casserole

I shop at 5 different store to get the best stuff… Sprouts for organic nuts, Ralphs for bags of mini organic apples, Vons for mild olive oil for my butter-mix, Erehwon for sourdough bread, and Gelson’s for sardines. Here’s what I made this week…

  • Mexican black bean casserole + salad
  • Oatmeal muffins
  • Salmon patties with roasted vegetables
  • No knead whole wheat bread
  • Almond butter
  • Lemon blueberry loaf

lemon-blueberry-loaf

  • Roasted chicken breasts with broccoli rice & salad
  • Vegetable soup
  • Chicken club sandwiches
  • No knead bread for croutons
  • Croutons
  • Taco salad (every Saturday)
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Sep 14, 2025

What I Cooked This Week

crispy-focaccia-recipe

Another week of homemade goodness….

  • Crispy focaccia
  • Creamy chicken & broccoli + salad
  • Chocolate pudding
  • Spinach-basil pesto to freeze
  • Baked chicken breast with rice & steamed vegetables
  • Apple bread
  • Branzino with rice and broccoli + salad

homemade-branzino

  • Skinless chicken drumsticks
  • Potato salad
  • Coleslaw
  • Vegetable fried rice
  • Cabbage soup
  • Tortillas
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Sep 6, 2025

I’ve Been Busy

seeded_no_knead_breadWhen I tell people I cook every day, I’m not lying! And I love it. ❤️ Here’s what I made this week.

  • Seeded whole wheat no knead bread
  • Chicken & mushrooms with steamed squashes + salad
  • Tortillas
  • Custard pudding
  • Vegetable fried rice + Asian salad
  • Oatmeal muffins
  • Greek lemon chicken with potatoes and green beans + salad

Greek_lemon_chicken_green_beans

  • Almond butter
  • Peanut butter
  • Apple bread
  • Salmon salad for sandwiches
  • Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes & broccoli
  • Granola bars (for friends and neighbors)
  • Taco Salad
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Aug 30, 2025

This Week In My Kitchen

whole-wheat-no-knead-breadI miss Bed Bath & Beyond. I’m keeping my coupons just in case… 🤞Here’s what I made this week:

  • Whole wheat no knead bread
  • Pan-fried turkey meatballs + salad
  • Spinach pesto (for the meatballs & pasta)
  • Taco Casserole with steamed beets

steamed-beets

  • Granola bars
  • Pumpernickel bread (my husband’s favorite)
  • Taco salad
  • Oatmeal muffins
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Aug 22, 2025

What I Made This Week

homemade-pizzaThe kitchen is my happy place so here is what I made this week:

  • Pizza on a pizza stone + salad
  • Apple bread
  • Salmon salad for sandwiches
  • Deviled eggs
  • Turkey chili + salad
  • No knead crusty rolls (for the chili)
  • Marble loaf cake

marble-loaf-cake

  • Taco salad
  • Granola bars
  • Spaghetti with spinach + salad
  • Salmon patties with rice and steamed vegetables
  • Dark chocolate cashew clusters
  • Crispy oat cookies

I haven’t had a cold or flu in over 50 years. Hmmm… I wonder if it’s the home cooking? 🙂

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Aug 15, 2025

Prune Whip

This is my most treasured cookbook, the one I learned how to cook with. It was published in 1968 and is still a classic today. I often refer to it and this time, I came across an old recipe for prune whip. I see a lot of people ask about how to make prune whip so I took a picture of the recipes (2 actually, one stovetop and one baked) and am posting them here for anyone who wants to make old fashioned prune whip, or maybe can use this recipe as a base for your own creation.

Prunes provide more than just fiber. They are full of nutrients like potassium, iron, vitamins B6 and K, lots of polyphenols, and boron for bones. Enjoy!

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Jul 16, 2025

Simple Blueberry Cake

 easy_fresh_blueberry_cake

Summer blueberries are in season so I’m loving this easy recipe for what I’ve decided to call “Blueberry Breakfast Cake.” It’s not too sweet, easy to make, no mixer is needed, and there are different options for the top. Along with my usual breakfast of a hard-boiled egg and toast, I’ve been enjoying a slice of this breakfast cake for dessert. Blueberries are considered brain food so I’m hoping this helps me for the number of times I walk into a room and forget why I went there! 😀 Click here for the recipe. 

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Jul 5, 2025

30 Minute Chicken Spinach Skillet

chicken_spinach_skillet_pasta

👩‍🍳 NEW RECIPE:👩‍🍳 I hate cooked spinach, always have. It just tasted slimy and I would prefer a can of sardines (with the heads!) than eat cooked spinach. But spinach has so many health benefits, I had to find a way to incorporate it into my cooking and here it is: wilted spinach! It’s not slimy. Baby spinach softens up quickly when it’s steamed and that’s what I do here. I cook the chicken and pasta and then just steam the spinach on top for two minutes and now, I eat spinach all the time!

You know how they always say, “Eat leafy greens?” 🥬 Make this recipe and you’ll be supporting your heart, brain, eyes, bones, blood pressure, and digestion, And spinach is loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, plus folic acid, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium and more.

Com’on! Get on the spinach train like me! 🚂 Click here for the recipe.

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Jun 16, 2025

Great Tip on Cooking With Garlic

Garlic_clove_in_olive-oil

Is anyone else tired of cleaning your garlic press? Or of chopping garlic? I know I am. I cook with garlic all the time and I saw a great tip on a better way to use garlic. All you do is add a whole peeled garlic clove directly into your pan while cooking. You’ll still get plenty of garlic flavor without the mess. Once your recipe is done, simply remove and discard the garlic. I forgot once and ate the whole thing but that’s okay – you’ll gets lots of health benefits, just maybe not a lot of close-up friends!

Many recipes start with sautéing onions and garlic and so you sauté them together. I actually put my olive oil and garlic clove in my pan and start to heat it up. Once the garlic starts to sizzle, I add the onions and away I go. Another benefit of this method is that your garlic won’t burn so easily. Actually, mine has never burned this way, probably because it’s whole and not chopped fine or crushed. I’ve been using garlic this way for months with chili, one-pan pasta dishes, rice, and spaghetti sauce, and thought I would share this will my follow cooks.

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