While my kale was in great shape even after I bagged it for a week, I cooked it instead of serving it fresh and raw. I sauteed it with onions and stirred in the beans. Since I'd never cooked it before, Paul thought it might not have been cooked completely. But it didn't hurt the flavor. We ate on leftovers a couple more days.

I'm cooking beans this morning. A big pot. Then, I have them to lean on for menu plans. They can last a week or more depending on if I freeze some or not. Also, if they get frozen, they don't have to be eaten every day, but can spread out over three weeks.

There are many more options for using beans than the five I have listed here. But these are fun and can feed a crowd pretty well. (I'm the type that has a weekly menu. If we have guests, I just make more of what I was planning to serve. I don't go shopping to make something special.)

My menu plan for Monday night required me to feed 20 for a church function. The only stipulation when serving is that it needs to be vegan-friendly because of allergies of some of the participants. I prepared the soup a day in advance because I didn't expect much time between work and the serving time. I was able to purchase the bread, lettuce, and cucumbers across the street and next door to my office, respectively.

I have been looking for this recipe all my life! It was exactly what I imagined. French onion soup is very elegant. This version is so easy. I'll be finding excuses to make it. I'm sure I've passed it numerous times while shuffling through my Moosewood Soups and Stews Deck. I don't know why it didn't register until last week. But I'm so thrilled that it did.

I'm so very sorry to be posting another failed recipe, but I hope it gives everyone encouragement that not all kitchen ventures are successful. Also, a little failure now-and-then does wonders for deflating the ego. But please don't quit reading my blog, I promise there's some good experiences to come.

The weather has definitely been a topic in the news. So, why should it be any different on a cooking blog? After all, you gotta stay warm! Soup is certainly key to warming up the inside--not to mention, it's often a great assistant in losing or maintaining weight if that was part of your New Year's Resolution.

Well, we're back from a lovely Thanksgiving trip to Star, Mississippi, and I'm happy to say we've brought a bit chillier weather with us. So, I cracked open my Moosewood Restaurant Soups and Stews cooking "deck of cards" this morning and laid out some recipes to investigate this week. We also have some leftover sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and mashed white potatoes. So aside from a quick trip to Publix to take advantage of the sale that started on Friday, my time in the grocery store will be pretty limited.

Sometimes, it's really hard to think of dinner. Sometimes, it's even harder to think of an entire week's worth of dinners! This is what happened yesterday. I had a lot going on. We had salad for lunch and leftovers and peanut butter and honey for dinner. (Hey, it's what the baby wanted!) However, today my mind got back on track surprisingly quickly as it all came to me while I was at work, and I actually have a meal plan for the week that isn't 100% salad and ice cream.

Previously, I have made this soup and loved it. I'm not sure what went wrong this time around, but we weren't as excited about it this time. So I will probably be spending my time trying new soup recipes, which makes a lot of sense when it isn't cold that often in Florida. So many soups, so little time! However, I think the mixture of flavors is still creative and fun for those with more experienced taste as the egg and lemon are quite unusual. For people who have more calendar time to eat soups that warm the inside, I think the creation is worth a try from your own stove.