Happy Wednesday!  Let me first off say thank you for all the comments on my latest BLOG Makeover Giveaway.  It really is fun to give back to the blogging community and help friendly people out.  I am really impressed with the excitement level and I cannot wait to announce the winner next week.  So many people have tweeted about it and mentioned it on their blogs… so great.

On to the Food

Who loves vegetables?  Who loves simple, easy to make stews that require no really thought and monitoring at the stove?  Who like to eat?  I am hopeful you answered yes to at least two of those questions.  Neither here nor there – I have come up with a recipe that even kind of impressed Mrs. Zesty ( who is not a huge vegetable lover ) which to me means WHOOO HOOOO.

I have been really into lentils as of late and I wanted to come up with an easy way to put these babies to good use.  I had also found a couple of cans of tomatoes on sale.  Loving the sales and I will even use a coupon every now and again if I have them.  Want to see a cool site about cost saving ideas, coupons galore and wicked recipes?  If so check out 5 Dollar Dinners – Erin’s site is jam packed with cool information.

So with the tomatoes and the lentils I had built up an urge for a nice warming stew packed with flavor.  How do you pack it with flavor?  Low and slow and a few key spices.

Ingredients

• 2 15 Oz Cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 Clove garlic
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 6 Cups water
• 1 Cup pearl barley
• 2 Cups lentils
• 2 Large carrots ( cubed)
• 8 baby Potatoes ( quartered )
• 1 Turnip ( cubed)
• 1 Cup frozen peas
• 1 Cup frozen corn
• 1 Tsp. Celery salt
• 2 Tsp. Chili powder
• 1/2 Tsp. Red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat large sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add olive oil, turnip and carrots and begin to brown for about 5-7 minutes



3. Toss in garlic, tomatoes, celery salt, chili powder and red pepper flakes;  let simmer for 5 minutes



4. Add lentils and water; let cook on low for 15 minutes
5. Add barley and cook for 10 more minutes; then toss in potatoes and let simmer for another 20 minutes
6. Remove the lid and check for consistency.  If you think it needs more water – feel free to add some.  if you find it is too runny keep simmering with the lid off for 15 minutes.



7. Once the consistency is right, add peas and corn and stri through for 3 minutes.
8. Serve it up with a nice piece of beer bread if you have an.
9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: By sauteing the root vegetables before simmering the stew you are packing the base of the stew with flavor right out of the gate.  For a more traditional base you may use carrots, celery and onion but I didn’t have any celery and Mrs. Zesty is not a fan of onions at all.

This was a really fun post to write and an even funner stew to make.  I would love to hear your favorite stew ideas if you have any.  Feel free to post your all time fav stew ingredients in the comment section.

Around the Blogsphere

• I guess we better keep voting for me at Goodbite.com and my Campbell’s debut.  I can only assume I am not winning the contest so VOTE now!
• An unbelievable pancake over at Healthy Tipping Point.
• Like Omelets?  try this one from Jaden

I hope you have a great Wednesday and don’t forget to enter the makeover giveaway if you have not done so already.

Take care

zesty

Happy Friday!  Sorry for the delay in posting.  I actually never had time to write last night as we were at the house until 11:00pm prepping the upstairs for the painter today.  Progress is moving along and things are starting to take shape.  We picked out some plumbing fixtures today which are in stock… whoo hooo.  We seem to be struggling on lighting fixtures but hopefully we can find something we like soon.

On to the food

Take a look at this dish… first glance you may think it is a little odd which may be true but I like to call this – the fridge leftovers plus some eggs.  I had some left over potatoes, corn and mushrooms in the fridge and I was not sure what to do with it.

As you know I really hate throwing out perfectly good food so this is what I came up with.

Ingredients

• Mushrooms
• Corn
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Large Potato ( cooked and cubed)
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Add butter to a saute pan and heat to medium heat
2. Add mushrooms and begin to brown ( about 3 minutes )
3. Toss in potatoes and cook for 6 minutes; stir in leftover corn and mix thoroughly.
4. Create two hallow areas in the pan to crack the eggs.
5. Cover pan and let the eggs cook for about 4 minutes.
6. Remove and plate



7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Never waste food!  That is my tip.  Just try making crazy dishes like this one and see what you like.

Alright – I have to run to a meeting and figure out some house stuff.

To Do List

• Meet with the railing people
• Pick out some lighting… please
• Order the quarter -round molding
• Confirm cabinet arrival on Monday

Hope you have a great day!

Take care

zesty