Lunch – Quesadillas:

I like to make a simple, yummy quesadilla by filling a tortilla with black beans and covering with chopped cilantro, garlic, and cheese. I seal it with a second tortilla and broil it in the oven until done. (That’s coconut oil coating the pan, in case you were wondering.)

We had some leftover Chinese food in the fridge, so I re-invented it for dinner:

I stir-fried the leftovers and added peanuts from the stockpile to fill it out. I love peanuts in stir-frys because they add so much flavor. I served it on a bed of Jasmine rice and with a side of egg flour soup. I’ve had this soup mix in my cupboard for ages and finally decided to make it – it was really nice!

We also has green tea with the dinner (which you’ll notice is actually being served in a Sake set – those were just the smallest cups I had on hand!) and mango pudding for dessert.

Thursday’s menu:

I took the leftover rice from the previous night’s dinner and combined it with chopped onion, cheese, cilantro and eggs to make a nice omelette, served with half an orange.

For dinner, I made homemade chili/bean stew. I didn’t follow a recipe – I used some of the suggestions here and just made up the rest. Here’s what I did:

I cut two tomatoes (given to me straight from a relative’s garden), chopped some onion, and added in some cilantro just for fun. What can I say, we love cilantro!

I cooked it in coconut oil for a few minutes, then added three cans of black beans. I let it simmer for a few more minutes, then added curry powder, turmeric, and coriander. I know that’s an unusual combination of spices, but I don’t keep chili powder on hand because I find it’s usually too spicy for me, while I can handle mild curry seasonings fine.

Next, I added about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and about 2 cups of beef broth. I often use spaghetti sauce in place of tomato sauce – sounds weird, but it can be done! I just added the liquid until it looked right to me, but you could use more or less according to your tastes.

While the chili cooked, I got to work on some bread bowls. I took one loaf of homemade bread, cut it in half, and scooped out the middle. I took the bread cores and served them on the side for dipping into the stew.

I let the chili simmer for one hour, and then dished it into the bread bowls and topped with a little cheese. It was very nice – the bread bowls were huge (it was half a loaf of bread after all!), so enough of it was leftover for lunch the next day in addition to the big pot of chili. Bread bowls re-heat surprisingly well!