My meatless meals roundup from years ago has continued getting lots of views every year, but we've added so much to our meal repertoire that I thought a second post was in order!

Whether you're trying to eat more meatless meals in order to observe Lent, or just as a personal choice, this list should help give you some tasty new recipe ideas. 

Most of these I've tried, or would try, with my family, and I'd consider my kids to be pretty middle-of-the-road in terms of how adventurous they are with their eating. If yours aren't very adventurous, there's no shame in sticking with macaroni and cheese or pizza! 

Meatless Meals: Instant Pot Black Bean Soup (a no-recipe recipe)

I have to admit, I'm generally a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of cook. I love looking at recipes for inspiration, but when it comes down to it? I'll happily make all the substitutions I want, do my own thing, and I'm almost always happy with the result! So if you're a "must-have-exact-quantities-or-my-life-will-explode" sort of cook? This is probably not for you!!

BUT if you're comfortable (or want to get comfortable) improvising in the kitchen, this should be a good starting point for you!

It's not picturesque. Soup never is. But it's delicious!

This "recipe" was really borne of the conundrum, "I have too many random vegetables from my produce box, insatiable children who adore soup, and hey, dried beans are cheap!" And it has quickly become a staple in our house!

(No instant pot? Try these slow cooker black beans! Add extra broth and it'll be plenty for soup!)

Meatless Meal: Chickpea Burgers

Need a meatless meal idea that uses some of the beans you might have stocked up on? This is a Friday favorite at our house! Reminiscent of falafel, but with a texture that's a bit more kid-friendly, and no frying necessary. We love these chickpea burgers with feta cheese, bell peppers, homemade tzatziki sauce, and flatbread!

 I've got pictures to walk you through each step, and you can scroll down for the complete recipe.

Bread for Beginners: Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza is something that eluded me for years. My crust was always too tough, or too soggy, or awkwardly shaped... It just felt better to order pizza or grab something frozen from the store! But I've been using this recipe for years and it's perfect. Give it a try!

Bread for Beginners: Sandwich Bread Recipe

A few months ago I decided I'd like to try baking all our bread instead of buying some of it at the store. I was already baking about half of what we eat, but was tired of getting cheap grocery store bread that was full of junk (and the nice stuff is pricey!!). So I tried out a bunch of different recipes, tweaked my favorite, and baked my heart out.

Little did I know that a couple months later, there would be a serious bread shortage in stores! I'm so glad I was already in the habit of baking all our bread, and if you've found yourself in a new position of needing to bake all of your own, maybe this will be a good place to start?

One-Pan Dessert: Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Much like a large portion of the world's population (right? probably?), I dislike washing dishes. So I don't love baking, because of how many dishes I end up needing to wash afterwards! But this? Mix it in the pan, bake it in the pan, no multiple bowls & other dishes needed! And it's highly likely these are pantry staples that you always have on hand, so this is the perfect last-minute dessert.

Instant Pot for Beginners: Mashed Potatoes

I didn't realize what a complete life saver instant pot mashed potatoes could be until some friends were discussing their Thanksgiving plans. One of them said she makes her mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, then puts them in to stay warm until she's ready to serve them hours later.

Instant Pot for Beginners: How to Cook White Rice

Did you buy an Instant Pot on impulse when you saw a great Black Friday or Prime Day deal? Is it just... Sitting in the box gathering dust? I guarantee you're not the only one! It's a daunting prospect, figuring out how to use a new appliance that shoots hot steam out the top if you use it wrong. The first time I used ours, I sprayed liquefied oatmeal onto the kitchen ceiling! 

So. Let's start with the basics, shall we? Rice is a good place to start! And I guarantee it won't end up on your ceiling, unless you throw it up in the air like confetti.

(More) Meal Planning, Recipes, and Music {7qt}

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We've had to turn the air conditioning on every day this week, so I maintain that we're still firmly in the grip of summer. I won't begrudge you your pumpkin decorations (I mean really, pumpkins are so pretty!) but we've reached my least-favorite part of the year:

When you can't trust any baked good *not* to have nasty pumpkin hiding in it. WHY would you ruin a perfectly good chocolate chip cookie by putting pumpkin in it???

Easy Peasy Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

Quick Fall Treat: Apple Cinnamon Scones

I love scones. But the scones I love might not really be classified as scones - moist, muffin-y, falling apart... Not those dry triangles you see everywhere else! We used to live near a bakery that sold the most amazing scones that were nothing like anything I'd ever had before. I would happily shell out the $3, since I just couldn't figure out how to make mine so incredible! Then a friend pointed me to this recipe for raspberry scones and I knew I could adapt that for whatever flavors I wanted. Finally, moist, muffin-y scones!

Can I even call them scones if they aren't triangular? Maybe... Maybe not? In any case, they're delicious and so simple to make. Give these a try for a quick fall treat!

My Sunday Best, Vol. 37: Pattern Mixing and a Game Day Recipe

This post is sponsored by Lindsay Olives, my absolute favorite olive brand! All opinions are my own :)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! 

I hear there's a big game coming up in the next few weeks, but I couldn't tell you who's playing... I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to following any professional sports. I *do* notice that Sunday Mass tends to be a little less crowded when that biggest of big games rolls around. In that vein of things, I thought I'd share one of our favorite recipes, in the hopes that it inspires you for a tasty game day menu!

But first, here's what we wore...

Pattern mixing win? Fail? What do you think?

Also Mary Claire with the embroidery hoop hat/halo is obviously super-styling! She had already been to Mass earlier with my mom...

Crowd-Pleasing Turkey Chili

The secret ingredient is beer.

There, did that pique your interest?

What began as a way to use up skunky beer ended up being the most delicious turkey chili - the kind my pickiest eater actually wanted a SECOND helping of! 

And since we seem to be experiencing Winter 2.0, what better way to embrace the chilly weather than to cook up a giant pot of this delicious chili? It makes enough for a large-ish family with plenty of leftovers to share! I love taking half of it to new moms or friends who could use a night off from cooking, but it also freezes well and reheats beautifully if you just want to get a little freezer cooking done!

What Would You Do? Housewarming Crowd-Sourcing

I'm gonna sneak in today's post real quick while Peter's napping (!!! Still!!! No way is he sleeping tonight but clearly he needs the rest since he didn't budge when I went in to wake up...) and John Paul's reading to the girls.

We're having our housewarming party this weekend (want to come? The more, the merrier!) and since it's October and kind of chilly, it seems to me that our usual burgers-brats-hot dogs fare isn't seasonally appropriate, right? Andrew still wants to go with that, but I really want to do a soup party, Theresa-style.

The problem?

Well, Andrew doesn't really like soup...

So what's a man-pleasing, meat-heavy soup that doesn't seem like soup? He dislikes most vegetables, and I think his dream soup would probably just taste like a cheeseburger... Pasta e fagioli? Cheeseburger soup? Send me all your links & recipes!

I'm thinking I'll make a big old batch of mac 'n cheese, a ton of crusty bread, chili & corn bread, maybe minestrone, and then whatever meat soup YOU help me find!

So... Help? Please and thank you!

Easy Apple Crumble Recipe

If there's one fruit we can't live without in our house, it's apples. Which is why fall is by favorite - no pumpkin spice for me, I'm baking as many apple desserts as possible!

We've been apple picking three times so far this season, and have probably picked close to 200 pounds of apples at this point. You'd think that'd mean we've made tons of sauce and apple butter but... Not so much. See, my apple storage system leaves something to be desired.

This means I keep ending up with a pile of apples with one tiny bite taken out of each one that I have to do something with immediately! And while I *could* sauce them, an apple crumble is a little more fun, plus I don't have to roll out any dough!

The topping is my absolute favorite part - buttery, crumbly, and sweet but not too sweet. 

But I won't bore you with the details - you've gotta make one yourself!

Affiliate links included below:

Ingredients:

Filling:

6-8 apples, peeled & sliced (this tool will make quick work of them!)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Crumble:

3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large bowl, toss apple slices with 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tbsp cinnamon. Spread in pie pan or baking dish.

Cut butter into small pieces and pulse with flour and sugar in food processor until crumbly. Spread over top of apples.

Bake on center oven rack for 40 minutes. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes, and serve.

I love this recipe because you can make it into a pie just by adding your favorite crust to the bottom, or you can make it in a deep pan and double the filling easily. It's even delicious for breakfast!

Easy Recipe: Marinated Flank Steak with Grilled Asparagus

It's grilling season! Which means it's time for some of my favorite recipes to come back in the rotation - these both work fine in the oven, but you just can't beat the grill marks on this marinated flank steak, and the grilled asparagus gets a great smoky flavor that the oven can't match!

The steak is tender and incredibly flavorful, and a favorite of everybody in our house - especially the kids! Flank steak isn't the cheapest cut of meat, so a little really does go a long way in this recipe.

Grab your ingredients: Red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, and sugar. And flank steak! You can use a pretty small cut and make it go a long way - we usually only need about 1.5 pounds to feed the whole family (2 adults and 4 meat-loving kids).

Peel & smash the garlic cloves; massage with rosemary, salt, and pepper in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Add vinegar, oil, and sugar and mix. Marinate your steak in the mixture for anywhere from 4-24 hours. 

I try to do this in the morning after breakfast to make sure it marinates long enough! 

Wash and trim a bunch of asparagus, lay on two sheets of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Seal up your foil packet so it's ready to throw on the grill with the steak!

About 45 minutes before you're ready to eat, start preheating the grill to high. Once the grill is heated, throw the asparagus on in the foil package. Grill the steak for anywhere from 4-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your steak and how done you want it to be. Remove and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing against the grain. Check asparagus after 10 minutes and continue cooking until fork tender.

I served it with the Pioneer Woman's potato bundles, which you could *also* grill, but I stuck them in the oven this time.

Marinated Flank Steak:

4 garlic cloves

4 sprigs rosemary

1 tsp salt

pepper

1 tsp sugar

5 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Peel & crush garlic cloves in gallon-sized freezer bag with salt, pepper, and rosemary.

2. Add vinegar, oil, and sugar. Mix.

3. Add steak and refrigerate in bag for 4-24 hours, turning to distribute marinade every few hours.

4. Preheat grill to high, then grill steak for 4-8 minutes per side until it reaches desired doneness.

5. Remove steak from grill, allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting against the grain.

Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Homemade Pita

You know that amazing pita bread you get at middle eastern restaurants?  The kind that makes you just want to eat bread for your entire meal?  I LOVE that stuff.  But the dry grocery store pita comes NOWHERE near that pillowy deliciousness that you get in a restaurant...  So I consulted my Flatbreads & Flavors cookbook and discovered that hey, it's really not that hard to just make it myself!

I used half white flour, half wheat flour (Trader Joe's White Whole Wheat) - I kind of have to trick myself into eating whole grains, and this really tasted just like the restaurant stuff!  

Dissolve 2 tsp yeast in a cup of warm water (not too hot! You'll kill the yeast!) - 5ish minutes should do it.

You're not proofing it, so it doesn't need to get foamy or anything.

Add the flour (2.5 cups), 2 tsp salt, and 1 tbsp olive oil and knead with your dough hook for 8 minutes (or by hand for about the same amount of time).

Cover with plastic wrap in oiled bowl, let rise for 1 hour.

You see? You can tell the dough is wheaty, *just* the right amount if you happened to be raised on white bread only like me...

Make your dough into a disk and cut it into 8-10 pieces, flattening each into a small round.  

(If your cast iron pan is tiny like mine, make more rounds!)

Meanwhile, heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat...

And start rolling your rounds!  They don't need to be perfect - you'll get better at it the more you roll!  This is a great spot to get your 5-year-old to help, particularly if he or she is adept with the play dough rolling pin ;)

Once the pan is warm, drizzle it with olive oil, spread it around, and toss your first pita in!

Turn on your kitchen fan!  Mine always gets really smokey when I do this...

It'll bubble up beautifully like this - you can use a towel to press the bubbles to try to make it puff up in one piece, but I don't really care about the inner cavity so I didn't bother...  Anyway, once it gets to this point (After 1-2 minutes), it's time to flip it!

Admit it...  You want to eat this right now!  Cook it for another 1-2 minutes, rolling out the next pita while it finishes up.

You might want to make a double batch...  These babies go fast!

The bread in the background is from this recipe - our favorite!

Before you know it, you will have finished making the whole batch!  You can do them in the oven too, on a pizza stone or an upended cookie sheet.  I like the cast iron pan better because it means I don't have to open and close the oven door a trillion times - too many kids running through the kitchen for THAT to be safe!

We've been eating them with homemade hummus & veggies for a really simple meal.  And I'm going to start making double batches and using them for sandwiches, too - how delicious will these be with grilled marinated chicken and veggies once the weather warms up?

If you're a bread novice, this would be a GREAT recipe to start with!  And one that your kids could definitely help out with, too.  But be warned...  You may end up eating 1 or 2 rounds before you're even done cooking them!

Quick & Easy Homemade Pita

2.5 cups flour (plus more for kneading - I used 1 cup white whole wheat, 1.5 white)

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup warm water

1. Dissolve yeast in water in the bowl of a stand mixer, let stand approximately 5 minutes.

2. Add flour, yeast, salt, & olive oil and knead with dough hook 8 minutes (or by hand with extra flour for kneading).

3. Oil bowl & dough, cover with plastic wrap, let rise 1 hr.

4. Divide dough into 8-10 rounds.

5. On floured counter, roll each round into 6-8" circle (1/8-1/4" thick). Heat cast iron pan over medium-high heat.

6. Drizzle olive oil into heated pan and add one round at a time, cooking 1-2 minutes before flipping and cooking another 1-2 minutes.

7. Enjoy!

I thinking I'm going to try adding minced garlic & herbs next time to kick things up a notch - what are YOU cooking lately?