Coming Home

On our last morning in Hawaii, we had to check out of the resort by 10:00 a.m. which we did and then we just hung out by the beach for a little while and then by the pools in the shade. We were able to rent a locker space in the workout room for the guys so they could sunbathe, swim and then shower before leaving for airport. Barb and I decided to just shower in our room before checkout and dress in shorts for the day.

Gerry and Bill took a last dip in the ocean and Gerry took a walk out on the sandbar and got some great shots of the resort. I would post some of those pictures, but we are trying to track down my camera which I think may still be on the plane (hopefully it will turn up).

We stopped for lunch at Kalapaki Joe's on our way to the airport. I feasted on fish and chips which were absolutely wonderful!

We flew from Kauai to Honolulu where Bill and Barb are staying for another week. Meanwhile Gerry and I watched the rest of the disappointing Cowboys game at the aiport before boarding our flight to Dallas. We took off at 6:40 p.m. and landed this morning at DFW at about 7:00 (the actual flying time is about 7 1/2 hours). We did manage to sleep quite a bit of the time. I think it may be during this sleeping time that I may have dislodged the camera from my purse which was under the seat in front of me. Hopefully we will track it down since I would hate to lose the last day of our pictures.

I spent the day doing laundry, watching lots of cooking shows and catching lots of nap all day. I really catnapped all day and at 8:00 tonight this is the most awake I have felt all day.

On another note, I had recently found a co-op style produce system which gets me a crate of organic, locally grown produce which is like a CSA that I have been trying to find for a couple of years now. It is called Urban Acres and I stumbled upon it by accident at a pick up point in McKinney. I promptly signed up for a full crate that Val and I will split every two weeks. The first pick-up happened to be this past Saturday while I was kayaking up a river and hiking in Kauai so Val picked it up for us.

It was wonderful to see all the fresh produce in the crate. There were so many choices for dinner since there was so many greens along with some fruits and some potatoes. I opted for Leek and Potato Soup along with Kale Chips since all three of those items were in the crate and it is a Meatless Monday. Both of these recipes were wonderful.


Potato Leek Soup (adapted from Urban Acres, from glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com)

2 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
5 potatoes, thinly sliced
2 1/2 – 3 cups vegetable broth (or enough to barely cover potatoes)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat then add onions and leeks. Cook, stirring, until onions are limp and just slightly brown.

Add sliced potatoes to saucepan then pour in enough vegetable broth to just barely cover the potatoes. Continue cooking over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher or an immersion blender, mash or blend potatoes until desired consistency is reached. As you mash the potatoes and the soup thickens, turn down heat and stir frequently with a large spoon to prevent scorching on the bottom.

Add 3/4 cup of heavy cream (or more if you desire) and salt and black pepper to taste. Cook 15 minutes more over low heat, stirring frequently, then remove from heat and serve.


Tuscan Kale Chips (Adapted from fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com)

12 large Tuscan (Lucinato) Kale leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Preheat convection or regular oven to 250 degrees. Meanwhile remove stems from kale leaves and cut lengthwise in half. Drizzle the leaves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before spreading in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in a convection or 30 minutes in a regular oven, and then spread them on a cooling rack to stay crispy.


This was a wonderful meal for our first meatless Monday after our travels.

Lentil Sloppy Joes

I loved this dish the first time I prepared it and decided I needed to share it with everyone. This has the classic flavor of a wonderful Sloppy Joe but the meat is replaced with brown lentils. It is so flavorful you don't even realize the meat isn't there. I cooked the lentils earlier in the day so they would be ready for me as I pulled together the sauce at dinner time.

My menu for the day:
Breakfast - Oatmeal cooked in Vanilla Soy milk with chopped apples and raisins
Lunch - Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds, freshly baked Sourdough Bread
Dinner - Lentil Sloppy Joes, Kale Chips

All I had to do at dinner time is saute some onions and add garlic near the end of the saute time. Then I added some ketchup, maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, ginger, Tabasco, salt and pepper and allowed the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes. The cooked lentils were added and simmered to warm through for a couple of minutes. I served these on hamburger buns.

I served my Kale Chips as our side dish.



Lentil Sloppy Joes (Serves 4)

1/2 cup brown lentils
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
pinch ground ginger
Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
whole wheat buns, toasted
dill pickles
green leaf lettuce
red onion slices

Sort through the lentils, picking out stones or debris, then rinse lentils thoroughly. Add lentils and water to a saucepan, cover and cook over medium heat until lentils are tender but not mushy, 30-40 minutes. Drain and set lentils aside.

Saute onion in oil in a saute pan over medium heat until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute.

Add ketchup, syrup, mustard, vinegar, ginger, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Simmer until sauce is thickened and darker in color, 8-10 minutes. Stir in lentils and simmer to warm through, 2-3 minutes.

Serve lentil mixture on buns with pickles, lettuce, and onions.


Adapted from Cuisine at Home for Two

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