A weekly menu plan with St. Patrick’s Day in mind plus tips on how all the meals work together to create a functional meal plan that won’t take up all your time or all your money. The weekend devoured me in a chlorinated steam cloud, the kind that hits you in the chest with the first breath as you enter the pool deck. The last of the season. From here to Sunday it’s all spring break around these parts, which means we started the week off with plenty of snow in our pockets. St.... more

This week’s menu plan, a round-up of interesting links from last week including the Eat Well, Spend Less questions, and a bit of bickering. Really, there’s no bickering. I don’t think. I like to read. Have we talked about this little piece of information? I feel like we should talk about this. If I had my way, life would be made up of reading, writing, good food, music (both the kind I play and the live and recorded listening variety), and maybe a few hours a month devoted to television... more

Mildly piquant Poblano peppers add kick to this full-bodied black bean beef chili recipe with a cooling cilantro and avocado cream on top. We woke up in Narnia. Snow had cascaded down from a dark midnight sky and left a soft white blanket that covered the ground and coated the trees. The grey mountains of snow at the ends of driveways had been washed clean and sparkled. Footprints and ice crusts were covered with nothing but pure, unadulterated white. The weight of it muffles sound and makes everything... more

This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series I look at how the group introduces new foods to their children, whether they eat the same food, and whether they think any of that is important at all. Lights glare from the bubbles above the dining room table, sending yellowish streams through the room. Typical in the winter, when the sun sinks below the horizon before the food has a chance to be set out and the family called around the table. Banter across the warm oak includes sarcasm and teasing... more

Soft, pillowy biscuits are touched with a slight sweetness from syrupy honey and the distinct orange of sweet potatoes baked in. In that waking moment between the dream world behind your eyelids and reentering consciousness, your body becomes aware. Slowly, the darkness fades as your mind crawls across your body, searching, and you start to feel again. A small electrical current reaches your limbs, exploring where they are at present, noticing the small pain on your toe from where you stubbed it... more

Dark Irish stout and sharp cheese come together around bits of salty ham and soft boiled potatoes in this recipe for a chunky, satisfying soup. I’ve had this post open for five days now. For five days the white space between the HTML of the images has haunted me and begged me to tell a story, to write an essay, to sum up an anecdote into a few short paragraphs. At the end of each of these five days there has been one consistent constant: I have failed. Today is really no different. I feel... more

When you aren’t feeling well, simple things sound best: soup, soup, and more soup. Comfort food becomes a way of life, and the weekly menu tends to be filled with just those things. I have just turned out the lights and pulled the covers up to my chin. My head throbs lightly, and I swallow past the pain of a swollen throat. Burrowed down beneath the warm, white flannel sheets, my body releases the tension of a long day. I exhale into my covers, the warmth of the breath circling my face and... more