Today's Challenge: Lunch

If dinner time is like Iron Chef America in my mind, then lunch is like Chopped on Food Network. I often stare at my pantry and fridge and ponder, "what to make OTHER than a PB&J." Today was exactly one of those days.

In my "basket" was fresh spinach and thawed bacon and 15 minutes to make something to eat. Oh darn! I made a salad. It was ridiculously easy and simple and quite honestly delicious. I chopped up a celery stalk, one carrot, some grape tomatoes, two slices of bacon and one big handful of fresh spinach. Top with a little Italian vinegarette and viola.

I was so proud I took a picture!

Healthy to boot! All the ingredients (minus the bacon) were raw and in their un-adulterated form. Only thing that would have made this better were some homemade croutons, but I had neither the time nor the ingredients to make them. Next time I suppose.

What do you do for lunch when you have a limited time?

Slow Cooker Meal: Beef Stew with Bacon, Onion and Sweet Potato

First and foremost, regarding yesterday's post, I am thankful for my teeth. They allow me to eat an abundance of wonderful foods. I am thankful that my son is healthy enough to get his own set of teeth. I hate teething. Vince has been incredibly fussy because of it and hasn't been keen on napping either. Today was a much better day.

We did a slow cooker meal today since it was my first day back at work. I'm working from home and taking care of Vince at the same time, so I didn't want anything that would be too much work or overly stressful. Plus this recipe fit in perfect with our "slow cooker meal a week" plan. :)

Ingredients

1 pound stew meat

14.5 ounces of beef broth

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 2 inch chunks

1 large onion, cut into 1.5 inch chunks

2 slices of bacon, diced

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Procedure:

1. Throw the above ingredients into a slow cooker

2. Leave it alone on low for 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours

3. Eat

The one and only picture:

Admittedly, I didn't peel the sweet potatoes. It took Marc 3/4 of the bowl to notice, and they were such a pain to do I honestly didn't care. We ended up adding salt and pepper to our individual bowls at well. Otherwise it turned out really good. We'll be having the leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Did you slow cook anything this week? Why not?