Good Dinner Mrs. Mellen

In the book The Blue Zones by Dan Beuttner, Blue Zones are the longest living cultures in the world, one common dietary staple in all the areas is beans, all different kinds of beans. I love to use any kind of bean in my recipes, from soups, chillies, pastas and especially salads. Chickpeas( garbanzo beans ) are one of my favorite to use in my recipes like this Live to 100 Chickpea Salad.  I've added some crunch and sweetness to this salad with pecans and dried cranberries. Nuts also play an important role in Blue Zone cultures! You can like I do use this salad as a base for a more hearty dinner salad combining a protein such as tuna, chicken, tofu just to name a few. If you want to keep the salad vegan you can add more crunchy veggies such as red peppers, carrots, fennel and so many more different colors and textures. Experimenting you can find so many different uses for this basic salad while adding years on your life! Live to 100 Chickpea Salad Ingredients:...

We are really having a tough winter here in New England with the temperature at minus fifteen this morning when I went out to yoga.  What could be warm me up better than a hot bowl of soup. I love all the ingredients in the Sausage Soup I made today which taste so good and filling on a cold winter day. Healthy and tasty my favorite combination! Chicken Sausage White Bean Kale Soup with Mushrooms 5-6 chicken sausage 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup chopped leeks, white part only 1/2 cup celery, chopped 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced 2 cups Kale, chopped leaves no stems 62 ounces(cartons) chicken broth, either homemade or bought.  I use low sodium, low fat chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried french thyme Cook sausage in large frying pan on medium heat turning frequently for 15- 20 minutes. Sausage should be browned. Drain on paper towel and set aside. Heat olive in large stock pot. Add garlic, leeks and celery ...

  Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups butter, softened 3 cups sugar 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened 6 large eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour  1 teaspoon lemon extract 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 jar Lemon Curd Preparation: 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. 2. Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in lemon and vanilla extracts. Pour one-third of batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (14-cup) tube pan (about 2 2/3 cups batter). Dollop 8 rounded teaspoonfuls lemon curd over batter, and swirl with wooden skewer. Repeat procedure once, and top with remaining third of ...

I enjoy setting a holiday table including making decorator Place Cards. These spring themed place cards are perfect for Easter or any other spring dinner party. This Easter I had an egg them so I wanted to make place cards to match. So easy to make! Supplies Needed: 12 colored place cards, I used mint green from Paper Source, my go to paper store. 12 mini nest from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store dried moss from any craft store 12 mini robin eggs from Pottery Barn hot glue gun 1. Print name on place cards. Paper Source has a templates on line for all your printing needs. I used brown to print on the mint green. 2. Attach a just a few strands of the moss on robin's nest with glue. Put a little more glue on top of moss and attach robin egg. Press and hold for a few seconds to secure. 3. Cut to slits on the top of the place card, the slits should be an inch in from each side. Fold slits down to create a ledge for the robins nest. 4. Cover ledge with glue secur...

When it's cold outside and the weather is tiring I always turn to chocolate. What could be better than baking these fudging cookies to enjoy warm right out of the oven, just melting in your mouth. Easy and delicious I loved to make these cookies with my children on snowy days so they could have a warm cookie after playing and sledding in the snow! Ingredients   1 / 4 cup all purpose flour 1 / 4 teaspoon baking powder 1 / 4 teaspoon salt 1 1 / 2 cups Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips, for melting into the cookie dough 2 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 eggs 1 / 2 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 / 3 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips for mixing into the prepared cookie dough Directions In a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Turn off the stove and let chocolate sit over warm water. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. In another bowl, mix together sugar and egg...

We are deep in the winter doldrums in New England with temperatures dropping to minus 20 last night! Record cold temperatures, record snow falls in one month, cities and towns buried under snow with more snow on the way. All around me complaints can be heard about our harsh and miserable winter of 2015. Enough I say, I'm over this winter instead I am transporting myself to a beautiful spring by shipping a  cup of tea while I look over last year's garden photo's to plan this year's additions to my already over flowing flower beds. I choose not to be miserable lamenting about record cold temperatures and snow falls: My beautiful garden photos are lifting me and my spirit to a different time when the air is sweet with new buds pushing past the just warming soil signalling the start of spring. Gardening is in my blood; I come from a long list of passionate green thumbs who can spend all day laboring in their gardens, a labor of love. My particular passion is flowers...

Happy President's Day! I'm celebrating with a  good old fashioned American Apple Pie. I've added a little extra to this recipe, dried cranberries soaked over night in cognac. Pastry : 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar (optional) 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Cut into butter thoroughly with a pastry blender.  Sprinkle in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans the side of the bow l . Gather the dough into a ball, then shape, divide the dough in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds.) Chill dough for at least one hour. On a lightly floured board r oll each dough rounds 2 inches larger all around than the inverted pie pan. Place past ry on parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet, and chill. 9 medium size firm tart apples, thinly sliced. (I used Granny Smith) 1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked ove...