No, I haven't forgotten about my weekly challenges

It's just that these posts about my weekly challenges aren't very interesting to write. But I don't want to be accused of not following through, so here it is.

I did get a week's reprieve while we were away on our ski trip, (although I did bring and play my ukulele one night!) but back on track this week with both a kale and a crock-pot meal in one night.

I'm trying to avoid basic stews in the crock-pot because, although convenient, they usually aren't very good.  But I thought maybe soup would be okay, so I tried this Old-Fashioned Beef and Noodle Soup recipe from my Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook.  

 

I didn't use blade steak, as suggested.  I used plain ol' stewing beef instead.  Turns out, I should've used the blade steak.  I thought long, slow cooking in the crock-pot with lots of liquid was supposed to mean that tougher, less expensive cuts of meat could be used and end up tasting moist and tender.  But no, it still tasted like tough, tasteless stewing meat to me.  The kids too, apparently.  But they did eat the noodles and most of the vegetables. Maybe next time, I'll dredge the meat in flour and brown it first.

The kale was even less exciting.  Pressed for time and stuck for ideas, I thought I'd try sautéing it again, but this time with bacon.  Like in this yummy Brussels sprouts recipe from Dinner: A Love Story which I reviewed here a while back.  But kale isn't as yummy as Brussels sprouts. Of course it was good - it had bacon in it!  But it felt a little like cheating.  And entirely counter-productive to pair a nutritional superstar like kale with the guilty goodness of bacon.  Oh well.

As the storm whirls away outside, I realize that there are still many winter weeks of kale and crock-pot meals to go... Who can help me with some recommendations?  

Please!