Campfire Beans & Weenies | Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

It's zombie time! This month's In the Kitchen with Zombie Fiction pick is the 2015 movie Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Our main characters are three high school guys, who have been best friends since joining the Scouts as young kids, Ben, Carter, and Augie. Ben and Carter both think they've outgrown it and are ready to move on, but are staying for Augie...or at least until he's awarded the highest honor a Scout can get later that night.

In the time between school ending for the day and their campout starting for the night, they hit a deer and get a flat tire, are "invited" to the secret senior's party by Carter's sister's boyfriend, and meet a hot girl that used to go to their school, but is now a cocktail waitress at a strip club—and she buys them beer.

(Almost) Nigella's Black Bean Soup

Although I'm the first to say that I make and eat soup year-round (there are so many great summer soups!), cold weather, snow and ice has hit us hard lately and I've been in even more of a "gimme soup" kind of mood lately. But that works well since I've also had a lot of bones and carcasses from roasted meats to use for making stock lately, as well.

Like a lot people, I love using ham stock or a ham bone to make rich, meaty black bean soup like this crockpot black bean soup. This version from Nigella Lawson is a bit of a break from the norm, though. It utilizes the broth, juices, and ham bone left over from making her Coca-Cola Ham, which results in a bean soup that is a little sweet and unexpected.

Red Beans and Coconut Rice

This month's Progressive Eats menu celebrates the foods of the Caribbean. Aaaaah, the Caribbean...home of all sorts of places that I long to visit, but probably never will. Unless I win the lottery that I usually forget to play. But that doesn't mean a girl can't armchair-deskchair-kitchentable travel!

Even though there are all sorts of wonderful ingredients and dishes I could have chose from, due to last-minute-itis, I kept it simple and made a Jamaican staple, red beans and coconut rice. This dish may look unassuming, but since it is simmered in coconut milk and infused with the heat of a Scotch Bonnet chile, it is both rich and nuanced, as well.

Craving Fall Buddha Bowls | A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice

Today I'm hosting a book tour stop for A Piece of Sky, A Grain of Rice: a Memoir in Four Meditations by Christine Hale. This book is a little different than my usual read, and left me a bit puzzled when it came to writing my review. So, while the review that follows may seem a bit abbreviated, that is exactly the way that I wanted to present it. I hope you'll give it a chance.

Memoir for poetry fans. At first a bit of a turn-off, but the further I got, the more I became accustomed to her writing style.

Read like angst poetry or journal entries. A way to purge and let go of guilt, shame, self-doubt, neediness, hurt, codependence, and shortfalls.

Roasted Carrot Hummus inspired by Zootopia

Every month or so, my friend Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles and I challenge ourselves to create a recipe from a certain theme; this month she set forth the challenge of "any Disney movie". That's like, a million movies or so. I narrowed it down to a small handful of favorites that included The Aristocats, James and the Giant Peach, Bridge to Terabithia, Spirited Away, The Game Plan, and...Zootopia.

Obviously I chose to make something inspired by the latest of those releases. The kids and I went to see Zootopia on opening weekend at theaters—and I LOVED IT. I thought I'd like it, but I didn't expect to come out thinking that surely it was one of the best films of 2016. I know the year is only halfway over at this point, but I still believe that.

Spelt and Vegetable Soup inspired by I Am Love | #FoodnFlix

Our Food 'n Flix pick this month is the 2009 Italian film I Am Love starring Tilda Swinton. I watched this movie when it was first released on dvd and remember not really liking it. That being said, I believe in second chances, so I went in with a clear head when I popped the dvd in again this week. Unfortunately, it still wasn't my cup of tea. But all was not lost, because while I found the movie to be painfully slow, it did feature some beautiful scenery and delicious food to keep me in front of the screen.

The movie starts in Milan in the home of the wealthy Recchi family. Food is being prepped, silver is getting shined, and the scene is being set for a family meal to celebrate the grandfather's birthday. He announces his retirement from running the family business, which he will be entrusting to his son and grandson (because it will take two to take the place of one of him).

Eastman's Oatmeal Burgers inspired by The Walking Dead

Welcome to day 4 of Dead Eats: Recipes Inspired by The Walking Dead hosted by myself, Kim at Cravings of a Lunatic and Dionne at Try Anything Once Culinary. I hope you're having as much fun as I am with these recipes—and that you're as anxious as I am for Sunday to finally be here! If you haven't watched the first half of season 6 yet, here's your fair warning that there will be some spoilers in this post!

Here's the thing. I'm a Walking Dead fan through and through. I love the weeks with intense action and I also love those weeks that some people complain about saying they're "too slow" or "too boring" or "nothing happened". That's character development people! To understand people, it's important to know where they come from. Earlier this season we had one of those episodes; it was extra long and calm, giving us time to catch our breath and calm down after the crying, screaming, fist-shaking episode the week before.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Lately I've talked a fair deal about grilling, cold cocktails, and frozen treats as ways that I like to beat the heat during the hot summer months, but I also like to take advantage of my slow cooker(s). It's great to have that comforting scent of food cooking without melting every time you walk into the kitchen. So, when my friend Leslie suggested that we plug in our slow cookers for this month's edition of she made, ella hace, I thought that was a brilliant idea.

Last week I shared Apple Barbecue Grilled Ribs and Old Fashioned Creamy Potato Salad recipes that were both part of the same meal. Well, guess what else went along with that meal? You guessed it—baked beans. While the ribs were parbaking in the oven and the potatoes were cooling, I poured a few different kinds of canned beans into my slow cooker, along with some smoky bacon, some veggies, and some classic baked bean flavorings like ketchup, molasses, vinegar, mustard and more.

Crockpot Black Bean Soup

I'm still hunkered down over here in Frozenville. Stock pots, Dutch ovens, and slow cookers crowd my counters and stove top. Containers of soup disappear from the shelves of my fridge almost as soon as they get there. There's no mistaking the fact that it's mid-January in Northwestern Indiana.

I love coming home after a day out and about to the welcoming smells a slow cooker conjures up. Who doesn't. But tell me, do you ever let your slow cooker work its magic while you're nestled snugly in your warm bed? It's a whole 'nother level of happiness. The scent sort of envelopes the quiet house in a comforting blanket, and invokes good dreams.

What's that you say? You don't feel like waking up to a hearty bowl of stew? That's okay, cool it down and refrigerate it for later. Everybody knows soup only gets better with time. Or better yet, ladle some into thermoses to warm your loved ones back up during lunch at work or school.