Potatoes... a good, solid food.  I have a good friend Kelli who says, "I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl." I'd have to say I'm right along with her.

We've been making our own french fries here for over a year now and have tried to make them at least a little on the healthy side.

Ingredients:
about 3 large potatoes per baking tray
2-3 T. oil (We use sunflower oil)
salt

Just chop the potatoes. We like fat slices, but the fatter they are, the longer it takes to cook. Then we put them into a disposable plastic bag, pour in a bit of oil, shake, and remove the potato wedges, leaving the majority of the oil in the bag. Once the potato wedges are evenly spread on the baking sheet, we bake for about 50-65 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

And somewhere between 50 and 65 minutes later... Perfection in a pan.

Millet. One of my new favorite foods, and an incredibly fun word to say.

I used a recipe I came up with for corn muffins, but substituted the cornmeal with millet. These were delightful, not notably moist or flavorful in and of themselves, but a great, healthy side to serve with soup or stew.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup millet
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2 Tablespoons oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk

I combined the ingredients and put this into a greased muffin pan.

These baked at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. It made 6 nicely-sized muffins, perfect to supplement our dinner and give us something to eat for breakfast the next day, too!

Cereal, cereal, cereal. It's on the top 5 list of things I miss from my former life.

Granola isn't exactly the same as a nice, big bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats or Honey Nut Cheerios, but it is a step closer to my favorite breakfast food.

This is orange sesame granola.

Ingredients:
5 1/2 cups of oats
1/2 c. sesame seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. lemon juice
1/2 c. orange juice

I combined the last 5 ingredients in a saucepan and heated them over medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly until the sugar was dissolved and everything had blended together.

Then I poured the mixture over the oats and sesame seeds and stirred together, finally pouring all of it onto a cookie sheet. I baked this for 20-30 minutes (I can't remember exactly) at around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring it every 5-10 minutes to prevent burning. After I pulled it out of the oven, I returned to stir it every 3-4 minutes as it cooled so it wouldn't harden into one large sheet on the cookie sheet.

Austin made this sauce to go with the meatballs, and I thought it was worth writing about.

Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/6 cup apple cider vinegar
1/6 cup brown sugar
1/2 T. onion powder
1/2 T. garlic powder
1 t. tobasco sauce

Simmer for 20 minutes & enjoy!

We love meat. Love it.

Since being here, we've tried several different meatball recipes. We made this one the other day and really liked the way it turned out.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 T. Italian spices
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 c. breadcrumbs
3/4 c. lukewarm water (added slowly, might not use it all)
1 c. shredded carrot

Just mix it together, and broil (or bake on the top rack at the highest temperature) for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, flip them and broil 8-12 more minutes until browned and cooked in the center.

I remember going to Grammy's home as a little girl. She made some great meals. One meal, however, of which I was not such a fan, was 16 bean soup. Not exactly my cup of tea.

Some 15 years later, however, I hit the bean section of the supermarket to buy the ingredients for some bean soup of my own. (And to think I never believed my mom when she claimed that my taste buds would change and grow as I did!)

I bought 4 types of beans, shown below, and set them in water to soak overnight. The next morning, I rinsed the beans and used them to fill the majority of our crock pot. I didn't measure, but there were probably 6-8 cups of beans once they'd soaked.

Ingredients:
beans (6-8 cups of your desired variety)
6-10 slices ham, chopped
1-2 cups chopped veggies
water
1/2 t. salt
1/2 T. garlic powder
1/2 T. chili powder
3 Tablespoons chicken flavoring granules

I took this opportunity to clear out the random odds and ends of veggies I had in the refrigerator, which consisted of half a large carrot, 4 stalks of celery, and a potato. Chop, chop, chop, into the crock pot you go.

I stirred it up, added 6 slices of chopped ham lunch meat, 3 1/2 cups water, 3 Tablespoons chicken flavoring granules, 1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder, and 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder. Later I added 1/2 teaspoon salt and some more water to make up for what steamed off during cooking. I cooked it for about 6 hours. (Cooking on low would be ideal. I was concerned about the beans getting soft enough, so I cooked them on high at first, but then had to reduce the heat and finally turn the crock pot off altogether to prevent mushiness.)