Dried Beans Grown in Nebraska

Until reading an article in the Omaha World Herald last week, I had no idea that Nebraska harvests more Great Northern white beans than any other state, 140 million pounds. Nebraska is among the top three states for pinto beans, harvesting 108 million pounds in 2008. These beans are primarily grown in Western Nebraska. Other varieties grown in Nebraska are black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pink beans and garbanzo beans.

I am familiar with and have cooked with all of these types of beans, except pink beans. Curious about the uses for pink beans, I checked out the Nebraska Dry Bean Association website. Pink Beans: "Small, pale, pink-colored; rich, meaty flavor with a slightly powdery texture. Related to the kidney bean; turns reddish brown when cooked. Often used in chili; a favorite in Old West recipes. "


Beans are a good source of protien, high in fiber, low in fat and packed full of vitamins and minerals. Dried beans can be the main source of protien in a meal or served as a vegetable. One fourth cup of cooked beans is equivalent to one once of meat. As a vegetable, a serving is one half cup. A meatless main dish made with beans is a good change for a Friday during the Lenten season.

Foods We Can't Live Without #1

Everyone has those foods that they can't imagine life without...chocolate, pizza, for my husband it would be red meat.

Costco often has a great assortment of potatoes, including these fun Purple Peruvians.

What is the best potato for salads, sauteing, boiling and roasting?


Round Red, Long Whites, Blues, Purples, Fingerlings. If you want a potato that holds it's shape, you want a low-starch variety.

Which potatoes are high in flavor and lower in fat?

Yellow Finns, Yukon Golds, Maine Whites. These are potatoes with medium starch and can be used for many types of recipes.

What is the best potato for mashing and baking?>

Idaho, also known as Russet or baking potatoes. These potatoes have high starch. Russets make a great thickener for soups.


How to store potatoes?

Ideal storage is in a dark cabinet where the temperature is between 45 and 50 degrees. Do not store in the refrigerator, this turns the starch to sugar.

Well Known Potato Dishes From Around the World

Au gratin - French term for potatoes topped with breadcrumbs and/or cheese.

Gnocci - Italian dumpling that is made with potatoes.

Knishes - Jewish pastries filled with mashed potatoes and other fillings.

O'Brien - Irish dish of diced potatoes cooked with onions and pimientos.

"If you don't love mashed potatoes, you're probably from another planet."

Ethan Becker

Memories of Girl Scout Cookie Time

Who doesn't love Girl Scout cookies? I am always thrilled when a neighbor or someone at work has a daughter who is selling Girl Scout cookies. This year did not disapoint me, a neighbor and someone at Tim's work sold cookies.

Besides being a yummy treat, Girl Scout cookies take me back to my childhood. I was a Girl Scout and do have fond memories of putting on that uniform and going door to door selling them. Do Girl Scouts even wear uniforms today? I know there are a lot more varieties of cookies today then back in the 60's when I sold them.

I always buy at least a couple of boxes of Thin Mints, the best selling cookie. Also reminiscent of my childhood is a recipe for Mint Brownie Pie, using Thin Mints. After rifling through my accordion file under Pies for the recipe and coming up empty, I felt that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you lose or break something important to you. The last time I remembered making the recipe was at the lake a few years ago. One more slot to look in, could it be in Frozen Pies? Even though it's not a frozen pie, refrigerated yes, frozen no. Yes, there it was, filed in Frozen Pies by mistake.

I am not sure of the origin of this recipe. It dates back to the early 70's. The recipe card was part of what must have been one of my first recipe books. My accordion files contain several of these handwritten recipe cards. This week, I was trying to remember the name of the little girl on the recipe card. You know that feeling when you know you should know the name and just can't come up with it? I did the Alphabet memory trick...A? No B? No, nothing was jogging my memory. I tried googling dolls from the 70's, although I wasn't really sure she was a doll. Today I reached for my husbands reading glasses, hoping it would really magnify the small print just under her image. Just as I was holding the glasses over the print, it came to me...Betsey Clark. Betsey Clark was an artist for Hallmark cards who created this little girl.

Mint Brownie Pie

19 Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies
1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
dash of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup whipped cream

Chill cookies in refrigerator several minutes. Break or cut into even crumbs. Beat egg whites and salt together until peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold in cookie crumbs, nuts and vanilla. Spread into buttered 9" pan.

Bake 35 minutes at 325. Once pie has cooled, spread on whipped cream. Chill in refrigerator 3 -4 hours before serving.

A Little Bit of Everything

Last weekend while sorting the file folders of clippings and recipes I have saved over the past 10+ years, I contemplated what I would do with all of them. Write some sort of book? Scan them and put them in the computer? Continue to keep them in file folders and accordion files?

I have become an internet junkie. Almost every night I am glued to my laptop, researching our next vacation, searching for recipes, seeking out gardening hints or finding the wine to serve with our next dinner. I am always googling on my iPhone to find whatever it is we need to know when out and about. So it occurred to me...I should share this information and create a blog.

I've spent the past couple of nights reading blogs. There's some absolutely incredible blogs, beautiful photography and noteworthy content. What should I blog about?? I have a passion for cooking. If I could live life over, I would become a chef. However, I don't want to focus only on cooking and my clippings (and thoughts) aren't just about food. With that...A Little Bit of Everything was born.

For those of you who've never been to Nebraska (and I am sure there are lots of you), as you enter the state, the Nebraska sign is all about The Good Life. I was very lucky, a little over three years ago to meet the love of my life. My only regret is we didn't meet years ago. This love brought me to Nebraska and my own version of The Good Life.

I am looking forward to this journey of thoughts, ideas, recipes, clippings and photos (hopefully my husband will help with these). Hopefully you will join me, maybe we will learn a thing or two or at least have fun in the process.

Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.

Søren Kierkegaard