It's Time to Hibernate

It’s freezing here, so cold that I don’t even want to leave the house. Unfortunately, not leaving the house isn’t always an option.This makes me crave warm, gooey, belly warming dishes like thick stew like soups, creamy garlicky pastas, pot pies and curries all with homemade bread and biscuits to sop up all the warm juices, fill my belly and send me into hibernation.  So those are the kind of things that you are going to find on this weeks menu.

Menu
Monday: Vegetable and Red Bean Soup and Biscuits
Tuesday: Chana Masala, Curried Cauliflower, Naan Bread and Cucumber
Wednesday: Tuna Tetrazzini
Thursday: For Lack of a Better Name, Egg Pizza
Friday: Macaroni and Cheese and Kale Chips
Saturday: Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Carrots and Squash
Sunday: Veggie Pot Pie

Weekly Pantry List
olive oil, vinegar, brown sugar, flour, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, margarine, milk, fresh garlic, bay leaves, ground coriander, ground cumin, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, curry powder, tumeric and nutmeg

Weekly Shopping List

butter

buttermilk (or regular milk and lemon juice/vinegar)

kalmata olives (1/4 cup)

romano or parmesan cheese

large slices of swiss (10 slices)

yogurt (greek style if you can find - I used balkan style)

cheddar cheese

eggs

fresh pickerel (or fish of your choice)

fozen peas

sheet of puff pastry (I had one leftover from the quiche last week)

bag of carrots (need about 9)

1 parsnip

3 potatoes

2 cups green beans

3 sticks of celery

5 onions

20 spears asparagus

berry tomatoes (need about 15)

sprigs of thyme

kale

1 zuchini

1 roma tomato

head of cauliflower

cucumber

ginger

mushrooms (about a cup)

1 butternut squash

whole wheat macaroni
whole wheat fettuchinni noodles
baby pasta shells
1 1/2 cups brown lentils

2 cans flaked tuna packed in water

1- 19 oz can of chickpeas (2 if you plan to double chana masala, which I recommend)
1 -19oz can of red kidney beans

1- 28oz can of diced tomatoes

3 cartons veggie stock
whole wheat pitas
bread crumbs

Vegetable and Red Bean Soup with Biscuits

Normally I am very well planned and when the end of the week comes I have barely any food left in the fridge and I have to go shopping in order to make supper. But, every once in a while it happens that the end of the week comes and I've got little dribs and drabs of produce left that need to be used up. I refuse to buy more until I've used up the old stuff, or else I'm distracted by the shiny new veggies and the old ones become abandoned at the bottom of the crisper until they eventually end up in the garbage (shhhh, don't tell my Grandma!). 

It was such a day today and I hadn't actually decided what I was going to do with them until we got home from swimming classes.  The shallow pool was closed and Hannah had to have her lessons in the cold, deep pool. By the time she got out her lips were purplish, blue and we still had to brave -40C to get home.  Once we got home I needed to warm that little shivering girl up, so I made soup and warm milk for lunch and both girls slurped it up. Now Hannah was warm and there was enough left for dinner - perfect!  The following is what I had on hand to put in my soup, but really most leftover veggies and a few canned goods can make a good soup.

Recipes

Soup

1 -19oz can of red kidney beans

1- 28oz can of diced tomatoes

1 carton of vegetable stock (low salt)

1 zuchini, diced

2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, pressed

olive oil

1/2 cup baby pasta shells

1 bay leaf

1 tsp oregano

Put a good glugg of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and heat over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot (a couple stalks of celery if you have it) and garlic to the oil and let it sweat for 10 minutes, until the veggies are almost soft. Add the zuchinni and oregano letting it sweat again for 5 minutes until the zuchinni softens up.  Once the veggies are ready add the carton of stock, can of tomatoes and bay leaf and bring to a boil.  Once it is boiling add the pasta and beans and simmer until pasta is cooked to desired tenderness.  I topped the soup with a little feta cheese (we were out of parmesan) and lots of pepper.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 cup of flour

1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter (cold and cubed)

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450F.  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and then cut in butter. Add buttermilk last and mix until just blended (don't over mix).  Line a baking sheet with parchment, spoon out the mixture and form into a disc.  Cut into eight pieces, space them out on the sheet and bake for 10 - 15 minutes.  Serve warm with soup.

Chana Masala, Curried Cauliflower, Homemade Naan Bread and Cucumber Slices

I've never made any of these things before (well, I have been known to serve cucumber slices - I'm really good at them), lucky for you I'm a week behind and will give you a completely honest opinion on how it was. It was so good, except I would double the Chana Masala next time. It was a little spicy for the girls so I added a dollop of plain yogurt and it was just right. The homemade naan bread was delicious and easy. If you don't have the time to make it buy it and warm it up before you eat it. 

Recipes

Chana Masala

I found this recipe from Cate's World Kitchen and it is easy and delicious.

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

1 15oz can chickpeas – do not drain (I used 19 oz)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium high heat, then add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown (5-7 minutes). Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cumin seeds, and curry powder, and let cook for about a minute. Stir in the tomato and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the chickpeas and their liquid, turn the heat down to medium, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it has thickened slightly. Stir in the fresh ginger, taste and add salt if necessary, then serve.

Naan Bread

This recipe is from Budget Bytes and it was really easy.

2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup water

2.5 - 3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 vegetable oil

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 egg

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water. Stir to dissolve then let sit for a few minutes or until it is frothy on top. Stir in the oil, yogurt and egg until blended. In a medium sized bowl,or mixer combine 1 cup of the flour with the salt. Next, add the bowl of wet ingredients to the flour/salt mixture and stir until well combined. Continue adding flour a half cup at a time until it all mixed in. At that point, turn the ball of dough out onto a well floured counter top. Knead the ball of dough for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. I ended up using about 3 cups of flour total. The dough should be smooth and very soft but not sticky.  Cover and let it rise until double in size (about 45 minutes).  Gently latten and cut into 8 eqaul pieces.  Shape each into a small ball. Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and spraylightly with oil, working with one ball at a time roll it or stretch it out to about 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter. Place it in the pan and cook until the underside is golden brown and large bubble have formed on the surface. Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden brown.  Serve plain or brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with herbs!

TIPS: For the most bubbles, don't roll out the ball of dough until just before it is ready to be placed in the skillet. I experimented with different skillet temperatures and found that a medium heat produces the most bubbles in the dough and does not burn the surface.

Roaster Curry Cauliflower

This is a Martha Stewart Recipe.

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3/4 teaspoon curry powder

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into large florets

Nonstick olive-oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry powder, and salt. Add the cauliflower, tossing to coat thoroughly with spice mixture.

Arrange cauliflower in a single layer on prepared sheet. Roast until florets are browned on bottom and tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 35 minutes. 

Tuna Tetrazzini

This may actually just be glorified tuna casserole I'm not sure. It was one of those days, you know those days when you can't really tell when or where it went wrong, but it definetely went wrong. Just when you feel like you're starting to get it together again it's time to make supper and you're wondering how you are going to make it without yelling at any children. Mushrooms! I'll have them chop the mushrooms, they love to do that. The only problem being that they keep eating them, and normally that would not be a problem but, I don't have very many.  I switched the job to getting the pasta out of the cupboard - even the one year old saw the lameness in this assignment!  So now, I'm standing at the stove and both girls are in my nervous, anxious spot (which is crowded between me and the stove and the sink. Hannah's opening the cans of tuna and the can opener isn't working and so she's trying to put her finger in the already open portion of the can, Harper's reaching for the bubbling sauce and I'm tripping on stools...WHO'S BRILLIANT IDEA WAS IT TO GET STOOLS FOR THE GIRLS TO STAND ON IN THE KITCHEN?  So I end up yelling (damn) "PLEASE STOP! EVERYONE STOP!" They both look up at me and I point out the dangers happening and how they've both violated the no stools on the hot stove side of the kitchen rule, I take a few deep breaths and hear Hannah say (in a very high, sticky sweet voice because, this is how she talks to Harper when she wants her to do something), "Harper do you want to go play in my room with me?" and just like that they both toddle off and I'm left wondering how my child got to be so damn smart! In the end this meal was a hit, although I didn't take a picture of the salad because I somehow ended up with four cucumbers and the salad has a little lettus, a little tomato and a whole lot of cucumbers!  Both Hannah, Harper and Dave each had three helpings of dinner and Hannah gave it a 10 (you'll learn it's either a 10 or a 1 with Hannah).

Tuna Tetrazinni

350g box whole wheat fettichini noodles, cooked until el dante

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

6 cloves of garlic (or 4 big ones)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 c flour

1 1/2 cup veggies stock

1 1/2 cup milk

1 cup frozen peas

1 1/2 grated romano cheese

1 Tbsp margarine

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup olives, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large sauce pan heat oil and saute garlic and onion until onion starts to soften. Add mushrooms and cook until soft. Add flour and stir to make a rue, wisk in veggies stock and milk, continue to stir while it thickens (if you need more flour, whisk in or dissolve in a little bit of stock and add).  Once sauce has thicked add tuna and peas and a couple sprinkles of nutmeg (I know this is not a real measurement, but it's what I did) and some ground pepper and cook for a minute. Remove sauce from heat and add 1 cup of the romano cheese.  Pour noodles and sauce into a 13x9x2 pan and mix until combines. Melt the margarine and mix the bread crumbs in. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs, cheese and olives and bake at 350F for 20 - 25 minites (the top should be a little crispy and the sauce bubbling).

Noodles are fun!







For Lack of a Better Name, Egg Pizza

We've gotten a little surprise today in the form of spring! This week was very odd, freezing, freezing, freezing and and then all of a sudden we're building snowmen and watching the layers of packed down snow melt off the driveway. It's glorious!  It's also a tease! I know that it's not going to last but I can't help but to pretend that it will as I am so sick of the drearyness of winter. The fact that going outside is a huge event that involves mountains of clothing and time. I long for the days when the backyard becomes an extension of the house, the chosen spot to be. So for the next couple of days of promised February warmth (I don't know if I've ever seen those two words together) I am going to pretend that this is spring. Because, of this warmth I was very glad to have asparagus on the menu - it always makes me think of spring.

I once made egg pizza, it involved english muffins, scrambled eggs, pizza sauce and cheese - I didn't care for it. When I was looking for an egg recipe for the week and Dave saw that there was no pizza on the menu this week (he pouted a little) and then suggested egg pizza.  The thought made me turn up my nose but I did consult this new found website of mine (thanks to my cousin...cousin's husband...cousin in law?  Let's stick with cousin) called Food Gawker. I found one that looked really good to me, no pizza sauce.  These had a really nice flavour but, ours burnt.  The pitas burnt before the whites of the eggs were cooked.  I wonder if maybe it all could of cooked at the same time for 7-10 minutes, or cooked at a lower temp or perhaps if you used greek pitas instead of regular ones (they seem to be a little thicker).  It is worth trying, just watch them closely.

Recipe

Egg Pizza

This is slightly altered from the one found at We Are Not Martha, I of course omitted the bacon. Although, I have been told that there is a restaurant somewhere that is strictly vegetarian except, you can order a side of bacon. I suppose bacon is just that good! I made five pita pizza's with these ingredients:

slices of bacon (if you're using the bacon, they used 3 cooked slices per pizza)
20 asparagus spears, trimmed
5 8-inch whole wheat pitas

5 sprigs of thyme (I couldn't get sprigs and used a sprinkle of dried for each pizza)
5 Tbsp grated romano cheese

10 slices of swiss cheese (big slices, the ones you buy presliced for sandwhiches)

5 eggs, at room temperature
15 berry tomatoes, chopped
fresh black pepper

fresh fruit 

Preheat oven to 425F. Boil a pot of water to cook the asparagus and cook for 1 minute and then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Place the large slices of swiss cheese and asparagus on the pitas and then sprinkle with romano cheese and bake for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted. Take them out of the oven and add the tomatoes. Crack the egg in a separate little bowl and then gently slide on the middle of the pizza. Put pizzas back in the oven and watch closely until the white of the egg is cooked and the yolk is still running.

I cut up a bunch of fresh fuit and made a fruit salad to go with the pizza. I took tons of pictures of the fruit salad because it reminded me of summer and made my heart flutter!  I did not take any photos of the pizza convient I know since it burned, I still would have taken photos but, I was annoyed that it was burnt and forgot all about photos.

Macaroni and Cheese with Kale Chips
I was disappointed with the mac'n cheese selection for dinner because of the nice weather but, had the ingredients for it and so stuck to my plan. I was super excited about the kale chips though.  I've been hearing about them all over the place and have been meaning to try them for a long time now. I love kale and usually saute it in a little olive oil and garlic, Dave and the kids eat it but are never very excited about it. These kale chips were a hit...well, almost. Hannah thought they were too crunchy, but then was disappointed when they were all gone. Dave was very surprised at how good they were. I would make these for a Friday night treat! My mom's mac'n cheese. My mom makes the best mac'n cheese (don't most of us say that?).  I can never make it as good as her, she even once came over and walked me through it step by step and it still wasn't as good.  The trick she says, is to be sure that there is enough sauce, it has to be really soupy before you put it in the oven.

Recipes

Mac'n Cheese

2 cups cooked whole wheat macaroni

2 Tbsps margarine

1/4 c flour

2 1/2 cups milk

2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Melt margarine in a saucepan and add flour to make a rue. Wisk in milk and let thicken, stirring constantly. Once thickened remove from heat and stir in cheese. Pour sauce into an oven safe casserole dish, add the cooked pasta, make sure that it is very soupy - if you need to add a little more or less than 2 cups do so, but error on the less side. Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbly.

Kale Chips

bunch of kale (I used two because they were really small bunches)

olive oil

sea salt

Preheat oven to 375F (if you are doing the mac'n cheese at the same time, you can use 375F and put the mac on the top rack, cooking it a little less). Wash kale and remove the stems, up into the leaf, cut into chip size pieces if you like or leave as is.  Spread kale out on a parchment lined cookie sheet, drizzle olive oil over it and season with seasalt.  Bake kale in the oven until it's crispy (the edges of some may even turn a little brown) about 10 minutes.

Breaded Pickerel with Roasted Carrots and Squash

The weather is starting to turn cold again. Today was beautiful for playing outside but we could not finish our snowman family, the snow has gone back to a dry, sugar like consistancy. I feel the spring tease slipping away and it makes me draw further into my house! When the weather was nice I had visions of grilled fish on the BBQ, but the BBQ is covered in snow and the slow decline in temperature has steered me in a new direction.

Recipes

Preheat oven to 375F. I think this should acutally read method because there is not real recipe. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds, prick with a fork, drizzle with olive oil and lay flat down on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cut carrots into inch size pieces and toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and lay on the same cookie sheet if there's room.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, the squash will take a little longer. Once the squash is cooked scoop out the insides top with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

Mix an egg and some milk (1/4 cup) in a bowl and spread out bread crumbs on a plate (start with 1 1/2 cups).  Dredge the fish through the egg mixture and then pat in the bread crumbs to cover. Heat some olive oil (~1 or 2 tsp) in a pan over medium low heat (even lower depending on your stove), add your fish and cook until crust is golden brown and then flip and do the same on the other side. When the fish is cooked put it on a plate lined with papertowel and add the next pieces (oil the pan between batches) until it is all cooked.

Veggie Pot Pie

I suppose one good thing about the weather is that it turned cold just in time for some good ol' comfort food. Today was Super Bowl Sunday! Which for me means, the gym was fairly empty, my husband asked for chips and gaucamole (see last week for recipe) and we turned the T.V. on around 5:00. I'm not a big football fan, neither is my husband but he likes sports in general and so wanted to watch some of the game. He and Hannah sat on the couch and he answered endless questions for her until she got bored and joined Harper and I on the floor to build some car tracks. There was something really cozy and relaxing about the evening (and let's be honest, it would have been perfect if it had been a hockey game and not football). I had made the veggie pot pie in the morning as the kids played playdough, so all was ready to go. The amount below made two loaf pan size pot pies so I tucked one in the freezer for a later date.

Recipe

sheet of puff pastry (I had one leftover from the quiche last week)

3 carrots, quatered and chopped into inch size pieces

1 parsnip, quatered and chopped into inch size pieces

3 potatoes, chopped into cubes

1 1/2 cups brown lentils

2 cups green beans, cut in thirds

3 celery sticks, chopped

3 onions, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, pressed

4 cups veggie stock

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes,celery and garlic stir to coat with oil and then turn heat down to low, put the lid on just slightly ajar and sweat until veggies begin to softed (about 10 minutes). Add beans and sweat 5 - 10 minutes more until all veggies are soft.

While veggies sweat, rinse lentils and then boil in a pot of water until soft.

Once veggies are ready add to pot, sprinkle flour over veggies and stir in, add stock and stir until all is combined. Cook until stock starts to bubble, reduce and simmer until stock thickens. Pour into 2 loaf pans (or one larger pan) and cover with puff pastry (I just cut one sheet into two and rolled it out a tiny bit thinner) and bake for 45 minutes, the pastry will be golden and the inside hot and bubbly.

Since it's Sunday we had this yummy coffee cake for dessert!