Tuesday: Lentil Loaf, Sweet Potato Fries and Fennel Bake
Wednesday: Po' Boy Sandwiches
Thursday: Pasta with Oven Roasted Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Mint
Friday: Black Bean Patties, Avocado and Tomato Salad and Corn Bread
Saturday: Tomato Risotto (it was a flop), Eggplant Balls, Salad with Apple and Pear Short Cakes
Sunday: Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Potatoes mixed with Sweet Potatoes, Salad, Sauteed Veggies with Angel Food Cake (not from a mix) with Berries and Ice Cream
Tofu Stir Fry
It was another beautiful fall day today and Hannah was off from school. I know that she has just started and only goes in the afternoon but having her home all day seemed to give us this really relaxing freedom to the day. We spent lots of time outside with me in the garden, or what I would one day like to be a garden, and the girls helping out until they decided to wash rocks, which suddenly took all their time and attention. We came in for a snack and Harper was goofing around with her apple telling us she was going to put it in her eye or in her nose and on and on. Hannah was sipping her water and told her, "Everytime you say eye I'm going to drink!" She's only five and making up drinking games...do you think we should be concerned about this?
Recipe
I somehow seemed to end up with some odd leftovers in the fridge this week. It worked out well for this stir fry that we had tonight and everyone gobbled it up.1 package of tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp ginger grated
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 green pepper, cut in strips
5 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp Mirin
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup ground peanuts
Heat the sesame oil in a large pan or wok and add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute. Add the tofu cubes and Hoisin sauce and gently stir in pan until all the tofu is coated, let cook stirring often for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the cauliflower and green pepper and saute for a few minutes. Add the green onions, Mirin, soy sauce and Hoisin, push veggies to the side and add the cornstarch to the sauce whisking in until dissolved. Saute the veggies in the sauce until tender. Once the veggies are just about ready add the tofu back to the pan and sprinkle with peanuts. stir together and cook for a couple of minutes until tofu is warm.
Serve over brown rice.
Lentil Loaf, Sweet Potato Fries and Fennel Bake
I seriously considered getting rid of everything in the house that the girls play with and only having two of the same of everything. I thought this was a brilliant idea they could each have their own, no arguments, no fights over that's my toy or I had that toy first. Really, why doesn't every household with siblings do this? I then realized that they would never learn to share, be disappointed, stand up for themselves, argue, except defeat, win gracefully and many other things. Damn, I guess all that fighting has a pretty important purpose...I'm going to try and remember that as I listen to them fight over the five dollar doll that Harper bought with her birthday money for the one hundredth time.
Recipe
We're still using up some fridge leftovers and we had lentil loaf in the freezer that I was starting to loose sleep over so that's what we had tonight.
Po'Boy Sandwiches
Harper and I headed out to the mall today, after Hannah went to school, to pick up some hand cream from Lush for Hannah (her hands get so dry in the winter and it's already starting) and to pick up a book. She just cracks me up with her strut, she refuses to hold my hand in the mall and stops at every store window, stares at the manikins and says, "What tat guy doing in tere?" When we got to the book store she wondered over to the train table where there were a few other kids playing, stood there and watched for a minute, she then came running back to me and said. "tat guy not sharing, and tat not fair." I suppose the fighting is worth it, she stayed with me and looked, actually pulled books off the shelf.
Recipe
These are from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, they were delicious but not low fat. I think that next time I would try them sprayed and in the oven instead of frying them to cut down on the oil. I made these a while ago and couldn't find the Old Bay Seasoning so I used some other fish seasoning and they were fine but the Old Bay is so good, it's got a good kick to it (in the end I found it at the grocery store in the spice isle).
1/4 cup cornmeal
4 Boneless firm fish fillets (about 6 oz each)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Topping
1/2 cup Tartar Sauce*
1 Tbsp minced red onion
3 romaine lettuce leaves, cut into a rough shred (we just used arugula)
4 kaiser rolls (we used thin bagels)
1 tomato, sliced
*Tartar sauce can be made by mixing 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1/4 cup dill pickle relish (or chopped dill pickle) and 2 tsp lemon juice.
Place the cornmeal and Old Bay Seasoning in a bag and shake to mix well. Add the fish fillets, close the bag, and shake to coat. Heat the oil in a skillet (I divided it between two, so I could cook them all at the same time) on medium heat, until hot but not smoking. Add the fish and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place the cooked fish on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
While the fish is frying, in a bowl, stir together the Tartar Sauce and onions, add the lettuce (we didn't do this part, because Harper doesn't eat lettuce) and toss until evenly coated. Toast buns and slice tomato.
Sandwich the fish fillet, sauce, tomato and lettuce on bun and enjoy.
I was going to serve this with green beans, but I completely forgot until we were halfway through dinner.
Pasta with Oven Roasted Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Mint
It's funny how with little kids everything that is big is a Mama or Papa and everything that is small is their child/baby. A large carrot is the small carrots mama, the same goes for makers, crayons and in this case the blade to the new food processor. Our processor broke today and I went out and bought a new one, as I was putting it together Harper's playing with a little extension piece that looks like the middle of the blade piece (she wasn't touching the blade) and talking to the Mama piece which was the blade...kids can really turn anything into a toy.
In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul.
-Lisa T. Shepherd, Parent
Recipe
I was very found of supper tonight and think I will be perusing Marcus Samuelsson's blog more often, I did find it a little too vinegary and changed it from 4 Tbsp to 3 Tbsp.
2 zucchini, cubed
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup mint, minced
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 lb pasta
Preheat oven to 450. Line two baking sheets with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Place the eggplant and zucchini cubes on these trays in a single layer. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 20 minutes. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mint, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Toss together the pasta, eggplant, zucchini and goat cheese. Add the dressing and serve.
Black Bean Patties, Avocado and Tomato Salad and Corn Bread
Today was the Terry Fox Run at Hannah's school and so the whole school went out for a walk together. They invited anyone from the school's community to join them and so I planned to go down with Harper and walk with Hannah's class. Dave ended up coming home early and coming with us, thank goodness because I hadn't really considered the whole Harper walking all that way. We ended up way back and then had to take a short cut back to the school because we were so far behind and the rest of them still beat us back. Regardless, it was such a beautiful day for a walk and I loved seeing the look of sheer joy on Hannah's face when she saw that Dave had come home from work early to walk with her.
Recipe
These were quite good and very easy. I found them on this blog, Cookin' Canuck.
3 pieces day-old or toasted whole wheat sandwich bread
3 tbsp olive or canola oil, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced jalapeno pepper, membranes and seeds removed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
For the patties: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sandwich bread to form breadcrumbs. Pour into a bowl and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin. Saute for additional 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the food processor. Add black beans, brown rice, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the beans are chopped, but not pureed. Scrape the black bean mixture into a large bowl. Add half of the breadcrumbs and the chopped cilantro. Stir the mixture until combined.
Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form into patties. If the mixture is too moist to form patties, add more breadcrumbs. Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and cover with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet (preferably not nonstick, so a good crust can form) set over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook for 4 minutes per side. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 4 patties.
We just had this with a mix of tomatoes, avocados and cilantro over them. We also had corn bread, actually that's a lie we planned on corn bread but Dave and Harper made Johnny Cake and we pretended that it was corn bread so we didn't feel bad about serving cake with dinner, it was really good. The recipe is from the back of the Purity cornmeal package.
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 400F.
Combine cornmeal and milk and let stand 10 minutes. Add egg and oil to cornmeal mixture and mic well. Add all dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into a greased 8X8 pan or muffin tins and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Tomato Risotto, Eggplant Balls, Salad with Apple and Pear Short Cakes
Harper keeps getting up at five in the morning. This morning Dave got up with her and finally convinced her to go back to her room and look at books while he slept in her bed. I was relieved that I could go back to sleep and felt a little relief of guilt when I thought Dave was going to get a little more sleep too. Until I heard, yes heard, the book she chose - it has this key and these doors and one of them is a high pitched voice yelling, "I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY!", the other is the sound of a fire truck - and she pushed them over and over and over again.
Recipe
I'm not even going to share the tomato risotto recipe I made because it was dry and not good. The eggplant balls which you can find here, except I made them smaller and overcooked them so they were dry. Luckily I had four glasses of wine (which is a lot for me) and so was fairly unphased by the poor meal I served our company...mmmm...do you think perhaps it was poor because I had four glasses of wine?
I think the dessert made up for it so I will share that recipe, which I slightly changed, found at Back to the Cutting Board.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
 |
| This is not quite as pretty as it could be but it was good. |
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. apple pie spice or cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup grated tart apple, such as Granny Smith
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside.
In a large bowl combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, apple pie spice and salt.
Use a pastry blender to cut in the pieces of cold butter until the mixture resembled course crumbs. You can also do this with a food processor if you want.Stir in the grated apple.
Whisk the eggs and heavy cream in small bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Stir with a fork until just moistened. The dough will be thick. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough into mounds and place on the baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Don’t flatten and bake for 15 - 17 minutes.
Filling
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. apple pie spice*
2 tbsp. butter
3 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced peeled Bartlett or Anjou pears
2 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced peeled Granny Smith apples
Combine brown sugar and apple pie spice in a small bowl. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sugar mixture, pears and apples. Cover and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep warm until ready to serve.
I whipped some cream adding a little sugar and cinnamon.
My nephew can't have dairy and so for him I whipped some coconut milk. You leave a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge over night and when it's time to make, take it out without shaking it. All the thick cream will be resting on the top, open it and spoon that into a bowl and whip adding your choice of sweetener. Honestly this is not just for those who can't have dairy - it's delicious.
Build your shortcake by cutting the biscuit in half and spoon on the fruit, a little whip and then top with the other half of the biscuit a dollop of whip and a little of the fruit sauce.
Today I feel very grateful. This morning I headed out with a small group of women within a very large group of people for the Walk for the Cure for breast cancer. I am grateful to have a healthy strong body to carry me, to have people in my life who know how to love, support and listen without judgement or prejudice and to be able to return that love.
This afternoon, Dave the girls and I went to a fundraiser for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It was put on by a family who lost their daughter when she was six months old. I can't even begin to imagine what that's like. I am grateful for the health of my children, their love of life and the times when I can just let it all go and live like them, in the moment loving life.
My dad made a delicious Sunday dinner tonight with a homemade angel food cake that my mom had made and as always Sunday dinner was full of good company and good food.
No comments:
Post a Comment