Le menu (13-19 November)

This week's menu was largely driven by my Bountiful Baskets produce.   The soup I whipped up today was SO yummy, so if for no other reason than to preserve the recipe before my brain can forget, I am posting it here.  

Winter Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes (skins on), cleaned and cut into 1/3" pieces (I used fingerlings)

6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4"

2 leeks, white and pale green parts, sliced lengthwise and cut into 1/2" dices

1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed, and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces

2 quarts vegetable stock

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1-2 tsp salt, to taste

2 tsp white pepper

1 pint soy creamer (not vanilla flavored!)

2 cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Bring chicken stock to a boil and add potatoes and carrots.  Continue on a low boil until veggies are just tender.  Add all remaining ingredients except creamer and simmer for another 10 minutes or so.  Just before serving, stir in the creamer.  

You could add in some soy sausage crumbles or slices, but my sausage was frozen and I didn't even remember I had it until it was too late.  In any case, this was a hearty, yummy bowl of comfort!  

The other recipes for this week can be found below, but note that some require some veganization.  My big challenge for the week involves making something resembling chicken Cordon Bleu for Hubby and me, as well as a gluten-free, vegan apple cake, for a church dinner party we're attending on Saturday.  The "chicken" is so we'll have something to eat that looks vaguely like what others will be eating, and the apple cake is a copy of the dessert that is being served that we and the gluten-sensitive members of our congregation will be able to eat.  Wish me luck!

Monday

Barley, Mushroom and Lentil Soup  Veggie broth will sub for beef.  Easy-peasy.  

Tuesday

Hoppin' John  I'll be making as-is, save for the substitutions of tempeh bacon and veggie broth

Collard Greens Vegan butter and we're good to go!   

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread  We made this in our pre-vegan days, and it's to-die-for.  This is my friend Bethany's recipe, and you can see that it's extremely highly rated.  I hope my vegan version will be in the ballpark!  I plan to make vegan buttermilk (1 tsp vinegar to 1 cup nondairy milk) and use golden flax meal in place of the eggs.  

Wednesday

Gyro "meat" with tzatziki sauce I'm subbing seitan for the lamb, and I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, what kind of a jerk eats lamb?  Or veal?  They're babies!!!  (OK, so that's something I didn't put together in my omnivore days, so I know I have to cut others some slack, but still.  Watch some videos. It's horrifying.)   

Greek Style Spinach and Rice  This one will get a feta makeover; lemon-marinated, crumbled firm tofu works well.  Or I may just leave it out.  We'll see.  

Thursday

Eggplant "parmesan"  This one's already vegan, but that's the least of my worries.  You see, I loathe eggplant.  It's vile.  But Hubby loves it and I'm determined to find a way I can stand it.  Since breading and frying anything makes it 100 times tastier, I figure this is a good place to start.  I may need some diving nose clips to get through it, but I'll give it my best.  

Friday - Hubby is cooking, so it's a mystery.  Frankly, it's even a mystery to him until it's finished.  His stir-fries are a good way to clean out the fridge.  ;o)  

Saturday - My friend is sending me her apple cake recipe, which I will de-gluten and veganize.  My loose plan for chicken Cordon Bleu is to use Gardein Chick'n Scallopini cutlets, stuff them somehow with vegan bacon (I can't get any closer to ham on such short notice) and vegan cheese, bread them, bake them, and then douse them in a soy cream/white wine/paprika sauce.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

Le Menu (November 6-12

Today, we finally actually made the almond asparagus couscous that has been bumped from the menu for the last two weeks.  I didn't think it would be all that tasty, but it was actually very good and all the kids liked it.  I'll make it again sometime.  (If you want the recipe, it's on the previous menu's post.)

Recipes for the dishes with numbers following them can be found on food.com (just enter the number in the search field).  I will try to post Monica's meatless meatball recipe later in the week, as well as the recipe for the blue corn bread.  It's from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "Color Me Vegan."  I made and froze it last week, and it looks really yummy, but definitely different!  It has blue corn meal, quinoa and blueberries.

In the meantime, here is my bagel recipe (see Wednesday's lunch).  I made some bagels yesterday and will probably make some more tomorrow.

Authentic New York-Style Homemade Bagels

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water ( 110 to 115*F or 45*C )
• 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons malt syrup
• 2 tablespoons malt syrup, for boiling step
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon salt, for boiling step
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour ( more if needed)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
2. With a wooden spoon, stir in oil, malt and one cup of the flour. Add salt, then enough of remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead for 10 to 12 minutes. Cover with a floured dish towel and allow dough to rest on a board for about 15 minutes.
4. Divide dough into 12 sections and form each section into 10-inch long strips. Roll the ends together to seal and make a ring. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let bagels rest 15 to 20 minutes, rising about halfway and becoming slightly puffy.
5. Meanwhile, fill a large cooking pot or Dutch oven three quarters full with water. Add the malt syrup and salt.
6. Bring water to a boil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment and, if desired, sprinkle generously with corn meal. Set aside.
7. Line two other baking sheets with a kitchen towel, set near your stove. Reduce boiling water to a simmer and cook 2 bagels at a time (do not crowd the pot). Simmer bagels for about 45 seconds on one side, then turn and cook other side for another 45 seconds and then drain bagels on the towel-lined baking sheet.

8. Carefully place bagels on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake bagels plain or sprinkle with a topping of your choice. Place in the hot oven, immediately reduce heat to 425 degrees F, and bake about 17 to 25 minutes. When almost baked, turn bagels over (a pair of tongs do the job easily). If you have a baking stone, finish bagels on the stone directly. Transfer bagels to wire rack to cool.
9. These freeze well, which helps to retain a just-baked taste, if they aren't all eaten on the first day. To freeze, slice cooled bagels first, place a small strip of plastic between the bagel halves and place in a plastic self-sealing freezer bag. When you're ready for a bagel, they'll come apart easily, ready to pop into the toaster/oven and enjoy.

 

Le Menu (October 30 - November 5)

 

Monday - Asparagus couscous with chickpeas

Tuesday - Hot and sour soup (from Color Me Vegan) and mini baked wonton cups (veganized)
Wednesday - Black bean and seitan taquitos (adapted from Our Best Bites version)
Thursday - Pulled "pork" sandwiches (using Butler Soy Curls) and loosely following this recipe
Friday - Pizzas using vegan cheese and pepperoni, plus a plethora of veggies
Saturday - Pacific Foods carrot-ginger soup

Le Menu (April 17-23)

Most of this week's menu is from the latest Good Housekeeping magazine.
Mostly because I was too lazy to come up with anything else.
And because there were purty pictures.

Click on "read more" for the recipes.

Le Menu (April 10-16)

This is another week of Our Best Bites yumminess.

As always, click on "read more" for the recipes.  :o)

Le Menu (March 27 - April 2)

I'm especially looking forward to the steak and mango salad and the salmon.  But if you make the salmon, please don't do what I did and buy $25 worth of wild caught salmon, stash it in the garage freezer, and then forget to shut the freezer door.  Because when you go back to a different store to replace the salmon your freezer lightbulb literally cooked, you'll actually have to spend $30 to get the same quantity you had before.  Not to mention the tragic ice cream loss you've suffered after stocking up on $2/carton Dryers....

Oh, and I should mention that Monday-Thursday's recipes come from "Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen" cookbook.  We're required to give credit where credit is due, or we get excommunicated.  ;oP

Click on "read more" to see the recipes.  Come on.  You know you want to.  :o)

Le Menu (March 20-26)

Since M's birthday was yesterday, she got to pick our Sunday meal this week.  She said "I love Indian food!" and then, a split second later she asked, "Wait - what's Indian food again?"  Funny girl.  I reminded her it's what we eat with naan and Basmati rice, and then she was certain she wanted Indian food.  ;o)

The irony is that Tikka Masala isn't really Indian, but Indian-British - kind of in the way that "chop suey" and fortune cookies are really American inventions.  Chop suey probably came to be in San Francisco  during the Gold Rush, but I digress.  

Click on "read more" below for the recipes! 

Le Menu (March 13-19)

I think I figured out a way to post the menu without so many formatting issues.  :o)

You'll see that today's meal is recycled from last week, but that's because the contractor stayed late that day and we ended up having a gourmet meal of Little Caesar's pizza on a blanket on the floor.  That's OK.  I'm flexible like that.  ;o)

I will go out on a limb and say that today's meal was one of the best we've had in a while.  Curtis barbecued the pork and getting the grill involved always makes for a good meal.  If I do it again, I will make the marinade a little hotter, but the pork was very, very good.  The veggies were just divine, especially with jasmine rice.  I didn't post a recipe since I knew I would wing it, but I stir-fried chopped bok choy and red, yellow, and orange bell peppers in hot sesame oil, along with some garlic, ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and toasted sesame seeds.  SO good.  

Most of the rest of the week's dishes are pretty basic since I'm anticipating limited kitchen access again.  I normally use tilapia or cod for the fish tacos, but this week they are being prepared à la Del Taco with battered fish fillets.  I use corn tortillas, shredded cabbage, fish, diced tomatoes, and a little shredded colby-jack, along with my very special sauce - 1/2 cup of light mayo, the juice of 3 limes, and 2 teaspoons or so of chili powder.  We use it sparingly, but this is enough for 12 tacos or so.  Obviously, I double it.  ;o)  

The meatballs are coming straight out of the WalMart freezer section.  When I can't make my own, I dump the frozen ones in the crock pot with a jar or two of pasta sauce and cook on low for 6 hours or so.  Then we toast buttered steak rolls in the oven, top each with a slice of provolone or mozzarella, and spoon on the meatballs and sauce.  Easy.  

As for the chili and cornbread, you may recall it was on last week's menu too, but this is different chili and cornbread.  Hubby's favorite chili, in fact.  I think it's good, but I have to add a lot of Tabasco.  ;o)  The big reason I love it is that I can have a huge bowl and it's only about 250 calories.  The recipe follows.

And finally, a recipe for Ethiopian chicken t'ibs, as well as info about where to find Ethiopian staples will also follow.  Just click the link below.  

Le Menu

This week's incredibly exciting menu, brought to you by a limping and sputtering kitchen.  I haven't been able to figure out why this post has so many weird formatting issues, but I'll try to have it fixed for next week!  :o)

6	7	8	9	10	11	12
SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
Lemon - pepper panko tilapia*, steamed green beans, rice, lemon bars & cheesecake brownies	White turkey chili*,  buttermilk cornbread*	Korean BBQ pork*, stir-fried bok choy/red pepper, rice	Grilled cheese on sourdough bread, tomato soup	Open-faced ham & Swiss ciabatta sandwiches, fruit salad	Pizza Hut	Fend for yourself

*recipes follow - click the link below

Feeding the troops

Since eventually this blog will be more about food and less about kitchen construction, I thought I'd get a jump on things and start posting our weekly menus, which you may find helpful or perhaps just mildly entertaining.  We generally don't eat a lot of convenience foods, but you'll see that we've had to make a few concessions during the remodel.  Often our kitchen is completely inaccessible, or too dirty, or too dangerous to be in for long.  I'm grateful it's as functional as it is, but the day is rapidly approaching that we'll be eating pizza 14 days straight.  ;o)

With the exception of Sundays, I shoot for dinners that are in the 500-800 calorie range.  I always make extra so that the "Mom-I'm-STARVING" among us can get their fill, but I worked too darn hard to get myself into shape to serve lasagna at every meal, and I want our kids to learn good eating habits and to have healthy attitudes about food.  We aren't obsessive about eating particular kinds of foods (or avoiding them either) and just try to go with the idea that most things are OK in moderation.  We very rarely eat any sort of hunk-o-meat dinner, like roast or steak.  With the exception of this kitchen remodel time, we don't generally eat a lot of fast food, but we do feed the kids pizza on Fridays (our date night)- usually from Pizza Hut or Little Caesar's, and sometimes the Wal-Mart take-and-bake kind.  

We eat a lot of foods from other cultures and parts of the world, in part because we have a multi-racial family, and also because those are just our tastes.  Our favorites are probably most Asian foods (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, etc.), middle eastern, African, Caribbean, and Mexican.  Really, we'll eat just about anything, and will try anything once.  And even though I love all sorts of foods, my very favorites are simple things - a good bagel.  Dark chocolate.  A bowl of oatmeal with pecans and dried cranberries.  A slice of toasted homemade bread.  (Clearly I'm a carb lover!)  

I'll write about this in more detail in another post, but part of the reason I can feed my large family with the variety I do and without breaking the bank is because I am Queen of the Coupon.  I stock up on things when they are at their very lowest prices, and have amassed quite a stockpile of foods and other necessities.  I can easily feed all 14 of us on about $200 a week, and that includes toiletries and other non-food items.  

I am a cookbook junkie, and I love websites like food.com and allrecipes.com.  I think the iPad was invented for the kitchen, and I believe my recipe-loving mother-in-law smiles down on me from Heaven as I gather and tweak and organize my treasured recipes.  :o)

Here is this week's plan, which is subject to change should I find my kitchen filled with volatile chemicals or without plumbing.  Any relevant recipes follow.  Just click on "Read more" below.

27	28	1	2	3	4	5
SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
Asian lettuce wraps*, rice, broccoli, chocolate pie	Potato bar	Tzatziki turkey pita sandwiches*, fruit salad	Zuppa Toscano*, breadsticks	Egg McMuffins, hash browns	Little Caesar’s	Fend for yourself