Meatless Supper club-week 8

Last week was the final week in the meatless supper challenge. We are still incorporating meatless meals into our weekly suppers but this will be the last time I'm on the hook for blogging about them. So in the future I'll just share some of the best recipes with you. We had a pasta dish last night from weight watchers (yes, I'm still trying to get rid of baby weight). It was quite yummy but I am a huge goat cheese fan.

Tomato, herb and goat cheese capellini
Serves 4 (5 points)

4 Tbsp reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp minced garlic
2 cup(s) cherry tomato(es), quartered
1/2 pound(s) uncooked capellini, or spaghetti, cooked and kept warm
2 Tbsp basil, fresh, minced
3 Tbsp parsley, fresh, minced
1/4 cup(s) semisoft goat cheese, crumbled
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon of broth in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes and cook until just soft, about 1 minute. Add remaining broth and heat through.

Place cooked pasta in a large bowl and add tomato mixture; toss to combine. Add herbs and goat cheese; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

On a final note, Jeremy and I watched the movie Food, Inc. on Friday. I will warn that if you are a supporter of big business, uber-capitalism its not the movie for you. But if you are already having doubts about how our food industry is becoming not quite as humane and safe for consumers it might be an enlightening movie for you. The authors of Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation were heavily involved in the creation of the movie. There is a discussion of farm to table practices by both commercial food and sustainable farming/organic foods. I highly recommend the film, it is not only well made as a documentary but also very insightful on the practices of sustainable farms, organic food companies, feedlots, corn and soybeans as our cash crops in America, and meat processing plants and their treatment of both livestock and workers.

Jeremy and I already lean towards going back to eating locally and from sustainable farms as much as possible. I have read both Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, and after watching the movie, Food, Inc. I have concluded that not only do I feel like buying from local sustainable farm is the way to support family farms but its a way for me to quietly not support the practices of big business in the food world. I am realistic in knowing that our family can't 100% change and we will still have to purchase things from the grocery store but the less I support unsafe working conditions for meat processors, or the unfair treatment of farmers that decided to work for big food corporations the better. Maybe if enough of us change who we support when we feed our families the companies will get the message. I'm not fully convinced of that yet but I know I feel better about what my family eats when I know it came from a family farm that respects the livestock they are raising to feed their family and mine.

OK, that was my soap box, I'd love to hear how you feel about the subject.

Meatless Supper Club-Weeks 6 and 7

I confessed earlier to not making a meatless meal during week 5. And I knew that blogging about our meatless meals was going to be more difficult than making them, hence two weeks in one post with no pictures and only one recipe.

We were discussing this week that now that we have been incorporating at least one meatless meal during our weekly dinners its not so hard to think up a dish. In addition, we don't really miss the meat since we have chicken or beef for other meals. Mission accomplished? Now I have to see if we are truly saving enough money to start buying locally raised hormone free meat.

Jeremy made us a super spicy vegetarian Indian dish over rice last week while I was still working long days. The jar of coconut curry sauce said "mildly spicy" but it was so spicy we had a hard time eating it. It looked so good too. I took a picture but accidentally erased it from the camera before downloading it.

This week we had vegetarian pizza and lentil casserole. The lentil casserole recipe is below, healthy, hearty and quite yummy.

Lentil Casserole
Weight Watchers recipe
Serves 4

1 cup dry lentils, rinsed
1/2 cups brown rice
2 cups shredded carrots
3 cups water
1 packet onion soup mix
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils. Place all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook until rice is done, about 20 minutes. Yields 1 cup per serving.

We had the casserole with a french baguette. If you don't want to go vegetarian, you could add some sausage to the mix.

A potpourri

I have been crazy busy at work this month and will admit that the blog was the first to be neglected since the weekends have been just as crazy busy since my work days have been long. I give major props to all the moms that work long hours and still keep the family in order. Here is a brief update on what has been happening in the Taylor house.

Malachi had minor surgery to have a growth removed and his healing process has been difficult to understate it. He messed with his stitches and did more damage to his back ankle as a result and now will be wearing bandages and an e-collar for about a month. His foot smells so bad as a result of the bandaging (which get changed regularly) that we can hardly stand it. If you ever had a cast and when it was taken off how your appendedge smelled because you couldn't wash it for however long. Its like that.

Holden celebrated his first Halloween. We didn't do any trick or treating but he dressed up for daycare which everyone was excited about. Jeremy celebrated his 29th birthday on Halloween by watching Nebraska football and fishing on Sunday with a buddy.

We are pretty sure he is teething and has been terribly fussy the last few days and waking up multiple times in the middle of the night inconsolable. I won't lie its been rough mostly because we can't seem to make it better.

We didn't have a meatless meal last week (hence no post) but are having potato and leek soup tonight. I have one more really crazy week at work and then we should be back to some normalcy.

Potato, Onion and Leek Soup

serves 6

4 tbsp butter

2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and diced

4 large leeks, cleaned and diced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups milk

3 1/2 cups veggie broth

Melt butter in a heavy pot, add potatoes, onions and leeks. Cook on low heat, covered for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper, milk and broth. Increase heat to a simmer, cook approximately 20 minutes until veggies are soft. Puree soup in batches in a blender or food processor. If you have an immersion blender this is a great opportunity to use it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a swirl of cream or some shredded cheese (we used Gruyere) and crusty bread.

Meatless Supper Club-Week 4

I was much better this week and we actually had 2 meatless meals this week. It was chilly and rainy this week so we were excited to have soup and fall vegetables. So, we had broccoli and cheese soup one night, my mother-in-law's recipe. It is delicious. But the recipe I'm going to share is a new recipe I've been wanting to try and it was delicious also. As you might already know, one of my favorite shows is Top Chef, and they advertised a new recipe website, Cookstr.com. Which is where I found the following recipe. I modified it a bit based on what veggies I had on hand and what we can find at the farmer's market now.

Aromatic Vegetable Curry
cookstr.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 large leek, white part only, well rinsed and diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons best-quality curry powder
4 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), cut into ½-inch dice
1 cauliflower, trimmed and broken into small florets (I didn't have so omitted)
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into ½-inch cubes (same here didn't have on hand)
2 cups cut green beans (1½-inch lengths)
4 cups Vegetable Broth or Basic Chicken Broth
2 tablespoons clover honey
4 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches long)
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, for garnish

Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and leek and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook over very low heat until the flavors are blended, about 3 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, until the curry aroma permeates the kitchen, another 2 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, potatoes, squash, cauliflower, fennel, and green beans. Stir in the broth, honey, cloves, and cinnamon stick, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Then add the chickpeas and simmer, stirring once or twice, to blend the flavors, another 10 minutes.
3. Shortly before serving, stir in the cilantro and remove the cinnamon stick and cloves. Sprinkle with the chopped mint and serve.


We finished dinner with dessert of course. Rice Pudding with cooked NC apples.

Rice Pudding
1 cup white rice
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar

Cook rice on med-low covered until most of the milk has been absorbed and rice is done. Add additional milk and sugar to taste and consistency that you like. Add cinnamon if preferred.

Cooked Apples
2 apples, cored and sliced (we used Honey crisp)
1 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cook apples in water with remaining ingredients until apples are soft.

Again, I forgot to take photos. If your still in the game with me and are looking for other meatless recipes visit, Enviromom, for some other ideas this week.

Meatless Supper Club-Week 3

Here is our meatless supper for this week. I was going to make a vegetable curry but realized too late that we didn't have any potatoes and it was a staple item for the recipe, so maybe next week. Needless to say, it kind of threw me off so this is what we had instead.

Mexican Mac & Cheese with Snap Peas and Carrots, and Baked apples for dessert.

Mexican Mac & Cheese

Serves 4-6

1/2 lb elbow macaroni

12 oz fat free evaporated milk

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion chopped

4 oz green chilis (canned)

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

8 oz mexican shredded cheese

salt and pepper to taste

a couple dashes of picante sauce (optional-I used Tapatio)

Cook pasta in salted boiling water. Saute onions in butter until soft. Add milk, chilis and spices and cook until thickened. Add pasta and cheese. Salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Carrots and Snap Peas (Weight Watchers recipe modified slightly)

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup snap peas

2 tsp butter

1/2 Tbsp honey

1/8 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Cook carrots in boiling water for 8-10 minutes until softened. Drain water. Add remaining ingredients, cover and cook aproximately 5 minutes until snap peas are cooked. Serve.

Baked Apples (modified from Better Homes and Garden)

4 apples, cored and top cut off (I used Honeycrisp and gala apples)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup apple cider (you can use water or apple juice also)

Preheat oven to 350. Place apples in a baking dish. Mix sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Divide up sugar mixture and put inside the core of each apple. Pour apple cider in baking dish. Bake 40-45 minutes until apples are soft, basting apples occasionally.

For additional meatless suppers this week please visit, Enviromom.

Meatless Supper Club-Week 2

For week 2 of our meatless suppers we made black bean tacos with mango salsa and yogurt sauce. They were quite yummy and for the carnivores in your family it would be easy to make up some chicken, fish or pork to add. I apologize for not having a photo as the week back from vacation has been a hectic one.

Black Bean Tacos

Black beans
1 can of black beans rinsed and drained
1/4 c low fat milk
1 chipolte pepper in adobe sauce, chopped finely
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika (I used smoked paprika but regular will work fine)
salt and pepper

Add all in a sauce pan and cook until combined and milk reduces a bit.

Mango Salsa
1 mango peeled and diced
1 tomato seeded and diced
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 red or yellow onion, diced
1/2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and refrigerate until use

Yogurt Sauce
1-6oz container of plain Greek yogurt (I used non fat but any kind can be used)
2 Tbsp of lime juice
1 chipolte pepper in adobe sauce, chopped finely

Mix all together and refrigerate until use

Serve in warm corn tortillas with shredded lettuce. You can add your favorite hot sauce to spice it up a bit more.


For more meatless supper recipes please visit EnviroMom

Meatless Supper Club-Week One

Ok, so not a very healthy start, but a start nonetheless. I had some ricotta cheese I needed to use up, so that is my excuse. It was delicious! A variation of a Rachael Ray recipe.

Tomato, Basil and Cheese Baked Pasta

by Rachael Ray

1 pound small shell pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,

3 large cloves garlic
1/2 small to medium yellow onion

A handful of mushrooms (we added this ingredient-using up things in the fridge)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian tomatoes, any brand ( I was out of crushed tomatoes so I just used a jar of spaghetti sauce)
1/2 cup, 10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces ( again, I was lazy and just used some dried italian seasoning from my brother-in-law's store, Mondo Food)
Salt and pepper
1 cup store bought basil pesto sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt the water. Add small shell pasta and cook the pasta to al dente doneness which means that the pasta will still have a bite to it or be a little chewy.

Preheat a deep, big skillet or a medium sauce pot over medium heat.
Add olive oil, garlic and onion, cut the ends off and cut the whole onion down the center. Cook, stirring a lot, 5 minutes until the onions are mushy and look cooked.
Add the tomatoes (or spaghetti sauce) to the onions and stir. When the tomatoes come to a bubble, reduce the heat under the sauce to low. Stir in basil pieces to wilt them. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Preheat your broiler to high and place a rack in the center of the oven.

Drain pasta shells. Add them to a casserole dish. Add pesto sauce, 1 cup of ricotta cheese and a handful of grated Parmigiano, too. Stir carefully and coat the hot pasta with the pesto and cheeses. Pour the hot tomato and basil sauce over the pasta, as much as you like. Shred up some mozzarella cheese with a grater and scatter it over the pasta. Add a final sprinkle of Parmigiano to the mozzarella as well.

Place the casserole under the broiler in the middle of oven, 10 to 12 inches from the heat. Let the cheese melt and bubble on top, 3 to 5 minutes (we cooked the pasta on a low boiler temperature so the ricotta and pesto had time to heat up).

We served with this great homemade garlic bread recipe from Our Lincoln Log.