Mini Pizzas

Day 218

Yeah, mini pizzas again. But, not just any mini pizzas. These mini pizzas have fresh herbs for extra deliciousness.

Mini Pizzas

Layered as follows:

English muffins
Marinara
Mozzarella
Dried Italian seasoning
Mushrooms
Fresh oregano
Fresh basil
Black olives
Parmesan

English muffins

Marinara

Mozzarella & dried Italian seasoning

 Mushrooms

Fresh oregano

Fresh basil

Black olives

Parmesan

Mini Pizzas

Reviews/Comments

Well, they're mini pizzas, one of our favorite meals, so they get an automatic 9 from me, and the fresh herbs boost them up to a 9.5.

Laura: "Good. Not a fan of the English muffins."

Spaghetti Squash with Veggie Marinara

Day 217

A coworker brought spaghetti squash in her lunch today which reminded me that all the things in our fridge would make a great sauce. Since Laura likes spaghetti squash way more than pasta, her lunch inspired our supper tonight.

Spaghetti Squash with Veggie Marinara

Spaghetti Squash

Very easy to cook. Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds and pulp, and roast flesh-side down in 2 cups water in a roast pan for half hour at 350.

Cooked spaghetti squash

Veggie Marinara

Ingredients
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 onion
3 mini bell peppers
9 mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups marinara sauce
4 cubes basil/olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup veggie ground
1/4 cup parmesan
3 green onion stalks

Directions
Wash and chop all your vegetables.

Veggies for the marinara sauce

I sautéed the onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic in the oil, then added the basil cubes.

Veggies sautéing with basil

I left that to simmer and in a separate pan I added the vinegar, sugar and marinara, then when they began to simmer, I added the parmesan. The contents of this second pan were added to the first, and stirred to combine. Then I divided the sauce by pouring about 1/3 back into the second pan and added 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup veggie ground. The reason for the divide is because I wanted mine with veggie ground - for the protein - and Laura wanted hers without. I added the green onions at the very end. They wilted in nicely.

Veggie ground half

Garlic Bread

We had leftover garlic/basil spread and half a loaf of Italian bread, as well as 2 kinds of cheese, so garlic bread was a no-brainer.

Garlic spread, bread, veggie ground, 

parmesan & mozza

Garlic bread before broiling

Ta-Da!

Finally, we have a meal. But...that was hard. Well, not really hard, but more effort than I usually put in.

Spaghetti squash with veggie marinara & garlic bread

Reviews/Comments

Me: 8 1/2 I enjoyed it.
Laura: It was good. 8 overall. Would have been a 7 but the garlic bread bumped it up.

Salad & Garlic Bread

Day 216

Salad & Garlic Bread

Peanut Satay Stir-fry with Whole Grains & Crab Rangoons

Day 215

Criteria for tonight's meal:

1. It had to be cheap
2. It had to be quick
3. It had to be vegetarian
4. It had to contain adequate protein

Peanut Satay Stir-fry with Whole Grains & Crab Rangoons

Do you know how many choices that eliminates? Vegetarians can find plenty of delicious meals, but the cheap ones don't tend to be quick and the quick ones don't tend to be cheap. Cheap and quick often means processed food or sacrificing nutrition in favor of flavor. Not all processed food is garbage though. I was lucky tonight and found some sales, too. Not that everything on our plates was the epitome of health food, but we got some nutrition at least. And flavor. For cheap. Fast.

Crab Rangoons

I was not in the mood to cook at all. I had some errands to run after work and came home feeling hungry so I was in no mood to shop or cook.

We needed to use some things that have been in the fridge awhile, like wonton wrappers and cream cheese, plus we already had peanut oil, so I knew I would be making cheese rangoons, which was about the extent of the effort I felt like putting in. All I needed was a bunch of scallions, which I found for $1.49.

Rangoon filling

Raw & fried ragoons

Cheese rangoons

Peanut Satay Stir-fry with Whole Grains

As for the rest of the meal, the sales at Sobeys dictated what it would be. They had mixed veggies on sale for $1.49. Best deal ever. And they had this Seeds of Change organic Seven Whole Grains stuff for $2.99. I grabbed a bottle of peanut satay ($2.99) and that was it. What's better than that?

The Seeds of Change organic Seven Whole Grains include:

• Whole grain brown rice
• Rye
• Barley
• Millet
• Red wheat
• Red quinoa
• Wild rice

Seven Whole Grains packet

The veggies were your basic Compliments bag of mixed fresh vegetables. I also tossed in the rest of the scallions left over from making the rangoons. Sautéed on fairly high heat in peanut oil until tender enough to fork through them. Then I added the sauce, but forgot to take a pic. Except for the final plated meal pic.

Stir-fried vegetables

Peanut satay stir-fry with whole grains & crab rangoons

Reviews/Comments

I got lots of favorable comments from Laura as we were eating, but that was a long time ago and I don't remember them specifically. But, she gave the meal a 9 as a whole and so did I.

The organic whole grains were pre-cooked and had a creamy texture and sort of a nutty flavor. Laura thought they were bland as hell and used it as a base for her stir-fry. She did like it, but thought it lacked flavor. It was supposed to have a tamari flavor, but that's basically just soy, isn't it? Anyway, it had a mildly nutty and grainy flavor - go figure, eh? I loved it. Since it's on sale from like 5 bucks to 2, Imma go back and get some more.

Baked Potato, Glazed Carrots & Lemon Dill Broccoli

Day 214

I would have just had baked potatoes, but I knew we should have some protein, so I also cooked some broccoli. Then I found some carrots that needed to be used up, so I cooked those too. Turned out pretty good.

Baked Potato, Glazed Carrots & Lemon Dill Broccoli

Baked Potato

I served the baked potato with sour cream and chives.

Potatoes baking

Broccoli & Cauliflower with Lemon Dill Sauce

We had a packet of this International Lemon & Dill sauce in the pantry so I made it to serve over the broccoli and cauliflower. And it was a good choice.

Steamed broccoli & cauliflower

Lemon & dill sauce

Glazed Carrots

I parboiled the carrots and then transferred them to a frying pan and threw in some butter, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and finished cooking them in the glaze.

Carrots boiling

Carrots cooking in butter, sugar and vinegar

Potato, carrots, broccoli & cauliflower

Reviews/Comments

I give the meal a 7 overall. Not bad at all, but a lot of fat and extra calories were added for flavor - mainly butter. So, not the healthiest, but pretty tasty, and sufficient nutrients and protein to top of our day.

Laura thought it was good, and gives it a 7.5.

Roasted Potatoes & Fiddleheads

Day 212

If you've been paying any attention at all you'll know that I don't make real complicated meals. I don't like to follow recipes, and like to keep things simple and stick to basics for the most part. This meal is an excellent example of that.

Roasted Potatoes & Fiddleheads

Roasted Potatoes

I love potatoes, and could eat mashed potatoes like, every second night and never get sick of them, but for Laura to enjoy them, I have to change it up a bit most nights. Tonight I decided to roast them in olive oil and threw a couple peppers, an onion and some mushrooms in with them.

Potatoes, peppers, mushrooms & onion

Then I seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried parsley & fresh oregano.

Chopped veggies, ready for seasonings

Then, they were roasted at 350 on a baking sheet for about 25 - 35 minutes. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the time, sorry. You bake until the potatoes are soft and all the veggies are beginning to brown.

Roasted potatoes

Fiddleheads

The last of our fiddleheads already. Boooo :( Will have to get some more, maybe.

Fiddleheads

Roasted Potatoes & Fiddleheads

Reviews/Comments

We both enjoyed supper tonight. No garnishes, pickles, dips or sauces, just butter for the fiddleheads, and the potatoes & veggies were perfectly seasoned.

I rated it a 9 and Laura rated it an 8.

Avocado Tacos

Day 209

Original recipe
Had to have these again. They were quite good again.

Avocado Tacos

Deep-frying Avocado - the Process

• Heat some vegetable oil.
• Mix the batter (see recipe in link above).
• Peel and slice the avocado.

Avocados & batter

• Dip the avocado in the batter.
• Fry about 3-4 minutes.
• Drain fat on paper towels.

Deep-fried avocado

Assemble the Tacos

The usual way. Chop some tomatoes and lettuce. Heat the taco shells. Fill the shells with avocado, tomato and lettuce and serve with salsa, sour cream and a squeeze of lime.

Avocado fixin's

Deep-fried avocado tacos

Reviews/Comments

Laur: Yeah, it was good. Was delicious. 10. Those are always a 10...fantastic. Despite the taco shells were under-crisped.

Me: Yeahhh...that recipe's a keeper. 9

Fiddleheads, Corn on the Cob & Whipped Potatoes

Day 208

...and Lady Ashburnhams...mmmm

Fiddleheads, Corn on the Cob & Whipped Potatoes

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Day 207

Sunday, May 17

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Italian Sausage, Potatoes & Fiddleheads

Day 206

Fiddlehead season is here and I bought a 5 lb bag off the back of a truck today.

Italian Sausage, Potatoes & Fiddleheads

Italian Sausage

A Yves product, made with soy. They're square, which is perfect, because we were really craving a square meal.

Italian "sausages" and onions frying in peanut oil

There was a sale on ciabatta sausage buns at Atlantic SuperStore so we went with those. Even though we usually enjoy our buns toasted, we thought these ones would be better steamed.

Ciabatta buns steaming

Served with fried onions, ketchup, dijon and Lady Ashburnham pickles (Carrie Weeks' favorite pickle).

Mom's Lady Ashburnham pickles, ketchup & dijon

Mashed Potatoes

Boiled, then mashed and whipped with butter and cream. Served with Lady Ashburnham pickles.

Potatoes

Fiddleheads

I like fiddleheads a lot but Laura looooves them so much. The fact is, they are seasonal and stocking up on them to carry you through a year is a lot of work. 5 lbs will do us 4 or 5 meals. They were cleaned, but we washed them and cut the brown ends off each one. Next, they go into a big pot of boiling water for a 5 minute blanch, then into a bowl of ice water to stop the heating process, and finally, they're drained and stored in freezer bags. Not a 10 minute job.

About 1 lb fiddleheads

For tonight's meal, we washed, trimmed, boiled, drained  about a pound of them, then served them with butter and salt.

Italian sausage, mashed potatoes & fiddleheads

Reviews/Comments

Laura: Ohhhh, I'm so full. All meals involving fiddleheads get a 10.

She also thought there was too much sausage to bun ratio.

I give the entire meal a 10. My potatoes...my ladies...fiddleheads...and loved the sausages. They're really good!