Thursday, June 4, 2015

Baked Potato Stuffed With Broccoli, Cauliflower & Hollandaise

Day 225

Not much to say about this easy peasy meal except that it comes together quickly and is full of yumminess. We gardened all day, so a simple meal was in order. Plus some nutrients, protein and carbs to replenish our bodies.

Stuffed Baked Potato

Broccoli Goodness

It really doesn't get simpler than this.

Packages of Hollandaise, Broccoli & Cauliflower

Broccoli& cauliflower in the steamer

Potato Greatness

Potatoes baked for about an hour at 400 degrees F. They were pretty big baking potatoes so they required a bit more time than usual.

Baked potato with sea salt & pepper

Stuffed baked potato

Reviews/Comments

I loved it, but go figure. Potatoes. Hollandaise. Mmmm. Gets a 10 from me.

Laura thought it was yummy and gives it an 8.


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Mushroom Chow Mein, Spring Rolls & Mushroom Fried Rice

Day 224 

Tran's Palace again...but this time, DINE IN! I like this restaurant. They're always glad to see us. Happier to see Laura than me, but whatev.

Mushroom Chow Mein, Spring Rolls & Mushroom Fried Rice

Date Night

Maybe not the most exciting nor romantic place for a date, but I'm calling it one anyway, since we don't go out very often.

Menus

Tran's Palace sign & "Open" sign

What We Ordered

  • Mushroom Chow Mein
  • Mushroom Fried Rice
  • Spring Rolls
  • Iced Tea
Vegetarian spring rolls & iced tea

The food arrived

Mushroom chow mein, spring rolls & mushroom fried rice

Mushroom Fried Rice

Our Fortunes

Mine:
"You continue to positively influence others."

Laura's:
"You can't be easily influenced."

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Fortune cookies

Reviews/Comments

I give it a 10. Enjoyable to have dinner out for a change. Like a date! We went to Parks' for frozen yoghurt afterward. :)

Laura rates it a 10 as well. I didn't ask her, but I know.


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Beer-Battered Fiddleheads

Day 223

Well, we actually had Greek food for supper but we also made some of these, which were pretty yum. They were inspired by our friends in Fredericton, who had them a couple weeks ago. You know...Mollie, Wendy, Debbie and Julie...those friends.

Beer-Battered Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads

On my way home from Fredericton I stopped at a roadside produce market and got a couple pounds of fiddleheads. 

Produce stand sign

Well, I paid for 2 lbs ($4.00/lb), but when I got the bag home, there were a lot of stems in with the fiddleheads (not attached) and by the time I picked those out, it weighed only 1 lb, 10 1/2 oz. Robbed!


1 2/3 lbs fiddleheads

To prepare, I cleaned them and snipped any brown ends, then blanched them for 2 1/2 minutes. Which is 1/2 a minute longer than Wendy Narvey advised.

Beer Batter Recipe

I didn't actually use beer, I used Perrier. Same thing. haha

Ingredients

1 cup pancake batter
Carbonated beverage to achieve desired batter consistency
2 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Directions

Mix. Stir fiddeheads in. Deep fry.

Fiddleheads in batter

Deep-fried fiddleheads

Cajun Mayo

I made this recipe up because I couldn't find "Cajun seasoning from Clubhouse" which is what my friend Wendy told me they used.

Cajun mayo

Ingredients

1/2 cup Compliments salad dressing
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chipotle powder

Directions

Mix.

Voila! Beer-Battered Fiddleheads


Beer-battered fiddleheads & cajun mayo

Reviews/Comments

I thought these were good, but not as good as some other fried food. I prefer fried zucchini or mushrooms. Or potatoes, mmmm. But it was okay and my cajun mayo was really good.

Laura found the fiddleheads weren't soft enough for her. The had a little crunch, so if we make these again, I'll know to blanch them a little longer.

I rate them a 7 1/2. 

Laura gave them a 7, preferring to have them boiled with butter.


Monday, June 1, 2015

Greek Feast

Day 222

I did skip a few days there; sorry about that...let's catch up.

Friday, May 29
We didn't really have a formal meal. I grabbed a BK veggie burger while running errands and later we shared the rest of a George's mushroom pizza that Laura had gotten for lunch.

Saturday, May 30
We went to Mike's Bar and got a pile of naughty fried food with their Build Your Own Basket. We got the jalapeno poppers, mozza sticks, sweet potato fries, onion rings, mac n cheese bites and deep fried mushrooms.

Sunday, May 31
This was last night, the night Laura slaved over the Greek feast, so we had some of it last night, but some of it wasn't done until it was too late to eat. I also went out and got a BK veggie burger because I was too hungry to wait. I should have just waited, because it wasn't long after I ate that we fried the falafel and pitas, so we sampled most of the Greek stuff.

Monday, June 1
Greek food all day! I had spanikopita for breakfast, and this plate you see in the pics below for lunch and supper. And there is plenty left for tomorrow. WOOT!

Moussaka, falafel, spanikopita, pita, hummus & olives

Moussaka, falafel sandwich, spanikopita & olives

Veggie Moussaka

This is amazingly good. It was the dish that took so long to make, because there were a lot of steps. I can't see us making this often, for that reason, but someday again. Thank you Sia Koulis, for the recipe. We may have gone our whole lives never having tried moussaka. 

So many ingredients in this. Eggplant was the one I was excited about. Oh, and potatoes.

Eggplant

Missy was interested in the process. She was probably hoping for a taste but it wasn't done until very late. These things take time!

Laura slaving over moussaka

It wasn't done until bedtime so we didn't try it until today. It's super yummy and a shame it's such a process to make.

Moussaka

Spanikopita

Recipe here
Greek spinach pie..soooo good. Laura used frozen spinach instead of fresh, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Spanikopita

Falafel

Recipe here
Laura makes awesome falafel. I've only had falafel at three other places before (Boyce Farmers Market, Pita Pit and Calactus), and all falafel is pretty good, but Laura's is the best. There are only a few pieces on a plate in the pic below, but believe me, there is an enormous bowl of falafel dough in the fridge to make more. More! MORE!!!!!!

Falafel

We have the falafel with a delicious tahini sauce that Laura always makes. We usually have this with falafel on pita bread with tomatoes and Romaine lettuce.

Laura's Tahini Sauce
About 1/3 cup tahini
Lemon juice to taste
Add water or until desired consistency
2 cloves garlic

Hummus

Laura also makes the best hummus. We like ours super garlicky so it has a bit of kick to it. Here is the recipe from another blog. It's a keeper.

Hummus

Homemade Pita Bread

Recipe here
Laura has been making her own pita bread for years, and it's so much better than that dry old store-bought kind.

Homemade pita bread

Greek fare

Reviews/Comments

Took a long time to make. Do not attempt this unless you have 5 or 6 hours to kill. But, soooo worth it!!

Missy was here Sunday night while Laura was making it. She enjoyed the falafel and hummus but wasn't a fan of spanikopita. It was still warm, so that could have been why.


Thursday, May 28, 2015

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."


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

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.