meal planning #4

phew! i'm exhaused. this morning began in napier (4 hours away from wellington) and i closed the library at 10:30pm tonight. that my friends, is a long day.

so obiously we went to napier this weekend, which threw a wrench into the meal planning for last week. this week should be a little more normal and will look like this:

tuesday: baked falafel with lemon tahini sauce
wednesday: leftovers
thursday: szechuan chick stir fry (jamie oliver, recipe. i heart jamie oliver)
friday: leftovers
saturday: white pita pizzas with red and green prosciutto salad (healthy, yummy, and light)
sunday: leftovers

blog and pics about napier coming up!

meal planning 3.0

another week, another set of meals. here we go. 

sunday: spaghetti all ceci (never got to it this week)

monday: leftovers

tuesday: ham, split pea and lentil stew with homemade bread

wednesday: leftover soup

thursday: german sausage sizzle (remember how our order got doubled?) with jalapeño potato salad

friday: leftovers

saturday: baked falafel with lemon tahini sauce

also a few snacky pins from pinterest. 

baked radish chips. the last time i tried radishes i was about 8 and i hated them. i want to like them. maybe now that i'm all grown up. 

baked sweet potato chips. this isn't really a gamble. pretty sure these will be yummy. 

the baked artisan bread from last week? turned out real good. it's kind of weird to have a pile of dough in your fridge all week. but real convenient to know you can have homemade bread at any time.

meal planning #2

are you ready for more meal planning? you are, right? if not, scroll below and find our trip to auckland. it's more entertaining.

this week the recipes come from both 365: no repeats and express lane meals both by rachael ray. both classics in our household

sunday: lemon artichoke risotto with shrimp (this got delayed because of the auckland trip)
monday: risotto leftovers
tuesday: smokey sweet potato chicken soup (adapted for kumeras instead of sweet potatoes, but essentially the same)
wednesday: leftover soup
thursday: philly cheese steaks
friday: leftovers
saturday: spaghetti alla ceci (spaghetti with chickpeas - it's a roman dish)

i'll also be attempting two of my food "pins" from pinterest...

artisian baked bread - no kneading required, the fermentation process that takes place in the fridge does the work for you.

and

roasted cabbage. it must the be eastern european in me. but it sounds really good.  The grocery store did not have bacon bits. I looked all over, and then swallowed my pride and asked. He asked "what are those" - I told him cooked pieces of chopped bacon. Then he asked what in the world I would use it for. Sigh.

meal planning

i'm endeavouring to start a somewhat regular feature here. somewhat because, well, you all know i just had a 8 month blogging break. any hoo...

every sunday i plan our meals out for the rest of the week. i have been told that most people do not do this and that this is one of the things that makes me, me.

i'm going to try and blog what things we are eating this week. this probably will not bring hords of new blog readers, but i figure it will be a meal diary of sorts, which might turn out handy at some point and time in the future.

any "keeper" recipes i try to post on my purely recipe blog, somewhat regularly. this again is less for other people, and more for myself. wherever i go, i will have my favorite recipes with me (tagged for conveience). most of them are not original recipes, so i always cite my source (like a good librarian)

this week, most of the recipes are from one of my most used books 365 no repeats by rachael ray.

sunday: cumin-lime crusted pork chops with spicy creamed corn (this was supposed to be a pork tenderloin, but the store demanded i be flexible)

monday: leftovers of above

tuesday: beauregard kumara with chili and feta cheese (recipe found here)

wednesday: leftovers stuffed kumaras

thursday: spinach goat cheese chicken rolls with pan sauce

friday: leftover chicken rolls

saturday: lemon artichoke risotto with shrimp


what are you having this week?

moroccan tangine, anyone?

do you want a dish that you can serve your vegetarian friends, but your meat loving friends won't roll their eyes at? not only that, but it's incredibly healthy and unlike tofu, it has enormous flavor and aroma. try this moroccan tangine:

moroccan tangine

ingredients:

1 head garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock (I used Trader Joe's individual vegetable stock concentrate and added water)
1 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pound butternut squash, cut into roughly 1 inch cubes
1 medium eggplant, chopped into roughly 1 inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 box prepared couscous

Heat up olive oil in large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then turn heat down to medium. Let cook about 7 minutes. Add dry spices and let cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add lemon juice.

Add parsley and 1/4 cup cilantro. Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Add in vegetable stock, chickpeas and butternut squash. Cook, simmering, 1 hour.

Salt eggplant pieces, let rest 2 minutes then rinse well with water and add, along with crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped red pepper to stew.  

Cook additional 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add additional seasoning to taste. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. 

i found this recipe at the alchemist chef and adjusted it to my liking (basically removing the raisins and celery and adding an additional carrot).


i didn't have too high of hopes for it, because its basically heaps of vegetables with a few seasonings. but it was an astounding success. both aaron and i agreed it was one of the best meals we have had in awhile.


the only draw back would be the amount of time involved. it probably isn't a weekday meal. i started it after work at 7 and we didn't eat until 9:30. but it would be an awesome weekend meal. if you have a persistent meat eater, i'm sure some diced or shredded chicken would not hurt the recipe either. 


if you make it, let me know what you think!

curry peanut noodles

i love cooking. love it. but, the chore i hate most in the world is making lunches m-f. i'm not sure why this is, but because i dislike it so much it usually ends up being a pretty crappy sandwich. however, lately i decided to cook something on sunday that i could pack as lunches for the rest of the week. it has been fabulous not having to make sandwiches, and getting something tasty for lunch. my friend, jenni, posted a great recipe on her site for pesto polenta lasagna that i made last night. to repay the favor i thought i would post a recipe as well.

curry peanut noodles

ingredients

12 oz spaghetti

2/3 c crunchy peanut butter

1-2 t red curry paste

2 tsp rice wine vinegar

juice of 1 lime

1/3 c cilantro

2 scallions

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into thin strips

1 large carrot, coarsely grated

red pepper flakes, for serving

1. bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti per package instructions. reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking water

2. mix the peanut butter, curry paste, vinegar, and lime juice in a small pot over medium heat. heat until the peanut butter starts to melt. stir in the 1/2 cup of pasta water to create a sauce.

3. toss the spaghetti with the peanut sauce, scallions, cucumber, carrot, and cilantro. serve with extra cilantro and red pepper flakes, if desired.

this dish is terrific hot or cold. enjoy!

as a side note, the following conversation just happened in our household:
me: why is your shirt on the floor?
aaron: i put it there.
me: oh, and i thought there wouldn't be a good reason.
aaron: rest assured, there is.