Sometimes I Cheat

Life gets busy and sometime you need to cheat a little. I was at Ikea this week and picked up a bag of their meatballs for those night when you just don't feel like cooking. Tonights dinner, Ikea meatballs, green beans, purple potatoes with Ikea gravy, total time 15 minutes.

Purple potatoes, okay they look a little weird but I didn't want to buy a bag of 100 seedlings when I came across these Russian Blues there were only 6 in the bag so that is what I planted. They don't have much flavor I don't think I will plant them again.

I think the blog will be put on hold for a few days as I not sure if supper will be on my agenda with the move. See you in my new kitchen. Yeah!

Teriyaki Marinated Tofu, Grilled Peppers and Rice

It has been a busy week getting ready for our move, I did manage to make dinner on Tuesday night, I had everything read to go on the BBQ when Neil reminded me we were out of propane, so we had left over Chili instead. I did manage to make it to the garden on Tuesday; I picked a large bowl of green beans, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, carrots and potatoes. Tonight's Dinner Teriyaki Marinated Tofu, Grilled Peppers and Rice total time 20 minutes. I am so glad I discovered President's Choice






Teriyaki Marinated Tofu it is so good, I think even the toughest tofu critic would think this was good. Slice peppers in half, place in baggy, sprinkle with Salt, Pepper, Balsamic Vinegar and oilive oil, shake, grill for 10 mintues on 400F. For the Tofu, remove from package place on BBQ turning once, cooking time about 5 minutes. Serve with rice. You can also makes these into skewers. Here's to trying to get supper on the table tomorrow night.

It felt like a cool Fall day in Calgary today - I think it perhaps hit a high of 13, a perfect day for Chili. I always find it more difficult to avoid meat when you are feeling cold; perhaps this is what my body needs when the temperature plummets.
Tonight’s dinner: Chili Con Carne Jamie Oliver style. This is probably one of the best Chili recipes I have ever made. Jamie recommends you serve this with rice, something I have never done, but tonight I took the plunge and made a big pot of rice to go along with my Chili.

Total prep time about 15 minutes... cooking time 35 minutes just enough time to call a friend.
2 medium onions
1Lb of lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots
2 celery stalks
2 sweet peppers (I used green that is all I had)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 tsp of cumin
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 Can or 1 Cup of chickpeas
1 Can or 1 Cup of Kidney beans
8-10 Romano tomatoes (4 large tomatos)
1 bunch of cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown onion until soft, add ground beef cook until no longer pink, add all vegetables (except tomatoes) cook for 5 minutes add a little water 1/2 cup so vegetables don't burn. Add tomatoes, spices, vinegar and beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for 35-40 minutes stir occasionally. Add finely chopped cilantro and serve on a bed of rice. YUM!

(I am sorry the picture doesn't look so great we were all so hungry we dug in before I took the picture.)

We do eat normal!

Tonight's dinner Bacon Wrapped Steak with Beets and Beet Greens (from my garden).
Cooking time 30 minutes .
We found some great steaks at Costco that have the Environmental Choice logo - this simply means that they have been ethically raised, no hormones or antibiodics have fed to the cattle and the cattle are grass fed not confined, but more importantly they taste great!

I roasted the beets on the BBQ . You don't need to peel them, cut off the tops and bottoms, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, and BBQ for about 25 minutes. The beet greens I boiled for about 25 minutes, drained and dosed with Balsamic Vinegar - a great summer meal.

Sounds like an easy meal however as I am writing this blog the BBQ ran our of propane. Meat went into the grill pan and then into the oven to roast, it won't taste as good as the BBQ but you have to roll with the punches.

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas with Salsa

Back in the kitchen tonight... yesterday was a crazy day we had McDonald's whoops!

Part of my quest to eat less meat was inspired by Mark Bittman's Book "Food Matters" an easy read on eating more environmentally responsible. One of Mark's main points in his book it that "beans" are a great meat substitution, over the years the meat industry has actually convinced us that meat is the only good source of protein. It is Mark's mission to get everyone to eat and cook beans. The economics of cooking beans yourself is worth the little effort they actually take. I normally pay around $2.50-3.00 for a can of organic beans, I can buy of bag of organic uncooked beans for around $4.00 this makes about 8 cups, if this is not enough to convince you to cook your own beans the taste will.
Start with your bag / bulk beans about 2-3 cups put them in a large pot (10-12 cups) Fill the pot 3/4 full of water, put the lid on and walk away. The next day when you have a few minutes rise the beans in cold water put them back in the pot with a little less water than the day before and boil for 10-15 minutes, turn off and walk away. If you do this last step in the morning the beans should be ready by supper, if you do this in the afternoon / evening drain and rise them in morning. These freeze really well ... 1 minute in the microwave to unthaw.

Tonight’s dinner:
Corn Black Bean Quesadilla with Salsa

These takes about 15 minutes to make including cooking time.
1/2 - 1 Cup of Corn
1/2-1 Cup of Black Beans
1-2 cups of shredded cheese
4-8 tortilla shells depending on hunger level

Heat frying pan to medium heat add the Quesadilla cook for 3 minutes on each side, cut and serve with Salsa.

I recently started to make my own salsa is so easy! Put 1/4 of a small onion in the food processor until fine, add a piece of jalapeno if desired and a handful of fresh cilantro once these are finely chopped add 2-3 Romano tomatoes ( any tomatoes will work) chop slightly until chunky. I do have a secret ingredient I use in all my Mexican cooking salsa, quesadilla etc. I bought this bottle of season at Loco Boco about 4 years ago it is almost gone so I do hope I can get more, it is called Tajin Fruit and Snack Seasoning it adds a little zip. Enjoy your Quesadilla.

Inspired to cook

As with all housewives, mothers... actually anyone who needs to eat, what's for dinner in always on our mind. I have become inspired to cook for many reasons, I love to eat, I love to create, I don't have a lot of hobbies but I do like to cook when I know what I am making. I hate making supper when there is nothing in the house to cook with and when I am out of ideas. I hoping this blog does two things 1. I hope it inspires others to cook 2. I hope it helps me with some idea of what's for dinner, what I have made so I don't fall into a rut.

We all fall into ruts of pasta and sauce etc. because it is quick and easy. I am not the sort of person to spend several hours in the kitchen, my daughter likes to go to bed around 6:30, when I work I get home around 5:20 therefore I have just over an hour to get her fed and in bed before the melt down begins. Now for all you parents out there who say my kid is picky eater be warned my daughter eats what we give her, I strongly believe children will not starve themselves. If my daughter does not like what is for supper she says "I am full" in which I respond "that's okay we will save this for lunch tomorrow" she then eats more or has it for lunch the next day... Back to what I make for dinner, my husband and I made a choice about a year ago to eat less meat, the meat I do eat is ethically raised and/ or organic therefore expensive and forces us to eat less.

I hope the majority of my meals are vegetarian, I also promise the majority of them will be quick, edible and healthy. I must forewarn we really like ethnic food.

So here it goes I challenge myself to be creative in the kitchen not to make the same meal in a two week period and never make a dish more than twice a month.

Tonight's dinner Broccoli and Stew Tofu with Indonesian Ketjup and rice. Indonesian Ketjup is one of my stables you can buy this at the dutch import store or sometimes Asian markets. I used to make this with ground beef instead of Tofu however ever since I discovered StewTofu I don't mind using it as a substitute. I was alway a little afraid of Tofu however this has a totally different texture less like eggs and more like chicken. This recipe takes about 20 minutes including rice.

1 Large head of broccoli cut into bite sized pieces

1-2 cups of Stewed Tofu or 1/2 pound of ground beef.

1/3 cup of Indonesian Ketjup

Stir-fry broccoli in a small amount of olive oil, keep 1/4 cup of water on side incase it sticks, cook for 5-10 minutes I like mine a little crunchy, add tofu stir-fry until heated as 1/3 cup or Ketcup heat another 2 minutes and serve over rice.

Enjoy!