Fish a la Bonnie

Rory had a big fat steak for dinner tonight.

The kids had sausages.

I had fish.

Gotta love the versatility of a BBQ dinner !

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The fish I chose was called "Basa". A white fleshed fish.

I love fish wrapped in tin foil and cooked on the BBQ.

The way I made it tonight was delicious.

And easy.

All I did was put the fish in the tin foil.

Chopped a spring onion and slivered some garlic ~ put them on top of the fish.

And two spears of asparagus.

Then I topped with a bit of lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and sea salt.

Wrapped it up and Rory BBQ'd it.

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I served it with an artichoke and patatas alioli !

DELICIOUS !!

Rory's Salmon

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This salmon recipe is one that my husband invented and I made him write down !

Normally, he just cooks something and then forgets what he did so we NEVER eat it again.

Grrrr !!

Here's how you make it:

In a bowl or tupperware or whatever

~ mix soy sauce, lemon juice, horseradish, wasabi, ginger and garlic ~

to taste.

Put the salmon (with skin on is best !) in the bowl or tupperware or whatever.

Spoon a bunch of the mixture on top.

Let it set 'til you are ready to BBQ it.

Then ... well, yeah, BBQ it.

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Here's what it looked like all cooked.

I'll post the veggie skewer recipe later and the onion one ... well, it didn't cook properly.

We wrapped it back up in it's tin foil and are going to try it a different way tonight.

Will let you know the results !

Something of Interest

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How pretty is this ?

It's the veggies all cut up for Quinoa Vegetable Soup.

I don't have a recipe to share today but am trying to make a habit so am posting this photo.

I also have a link for you.

I found this article to be so interesting.

You should have a read of it.

I've read it a couple of times now .... very interesting.


Garlicky Crock Pot Chicken

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I forgot to take a photo of the cooked meat ... so here's what it looks like RAW !

So I'm not eating meat at the moment ... except for last night.
We had Thai Chicken Soup and I sooo ate it !!
D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

This is a great recipe. Easy. Yummy. Well, I haven't tasted it but my family liked it !
They ARE eating meat.

So ... you need a bunch of garlic, chicken legs and fresh rosemary. Throw the whole cloves of garlic into the crock pot. Skin and all. I used heaps. Like two heads of garlic. Chuck a bunch of rosemary on top. Salt. Pepper. And then add a tiny bit of chicken stock. Not too much. I think I might have added like 1/3 cup. Maybe even less. Cook on low 8 hours. The meat just falls off the bones. Seriously, you can hardly get the cooked legs out of the pot in one piece !

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie Edition 21

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So ... I mentioned that I would try to post everyday (or so!!) with the Eat To Live recipes that I'm making. Uh ... yeah ... it's been a week since my last post !! Here's a photo of a meal from last week. A green salad with mandarins. A spicy stir fry that I didn't like well enough to share the recipe ... not that I can remember it anyway. I made it up. And orange/fennel salad.

I made a disgusting stir fry the other night. Just in case you wanted to know. So disgusting that I opted to have a banana for dinner instead ! Rory liked the stir fry though ...

Anyway ... I will try to be more faithful in my postings ! At least for your sake, Shay !! :)

OK ... onto the menu for the week.



Friday
Quinoa Veg Soup ! YUM !!

Saturday
Rory ordered us take away curry. I had a veggie one. Spinach and potato. It was nice.

Sunday
That disgusting stir fry for Rory and a banana for me.

Monday
Family ~ Spaghetti from the freezer
Me ~ Baked Cauliflower and Asparagus

Tuesday
Thai Chicken Soup

Wednesday
Rory's Salmon
BBQ Steamed onion (a Jamie Oliver recipe)
BBQ veggie kebabs

Thursday
Crock Pot Chicken Legs (I'll post this recipe tomorrow)
Israeli Salad




Israel 60 Celebratory Dinner Recipes

This year, Action Israel and many other organizations joined with the Allied Jewish Federation to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, one of the miracles of the modern world. Many dinners have been held this year in the Denver metropolitan area, including 100 on the Night of 60 Dinners in April . Our small community of friends of Israel held a celebratory dinner tonight. You can read more about that here.
In addition to being very delicious, these recipes are very healthy!


Traditional Chopped Israeli Salad
From: Avi Schwalb

Mix all together the following ingredients:
8 medium sized tomatoes diced into small squares
4 peeled and seeded cucumbers diced into small squares
2 medium sized green peppers diced the same way
2 red peppers diced the same way
3 bunches of green onions diced fine
1/2 cup Italian parsley chopped fine
Dressing:
The juice of two lemons
Two T olive oil
1/2 t salt
Mix all together and pour in salad.
Chill at least an hour—the longer the better.
Sliced Eggplants with Garlic and Tomato Glaze
From Judy Jackson in The Jewish Cookbook

2 Eggplants about 8 oz. each
5 garlic cloves, pressed
3 T tomato paste
6-8 T olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to taste
chopped flat-leaf parsley to garnish, if desired
1. Slice the eggplants 1/4" thick (not too thin). Sprinkle with salt and let stand 30 minutes.
2. Stir together garlic, tomato paste, 1 T oil, salt and pepper.
3. Grease a baking sheet with about 4 T olive oil.
4. Rinse eggplant slices and pat dry, and arrange on the baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Spread a little of the garlic mixture over each slice (use it all up). Drizzle remaining oil over all.
6. Bake slices in 375°F oven for 30 minutes or until the eggplant is tender and the glaze is slightly brown.
7. Carefully lift slices off with spatula and arrange slightly overlapping on plate. Garnish with parsley, if desired.
Delicious served either warm or at room temperature.

Israeli Cous-Cous Salad with Fennel and Goat Cheese

1 medium fennel bulb
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4-1/2 cup sliced fresh basil
5 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 red or orange bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup kalamata olives, quartered
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup Israeli cous-cous, cooked according to package directions
1 pkg goat cheese (I used goat feta), crumbled

1. Trim base from fennel bulb and cut into thin strips.
2. Whisk olive oil together with next six ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Put vegetables into dressing, tossing to coat.
4. Add cous-cous and toss lightly.
5. Sprinkle with goat cheese.

Note: If Israeli cous-cous is unavailabe, orzo may be substituted.

More recipes to be published tomorrow. Right now, with this blogger, WYSIWYG--isn't!

I have a new acronym WYSINNWYG-WIVA. What you see is not necessarily what you get—which is very annoying!

Spanish Tortilla and Salad

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Here's what I took to Spanish class last night.
My Aunt Lissa taught me how to make it ~ it's easy peasy !
You can add whatever you like.
For last night I did one with just potato and two with potato and chorizo.
The second one was for my family !
Ok ... here's how you do it !

~Tortilla Espanola ~
Slice a potato, an onion and a few cloves of garlic.
Throw them in a frying pan with olive oil.
I usually let the potato cook a bit before I add the onion and garlic.
You don't want the potato to get too brown so do this on a lowish heat.
(If you are adding chorizo, do it in this step too.)
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat 4, 5 6, eggs ... however many you want ... and a bit of salt.
When the potato is cooked to your desired tenderness, pour it into the eggs.
Then pour that mixture back into your frying pan.
Don't add more oil ... you just use what's already there.
Let it cook 'til it's pretty much cooked through ~ but don't burn the bottom !
Put a dinner plate on top of the frying pan.
Pick up the frying pan and turn it over so now the tortilla is on the plate.
Now, push the tortilla from the plate, back into the frying pan.
IS THIS MAKING ANY SENSE !?!
I found a tutorial for you ... I've linked those two steps so you can see photos !!
Anyway ...
Once the bottom is cooked, tip the whole thing out onto a plate and you're done !
~
So ... the finale of Spanish class was so much fun !!
I did not eat according to the Eat To Live plan ~ not AT ALL !!
But I'm not going to be so strict that I can't enjoy special occasions !
I was straight back into today though.
Here's what I had for lunch.
A slight variation on what I had for dinner last night.

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Yum Yum Yum !

And just look at how many nutrients went into my body !!

Lots and Lots and Lots !!

Monday's Dinner

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Here's what I had for dinner last night. It was delicious.

A salad consisting of :
spinach and rocket (arugula)
cucumber
alfalfa sprouts
tomato
mandarin
AND
asparagus, spring onion and slivers of carrot baked in the oven
TOPPED WITH
balsamic vinegar
soy sauce
sesame oil

Roasted Cauliflower


Grilled Baby Bok Choy


So yummy ! I want to write more but it will have to wait til tomorrow. I've got my last Spanish class tonight but I'm feeling a bit blah so am going to go sit in the tub and read my book for a bit before I start cooking. We have to take something with us. I'm making Spanish Tortilla ...

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 19

Only 3 days on this weeks menu...so far...still working out the camping menu. I'm pretty sure it will consist of all thing healthy... you know...hamburgers, hot dogs, smores, etc. :o) (tisk...tisk...)
But I have to tell you that last weeks meal Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Herbed Couscous
was FABULOUS, and SO easy! You have to try it! YUMMY!

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 20

Have I really planned 20 weeks worth of Menu Plans !? In a row ?! Wow !!
~

Meals will be changing around here.

I've just re-read Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat To Live and have decided it's time to change my eating habits again ! I felt so healthy last time I ate like this ! Maybe posting about it will help me to be a bit more committed ! (kinda like the menu plans !)

I'll tell you all about what I'm doing ... what the 'plan' is ... later in the week.

For now, I'll just post the menu for this week.



Friday
Home Made Pizza

Saturday
Hamburgers cooked by Rory's sister ! Thanks Gina !!

Sunday (the day I re-read the book !!)
Rory ~ left over egg curry


Bonnie ~ Salad with lettuce, tomato, shredded carrot, mandarin, asparagus, garlic and onion

Monday
Bonnie ~ Salad
(like the photo ... but without the feta cheese)
Grilled Baby Bok Choy
That bok choy recipe is from one of my NEW FAVORITE cooking blogs !
The Kitchen Sink.
Go check it out !!!



Tuesday
Bonnie ~ Salad and tapas at last Spanish Class
Family ~ Salad and Tortilla Espanola ~ I'll make them one and make one to take to class.

Wednesday
Bonnie ~ Salad

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Family ~ Meatballs
(we froze the leftovers last time)

Thursday
Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Roasted Cauliflower


I'll be making this too ... to eat with my lunches !


I plan to try and update this blog once a day (or so) with what I've eaten for the day ~ with photos and recipes too. And also bits and pieces of what I've learned from Dr. Fuhrman's book.

I'm after some links ... do you all have any good ones for fresh salad or fresh fruit recipes ? I'd love to know about them if you do ...

Roasted Red Capsicum Soup

I got this recipe from Everyday Vegetarian ~ a book I checked out from the library. I searched and searched on line to try and find the book but couldn't find a picture of it anywhere. Must be old. Anyway ... here's a photo for you. I know it looks like it's called "yadyrevE nairategeV" but it's not.

I am wondering why I always make my eyes so big in photos. It's weird. I don't walk around like that in real life !! Oh well ... at least my mouth isn't open. That's often the case in photos as well !!


Anyway, here's the soup recipe.

4 large red capsicum (red bell pepper)
4 tomatoes
2 tbls oil
1 red onion ~ chop it up
1 clove garlic ~ I added more
4 cups veggie stock
1 tsp sweet chili sauce

Roast the capsicum. Don't know how ? Lucky for you, I've done a little demo on this very blog. (if you haven't worked it out yet, the colored words in my posts are usually linked !!) Once the cap is roasted, peel the skin and chop the 'meat' up.

For the tomatoes, score a small X on the bottom of each one. Pour boiling water over the top of them. Leave for a minute. Plunge into cold water and then peel the skin off. Chop ( the recipe says to take the seeds out first )

Saute onion and garlic. Add capsicum, tomato and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes.

Puree in food processor. Return to pan to reheat gently and then stir in the sweet chili sauce. I think I'll skip the s.c.sauce next time. I don't know that it added anything.

The recipe in the book says to serve topped with pesto and parmesan. We did neither.

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 18

Spinach & Goat Cheese Chicken with Tomato Orzo - Original recipe calls for Brie, I am substituting goat cheese because we love it.
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Herbed Couscous - Another Everyday Food recipe.
Pasta with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Crushed Red Pepper - Real Simple magazine. I always make the sausage and red pepper variation. Yummy, and super easy! (Photo below)I know I promised to share the recipe I use for Turkey Meatballs...soon!

On Sunday I am making my Grandaddy's famous pulled pork barbecue! My Grandaddy was a true southern man! He was from South Carolina. Like most good southern folk, he knew good barbecue. My Grandaddy used to pit roast a hog every Christmas. As far as I know, he didn't like to share his barbecue sauce recipe. After he passed away in 2001, my mom acquired the recipe. And now I have the privilege of making it a few times a year! The recipe I use is scaled down quite a bit, as I don't have the room to roast a whole hog! hee! hee! Pair the barbecue pork with some good 'ole southern coleslaw (I LOVE Paula Deen's recipe found *HERE*) and you have a mighty tasty meal! I'm hoping our Alaskan friends can handle this awesome barbecue! We'll see!

Find more menus over at:

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 19


I did manage to plan a menu with minimal purchases this week, thanks to the help of super cook ! I'm excited about that ! Very excited about that !! So, what are we eatin' ?

Friday :
Homemade Pizza



Saturday:
Homemade Sushi
IT WAS DELICIOUS !!!
We love sushi around these here parts !


Monday:
Slow Cooker Meatballs and Home Made Focaccia Bread

Tuesday:
Crock Pot Pumpkin Soup

Wednesday:
Chicken and quinoa with onions

Thursday:
Egg Curry


I need to post the egg curry recipe ! I will. I'm too tired to do it tonight though.

As for Monday - Wednesday. They are all new recipes. I'll let you know what I think after I try them !!

** Edited 13 May to add ~ meatballs were great ~ I've added the link to the recipe !! **

Super Cook


Do you ever look at a full pantry and wonder what on earth to cook ??


No ? Well, I do ...


At the end of the week I still have things in the pantry that have been bought for some reason or another but haven't been used. I'm sure they could be used for something, the question is WHAT ?!


Well, I will wonder no more !!


This is the coolest search engine I've ever seen !! All you have to do is sign up (yes, it's FREE) and put in the contents of your pantry/fridge. And then this amazing search engine tells you what you can make from the ingredients you have !! The list of recipes actually changes as you put in your ingredients. I only had like 5 things in there and there were 18 recipes I could make ! It also prompts you at the bottom ... do you have olive oil ? etc. So ... It's obviously finding other ingredients in other recipes that you could make if you had a few more ingredients.


Later today, I am going to go into my kitchen and take stock of what's in there. I'm going to enter it all into this site and see if I can't get through the next week without going to the grocery store !!


What's that ? You want the link ? Ok ... it's supercook.com ~~ with all the www's in front of it, of course ! Let me know what you think !!




Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 18

I made it through all of last week without taking any extra trips to the grocery store !! WOO HOO !!! I'm super excited, can you tell !? And guess what, it's looking like this week will be the same which will bring me in WAY UNDER BUDGET for two weeks in a row !!

FRIDAY
We didn't have pizza on Friday this week as we had it the night before. I had a bunch of veggies left over so I made a fried rice and topped it with some grilled chicken shish-kabobs that I bought from the deli section.


SATURDAY
We didn't have our scheduled meal as I spent the evening over the toilet bowl. Throwing up. But we won't talk about that !! Rory took care of his and the kids food ...

SUNDAY
I still wasn't feeling too much like cooking.
We had fried eggs and breakfast potatoes ~ yeah, we're talking about dinner here.

MONDAY
I tried a new soup. Roasted Red Capsicum (Bell Pepper) Soup
I'll post this recipe soon ...


and I made the Pioneer Woman's Onion Straws? Strings?
She calls them both in the recipe.

Delicious!! All of it !!

TUESDAY
Tonight was going to be a crock pot recipe but I didn't get myself organized to put it on this morning so it's not gonna happen. Yeah ... this is Menu Plan Monday and I'm writing it on Tuesday and I changed the date to show that it was posted on Monday ! WHAT OF IT !?! :)

So, what are we having? Well, I've got some leftover hot dog buns that I'm going to make into "pizza buns". You know, a bit of ketchup, olives, cheese ... under the grill for a few minute. PIZZA BUNS !!

WEDNESDAY
The crock pot meal from Tuesday will be had on Wednesday.

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Remember this one ? Have you made it yet ??
It's gooooooooood !
I can't wait til tomorrow night !!!

THURSDAY
Spinach and Pumpkin Dahl
and a new recipe called Middle Eastern Potato Casserole
and of course, pappadas.


There you have it.
What's cookin' at your place this week ?
Need some ideas ?
If you haven't found enough here, check out more menu plan monday here !!

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 17

Blogs of Interest ...

I thought it was about time I share with you some of the new cooking/recipe blogs I've discovered lately. Ready ?



Chick In the Kitchen
First of all, what a cool name !! I love it ! Chick in the kitchen. Why didn't I think of that !? ha ha !! Second of all, the recipes ... they look sooooooooooooooooooo good !! I think the one Dara ( she's the chick ... you know, the one in the kitchen !) posted the other day ... the one you can see in the picture ... the slow cooker meatballs ... I think that one is going to be on my menu this week !!


Genesis of a Cook
Again, with the name ! I love it. I haven't been reading this one for very long but from what I've seen so far, this is mostly sweet recipes. Desserts. Ice Creams. YUMMY YUMMY STUFF ! Banana Pina Colada Muffins, I mean, come on, how good does that sound !?! Hello ! I just discovered that Tarah, the girl who writes this blog is STILL IN HIGHSCHOOL !! Wow ! Read her about me section ! You'll be amazed !


The Picky Palate
Uh, yeah, I've told you about this one before. I'm telling you about it again. Jenny, the author, posts the best recipes !! Seriously, EVERYTHING on her blog looks good !! Starting at the very top with the kitchen, that is not hers, but wouldn't we all love to have a kitchen like that !?! I know I already used the word seriously, and only just a minute ago, but SERIOUSLY, you need to read this blog ! I've put her little linking button on the side bar ... for quick and easy access !!

I'm pretty sure I found out about some of these other blogs I'm telling you about from links from Jenny's site !!


The Sisters' Cafe
I just think this is the cutest recipe blog ! I must have a thing for names because you guessed it ... I love this one ! The name of a blog can make it or break it for me ! If it has a cool name, I'll at least have a look !! I love the idea of this blog too. Sisters ... And they've done a tribute to their Mom in the side bar ! Love that.


Toni, The Happy Housewife is doing something really cool for the next 31 days. Actually, it's not just her. It's also Kate at A Simple Walk and Joy at Five J's. I'm so interested in this !! Here's what Toni says about their 3 Moms ~ 3 Kitchens ~ 31 days project.

"For the next thirty-one days you are invited into my kitchen. I will show you all of my menu planning, shopping trips, meals, and even some favorite recipes."

How cool does that sound ?? Very cool, to me !!! I've added Kate and Joy's sites to my google reader so that I can watch what goes on in these three kitchens for the next 31 days !!

So ... there you go. Lots to look at and discover. I should probably go tell them all that I've posted about them here ... I don't think I've even commented on most of their blogs yet. Mostly, I just read the recipes, look at the pictures and try not to let the drool drip onto my keyboard !!