Cannelloni

What you will need:
Uncut strips of pasta made according to
these directions
(For tips on how to made the pasta without
a pasta maker, see the video at the end)

Mix together cottage cheese
parmesan cheese
one egg
pepper and italian seasoning

Cut pasta strips into sections
add filling
roll and seal with a little water

Place in lightly greased glass baking receptacle
Cover with spaghetti sauce of your choice
Cover THAT with mozzarella cheese
and a wee bit more parmesan.

Bake at 375 F
for 30 minutes.
Or until cheese is brown and bubbly
and you're dying of hunger!

Let rest a few minutes
or risk burning your tongue
most severely.

Serve with garlic bread

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - 30 November 2009

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Looks like I've missed two weeks of posting menus ! I didn't even realize ... Sheesh, time flies !! It has been a bit crazy busy around these parts though so I'm not really surprised ! I don't have a menu for this week. I'm working my way through our pantry and fridge/freezer again. And I'm getting ready for 2010 ... a year unprocessed ! I'm still working through the details but I'm wanting to try to go for a year feeding my family totally unprocessed. We eat pretty unprocessed already but I have been doing some reading, and thinking and there are still more things I want to eliminate from our diets totally. As well, I'm wanting to see what effect certain things have on our bodies and our energy levels and our outlook and ... I'll let you know when I get all my thoughts together !!

So ... last night we had leftover black bean chili soup.

Tonight we are going to have salad ... with pimiento's de padron and I'm going to try cooking Curried Millet with Brown Onions.

Tuesday will be something with beans.

Wednesday will be something using a whole grain ... anyone got any good amaranth recipes ?

Thursday will be a crock pot something ... I hope. I've got some pumpkin and potato ... maybe a soup ? It's not really soup weather, but it's what I've got !!

Friday will be time to shop again ...

But ... my plan is that Friday will be International Night. Saturday will be something with fish. And Sunday I will do a big cookup each week to get meals into the freezer.

I'm hoping that by having a theme each night .. ie salad, beans, whole grains, crock pot ... etc, it will make it easier for me to plan. Narrow down my search parameters. There are just so many choices !!!

Anyway ... I'm off to go sit with my pile of library books and work more on my 2010 plan !! If anyone has any good websites they can recommend ... unprocessed, raw, vegetarian ones are great for finding fresh wholesome recipes ... I've visited a lot but the web is a big place and recommendations are ALWAYS welcome !!

BLT

I'm sure you all know how to make BLT's but just in case ...

cook bacon
chop tomato
tear lettuce
toast bread
or not
spread with mayo
add lettuce
tomato
bacon

Eat and enjoy.
You might as well make yourself two ...
We usually do !

Antonio's Garlic Potatoes

The other night for 'date night', I planned a roast dinner.
I did lamb in the crock pot. I cooked it according to this recipe, but only did the lamb.
I also did Australian Roast Veggies.
Potato, Pumpkin, Onion and Garlic .... oh man, do I love roasted garlic !



We had a bit of a dilemma though ...
it was date night which doesn't involve the kids !
Roast veggies are best eaten hot
so I couldn't really feed them to the kids
first and then eat ours an hour later.

I put my thinking cap on and thought "Ahhhh yes, Antonio's garlic potatoes !"
I whipped some up for the kids ... and served them lamb, garlic potatoes on a bed of baby
spinach and rocket, with a quickie greek salad ... tomato, feta and kalamata olives.



How to make the potatoes. Peel Em. Chop Em. Fry Em. Seriously ... Olive Oil. Garlic Salt.



I did a little video because you have to hear the sizzle !

Chunky Spanish Garlic Bread

I thought I had posted this previously but when I went to find the link for a friend I discovered that I had, in fact, NOT posted this here at all. It's a crime, really. The world needs to know about this bread. I learned how to make it from my Mom ... I think there is a story about how she learned to make it but I can't remember it right now.

Mom ... is there a story ?

All you need for this is ... some yummy bread.
I usually use a french stick but that
wasn't available this time so I
used a loaf and man
was it good !
We will
use
it
from
now on ! As
well, you will need
heaps and heaps of garlic.
Seriously ... heaps and heaps and heaps.
Also ... olive oil, and butter. I used both but you
could use one or the other ... it's totally up to you and your
taste buds. So ... chop up your garlic. Then heat your butter/oil in
a small fry pan. Cook up the garlic til it's a soft brown. Don't burn it.
Pour the butter/oil and the garlic onto the bread that you have
chopped into big fat chunks and placed on a baking tray.
Put the tray into a pre-heated oven. I think I had it
on about 180 since I'd just pulled the lasagnas
out. You don't need to leave it in too
long. Just long enough to make
the bread go a bit crunchy
on the outside and
warm on the
inside !!

mmm, mmm, goood !

you can see we
don't put as much
garlic on the kids as we
do on ours. they pick it off
and we figure ... no use wasting
good garlic when we could be eating
it ourselves !! when you are ready
to eat the bread, get your fork
and push the garlic and
yummy butter bits
down into the
bread !!

Fajitas

AK and I made YUMMY fajitas the other night. Here's what we did:

Slice colorful peppers into thin strips. Place on lightly oiled (we just sprayed PAM I think) VERY HOT griddle. We broke out the awesome griddle from Japan. Really the key is HOT and let them brown.

Thin slice some onions and add them to griddle when the peppers are brown but not soft. Cook until the onions and peppers are done to your satisfaction
Next, slice thin beef (I can't remember what we used) into very thin slivers. After you have removed the onions and peppers from the griddle, place the meat on. Be sure to not put to many piece on at once because you want them to brown, not boil in their own juices. Also, keep in mind that the meat is very thin so it will cook almost instantly. Brown on one side, turn, brown on other side, remove.

We had a "helpful" kitty that was CONSTANTLY underfoot!

We topped our fajitas with cheese and sour cream. YUM!!! And with two of us in the kitchen, it really didn't take long at all.

Strawberry Bread

A couple girls came over last Sunday for an afternoon of baking. We made three different kinds of bread: Strawberry, pumpkin, and cinnamon. They were all YUMMY, but I only have time to type up one of the recipes for now...so here is my favorite! (one of the college guys that came over after sledding to sample our baking proclaimed that the strawberry bread was "stupid good"...I think that is a good thing :-)

(the strawberry bread is the two loaves on the left and the one on the right is pumpkin)

Strawberry Bread
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 – 10 oz packages of strawberries, thawed
(either get the sliced kind or I used whole ones and rough chopped them)
1 cup oil
4 eggs, well-beaten

Combine all dry ingredients; mix well. Make a well in the center, pour all liquids into the well and mix by hand with a wooden spoon (probably doesn’t matter what kind of spoon, I just prefer the wooden ones). The batter will seem to thick, but it will be soupier when you add the strawberries. Add strawberries. Grease and flour (I use sugar instead of flour) 2 – 8 by 4 loaf pans. (or a bunch of little loaf pans) Pour batter into pans. Bake at 350 for ~40 minutes. I let it cool in the pan because it's sometimes hard to get out until it is cooled a bit.

Mexican Cous Cous

I made this up.
It was delicious.

I'll make it again ... on purpose next time !

Whatcha Need :

1 carrot, shredded
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly crushed and chopped
1 cob of corn ... corn cut off, cob disposed of
1/2 a tomato that has been sittin' in the fridge needing to be used, chopped
3/4 jar of medium salsa (again ... needing to be used !)
1 can of black beans, drained
1 and 1/4 cup veg stock
1 cup cous cous
Salt and Pepper

Whatcha Do :

Using your favorite big cast iron skillet, on a med/high heat ... sautee carrot, onion, garlic, corn and tomato (seasoned with S & P) til done to your liking. Add black beans. Move all this stuff to the outter edges of the pan and pour in the veg stock. Bring to the boil ... it takes like 30 seconds to get there ! Add the cous cous. Stir everything together. Cover. Cook for a few minutes then add the salsa. Stir it all together again and just let the juices cook off. Again ...doesn't take long.

I served it with a dollop of greek yoghurt and steamed asparagus !

YUM !!

Side Bar Cook Book

Have you noticed the two little linked photo buttons in the side bar ? -------------->

I'm adding them there one at a time ....
as I add the recipes to the cookbook I'm compiling !!!

I'm super duper excited about it !!

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

When Pam and Mom posted this recipe the other day, I just HAD to try it.
I was going to wait til next week
but I had to go into the store for something else and just couldn't resist !
I did however, only spend $4 on this plate of deliciousness.

In reading the recipe I see that I forgot to cut the prosciutto into two inch strips.
Oops.
I also didn't spray any olive oil onto the baking sheet.
I did line it with baking paper.

In a nutshell.
You make this by wrapping prosciutto around asparagus.
Bake in 200C/400F oven for 20 minutes.

DONE.

Try to let them cool for more than 3 seconds or you will burn your mouth like I did.
But ... I did it again and again until my 3.5 of these little beauties was gone !

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - 9 November 2009

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

I haven't got a lot of time so I'm not going to add photos today ...

Friday
BLT's

Saturday
Roast Lamb in Crock Pot
I cooked it according to the recipe linked
above but we only used the lamb.
Didn't add the other
stuff this time.
Roast Veggies in Oven
Greek Salad

Sunday
Jono's birthday dinner.
Home made pizza
meat lovers
and
hawaiian

Monday
Pumpkin Lentil Salad

Tuesday
Crock Pot Baked Potato Bar
*new recipe*

Wednesday
Greek Souvlaki Wraps
*new recipe*

Thursday
Leftovers or somethin'

Yummy Baked Berry Treat

This was too easy.
A quick throw together dessert ...

What you need:
1.75 cups flour
.50 cup brown sugar
100g almond meal
200g butter
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 cups frozen fruits (I used mixed berries)

What you do:

Mix flour, sugar, almond meal, cinnamon and butter in food processor. Smush most of the mixture (save enough for the top ... less than 1/2 ... maybe 1/4 of it) into a lined, square cake tin to form the bottom crust - make sure you smush it firmly. Bake for 10 minutes in 180C/350F oven. Add fruit and top with remainder of mixture. Cook til browned ... 20 - 20 minutes.

Aunt Jo's Stuffed Peppers ~ my way.

My rendition of Aunt Jo's stuffed peppers.
We are not overly fond of cous cous round here so I substituted quinoa.
I also mashed the chickpeas (garbanzo beans) as I don't like them whole.
It's a foible.
One of my many.

The verdict.
A bit dry.

But ... we ate it as leftovers with this chicken and topped with the sauce
and liked it much better. Next time ... we have a sauce with it !!

Mari's Crock Pot Soy & Garlic Chicken

I got this recipe from Mari ...

4 chicken breasts, skin removed
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce (I used tomato puree)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Place chicken in crock pot.
In small bowl, combine tomato sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic.
Pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.

I served with rice.
So yum.

Rice Balls

Sent these in the lunches the other day.
Want to know how to make 'em ?
I've posted the 'how to'
before ... here.

Fritters

My friend Toni gave me the idea for fritters.
We had these the other night when we were scrounging around,
trying to figure out what to eat because we weren't shopping
that week ! These were a great idea and so easy.

All you need is ...

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
Mix it into a batter.

... and then whatever you want to put inside. So ... I sauteed some onion, garlic, asparagus, green chili, and mustard seeds. I added some tumeric, chili powder and a bit of salt.

Mix that little sauteed mixture into the batter and then cook like pancakes.

Rory topped his with salsa.

Jono's Egg Curry Sandwich

I love our adventurous and creative almost 8 year old boy.
Look at this sandwich he invented.

His Recipe:
Put egg curry leftovers between two pieces of bread.
Toast in the sandwich press.

Pumpkin Scone

I admit it. I went to Starbucks yesterday and had this...and ate the whole thing...well, all of it but 2 bites..two very small bites...okay, two crumbs...
But anyway I came home and remembered I had pureed the last of my pumpkins and needed to use it. I hadn't froze it because there wasn't enough to mess with.

So I googled "Starbucks Pumpkin Scone" and there were about 236,000 results. I chose a recipe from RecipeZaar again since I have had luck with those before...Here is the recipe

Scone

2 cups flour
7 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves (I use less as the cloves can be a bit overpowering)
1/4 t ground ginger
6 T cold butter
1/2 c pumpkin puree
3 T half and half (I used 1% because that is what I have)
1 large egg

Spiced Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 T milk
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch cloves
(I just used my "Pumpkin Pie Spice" and just shook a bit into the bowl as I was mixing it)



Preheat oven 425F
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl.
Using a pastry knife cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk and egg.
Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
Form the dough into a ball (good luck with that as it is very sticky and wet)
Pat dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide).
Use a large knife or pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width making 3 equal portions.
Cut those 3 portions diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough.
Now, my scones turned out HUGE so if you can manage I would even cut those 6 triangles into 2 so that you have a total of 12 scones.
Place on cookie sheet (lined with parchment or lightly oiled)
Bake 14-16 minutes.
Scones should turn a light brown.
Place on wire wrack to cool.

To make the glaze

Mix powdered sugar, spices and milk until smooth.

Once scones are cooled drizzle with glaze.

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - 2 November 2009

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Remember last week, I said I wasn't going to shop AT ALL ? Well ... I did it !
Ok ... I HAD to buy toilet paper.
But come on ... it's not like we have a choice in that one.
I spent $3.
That's pretty good.

Have a look at how our fridge looked on Friday morning while I was waiting for the groceries to be delivered ! Crazy eh ? Nothin' but condiments. We ate everything. Seriously ... everything !

This week we only had $111 to spend on the groceries.
Still catching up from how behind we were.
I can't wait to get through this week !

I have planned the whole week though ... and shopped.
AND stayed under the $111 !!
I'm pretty impressed.
If I do say so
myself !!

Lots of refined carbs though ... that's what happens when you need to eat cheap.

Friday
Black Bean Chili Soup

Saturday
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
This is a new recipe ... from the wholefoodsmarket website.
From their budget recipe challenge ...

Sunday
Cold Soba Noodles
Spring Rolls that we have had
in the freezer for ages.

Monday
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
(apparently I've been spelling that wrong ... so wrong !)
peas and corn

Tuesday
Rice Balls
(I will post that recipe later in the week !)

Wednesday
Homemade Mac and Cheese
Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli



Thursday
Rory's Carbonara

Like I said ... lots of refined carbs.
But ... it's just to get us through this one week !
Next week we will have a full grocery budget !
Can't wait !!