2011: Bits and Bites of Catching Up

2011 has come and gone and I still have catching up to do on the blogging. I know, I'm really bad at this. Ideally, I would keep up with the photos and blogging, but if it's any consolation, it's one of my New Year's Resolutions. Since I have a multitude of posts backing up, I have decided that in an effort to save time and get up to day, I will yet again condense many of these escapades and recipes. Once again, I ask that my audience, if I have any left, will forgive this seemingly lazy approach, and enjoy the many colourful photos and meals.

This photo doesn't have a post to go with it, but a simple reminder: don't underestimate the egg. Omelets are a perfectly easy, simply, tasty and filling dinner. They are often a staple in our busy household and my husband is particularly fond of them. Versatility is their name and an unimaginable number of combinations can be created simply by changing the veggies, protein, herbs, spices and add-ins for the omelet. Omelets also lend themselves as wonderful vehicles to using up leftovers. In our case, this simple dinner helped empty some  bits and bites from the fridge as well as satisfy our grumbling tummies. A couple of eggs, some liquid egg whites scrambled up with a whisk, topped with finely diced red, yellow and orange peppers and a sprinkling of fresh dill made a filling dinner for two.

omelet for 2

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I often find my collection of "make-soon" recipes piling up I as I lack the time or ingredients to dive right in when I have found them. One recipe that I found in a Chatelaine magazine for a potato casserole bake was finally about to come to fruition since we had received a vegetable box from C's cousin's kid's school which included a bag of potatoes. As well, I had been wanting to try making caramelized onions and stuffing them into mushrooms as I had seem a picture of this either on a food blog or a magazine at the gym.

Patience inevitably pays off and 2 more recipes to try were knocked off the list.

Potatoes are the first thing to be prepped for this casserole. Each one received a good scrubbing to remove any dirt and hopefully pesticides then they were diced up.

potatoes, scrubbed and ready

potatoes cut into small chunks

Also mixed into the casserole are diced red peppers, green onions, and broccoli (not shown). The broccoli was a leftover that needed to be used up, the other items were purchased for this recipe.

red pepper and green onions, chopped and ready to go

The filling, or binder, for this casserole was leftover cottage cheese, shredded cheese, and egg. The chopped veggies were mixed together and put into a greased 9x9" pan, then the filling was poured overtop and the whole thing baked until set.

chopped broccoli and cheese mixture added to casserole

 For the veggie portion of the dinner (somehow, I viewed the casserole as more of the main/carb part of the meal) I wanted to make the onion stuffed mushrooms. I sliced rounds out of some yellow onions that had come in the produce box and sprinkled them into pan with melted butter over low/medium heat to slowly cook the onions to a golden brown hue without burning them. This process was supposed to take 30 minutes of a watchful eye and frequent stirring. I was as patient as I could be that day, but should have likely been even more so as the onions browned a little too fast.

slowly cooking onions

Again, using up leftovers is something that I consider to be a fun challenge in this household: let nothing go to waste! If you have never seen the British documentary about a modern family taking on the challenge of living in wartime Britain circumstances, I would highly recommend sitting down to watch "The 1940s House". This film takes the family through a waste-not-want-not era of backyard gardens, rations on food, and using up every scrap of food. Watching the family adapt and grow closer is fascinating and inspiring! I definitely appreciate the effort and creativity that goes into using up food scraps and leftovers before they spoil.

But, I digress, back to the onions! I added in the last of the leftover dry crumbled feta and sprinkled in some rosemary and chopped garlic.

onion with feta and herbs

 Mmm, the hot potato casserole came out of the oven nicely browned and smelling hearty and comforting.

potato casserole

 While the potato casserole was baking, I plucked the mushroom stems from the giant caps and piled the onion mixture inside, stuffing them as full as I could. I put them on a tray and stuck them in the oven to cook the mushrooms until tender while the casserole finished. Some frozen peas steamed while I waited for the oven timer to go off for the rest of dinner. With the binging of the oven and microwave timer, everything was hot and ready at the same time and a colourful healthy dinner was ready.

vegetarian dinner

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While I do cook a lot of vegetarian dinners, I find that in the colder weather, I often crave a hearty, meaty piping hot beef stew. I picked up a couple of small packages of beef stewing cubes at Safeway and left one in the fridge and tucked one away in the freezer for another use. My beef stew recipe is a modified version of a Canadian Living magazine version. If you wish to make this recipe, it's best to have an already opened bottle of red wine that needs to be used up, or just pick up a cheaper bottle of rich red wine from the store for this meal. Some wine for the stew and some in a glass with dinner: perfect date material.

First things first, pat the meat dry. Damp meat won't brown properly. I remember this from the Julie and Julia movie.

stewing beef, being patted dry with paper towel

 While stewing meat already comes cubed, I like to cut the huge chunks into more manageable bite-sized pieces. I also like to cut off any excess fat from the sides of the pieces. While the marbling of the cuts are what will give the meat flavour and tenderness during the cooking process, I don't like leaving on additional fat/gristle from the edges. Before the meat gets browned in the cast iron pot, it needs to be dredged in flour. The flour that sticks to the bottom of the pan while browning is what's going to make the thickened gravy part of the stew when the pan gets de-glazed. One way to coat the beef in flour is to put some of the white stuff into a bowl, dredge the meat in, then shake off the excess and place the finished chunk into a bowl until each of the pieces are coated. An easier way to do this is the Shake-N-Bake method of placing flour into a clean bag (I save the bags that I purchase smooth bulk products like nuts for later uses), dump in the meat, and shake until everything is coated. Easy.

coating the meat in flour for browning

 The meat is now ready for browning. I would like to interject that stew is definitely a process to make but consider it a time of personal reflection and a spiritual experience. I know that idea sounds really corny but think about the slow, thoughtful process involved to make the perfect stew. The transformation of a tough, discard of meat that given enough time and love, will become a tender chunk of delectable dinner. Take your time, enjoy the process, remember that patience is a virtue and that good things come to those who wait. The tantalizing aroma from the cooking stew will be your assurance of your reward.

Add some mild tasting oil to the pan and heat until a drop of water into it sputters. Medium heat will do. Use clean tongs to carefully place the beef chunks into the oil and quickly turn the chunks until each side is browned. Once the pieces are browned, remove from the pan and place in a bowl off to the side for later use. Browning is what seals in the juices of the meat during the stewing process and helps make the meat tender and tasty. Do not skip this process, do not rush the browning, and do not crown the meat. Only brown a few pieces at a time, adding more oil throughout the process if necessary.

browning meat

bowl of browned meat

 Once all of the meat has been carefully browned, it is time for the fun part of de-glazing the pan. This process involves adding a flavoured liquid to the pan of stuck-on cooked flour and meat juices, and scraping those bits off the bottom of the pot. In this case, I added in some butter and lots of chopped garlic, as well as about a tablespoon or a little more of sugar (white, but you could use brown as well).  Once the butter is melted and slightly golden, and the sugar cooking, I use a whisk to mix everything up and scrape the bottom of the pot. Next, I added in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of red wine, 1/4-1/2 cup of water, and about 3 or more cups of beef stock.

adding in the wine to de-glaze the pot

heat the liquid in the pot to absorb flavour

 While the meat rests and the stew liquid simmers, I toke some time to chop up the stew veggies. Be sure to use a different cutting board or clean it well after cutting up the beef to avoid any cross-contamination. I had actually chopped up the veggies the day before and simply put them in tupperware containers to save a bit of time on stew-day. Potatoes, mushrooms and carrots are ready to be added to the pot. I don't add in my veggies with the meat as I find they get too soft if they cook for as long as the meat does. Also, I often add a cup of frozen peas to the last 15 minutes of the stew, right before serving so they are bright and crisp. Once again, feel free to tailor this recipe to your taste. Sweet potatoes could be used, another type of mushroom, parsnip, turnip... Add these about an hour before serving. Before adding in the veggies, season your stew to taste. I use salt, pepper, a bay leaf, and some thyme.

stew add-ins

 With everything now added into the pot, the stew is brought to a boil and then the heat reduced to simmer with the lid on. With only patience required to finish dinner, lunch is on the menu while I waited! While picking up packs of beef, I also grabbed some sole on sale. I'll occasionally purchase reduced price meat or fish if I am cooking it that day. I patted the fillets dry and sliced up one potato on our mini-mandoline (this creates paper-thin chips, perfect for a quick fry).

sole fillet

 The thinly sliced potato was added to a pre-heated pan with some olive oil for a quick crisp-fry.

thinly sliced potatoes frying until crisp

 With the potato chips cooling on a piece of paper towel to soak up any excess oil, I threw a serving of quinoi into a pot with water and chopped dried apricot. 

cooling chips

 The sole was lightly coated in cornmeal and pan fried while the quinoi cooked. With a light lunch like this, timing is everything. Try to cook everything in an order that allows each portion to be hot (or cold, depending on what suits the dish) at the same time...this takes practice but it makes the meal more enjoyable. Learn to multitask in the kitchen.

cornmeal crusted pan-fried sole

 Lunch is served! Cornmeal crusted sole, potato chips with ketchup, and a spring mix salad with tomatoes and cucumber.

lunch is served

 Lunch has been enjoyed and dinner will be ready for whenever we feel like eating. Don't forget to add in the peas before serving!

stew, done

 Since the there was enough sole for two meals, the next day's lunch was easy. The quinoi with apricot simply had chopped cilantro, lemon infused oil, and fresh cracked sea salt mixed in for a side. Some simply sauteed cauliflower with feta dressing and the meal was done.

lunch the next day

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Another dinner of using up leftovers. Out with the old, in with the new, as far as groceries go. While making one meal, I often like to cook another dish at the same time, especially if the oven is already on for something to save on energy. The oven was already cooking up some cubed sweet potatoes with oil in our cast iron skillet so this would work out well to roast some squashy tomatoes and a spaghetti squash that C brought home on a whim.

roasting sweet potato

Cutting a spaghetti squash in half is a little bit scary since the uncooked flesh is rather sturdy and plunging a knife in and wiggling it around with pressure gives me shivers thinking about a slip and lost fingers. However, slow and steady wins the race. Once the vegetable's halved, the seeds and insides can be scrapped out with a spoon. A quick spray with Pam on the cut side, cut side down on parchment paper on a baking sheet and into the oven for about an hour until the meat is soft.

seeding butternut squash

 One more baking sheet in the oven holds the quickly turning tomatoes, seasoned with some dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I really just wanted to roast these until some of the flavour was released from the fruit.

roasted tomatoes

 In a saucepan, I started cooking down some mushrooms.

cooking mushrooms

 The roasted tomatoes went into the saucepan with some leftover wine for an Italian inspired topping to some beef cutlets that needed to be used up.

Tomato and mushroom ragu

 The entire dinner consisted of the roasted sweet potato (carb), breaded and pan fried beef cutlet topped with the ragu (protein and veggie), and a side salad of spring mix, raw broccoli, and cherry tomatoes (veg).

a complete dinner

 Dinner's been eaten and the spaghetti squash finished baking. A fork easily slid into the flesh so it was ready to be scraped into "spaghetti". To remove the flesh, take a strong fork and scrape the inside of the squash with the prongs, in long, even strokes. The squash will come out of it's hard shell in strands. Continue to scrape down the squash until all of the soft meat in removed from the vessel.

spaghetti squash cooked and ready to be stranded

 When the scrapping is done, all that's left is a firm shell, like a giant nut with the meat removed.

squash shell

 The spaghetti squash strands went into a bowl as I scrapped out each forkful.

spaghetti squash strands

 With the spaghetti squash cooling in the bowl, it was time to cook up some chopped onion and swiss chard.

sauteed onion with swiss chard

 All of the cooked veggies can be added together now.

sauteed veggies

 To make the sauce for the veggies, mix together 1/2 cup each of light sour cream, light Parmesan cheese, and fat free cottage cheese with one beaten egg, salt and pepper.

spaghetti squash and chard gratin sauce

 After the veggies and cheese mixture are combined and placed into a greased squash pan, the gratin can be baked at 400 F for 30-40 minutes or packaged up and frozen for another time. I made 2 and baked one for a lunch, and froze the other for later. Whenever I freeze  a batch of something, I'm careful to write on the foil what the dish is and how to reheat it so that I'm not fumbling around looking for the recipe when I feel like making it.

one for eating, one for later

 This gratin is creamy, healthy, and very tasty. This is a hearty side dish, best served hot. I believe it would be a great crowd-pleaser.

baked gratin

 The gratin was served with a fresh sliced tomato, half a sauteed zucchini, and an egg and egg white scramble.

fresh and healthy meal

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C invited his friends over for dinner one night. They recently tied the knot and were expecting their first child together: exciting! We wanted to get together to catch up and celebrate their wonderful news. Since they mostly eat vegetarian meals, C wanted to make the vegetarian chili that we do as it's once if his favorites. At my grandparent's place, The Food Network was on and it might have been Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but I watched a chili being poured over a corn waffle. Corn waffles! Brilliant! Cornbread seemed so boring after I saw this recipe idea. I was now determined to create this dish. I looked up some waffle recipes to see if I could find anything online and I did. I mixed up the thick cornmeal batter and poured it into the hot oiled waffle maker.

cornbread waffles

 Unfortunately, C's friend's wife ended up working the night of the dinner so she wasn't able to make it. We decided to just keep things simple for dinner. We made up bowls of toppings for the chili...chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream and then put everything on the table as a DIY dinner. The meal was fantastic and filling, we had a great visit, and I sent our friend home with a take-home tupperware of chili and some wrapped up waffles for his wife when she got back from work. Friends are precious. Remember to be thankful for them and enjoy their company often.

cornbread waffles with vegetarian chili, and toppings

A Mix-Mash of Posts: From Memory

When our lives kicked into overdrive with long hours at work, the gym and working on the house or running errands, the blog postings took a hit. While I still took a lot of pictures, I didn't get enough time in the evenings where I was awake enough to post them to my computer and add them in with thoughts. Although I am now jumping back in time to before the last postings occurred, there are just so many dishes and photos that I still want to share with you. So, if you don't mind, I will just describe each of them as I go without much in-the-moment stories since I can't remember what night I made what.

Before the vegan eating diet, we were still eating many vegetarian dinners on a regular basis. For myself, I feel like going meatless is a healthier, cheaper and more ethical option and I know hubs is fine with these types of dinners. Basically, as long as he's had enough to eat and the flavour is there, I don't think he cares as much if there is meat or not. One of the things I love about him is his willingness to try new foods and his openness to most meals.

Eggplant Parmesan is one of our favourite meatless dishes and one that goes over well with company, carnivores alike. Also, it fits in with my MO. Simple preparation, no fancy ingredients, inexpensive to make. Fresh eggplant is sliced into rounds and then dredged in flour, followed by egg (to hold the breadcrumbs in place) and then breadcrumbs or panko. I like to mix in some Parmesan cheese right into the bread crumbs along with garlic powder, oregano and basil.

eggplant prep

 Once all the eggplant slices are prepped, you have a few options. You can freeze the rounds as they are, between pieces of wax paper, for a later use. You can fry the slices in oil to crisp them up, or you can take a healthier route and avoid the oil by baking the slices on parchment paper in the oven.

rounds ready for the oven

 To make this dish for company, I would put some pasta sauce into a glass square pan and lay down a layer of eggplant rounds on top, followed by more sauce, some shredded mozza cheese and some Parmesan cheese, then repeat the layers. End with pasta sauce and cheese and bake until everything is hot and the cheese is melted. Serve this hot and simply scoop out portions for guests. This is great with a large leafy green salad. For a crowd, I would serve some roasted carrots, green peas, and maybe garlic toast for those that want some treat carbs.

For dinner for 2, I like to make individual slices so that leftovers don't get soggy. I simply top the fresh baked rounds with warmed pasta sauce and sprinkle with some cheese (this is my dish so I didn't add any cheese to mine). For us, a nice side was some lightly sauteed zucchini.

vegetarian dinner

 Lately, when I have felt like having dessert, I've been making crisps. I figure at least there's fruit in it and some oatmeal. I try not to use too much sugar and margarine. We had some frozen mixed berries that I wanted to use up so they went into a glass dish and sprinkled with a little brown sugar. The topping is a typical crisp mix: margarine (or butter), brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and oatmeal. Into the oven until bubbling and crisp.

berry crisp for dessert

One of C's favorite vegetarian dishes as of late is a bean chili. I found the recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. Onion, carrots, peppers all get sauteed in a large pot until just slightly tender.

bean chili ingredients

 Three cans of different types of beans (I used canned mixed beans, red kidney beans, and chickpeas) need to be drained and rinsed to get off the sodium.

bean mix

 With the beans rinsed, they can be added to the pot with the veggies. Next, add in a large can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste. Be liberal with seasoning. I believe this calls for cumin, chili powder (I used cayenne), Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper. Let this come to a boil and then simmer for as long as you can for the flavours to marry. It's even better the following day. If you like this spicier, add in some chopped jalapenos with the sauteed veggies or some banana peppers at the end. This is great served with cornbread. You could also make some homemade sweet potato fries or oven baked potato chunks, put them into a cast iron skillet, top with chili and shredded cheese and bake until bubbly. Serve with sour cream and chopped cilantro.

Bean chili

Butternut squash made its way home one day and sat on the counter for quite some time, ignored. What to make, what to make. Without any real ideas or time, I decided to simply prolong it's life by peeling, chopping and baking the squash.

chopped squash in the food processor

 Once the squash was cooked and soft, I put it into the food processor and blended until smooth. I warn you now that this post is not very interesting but perhaps you'll be able to use the lack of product as stimuli for imagination. I now have baggies in the freezer containing 1 cup each of pureed butternut squash. So, what should I make with this? Muffins? Loaf? Pasta sauce?

squash puree - destined to be...?

pasta before being baked

 About 15-20 minutes in the oven and the cheese melted, the pasta sauce and cheese mixture heated through and the dish was ready to be gobbled down by a hungry husband. C loved this dish and I was happy to make a treat. Another bonus, is there is enough cheese mixture left, just waiting for another chance to be a great meal.

baked pasta

 Speaking of a second life for the filling...why not stuffed in some mushrooms? C also loves stuffed mushrooms so this was another bonus that the cheese filling provided. I would absolutely encourage you to make some sort of filling like this that can be used in a variety of dishes. Not only does it save time, but it also prolongs the life of the mix without creating boredom of eating the same dish over and over.

cheese stuffed mushrooms

 Aha! The fruit smoothie! C and I have been making these daily now for part of our breakfast. I ended up with a boatload of bananas one week so was throwing them into everything before they turned. Here is what you need to make a low calorie (about 150 per serving) fruit smoothie: 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 2 single serve fat free silhouette yogurt (flavour as you like - I went with peach or vanilla), 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 whole banana. Put all of this into a blender and puree until smooth.

smoothie ingredients

 This week, with C and I cutting out dairy, we've eliminated the yogurt and simply added more almond milk. You could also substitute another type of frozen fruit for the strawberries. Cinnamon, a little vanilla flavouring could also be added to spice things up. If you or your partner don't eat much raw fruit, this might be a good way for you to add more vitamins to your diet.

smoothie for breakfast

 That boatload of ripe bananas wasn't just prime for smoothies. I had been eyeing a recipe in my ice cream book for a while now: banana peanut ice cream.

fresh ripe bananas, ready to become a creamy cold dessert

 Butter (yes, I actually had butter in the fridge) was heated in a skillet until lightly browned.

butter!

 The sliced bananas were then added to the butter with some sugar and caramelized.

bananas, butter and sugar

 The sweet bananas were not added to a blender with peanut butter, some cream and whole milk and blended until smooth.

ingredients blended until smooth

ingredients in blender

 The blended mixture was then poured back into a saucepan to heat until just steaming the poured into a clean metal bowl, plastic wrap pressed down onto the liquid so a skin won't form, and placed in the fridge until cooled completely. Once the cream mixture is cool, it can be added to the churning frozen drum of the ice cream maker,

ice cream maker, churning away

 The ice cream was smooth and creamy and the flavour of bananas and peanut butter was actually quite subtle and very unique. C tasted it and said it was good but not his favorite. I liked it fresh from the drum but didn't eat much of it after that. We'll pass on making this one again. 

Later, with Christmas season exploding from every store, I decided to make my own concoction of a candy cane ice cream and used a vanilla base but steeped some candy canes in the cream to release the flavour then added crushed candy cane oreos to the ice cream in the last stage of churning. Much better!

banana peanut butter ice cream

 Another food that we seemed to have an abundance of was carrots. I decided one afternoon to peel and shred what was left of the carrots so I could buy a fresh new bag. I love having items like this prepped at my disposal as they are so versatile. Shredded carrots could be added to salad, a stir-fry, baking...

I opted for some healthy banana bran muffins with shredded carrots to ramp up the health factor and moistness.

shredded carrots being added to muffin mix

 Bran muffins are one of my favorites for work because I can take them in the morning with my fruit shake and have a more filling healthy breakfast on the go.

shredded carrots, at the ready

 Fresh from the oven, these little nuggets of bran are so tasty! If you want, a little dab of margarine or some sugar free jam and you have yourself a guilt free afternoon snack.

banana carrot bran muffins

 Phew!! We're finally down to the last blurb of this post. A side dish. I had fish as the main protein and some sauteed cauliflower for one side but needed one more side. I wanted a carb and decided to use some of the organic quinoa. I had seen a similar recipe in a magazine and decided to use the flavours that I had. Lime, cilantro and some sweet dried apricots.

quinoa side dish

 I finely chopped the cilantro and zested the lime after scrubbing it well. I wasn't going to use the juice so wrapped the leftover fruit in some plastic wrap and stuck it back in the fridge for later use. You can freeze and leftover zest if you have too much in a little baggie or tupperware if you like.

lime and cilantro

 The quinoa simply cooks the way lentils or couscous does...in some water in a pot, just to absorb the liquid and puff up. I added in some chopped dried apricots to this cooking process so that the dried fruit could reconstitute a little to be plumper and more flavourful. Once the grain was cooked, I added in the herbs and zest and served it as a hot side to a light meal. Very tasty!!

fruit and herb quinoa salad

 Well, that's all folks! Actually, once again, I have just finished my post for the evening. It's almost 11pm (far too late for an old gal like me, heehee) and C is in the tub calling me. Mrs B is tuckered out and so, I bid you adieu and goodnight and until the next free evening. I have 2 more long posts to catch up on old "material" and then, ladies and gents, we are back to "live"! I look forward to being able to share more moments with you all later.

bedtime, mom

Vegan Week

After Gillian's Detox Day, the plans for the rest of the week didn't include gorging ourselves on pizza and chips (although we may have thought about it the next morning). After the detox/cleanse, we wanted to eat mostly raw foods, vegan style. We made a "No" list and a "Yes" list for foods that we would and wouldn't eat. On the "no" list: alcohol, caffeine, cooked oil (we can have olive, safflower, and flax seed oil raw), margarine, sugar, salt, processed food and carbs, preservatives, meat, fish, eggs, dairy. Things we can eat: fresh fruit and veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, seeds, raw nuts, spices, herbs, uncooked oils. We were going to eat this way for one week, with the only break being my office Christmas party on Saturday for dinner and then back to vegan on Sunday.

I tried to document a lot of what we ate during the week so I'll run through what I have with you. The weather has started to get colder and C's needed something warm for dinner. The potassium broth just didn't cut it for us and since we were not adding salt to anything, I found some miso paste in the fridge and decided to make a quick soup for us. Miso is just a soybean paste and can be found in most grocery stores or Asian markets. Chopped celery, organic carrots and mushrooms, added to 4 cups of boiling water with 4 Tbsp of miso paste whisked in until dissolved and we had ourselves a warm, salty, comforting treat. I have made this again during our vegan week and a handful added raw spinach to the soup the second time. Thanks to a friend of mine for that idea.

Miso soup ingredients

Miso soup

 Dinner the night after the cleanse and we decided to bend our rules a little and allow the vegetables to be cooked. We didn't have any spinach or lettuce so we sauteed some swiss chard and mushrooms and added raw cherry tomatoes for a salad. We used a little flax seed oil and lemon juice as dressing. Beets and sweet potatoes were a filling side dish after being lightly roasted in the oven. We cooked them on parchment paper without any oil. When the colourful veggies came out of the oven, I put them into an aluminum prep bowl and added a Tbsp of safflower oil then stirred to coat. A little pepper to season them and done. I had made red lentils for a side but when I reheated them, I cooked them for too long so they dried out. Vegan dinners can be surprisingly filling and satisfying. We were both pretty pleased with the flavour, texture and taste.

Hearty vegan dinner

 Since I was craving something sweet but couldn't have any sugar or chocolate, I thought that a crisp might be nice. My mom apparently used to add zucchini to her apple crisps. Peeled and chopped, they look and feel very similar to apples. Since I had lots of zucchinis, I thought this would be an appropriate time to give it a whirl. Peeled and chopped zucchini and apple were mixed with a couple sliced bananas. I liberally sprinkled the whole mix with cinnamon and scattered a handful of rolled oats on top. The crisp was baked in a 400F oven until everything was soft and the spicy aroma escaped from the oven. The crisp was pretty good but apparently what helps disguise zucchinis in an apple crisp is the sugar. C thought the veggie in the crisp was weird, but I didn't mind it. Sure, this would have tasted great with some vanilla ice cream, but the baked banana was so sweet that this dessert curbed my sugar craving.

Apple, zucchini and banana crisp

 With my pulled back, I had to take a break from the gym since I was still having a really hard time bending down or twisting. The pain finally began subsiding around Thursday so I decided to give some light exercise a try. I told C that I was heading to the gym after work. When I pulled into the parking lot, my phone rang, it was C, asking how the gym went. "I just got here, I worked a bit late." C was craving pizza. Badly. "I'm really wanting a pizza. I think I am going to order pizza tonight..." ACK, NO! Intervention! Since I wasn't home to quickly whip something up or distract him, I was helpless except for texting. I let him know that my workout would be quick and to hold on until then. A long reassuring pep talk text and I hopped on the treadmill to try out my back. Walk, jog, walk, repeat. The whole time, my brain is whirling. How can I make C pizza without making a pizza? I couldn't use cheese or bread. Think think think. Ok, what could I use as a crust? Well, C really likes the eggplant parmesan I make so eggplant sliced lengthwise would work. Toppings...what makes a pizza a pizza? Onion, green pepper, pepperoni... I decided to go with chopped onion, green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms, and since I couldn't use meat, I would try some vegetarian salami. Cheese is a no-no, so vegan cheese could work.

Ok, I had a plan. I finished my workout and texted C that I was leaving the gym and would be home soon. He still hadn't ordered pizza but the clock was ticking for sure. I told him to figure out my Kindle, look up some things online, do something to keep his mind occupied and his body out of the kitchen. I had the speediest shower ever and bolted to Superstore. I ran around as fast as I could, collecting my ingredients then sped home (oktexted C from Superstore: "I have a plan. Chop 1 onion and preheat the oven to 375F".

As soon as I got home, I dropped the grocery bags, hugged my husband and got to work.

I sliced the eggplant lengthwise and baked them until a little soft. I pulled them out of the oven and flipped them. I bought some vegetarian bolognese sauce and spread that over the slices.

eggplants with pasta sauce

 C is my super chopper and he got to work on the onion and peppers while I worked on pitting the fresh olives that I bought for the side salad. A sprinkling of all the toppings and some fresh basil and now the "pizzas" were ready for their vegan experimental portion.

vegan "pizzas" naked

 I went down the aisle in Superstore where the tofu and fresh noodles are since I know all of the other vegetarian meat and cheese substitutes are there. I picked up a pack of Yves vegetarian salami and some Daiya dairy free cheese. I had never tried either so I had my fingers crossed that these would taste alright. True, they likely have preservatives and added salt, but this still won over Pizza Hotline showing up at the door.

fake cheese and salami

 I chopped the salami rounds into smaller pieces and added a little bit of cheese.

before baking

 The "pizzas" went into the oven to bake until the fake cheese got bubbly, if it was going to bubble, and brown.

finished eggplant veggie pizzas

 Two slices served with a fresh spinach salad with olives, tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar and we had ourselves quite a nice vegan dinner. The "pizzas" actually tasted really great. I would forgo the vegan cheese since it tasted watery to me, but upon further tests, it needed to be baked for longer to really firm and crisp up. The salami was actually very good. Spicy in flavour and the texture was very similar to that of meat salami.

While it wasn't gooey cheesy crusty pizza, this meal hit the spot for my husband and the pizza crisis was averted. I would definitely make this again, and for company. It definitely goes to show that necessity is the mother of invention.

"pizza" dinner to the rescue!

 Lately, our house as been home to numerous spaghetti squash. C brought one home a couple times after grocery shopping, thinking that I could make something with it and now with the vegan diet, I was looking to keep the Italian flavours going so this little squash was going to become my non-pasta "spaghetti". 

Prepping a spaghetti squash is easy. Cut the sucked in half, carefully as keeping all your fingers is likely important to you. Scoop out the seeds and stringy sticky insides and toss them away. Brush the cut side with oil and place the halves face-down onto a parchment covered baking pan. Pop them into a 400 F preheated oven and bake them for about 50-60 minutes.

spaghetti squash

 Since there were leftovers from the pizza the night before, I decided that I would use them all up to make a meatless bolognese sauce for the "spaghetti". Chopped onion, green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms, basil, pasta sauce and Yves Italian flavoured ground round all got mixed together in a pot to simmer.

Mighty meaty meatless sauce ingredients

 After sauteing the onion, I added the ground round. This is a fake ground beef substitute and is vegetarian.

"meat"

 The colourful veggies came next and were all mixed in together. Looking back, I would maybe saute all of the vegetables beforehand, but I enjoyed the crisp vibrant bite they gave.

sauce taking shape

 Mushrooms and sauce last and the bolognese is really looking great. Could you tell by this photo that the sauce is meatless? I don't think I could.

finished meatless meat sauce

 While my sauce was simmering, the squash was ready to come out of the oven. The flesh was soft and the shell was very hot. I put on one oven mitt and grabbed my spaghetti squash fork. Yes, I have a specific fork that I use for this. It's longer and sturdier than the rest of the forks and I love using it for food prep. The secret to releasing the strands from the squash is to scrape down the inside with a fork. The flesh will peel away from the shell in thin spaghetti like strands, like magic.

baked squash

 I divided up some of the squash into a bowl and topped it with a generous portion of the "meat" sauce. An easy vegan Italian dinner. Filling and hot. C loved this!

Mock spaghetti and meat sauce

 With so much leftover, I packed this up in Tupperware and we would have enough for a couple lunches at work. Perfect!

leftovers never go to waste

 Another quick meal we ate used up the leftover beets and sweet potato. When I made them for the first meal, I peed and cubed all of what we had but just baked half. The rest went into a large Tupperware. The next night, it was very quick and easy to just dump the contents onto a pan and bake them while we made the rest of dinner. Kale is one of those vegetables that I don't know quite what to do with. I can't stand it raw, at least not how I have had it so far. To me, the texture is like bark. Hard, dense, fibrous and hard to chew. Cooked, it gets easier to eat but I am still unsure. So, I decided to give baking it a try. I've ready many recipes on baked kale chips so decided I'd do something similar. I baked the leaves in the oven until the edges were crisp then stripped them from their stalk. The salad was topped with raw zucchini and lemon juice with a little black pepper and done!

save prep time by chopping more than you need

 Today is Monday. One day after our week of vegan eating. We are reintegrating foods into our diet but still trying to make really healthy food choices. Today, I chose to continue eating vegan. Breakfast was a banana and strawberry fruit smoothie made with almond milk. An apple and pear as a snack, as well as raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Lunch was leftover miso soup and spaghetti squash bolognese. I went to the gym after work to see what my back could handle and did the elliptical for about 45 minutes. When I got home, I was hungry but wanted to prep some food as well. 

While these burgers are certainly not vegan, they are vegetarian but have just enough cheese to keep C happy. One can of rinsed navy bean, one small onion, 1/2 cup marble cheese shredded (I just used what we had left), banana peppers, 6 Tbsp bread crumbs, 1 eggs, all chopped and coarsely blended in a food processor. I shaped them into patties and they are in the fridge now, ready for tomorrow's dinner with a nice spinach salad on the side.

It's late. 11:36pm. I'm showered from the gym, C's tubed and in bed. Time for me to put Mrs B in her box and join him. Goodnight friends, and thanks for reading.