Friday’s fabulous fish fare. 12/1/17

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Beebamom

Does everyone cook as much as I do? Are you taking the easier route of dining out or ordering in? It seems like I cook an awfully lot. I did have lunch out once last week but that’s it. Daughter treats herself to lunch almost every day. I would like to find some nearby places where I could get a good vegan lunch. Maybe I will make that a New Year’s Resolution!

Ho-hum oatmeal glop for breakfast followed by the all-American lunch, soup and sandwich.  Probably not too many Americans are eating my soup and sandwich lunch though. I prepared smashed chickpeas with olive oil and lettuce for my pita pocket and had the remainder of the cauliflower soup with tofu croutons.

Cauliflower soup with tofu croutons and chickpea pita pocket

We found a fabulous-looking piece of cod at Safeway and decided upon roasted cod with chickpea purée, parsley sauce, and haricot vert for dinner. John roasted the fish until just done in the oven at 400F and I whizzed up the sauce and the chickpeas with olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. I gave the beans a quick steam with some sliced garlic and finished with a pat of butter. This was pretty elegant for a Friday night.

4 oz. of fish camouflaged by chickpea purée plus haricot vert and parsley sauce

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Chinese and Mediterrean influenced. 11/30/17

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Beebamom

I really like ethnic foods. They have such a flavor punch after eating a bunch of American food (see Thanksgiving.)  For lunch today I finished daughter’s brown rice. There was about a half of a cup left. To complement the rice I made a Chinese inspired vegetable mix using carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and onion. I also used up the last of my baked teriyaki flavored tofu. I flavored the vegetables with ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. What a filling and tasty lunch!

Vegetable and tofu stirfry over brown rice

Tonight was a meat night (hamburgers) but I made a really delicious salad on the side, Lebanese Tabbouleh adapted from a recipe by Martha Rose Shulman on the New York Times Cooking site. The salad is more about the parsley and less about the bulgur wheat. Since I erred on the too much salt side, I included a chopped cucumber to balance the flavors out. It seems that no matter how many times I read a recipe I always manage to mess something up!

Lebanese tabbouleh

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Wonderful Ethiopian fare. 11/29/17

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Beebamom

Today was an all-vegetarian day. For lunch daughter and I visited the delicious Ethiopian restaurant, Zeni, in San Jose.  It is a favorite in our family although somewhat of a trek. At our house it is referred to as mmmmm, Zeni.

For the uninitiated Ethiopian food is served on a large platter covered with their bread, injera, and on top of that is piled various delights. You also get a basket of injera which is your utensil. Tear off a piece and scoop up lentils or salad or potatoes/cabbage/carrots.

Injera

We ordered their veggie combo which has piles of lentils, a potato/cabbage/carrot mixture, greens, split peas, tomatoes, and a green salad on top of the injera. We also got a spicy lentil dish which is served with a crumbly cheese.

Veggie combo with additional spicy lentils on injera

I cannot even begin to tell you how delicious this is!  They also serve dishes with various meats if you like.

Since lunch was a pretty big offering we had breakfast for dinner consisting of eggs, toast, and soy breakfast patties.

Over easy eggs with toast and soy sausage pattie

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Two pasta Tuesday. 11/28/17

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Beebamom

Since I am always mentioning my breakfast I thought I would take a picture of it today. Ta da! Steel cut oatmeal with flaxseed and blueberries. I am still missing all the other breakfasts I used to have and feel a little rebellious about having to eat it every day. Plus it looks like my countertop!!!

Oatmeal and flaxseed with blueberries

On to why I had pasta twice today. First, I love pasta. It fits into my part-time vegan eating plan and I have been eating the healthy whole grain type. Second, at lunchtime John and I had not discussed the all important “What do you want for dinner” question. So I blithely took out the leftovers of the pasta with olives, capers, and tomatoes that I made on Sunday and ate them for lunch.

Leftover spaghetti with olives, capers, and tomatoes

So John is concerned that we still have a whole lot of turkey leftovers and he wants to make a gigantic soup. I am not enthused. I suggest cutting off some cutlet type pieces and making turkey parmesan with spaghetti and salad. I win!

Leftover turkey made into turkey parmesan with whole wheat spaghetti (salad not pictured)

I expect we will be having the aforementioned turkey soup sometime later this week.

 

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Chicken Monday. 11/27/17

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Beebamom

Chicken is definitely not turkey. I was hoping for fish in my after 6 PM eating but the selection at the store was woeful and, really, chicken on Monday is in my genes.

John sous vide and immersion-circulated a chicken breast that we shared.  The rest of the plate was taken up by broccoli and rutabagas. Rutabagas do not count as a starchy vegetable. I made the rutabagas in the pressure cooker which really softens them up. A little packet gravy finished off the dish.

Winner, winner! Chicken dinner!

For the vegan part of my day I had my oatmeal combo for breakfast and a quinoa burger with lettuce and tomato in a pita and some cauliflower soup.

Cauliflower soup and a quinoa burger with lettuce and tomato in a whole wheat pita

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New dish – spaghetti with olives, capers, tomatoes, and breadcrumbs. 11/26/17

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Beebamom

It is so nice to get back to eating NOT-turkey. We decided on an all vegan day to separate us from all the heavy food. After our breakfast oatmeal I had a lunch of brown rice with tofu and vegetables.

Brown rice with tofu and vegetables

This was followed by a dinner of spaghetti with tomatoes, capers, olives, and breadcrumbs. You can find it on The NY Times Cooking site. I toasted up some sliced garlic and breadcrumbs and set them aside. Then a sauce was made of canned and fresh tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, and pepper flakes. John cooked up some whole wheat spaghetti and I added the pasta and about 3/4 cup of pasta water to the sauce. Each bowl was topped with the breadcrumb mixture and some parsley. This recipe is a keeper!

Whole wheat spaghetti with olives, capers, tomatoes and chili flakes topped with garlicky breadcrumbs and parsley

 

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Thanksgiving again, leftovers edition. 11/24/17

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Beebamom

I had hopes of getting back to normal today and started off with oatmeal, flaxseed, and blueberries. This was followed by a vegan lunch that I really love. I’ve posted it a lot recently.

Smashed chickpeas with olive oil, onions, and parsley

For dinner, though, there was a replay of the food from Thanksgiving. It was so heavy. We have more left but I am not eating it again!

I just cannot not eat this again!

At least I managed to get through breakfast and lunch without the turkey dinner!

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Thanksgiving. 11/23/17

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Beebamom

We had a great Thanksgiving. All the family was at our house, the dishes prepared went off (mostly) without a hitch, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Today’s post is is neither light dining nor partly vegan. Good thing Thanksgiving comes only once a year!

Every person in the family has their personal favorites – John loves the turkey thighs stuffed with dressing, daughter loves the creamed roasted onions and Indian pudding (a New England old-timely dessert), son likes the brussel sprouts, and kids love the rolls, cranberry sauce and pies. So putting together a successful Thanksgiving is quite an undertaking. Luckily everyone brings something and no one is disappointed.

Here are some pictures of our treats –

John’s deconstructed roast turkey with stuffed thighs

I made the mashed potatoes and corn casserole

Son made broccoli casserole and sauteed kale

My fabulous roasted creamed onions

The brussel sprouts that I make my family calls IDBS or Incredibly Delicious Brussel Sprouts

After taking a bit of everything my plate is overflowing!!

We do our service buffet style and keep everything warm using warming trays and induction burners. For dessert our son’s mother-in-law made four (!) pies, strawberry rhubarb, chocolate chess, mincemeat, and pumpkin. Daughter also made Indian pudding which is a cornmeal and molasses custard served warm with vanilla ice cream. It is so delicious but I think an acquired taste as no one eats it other than our immediate family.

Happy Thanksgiving if you are here in the U.S. and happy Thursday to every one else!

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Thanksgiving -1, Innovation! 11/22/17

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Beebamom

No food pictures today I have been busy cooking for tomorrow. We have been just noshing on what is cooking and leftovers.

I thought I would share my great innovation with you that John thought up. The question was how to identify people’s wine glasses when there are no stems to hang charms on? The solution, modern day Color-forms! They have been around for a long time. I played with them, my kids played with them, and now they are available in forms other than shapes. These are Melissa and Doug’s, My Town. They stick on glasses!CE03F386-7507-4C03-9CA8-68445149FA5F

Here is my glass. I am doing a little quality control before Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving -2. 11/21/17

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Beebamom

Here we are two days from Thanksgiving and it seems like we are going to the grocery store every day! I am trying to be organized but it seems like there is always something I have forgotten.

John has made gravy over the weekend and taken the turkey apart. He cooks it in stages making sure that nothing gets over cooked. Daughter and I have been working on the table  washing all the glasses and checking the silverware. Right now the dining room looks like this!

Table ready to be set

We are having ten people, we three, son and his wife and two children, daughter-in-law’s sister and parents. I am trying to make things a little easier this year by doing a lot of the prep early and by asking the participants to pitch in with a dish and also with some clean up help.

In the meantime life goes on and John and I need to have a daily meals. I had a mashed chickpea sandwich for lunch and made a big pot of spaghetti with meat sauce which will hopefully last until tomorrow night.

Smashed chickpeas with olive oil in a whole wheat pita with lettuce and tomato

Spaghetti with meat suace

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