Icelandic cod. 11/3/17

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Beebamom

John picked up this Icelandic cod at Whole Foods and it was very delicious. He roasted it in the oven for 12 minutes at 400F. Seasonings were bay leaves, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. I was supposed to be making chickpea purée with parsley sauce and broccoli but opted for the lazy cook’s solution of using the leftover penne with asparagus instead. I did make the parsley sauce.

Roasted Icelandic cod atop penne and asparagus with parsley sauce

To round out my dining day for breakfast John made Bob’s Red Mill Steel-cut Oatmeal and I made myself a chickpea and tomato pita pocket sandwich for lunch.

Pita with smashed chickpeas and olive oil with homegrown tomato slices

 

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Asparagus on sale! 11/2/17

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Beebamom

Whenever asparagus is on sale this is what I make for dinner.

Penne with asparagus, white wine, and crossword puzzles

This is a very enjoyable super simple dinner. Sauce for the pasta is pasta water and olive oil.

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Dinner party 10/31 (11/1), 2017

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Beebamom

We decorated outside and in for some Halloween holiday atmosphere.

Front walkway with some Halloween decorations

Even though no kids ever come Trick or Treating at our house because we are too far off the best routes for candy hauls, it is fun to put up the decorations and make a pretty table for our dinner.

Fall themed tablescape

Our friends that we are having over are a “meat” only couple originally from Minnesota. We have learned a lot of recipes from them that include lots of meat, cheese, and desserts. So to my vegan readers, sorry, this is not going to be a post you like.

We start out with some hors d’oeuvres in the living room. It is just easy stuff like chips and pretzels with dip, cheeses, and some cut up raw vegetables.

Hors d’oeuvres

For the main event we made a beef Burgundy with mashed potatoes and glazed carrots and onions. We also had a wedge salad and some dinner rolls. Our friends brought pumpkin bars for dessert.

Glazed onions and carrots

I was too busy to take pictures but when we ate the leftovers on Nov.1 I took a picture of the beef and mashed potatoes with a flavorful gravy and the vegetables which I added some parsnips to.

Leftover plateful of the fancy dinner

Overall it was pretty successful. They loved the wedge salad. It was a lot of work to make it look like we hadn’t really tried hard at all. At the end my back was hurting a lot from all the standing in the kitchen and I worry how it will fare when Thanksgiving rolls around in a few weeks!

 

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Easy food for a busy day. 10/30/17

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Beebamom

Just a quick post since I am running behind with my posting. John and I are busily preparing for a small dinner party on Halloween night and as usual we are making things and then not liking them and making them over again. So much meta work!

I made a chickpea and tomato sandwich for lunch. Mmmm, I love those chickpeas!

Smashed chickpeas with olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper plus homegrown tomato slices in a pita

We had leftover rice from the Chinese food the other night so I cobbled dinner from tofu, peanuts, and mushrooms with soy sauce.

Rice with mushrooms, tofu, and peanuts flavored with soy sauce

 

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Leftover lunch and take out dinner. 10/29/17

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Beebamom

What can I say? Sometimes I get tired of cooking especially if I have already cooked the entire day in preparation for a fancy dinner party on Tuesday.

We ate some oatmeal for breakfast. It is pretty  boring but it gets my day off on a good vegan foot.  At lunchtime we split up the rest of the frittata from the other night and I had a big bunch of cherry tomatoes for a tasty vegetarian lunch.

Leftover mushroom and spinach frittata with cherry tomatoes

For dinner we had Chinese food – Moo shu and Mongolian beef.  No pictures since I did not make it.

 

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New Dish! Homemade pizza! 10/28/17

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Beebamom

Before getting to the pizza, here’s what I had for lunch. It looks like maybe I had lot but I put this on a tiny dessert plate. It is the penne pasta leftover from the Penne with Asparagus on Tuesday and baked tofu. This is an unflavored baked tofu. I like it because it has a great texture and you can throw it into just about anything without having to cook it. Along with some parsley, this lunch took about a two minutes to make. One minute to cut up the parsley and tofu and one minute in the microwave!

Leftover penne repurposed with baked tofu and parsley

We had high hopes for this dinner. We made the dough for the pizza on Thursday and, as directed, left it in the refrigerator overnight. It did not increase in size hardly at all and when we went to shape it we had trouble getting it to stretch enough. We went with a non-tomato topping of mushrooms and caramelized onions with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. It came out kind of dry plus we overcooked it. According to the directions we were to cook it seven minutes but shortly after five minutes it was already starting to burn. On top of that the dough was too sweet. Back to the drawing board!

Pizza gone wrong

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New dish! Mushroom/spinach frittata. 10/27/17

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Beebamom

Food today seemed like same old, same old until we got to dinner – oatmeal for breakfast, celery soup and lettuce and tomato pita for lunch. But for dinner we tried something new. To top off this vegan/vegetarian day, a frittata made with eggs (duh), sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and parmesan cheese. After sautéing the mushrooms  in some olive oil in an oven proof frying pan, add a couple of cloves of minced garlic, and then the spinach and cook it to drive the water out. Let cool. Whisk together  8 eggs and add the onions, garlic and spinach.  Add parmesan cheese. Pour total mixture back into lubed frying pan. Cook until the bottom is set and then put it under the broiler watching carefully that it doesn’t burn. You might need to add a little more olive oil while cooking the eggs to make sure that the eggs don’t stick and of course season everything as you go along.

Serve with a salad and a couple of pieces of crusty bread. The picture below is 1/8 of the frittata or one egg’s worth. I ate two pieces.

Spinach and mushroom frittata with salad and crusty bread

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Vega- Vege- Pesca- tarian Day. 10/26/17

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Beebamom

I am doing the best I can to have a more plant-based diet. Sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes my lifestyle doesn’t allow me to be perfect. Today I started off with a vegan oatmeal breakfast. This was followed by a mostly vegan lunch except I forgot that mayonnaise has eggs in it. I made my super yummy celery soup for the first part of my lunch and followed it up with a pita pocket stuffed with tomato and lettuce (and mayonnaise.)

Wonderful celery soup dressed with celery leaves, Croatian olive oil, and Trapani sea salt

A great use for our wonderful tomatoes – a stuffed pita of tomatoes and butter lettuce (with mayo)

For dinner we made shrimp scampi over polenta with broccoli salad. We have been making excuses every time we have planned shrimp and usually ordered a pizza or Chinese food instead. Finally tonight we carried through with the plan and, boy, was it delicious! The acidic broccoli salad was a perfect foil for the scampi. I know we will make this again.

Shrimp scampi over polenta with broccoli salad

 

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Leftovers. 10/25/17

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Beebamom

I went out to lunch with my daughter so I just had a few odds and ends from the refrigerator and half a grilled potato tonight. On Thursday I will need to plan the next four or so days and go to the store to buy supplies.

Grilled potato, cherry tomatoes, and leftover vegetables

I think the tomatoes should be winding down soon. It has been a real joy having delicious tomatoes every day for months now. It will be sad to have to buy them from the store.

The green beans are from Chicken Monday and the asparagus and cut up penne are from last night’s pasta dinner. Waste not, want not!

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A favorite pasta dish! 10/24/17

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Beebamom

This morning we went out to breakfast. I am not a big fan of eating breakfast out because you always tend to eat more that you should have. Now you have the whole day to repent or try to repent. After having what was called a “mini-breakfast” (about two or three times what I normally eat), I needed to have a pretty perfect day.

For lunch I stuffed a half pita with lettuce, our wonderful tomatoes, and chickpeas, smashed and dressed with oil and oregano.

Smashed chickpeas in pita

For dinner we had one of my favorite pasta dishes, penne with asparagus and olive oil. The asparagus was only $2.79/lb. It must be asparagus time in South America. It was delicious and we have leftovers!

Penne with asparagus

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