Fettucine and zoodles with mushrooms and broccolini 1/4/23

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Beebamom
Fettucine and zoodles with mushrooms and broccolini

Two vegan dinners in a row! It is such a pleasure not to be eating in an unhealthy manner. John was in charge of cooking the pasta and I was in charge of cutting up vegetables, zoodling the zucchini, and turning the pasta water and olive oil into a sauce. It all goes pretty quickly. By the time the pasta is ready the mushrooms, onions, garlic, and broccolini are cooked. The zoodles go into the vegetable pan and then the pasta. The zoodles are too delicate to be cooked very long. They will turn into mush. I mix everything around for a couple of minutes and adding some olive oil and pasta water. And dinner is served!

This is a delicious, healthy, and filling dinner. It is one I would be happy to eat at least once a week!

Posted in American, Easy, Italian, Methods, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Vegan Afghani style lentils with rice and kale 1/3/23

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Beebamom
Afghani style red lentils over white rice/cauliflower rice mix and kale

Quick-cooking red lentils form the base for this dinner entree. It is spiced up with garlic, onion, ginger, cumin seed, turmeric, and cayenne. First you cook up the spices in a little oil, then add the garlic, onion, and ginger sautéing until the onion softens. Lastly you put in the vegetable stock and lentils. Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes and it is done.

I served mine over raw kale and a mix of riced cauliflower and white rice. The red on top is a teaspoon of sriracha to spice it up further. Honestly the Afghani dal was spicy enough without it. John, who was manning the pot, makes sure our dishes have plenty of heat!

Posted in Afghan, Easy, Legumes, Methods, rice, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chilean sea bass, farro mix, broccoli. 1/2/23

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Beebamom
Oven roasted Chilean sea bass, farro/cauliflower rice mix, and sautéed broccoli

I am starting off the new year with one of the best “diet” dinners in our repertoire, Chilean sea bass with delicious sides. John roasted the sea bass in a 400F oven for 13 minutes. It was flavored with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, Old Bay, and tarragon. It turned out super luscious. While John and our daughter finished up the leftover mashed potatoes from New Year’s Eve, I made a combo of half farro and half cauliflower rice seasoned with soy sauce. Broccoli is often our go-to vegetable. I cooked it in a splash of water and a pat of butter.

I am happy to stay on this diet!

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Grains, pescatarian, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. January 2-8, 2023

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Beebamom

Happy New Year! After eating our lasagna dinner on January 1, I will have consumed everything that is not on my healthy-eating lifestyle plan during December. I do not regret it but now it is time to switch gears. This week’s menu consists of four plant-based meals, two seafood meals, and one chicken meal. No doubt I will feel very good about myself next Sunday.

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Polenta with meatballs and tomato sauce, vegetables. 12/30/22

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Beebamom

Polenta with meatballs and tomato sauce, Brussels sprouts, and eggplant

In an effort to make room in the refrigerator we decided to have a leftover dinner rather than the fish we had intended. We will eat the fish tomorrow for lunch. This is an amalgam of the polenta we had left over from the lamb chop dinner, some residual tomato sauce from our pasta meal and the vegetables from the sheet pan Brussels sprouts and eggplant. It was easy, tasty, and efficient. We really do not like throwing out leftovers so this was an excellent way to use them!

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grains, Italian, leftovers, Leftovers For Dinner, Methods, Vegetables | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Sheet pan eggplant, sprouts, and tomato over farro. 12/29/22

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Beebamom

Sheet pan eggplant, tomato, and Brussels sprouts over farro with a peanut sauce

Getting all the vegetables done at the same time was the most difficult part of this dish. I started the eggplant first and put the sprouts and the tomato in the oven after 15 minutes. Then I cooked it for another 15 minutes. As it turned out I should have started the Brussels sprouts a little sooner since they were still a little hard. I baked the farro in the oven for an hour earlier in the day and John mixed up the peanut butter powder with yogurt, lemon, soy sauce, sesame oil and a splash of water. I added a little sugar to mine. A garnish of black sesame seeds gives some crunch and color contrast.

Posted in Easy, Grains, Sheet pan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Grilled lamb chops, polenta, broccoli. 12/28/22

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Beebamom
Grilled loin lamb chops, polenta, and broccoli

Delicious meal tonight! John grilled these lamb chops to perfection. Each one is like a little porterhouse steak. We made a special trip to Costco for them. A lot of regular grocery stores don’t carry much lamb but we can always count on Costco to have boneless leg of lamb, rack of lamb, and loin lamb chops. At $7.99/lb. They seem like a luxe bargain. We got a pack of eight. John cooked them all for the three of us and there was nothing left but bones.

We use Bob’s Red Mill polenta and make it at a ratio of 5.5 liquid to 1 part polenta. Since we were having a splurge night I put a little butter and cheese in it. Normally we just eat it without added fat and it gets flavor from salt, garlic, and bay leaves. Broccoli goes really nicely with the polenta.

Posted in American, Easy, Grilling, Lamb, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wurst, kraut, und kartoffel (sausage, sauerkraut, and German potato salad) 12/27/22

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Beebamom

Bratwurst, sauerkraut, and German potato salad

Some time back in the 1990s I accompanied John on a business trip to Germany. One of the first days we were in Munich in the morning but our stomachs were looking for dinner due to the jet lag. We stopped at a restaurant/beer hall called Schneider’s just off Marienplatz. We ordered wurst, kraut, kartoffel, und bier. Schneider’s brews their own beer and they make a fabulous wheat beer. Although Schneider’s beer is hard to find we track it down every Christmas for our bagel and lox breakfast. Anyway, when ever we have this dinner we always refer to it by its German name.

John starts the sausage in a little water and oil. The water steams the sausage so it is cooked through and then the oil gives it a little browning. I made this enhanced canned sauerkraut (and btw canned sauerkraut is supposedly better than bagged or in glass jars because the sauerkraut does not like light.) I also prepared a German potato salad which is served warm with lots of vinegar, spices, and some crumbled bacon. I used a recipe from NYTimes but there are plenty on the internet.

This dinner was atypical to what we normally make but this is our out-of-the-ordinary week and we are enjoying these dishes. Next week it’s back to the diet and eating in a more healthful way.

Posted in German, Methods, Pork, Recipes, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | 3 Comments

Weekly menu December 26, 2022-January 1, 2023

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Beebamom

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first menu that includes 2023! We are still eating a menu that includes some extravagance. Starting January 2, John and I are starting back on our usual fare. You can celebrate for a week but still return to a healthy lifestyle.

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Spaghetti and meatballs. 12/26/22

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Beebamom
Spaghetti and meatballs

Shortly before Christmas I made a tomato sauce for the chicken parm we were having for dinner. My idea at the time was that I would make enough sauce for dinner and also for Christmas Eve’s meatballs three ways. Of course I made way too many little meatballs. So I was left with meatballs in tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, and a hoisin sauce. Since the meatballs were merely glazed in the sauces I decided I would put them all in the tomato sauce and, voila, I had a dinner.

I heated up my leftover meatballs and sauce and John boiled up some whole grain spaghetti and we ended up with a very tasty, almost-no-work dinner. Plus it didn’t taste like we were eating leftovers. Win-win!

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Italian, Leftovers For Dinner, Pasta, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment