Quick (ish) Friday Dinner

After a long week, I came home with plans to make a curry. These plans were quickly abandoned when I realized I didn't have any canned tomatoes, and the curry I was planning would be impossible without it. So I dug out my trusty cookbooks and found a recipe that looked promising.

The recipe I used is The New Vegan Cookbook, found in the bargain books section of my local bookstore. This was the first recipe I made from the cookbook, although didn't follow the recipe step-for-step. The premise was the same: Kabocha squash stew with Moroccan spices. The original recipe called for spinach, chickpeas and dried apricots, but I had none of these ingredients on-hand, so I used red lentils and dried figs instead. And it turned out deliciously!

Kabocha Squash Stew


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 1/2 tablespoons peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne (depending upon desired heat)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
5 dried figs, sliced
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 kabocha squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (can also substitute another type of winter squash)

Heat olive oil in a skillet and fry onions until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add spices and mix to combine. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Transfer onions and spices into a larger pot if necessary, and add the broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then add the lentils, figs and squash and cook for about 30 minutes, or until squash is tender and lentils are cooked through.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Slow Cooked to Perfection

What to have for dinner on a cold day when you feel like poop? Something made in the slow cooker, obviously. This week an old health issue reared its ugly head. I've had trouble with swollen glands on occasion ever since I had mono in my early 20s, and this week the gland monster showed up to ruin my week. It's just one gland, but it is painful, tender and makes it really difficult to move my head. Luckily, I recently bought the most awesome of slow cookers, with a fancy timer to prevent overlooking.

I had some leftover sweet potatoes, squash and onions lying around, so I chopped them up and threw them in the crockpot for a few hours with some tomatoes and spices. I was fresh out of beans, or I would have thrown some of those in as well. This chili was yummy, comforting, and had a slightly smoky spice thanks to the chipotle chilis I added at the last minute.

I've had this for dinner two nights in a row now, and plan on eating it for lunch tomorrow too. I actually got way too excited about eating it tonight and almost forgot to take a photo, hence the half-eaten bowl and PB sandwich!

Veggie Chili

1 onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 winter squash (I used buttercup), peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes
4 cups water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 package taco seasoning
2 chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped

Combine ingredients in a slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with wheat berries, brown rice or a plain old PB sammich!

Seriously Yummy Winter Soup

Is there anything more perfect and tasty than a butternut squash?

Natural beauty

I think not. In fact, I'd be so bold as to say that butternut is probably my favorite variety of squash. As you've probably gathered, I'm a huge fan of winter squash, so I'm in my element this time of the year.

Our local healthy supermarket, Earth Fare, has a soup bar featuring the delicious-sounding butternut squash and apple soup. I haven't tried it myself, but the hubby assured me it was yummy when he had it. Since I had a butternut squash on hand, I thought I'd give it a go myself.

Cooking up a storm

The smell of butternut squash sauteing in olive oil is deliciously sweet, and once I added onions, garlic and apple my mouth was watering.

Identity crisis

Once the soup was ready and pureed, I served it with my failed bread rolls, which look weird but taste yummy! We ate the soup for dinner Saturday night, lunch on Sunday, and there's still leftovers for me to take to work one or two days in the week.

After a soupy lunch today, I dug the Christmas tree out from the basement and got decorating.

Christmas tree + advent calendars = happy me!

It's probably a bit early by British standards, but we always decorate the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Speaking of British standards, it wouldn't be a real Christmas tree without a cameo from the Union Jack.

My patriotic decoration

Among my other decorations, most of which are pretty boring and have no stories, were a few knitted decorations care of my talented mother.

Knitted glory

Now I know it will be a good week, since I'll have Christmas tree lights to look forward to every night!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 apple, cored and diced

5 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Throw in butternut squash and saute until slightly tender, about 5 minutes.

Add onions and garlic and saute for a further 2 minutes. Add apple and stir to combine.

Pour broth into pot and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add salt and curry powder and mix well. Add milk and stir to combine.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree soup until it's a smooth, creamy consistency. Serve immediately, or cool and reheat as needed.

Makes approx. 6 servings.

Experimenting with Leftovers

So yesterday was Thanksgiving. Yay! While I didn't grow up with this holiday, I have come to enjoy it since living Stateside. The best part of Thanksgiving, hands down, is the double whammy of homemade stuffing and pumpkin pie. Well this year, Ben's family did not deliver on the pumpkin pie (although they did deliver on the awesome apple pie), but I wasn't about to let that happen to the stuffing. Since it's the absolute best part of the meal, I make it my duty to bring it every year, without fail.

This year I'm not eating meat, so turkey and ham were out for me. But the sides more than made up for it. I made stuffing with celery, onions, carrots, apples and fresh cranberries, plus some veggie sausage. It was delicious, if I do say so myself (and I do!), and I was excited that there were leftovers for me to bring home.

Usually I'll eat leftover stuffing cold straight from the Tupperware, but this year I decided to attempt a meat-free loaf. I made up the recipe myself, which didn't quite turn out as I expected.

Veggie loaf fail!

It was way too moist, so although it was delicious, it wasn't pretty and didn't hold its shape. So, no recipe this time, but I WILL succeed in making a great vegetarian loaf that sticks together without being too mushy!

Bisto makes everything OK

Even though the loaf was weird looking, it was delicious with roasted acorn squash and carrots, and of course, onion gravy made with Bisto gravy granules! How this stuff has not made it to the U.S. I'll never know.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Yep, that's what happened for breakfast last Sunday. I meant to post about it sooner but we had an open house and my camera was locked in our safe. This week, I was too lazy busy to retrieve it, hence the seriously late posting of the awesome recipe.

Mixin' it up...

Anyway, I'd bought some chocolate almond milk because it was on sale and because it is awesome, and had been eating it with my Lucky Charms. Ben's response: "What are you, five???" Well yes, but I have to admit that I was getting a little bored of using the milk that way. I made hot chocolate with Bailey's a couple of times but it seemed like the milk carton was bottomless. Enter chocolate chip pancakes, please.

Eat me!

I used a basic whole wheat pancake recipe from Skinny Taste and built upon it using my own kind of chocolately magic. With the addition of chocolate chips, this was one recipe I'd gladly make again. We ate the pancakes with homemade applesauce I'd made in the crockpot earlier in the week and it was utterly magical.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes


2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (can use 2 eggs)
2 cups + 2 tbsp chocolate almond milk (can use regular chocolate milk)
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl. Add applesauce, milk, vanilla and chocolate chips, and stir until just combined.

Heat a nonstick skillet over a medium heat. Spray some oil into the skillet and pour in 1/4 cup pancake batter. When batter starts to bubble, flip and cook the other side until golden. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Top with maple syrup, fresh fruit or applesauce. Enjoy!

Makes approx. 7-8 pancakes.

I Heart Curry

It's been a while since I posted -- it's turned out to be a crazy busy week for me, with work, dentist trips, running and yoga. So the food I'm about to rave about was mainly cooked last Sunday. But even though it was a while ago, the yumminess is still fresh in my mind and I want to share the joy.

I managed to check off everything on my Sunday list. The bread I made was pretty disastrous since it didn't rise and I might have baked it for too long, but it was still edible and actually tasted pretty good. My first experience with making chutney and canning went well, but I have to wait two weeks to see how it turned out because that's how long it apparently takes for chutney to become uber-delicious.

For breakfast on Sunday I made a favorite -- steel-cut oats. I used pureed pumpkin instead of milk and added raisins and bananas. It was yummy, although I think the apple and cinnamon is still my favorite.

Eat me!

We had leftover soup for lunch as planned, and I rustled up a quick afternoon snack while baking bread and making chutney. Pita bread cut into triangles + olive oil spray + baking for about 7 minutes = yummy pita chips to go along with the red lentil masala dip I got last week from Trader Joe's.

Dip that chip

After all that work I felt crazy for even attempting to make dinner. But I did anyway, and I'm glad I did. It turned out amazing. I recently got an Indian cookbook and was dying to try out a recipe or two. The one I chose was for zucchini (courgette) curry, but I used kabocha squash instead (also known as Japanese pumpkin, it's green on the outside, orange in the middle, and sweeter than a regular pumpkin).

Almost too pretty to eat!

This recipe is not actually very spicy, but it has a wonderful flavor that I imagine would be equally tasty with a regular pumpkin or butternut squash. I made the whole recipe, which serves 4, and had the leftovers for lunch on Monday and Tuesday.

Kabocha Squash Curry


1 kabocha squash, pumpkin or butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (I used Colman's mustard powder instead)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
14-oz can chopped tomatoes
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon garam masala

Cut squash in half, remove seeds and chop roughly. If using pumpkin or butternut squash, peel before chopping. If using kabocha squash, leave the skin on.

Heat oil in a large heavy pan and fry cumin and mustard seeds for 2 minutes. If using powder, skip this step.

Add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.

Add cumin, mustard powder (if using), turmeric, chili powder, coriander and salt. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add squash and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Mix tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, and water with cornstarch, and stir both into the pan. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken.

Add chopped cilantro and garam masala and mix well to coat. Cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Serve over brown rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Spaghetti Squash Saturday

It's Saturday, and I had big plans. Get up, go for a run, make lunch, go out to buy canning supplies, make dinner, drink wine and veg. Well, I ran 4 miles after a hearty breakfast of Lucky Charms and a banana, made potato and onion soup in the crock pot for lunch, got my canning supplies, made dinner, and now I'm sitting down with a big glass of white. Mission accomplished.

I was out for longer than I'd planned, since I had a $20 coupon for DSW and spent way too much time dithering over whether or not to buy boots I didn't need just because I had the money. I decided on no, and was about to leave when I came across the slipper section. So I am now the proud owner of some seriously comfy Dr. Scholls, complete with faux fur, for the delicious price of $5. Needless to say, once I'd done the Kroger run on the way home and unpacked my groceries, I was famished.

The only produce left from my last veggie box was a spaghetti squash. When I've had one previously, I've made "spaghetti" and meatballs, or stuffed spaghetti squash with black beans and yummy spices. This time, I wanted to try something different. I came across a recipe for Moroccan spiced spaghetti squash and thought it sounded like a winner. We served it with cous cous cooked in veggie broth, and ate the entire squash between the two of us! The recipe says it serves 4, but I figured since my squash was smaller than average and we both ran today, we deserved a large dinner. It was seriously yummy, definitely a meal to repeat.

I heart spaghetti squash

While I was waiting for the squash to bake, I used up some papaya that had been sitting in my fridge for a week by making some papaya coconut muffins.

Deliciousness

All in all, an awesome Saturday. Sunday's mission: go for a run, eat leftover soup for lunch, make bread, make chutney and can it, drink wine.

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash


Recipe from Eat Drink Better

1 spaghetti squash
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons golden raisins or sultanas
Half a 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Brush 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over the inside of the squash, then place face down in a baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is tender.

Heat remaining oil in a skillet, then add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add spices, salt, raisins and chickpeas, stir to coat and heat until warm, then remove from the heat.

Remove squash from oven when done, and rake a fork over the flesh, separating the strands as you go. Toss the squash with the olive oil mixture and serve over cous cous.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 hungry hippos.

Papaya Coconut Muffins


Adapted from Skinny Taste

1 cup papaya puree
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup pumpkin puree (or 1 large egg, beaten)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted vegan spread (can use butter or marg)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Toss papaya in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a small amount of water, if necessary to get the papaya moving.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and coconut.

Combine egg or pumpkin, melted butter or spread, vanilla and papaya puree in a medium bowl. Add to the dry mixture and stir until just blended.

Using a teaspoon, divide batter between 12 muffin liners. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Comfort Food

I've been a bit lax in cooking this week. Ben's away all week, and I often find myself making uninspired meals when he's gone. Cooking for yourself just isn't the same as cooking for other people. I actually did attempt something earlier in the week, but it was a huge disaster so I'd prefer to forget about it!

Tonight, I wanted something comforting and yummy. It was a cold day and we had the first snow flurries of the season, so a nice, hot meal was an absolute must.

I had a delicata squash leftover from last week's veggie box, so I decided to attempt to make "fries" from it. A delicata squash is pretty small, so one is perfect for one person. I peeled, deseeded and sliced the squash, then seasoned and baked the slices. 

Pre-baked "fries"

The squash fries turned out really well, and there was the perfect amount for one person. I ate my fries with a homemade pumpkin veggie burger from my freezer stash, and some quinoa cooked in veggie broth. Yummy, satisfying and a perfect use of a leftover squash!

Not your typical burger and fries

Delicata Squash Fries

1 delicata squash

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Garlic powder

Chili powder

Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

Peel squash and cut it in half lengthways. Scoop out the seeds using a spoon, then cut the squash halves into long, thin, fry-shaped pieces.

Put squash slices in a Tupperware container. Add the olive oil and season to taste with garlic powder and chili powder. Place the lid on the container and shake it well to coat each squash slice. Arrange slices on a baking sheet.

Bake squash slices for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes. Once cooked, throw the fries under the grill/broiler for a few minutes to crisp up, turning every minute or so. Watch the fries closely to prevent burning, and serve immediately once they're done.

Sweets, Treats and Pizzas

This weekend was a little rushed. Ben is working in Seattle this week, and his flight left this afternoon, so we tried to fit in lots of things together in a shorter-than-usual amount of time. The first point of business: Breakfast.

Yummicilous!

I was such a fan of the steel cut oatmeal we had last week that I decided to make it again this weekend. With the addition of fresh apples, golden raisins and agave nectar we had ourselves an awesome breakfast that kept us both full until lunch. I love it so much I'm making enough tonight to last me through the week!

While I was waiting for my oats to beef up, I decided to experiment with some cereal that was starting to go stale. A couple of months ago I went on a mad cereal-buying spree, and ended up with about 10 boxes of random cereals in my pantry. I ate cereal daily for the longest time, but then I discovered oatmeal and my consumption has since waned. As a result, I had some apple and cinnamon Cheerios in my cupboard for about the last two weeks. I decided to make some cereal bars that we could enjoy through the week. They were easy to make (just nut butter, agave, cinnamon, vanilla and raisins went into the mix) and they are AMAZING!

The magic happening

The finished product

Finally, I decided to make something fun for lunch before Ben left today. I found a recipe for pumpkin pizza on a vegan food blog and knew I had to make it. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but added a few touches of my own. It took time to make, since I always make my own pizza dough from scratch, but it is so completely worth the trouble. The pizza was delicious, nutritious and filling.

Pizza Heaven!

Pre-devouring

And so completes the weekend! Add to these scrumptious meals a pretty bunch of flowers from Ben, a night out with the ladies on Saturday for sushi and drinkies, plus two successful trail runs with Ben and Dougal, and you have yourself a pretty perfect weekend!

What I came home to on Friday :)

Apple and Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats


1 cup steel cut oats
3 cups water
1 cup almond milk
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp agave nectar
Handful of golden raisins

Bring water to a boil, then add the oats. Boil for 5 minutes, or until oatmeal starts to thicken, then reduce the heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add almond milk and apple and simmer for a further 5-1- minutes, until oatmeal reaches desired consistency. Serve immediately, topping with agave nectar and raisins.

Cheerio Cereal Bars


4 cups cheerios or other leftover cereal
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup smooth nut butter
5 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix cereal and raisins together in a large mixing bowl.

Melt nut butter in a small saucepan, together with the agave nectar until the mixture is a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, add vanilla and cinnamon, and pour the mixture over the cereal and raisins. Mix well to coat cereal and raisins.

Spray a baking dish (I used 9x13) with cooking spray and pour the cereal mixture into the dish. Wet fingers and pat down to even out the top. Chill for at least once hour, then cut into 12 equal-sized treats. Wrap each treat in cling wrap and store in the fridge.

Pumpkin Pizza


Adapted from Eating Bird Food

Whole wheat pizza crust
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 tbsp hummus (I used homemade baba ghanoush)
1 1/2 cup fresh kale, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup feta or other favorite cheese

Preheat oven to 425 and bake pizza crust for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute chopped onions and garlic in a skillet with the olive oil, until golden. Scoop onion mixture into a medium bowl and add pumpkin, basil, oregano, sage, salt and pepper. Mix well.

In the same skillet, saute mushrooms and kale until the kale wilts and reduces in volume.

Spread hummus over the pizza crust, then spread the pumpkin sauce on top. Add kale, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, beans and onions, then top with feta. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the pizza is done to your taste. Enjoy!

Sausages and Pumpkin and Lentils, Oh My!

Last year, my mum gave me a calendar she got from Sainsbury's (British supermarket), and each month has a different recipe. I haven't made any of the recipes yet, but a couple of weeks ago I noticed the November recipe looked extremely amazing. The full title? Chunky sausage, pumpkin and lentil pot. Yes please!

The "before" shot

Since I saw that recipe I have been excited about trying it. Yesterday's experiment with making harissa paste was part of this bigger, sausagey picture. I even went out and bought a cast iron casserole dish for the occasion (although I plan to use it for more than just this one recipe!)

Veggie broth time

So today was the day. I made it earlier in the afternoon since I'd planned a much-needed trip to the gym for a 5:30 Zumba class and didn't think I'd want to cook once I got home. The recipe was actually very easy and didn't take much time at all. The most time-consuming part was peeling, deseeding and chopping the pumpkin.

Pre-mixing

Once I got to taste the deliciousness that was my dinner tonight, I was amazed that the dish could actually taste as good as I thought it would, if not better. I actually didn't have enough lentils as the recipe called for, so my version was a little more soupy, but no less awesome.

Yes, I took too many photos of this masterpiece

Since I'm trying to eat less meat, my bowl was mainly pumpkin and lentils. But trust me, there were a couple of rogue snausage sniblets in there! Ben was a lucky chap with a much more sausage-intensive bowl. We both loved it and the best part is that Ben has leftovers to eat for dinner tomorrow while I sushi it up with my book club buddies!

Please eat me!!!

Chunky Sausage, Pumpkin and Lentil Pot


1 tsp olive oil
4 Johnsonville original brats (or 2 packs British pork sausages)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs (700g) pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp harissa paste
2 cups (500ml) vegetable broth
8 oz (250g) dried green lentils
1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
1 cup (200ml) water

Heat oil in a skillet and brown sausages. Remove, cut into chunks and return to skillet to brown cut edges. Set sausage chunks aside.

Sweat onions in a large casserole or Dutch oven for 10 minutes. Add garlic, pumpkin, bay leaf, thyme, harissa paste, broth, lentils, tomatoes and water; mix well.

Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, add the sausages and simmer uncovered for a further 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings, depending on appetite.

Spicing Things Up

Last week, I found an awesome recipe. In fact, it was so awesome that I decided to make it this Friday and have been looking forward to it all week. The only problem? The recipe is from the UK and I had trouble finding the right ingredients for this incredible feast.

The main ingredients were no problem. The issue was with something called harissa paste. Not only had I never heard of it, but I had no idea where to start looking for it. After a quick Googling, I learned that harissa paste is a spice paste used frequently in cooking in north African countries like Tunisia and Morocco. Apparently, the ingredients differ between countries, or even between households, but it's readily available at supermarkets in the UK. I searched my local health food stores and grocery stores with no luck, so I decided to attempt to make the paste from scratch.

I found a recipe that sounded doable on a Whole Foods recipe app on my phone. The ingredients were easy to find, and I was able to make the paste tonight so it'll be ready for me to use in my recipe tomorrow.

Pastey goodness

Once I made the paste, I decided to try it out for taste in tonight's dinner. I shredded Brussels sprouts and diced a shallot, and sauteed both in olive oil with two cloves of garlic. I added the paste for a little extra kick. The result? Amazing sprouts that literally tasted nothing like sprouts! Success!

Dinner -- miso soup, sauteed sprouts and brown rice

Harissa Paste
4 chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce
8 dried red peppers (I used New Mexico peppers)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Remove seeds and stems from dried chilis. Cover with boiling water and leave for 20 minutes to rehydrate.

Preheat a dry skillet over medium-high heat and toast cumin, coriander and caraway seeds until seeds begin to pop, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and add to a food processor. Grind seeds until they make a powder.

Drain dried chilis and add them to the food processor. Also add chipotle chilis, garlic cloves, olive oil and salt. Blend to a smooth paste.

Transfer to a Tupperware container and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

Dinner for One

Weeknights are a pain in the butt when it comes to cooking quickly and healthfully. It doesn't help that my hubby travels for work most weeks, so I'm by myself for dinner a lot of the time. Cooking for one just isn't as fun as cooking for others, but I try to make the most it.

Luckily, I had a fridge full of exciting veggies thanks to the delivery of my organic fruit and veggie box yesterday, the contents of which included delicata squash, Brussels sprouts, spaghetti squash and a pie pumpkin! I've only tried delicata squash once before and wasn't super impressed, and I've never been a Brussels sprout fan. But I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, so I was excited to see if I could turn the sprouts into something edible.

Sprouts, squash, onions and tofu!

I also bought tofu at the store this week as an experiment, since I'm not a huge tofu fan either but I wanted to see if I could make it appetizing. With the addition of some yummy Indian spices, I was able to disguise the sprout/tofu combo and I actually enjoyed the results. I'd usually use tomatoes when making a curry-type meal, but I was fresh out so I went with broth instead. For a variation of this meal, you could add tomatoes and omit the broth, and you could substitute meat for tofu and whatever veggies are in your fridge for the squash and sprouts. I love a spontaneous meal inspired by what's in my fridge!

The finished product

Curried Squash, Brussels Sprouts and Tofu

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup onions, roughly chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 delicate squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed
5 to 6 Brussels sprouts, halved
3 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

Heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet or wok. Add onions and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and saute for another minute.

Add tofu and saute for 3 or 4 minutes, until brown. Add squash and Brussels sprouts and stir to combine.

Whisk vegetable broth and corn starch together and pour mixture into the skillet. Allow to heat through, then add the garam masala, cumin and chili powder. Cover and cook on medium-low for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked to your liking. Serve with rice.

Serves 1.

Vegging Out

It was a crazy busy weekend here. Our Saturday trip to King's Island was awesome but exhausting (although those yummy homemade granola bars helped us through the day!) and Sunday found me in a crazy tidying/organizing/cleaning state. I hadn't planned on anything for lunch, but I did have a yummy plan for a snack, which transitioned into lunch along with a cup of soup I found in my cupboard -- a remnant of my last trip to the UK. That wonderful lunch/snack was.... homemade veggie chips with hummus!

Ok, the hummus was store bought so I can't take credit for that, but the veggie chips were 100 percent natural. I peeled a sweet potato and a parsnip, cut the into thin chip-shaped (or crisp-shaped, depending on where you're reading this from) rounds, seasoned them and baked them until they were good and crispy. They were a hit with the hubby, who was a huge fan of the parsnip chips. I'd planned on making more chips with a rutabaga (swede in England) I bought, but I ran out of room!

Chips pre-baking

Chips post-baking

These were a great alternative to store-bought potato chips -- and a lot healthier too, since I could control what went into the chips. The only seasoning I used was salt and pepper since the hummus was so flavorful, but you could add whatever spices you like -- paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, or whatever floats your boat.

Close-up yumminess

Homemade Veggie Chips

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into thin slices

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into thin slices

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Throw veggie slices into a lidded container along with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add lid and shake container to coat chips with oil.

Lay chips on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, taking care not to overlap or lay chips on top of each other, which will prevent them from cooking and crisping. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or until crispy and slightly brown.

Serve chips immediately with your favorite dip. 

Homemade Granola Bars

I love granola. I literally can't have it in the house, or I scarf it down within hours. It's just so yummy and I can't help myself. So when we do have granola, we make it ourselves and I make Ben take most of it with him when he's travelling. We have the most kick ass granola recipe, and I can't even remember where we got it from.

Today we're off out all day, and I hate being out, hungry and surrounded by crappy food. So I decided to attempt to make some granola bars for us to take with us so we don't have to survive on burgers or pizza. It was a total experiment, based on our granola recipe, and it was a huge success!

Giant granola bar, pre-cutting

Once baked and cut, I wrapped each bar in cling film to keep it fresh, then put them all in a Tupperware container. Now all that needs to happen is for me to eat them -- I'm hoping they'll last more than a day!

So very delicious

Homemade Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

1/4 cup honey (or agave)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ripe banana, mashed

A few handfuls of chopped nuts, such as almonds or walnuts

A few handfuls of dried fruit, such as raisins or cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Stir oats, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl.

Mix oil, honey, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add mashed banana and stir to combine.

Pour oil mixture into oat mixture and mix well, using a wooden spoon or your hands. Toss in nuts and dried fruit and mix well.

Pile mixture onto the baking sheet and form into a square, approximately 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the outer oats start to crisp.

Let granola square cool completely, then cut into 10 pieces with a sharp knife. Enjoy!

Turban Squash Experiment

Today was all about experimenting. We're planning a trip to King's Island tomorrow and I wanted to make something healthy that we could sneak in so we don't have to eat the nasty food they have at the park. So I attempted granola bars... they're still cooling so we'll see if they stay together once cut!

The second food I experimented with today was turban squash. If you're wondering, "what on earth is turban squash?!" then I was right there with you until I saw my first one a few months ago. They look a little something like this:

Weird, no? I was intrigued by this odd-looking squash, so I bought my first one this week. I searched online for recipes to no avail, so I decided to wing it. I started by cutting the squash in half and deseeding it.

Like a little mushroom!

Then, I peeled the skin off using a potato peeler and cut it into small pieces. I laid the pieces in a baking dish and sprayed them with olive oil cooking spray, then sprinkled some garlic powder on top, then I baked the squash until they were just starting to brown.

Meanwhile, I heated some olive oil in a skillet and added some minced garlic, dehydrated chopped onion and sundried tomato oil seasoning, and cooked some whole-wheat linguini in a medium saucepan. Once the pasta was done, I mixed everything together and topped it with feta because, let's face it, feta makes everything better.

The end result was pretty good for an experiment, although next time I'll probably use butternut squash -- the turban squash was such an odd shape that it took about 30 minutes to peel the thing!

Yumminess!

Roasted Squash Pasta

1 winter squash (butternut, acorn, turban etc), deseeded and chopped into small cubes

Cooking spray

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp dehydrated onion

2 tsp sundried tomato seasoning, or any other Italian-style seasoning

3 oz whole wheat linguini

Roast squash in a baking dish at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

When squash has 10 minutes left, bring a pot of water to boil and add whole wheat linguini. At the same time, add 1 tbsp olive oil to a skillet on a medium-low heat. Add garlic, onions and seasoning and mix well.

Add roasted squash to the olive oil and stir thoroughly to coat. Drain pasta and mix it in with the squash mixture, adding 1 tbsp olive oil to coat the pasta. Serve immediately and sprinkle with feta. Yum!

Makes 2 servings.

Kale-licious!

 It was a looooooooong day today, one I don't care to repeat. I actually got peed on at work. That's right, a dog lifted his leg and peed right on my boot. Luckily, they were $10 at Walmart about 3 years ago and I hate them, but still. I was happy to get home and take a long, hot shower.

I took out a sockeye salmon fillet from the freezer this morning and I had a bunch of kale in the fridge that needed using. Ben hates kale, but when I bought it I didn't think he would be home this week. So my mission was to make boring kale into something super yummy that both of us would enjoy.

Along with the kale, I decided to break open the bag of millet my mum made me buy when she was visiting. I was a millet virgin, so this was a special moment for me.

I also had some crimini mushrooms left over from last week's veggie box that were starting to look sad, and some fresh garlic cloves.

I heated up some olive oil in a deep skillet and added the minced garlic and mushrooms. Once those were looking almost done, I threw in my kale. I had a little help from a couple of munchkins who thought I was cooking something much more canine-friendly than kale (and they were sadly mistaken!) 

Kale makes Dougal sad

Stumpy's natural pose

The finished product was something tasty, healthy and different, and went really well with the millet and salmon. Now I know how easy it is to make kale more appetizing it might become a more frequent visitor to my kitchen!

Garlicky Sauteed Kale


2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 or 6 crimini mushrooms (or any other kind of shroom)
1 bunch kale, destemmed

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or wok. Once hot, add garlic and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add kale to skillet and stir to coat with olive oil. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until kale starts to wilt. Serve immediately and enjoy!