More Easy Meal Ideas

Two comfort foods, a mighty meal.... and a partridge in a pear tree?

A perennial fave for young folk: mac n' cheese. Thing is, my daughter is dairy- and gluten-free, so this mac n' cheese is made with brown rice macaroni and Daiya cheese. It doesn't take long to cook this macaroni... no more than 8 mins, then drain and rinse well. Return to the empty pot, add Daiya cheese (I use a mixture of cheddar and mozz flavours), place pot over still warm burner and stir. Once the "cheese" is mostly melted, add a little butter. Now, this is just basically a plate of starch, so to give it some redeeming nutritional value, I saute some onion, garlic, mushrooms and whatever other veges are handy and mix them in. She doesn't seem to mind. Obviously this is a sometimes, "comfort food" meal and not for all the time. I can count on my daughter to work this off.

Stuffed potato: clean and nuke a nice large potato of choice. When it's tender and has cooled a bit, cut it in half, scoop out most of the potato and put it in a mixing bowl. You can use what you like to cream the potato. I used a little soy cream cheese (soy sour cream works too) to add some protein to it, and a little butter for yum. I also added some Daiya cheddar for flavour and some of those sauteed veges to it as well. I smooshed it all up together and packed it back into the potato skins. Put it back in the microwave and gave it a warming blast before serving.

Last, but certainly not least, the very nutritious fish dinner. Though vegetarian now, my daughter will still eat fish and eggs. These wild salmon fillets went on special at a local store and I stocked up. First I put the asparagus and mushrooms into a pan lightly coated with garlic olive oil, then, after turning them, I added the salmon fillet, sprinkled on top with tarragon and parsley, and a generous squirt of fresh lemon juice. The potato is nuked, just to complete that ol' fashioned "meat n' potato" model.

These are just some of my daughter's faves. All can be made your way or adjusted to your tastes. Bon apetite!

G-free, Vegan Shepherd's Pie

No kidding. Doesn't it look good? It really was.

Now, I'll confesss, wasn't my first try. Just to start with I needed to make my own vege broth.. there's stuff in commercial broth that my daughter can't have. So I loaded carrots, celery, onion, garlic and more into my crock pot, added water, and made broth. Thing is, I didn't have any faith in it. I mean, it didn't have bones, skin and all those animal parts that make a broth strong and rich. So I went ahead and made my first vege shepherd's pie with the broth straight up. Oooo... a little too strong. I made a date to try again.

Segue to yesterday when I rehydrated some shitake mushrooms to put into my vegan lasagna. When I was done, there sat the water I'd rehydrated them in. Oooo, I thought... can't waste that. Hmmm... time to try that shepherd's pie again? Yep.

So into the crockpot it went, along with onion, garlic, carrots, celery, some pieces of sweet potato that I've been experimenting with lately, along with some thyme, oregano and basil, and a couple pieces of asparagus and broccoli as well. This time I didn't underestimate it. When it was done and drained through a sieve, that was strong vege broth. I put some away in the freezer for another time, and treated what was left like a concentrate, adding water, salt and pepper, and using just water to dissolve the tapioca starch that would thicken my "gravy."

Now, first of course, I sauteed just a whole bunch of mushrooms. I really find these are a great replacement for meat in a vegan recipe. I also added some pieces of asparagus to the fry pan, and onion and garlic. Then I added the broth, water, salt, pepper, carrots, broccoli and zucchini. I thickened the whole thing with the tapioca starch. Meanwhile, I had made mashed potatoes, using soy cream cheese and Daiya cheese to cream them, with a little salt and pepper.

I scooped the veges and gravy into the oven-safe ceramic dishes (they have a name, but it always escapes me). Then I covered this with the mashed spuds and garnished with a bit more Daiya cheese shreds. I baked it for a bit, just to melt the "cheese" shreds a little, then turned on the broiler to brown up the top of it.

Mmmmmm.... success! It was really good.

Now, I've been experimenting, as I say, with sweet potato, and I had some already mashed in the fridge I meant to add to the potato on top of mine, to make it a little healthier. But I forgot. When I told my daughter about this she said, "only on yours?!" Hmmm... I told her I didn't think she'd like it... necessarily. But hey, she's up for the experiment too, so next time, I mix sweet potato with regular potatoes on the top of this culinary glory too see how that goes. Sounds good to me. :)

Stuffed Peppers, Gluten-free and Vegan!

The first time my husband encountered stuffed peppers was at my Aunt’s house. She liked to make stuffed peppers for company. He loved ‘em. He asked me to make them.

Oy. I had never made them and by the time he asked, my aunt was no longer available to ask for the recipe. I asked a cousin, but I’m thinkin’ he didn’t have the recipe. ;o) So I did the unthinkable... I looked in my favourite cookbook, and there it was! I didn’t know, of course, if this recipe was anything like my aunt’s, but it seemed pretty basic, so I gave it a try. He loved ‘em!

Since then, stuffed peppers weren’t something I made a lot, but at regular intervals, like when the four packs of peppers were on sale at my local grocery store, I’d make them. Everyone in the family likes ‘em, even though my daughter doesn’t actually eat the pepper ... just the stuffing.

Well, recently, green peppers were on special in the four packs again, but our diets have undergone some changes since I first made stuffed peppers. I am gluten-free vegan, my daughter is g-free, dairy-free vegetarian, and my husband just wants the meals he’s always had. ;o)

Ack... it’s like running a restaurant some days. But here’s what I did with the stuffed peppers:

Bring water to boil in a big enough pan to blanche the peppers. Cut off the tops and seed them, then blanche them for about 4 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water and place them upside down on a towel to drain. Using the same pot (to save on dishes... empty out the water; save for vege broth or discard). To stuff the peppers you need:

olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 of the pepper tops, chopped
6 large mushrooms, washed, sliced in half, then each half sliced some more
1 - 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. Tamari sauce
dried basil, to taste, salt and pepper
1 - 250 gram package Uncle Ben’s Bistro Express Wholegrain Brown rice, no preservatives
1 cup Daiya cheese shreds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the saucepan with olive oil. Saute the sliced mushrooms, onion and pepper for several mins. Add the diced tomatoes, tamari sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for a few mins. Add the rice and warm. Add the Daiya cheese and stir till melted a bit. (Save a few shreds to top the peppers with.)

Place the peppers into a casserole dish. Salt the peppers a bit, then fill with the rice mixture. Put any leftover filling into the casserole between the peppers. Put the few leftover shreds onto the tops of the stuffed peppers. Cover and bake for roughly 30 mins. Remove lid. Allow peppers to rest for a few mins., then serve with whatever else you like.

I served my little stuffed red pepper with a green salad. I served Hubby’s larger green pepper with a meat patty, because he doesn’t really want to be a vegetarian. (I notice he only ate half of his meat though.) My daughter’s larger green pepper was served alone... with some of the extra filling sort of spilling off to one side. Have it the way you like it!

Portion Control and Presentation

I've always thought serving size and appearance are both very important when preparing meals, and it's something that many food gurus don't bother to mention. Serving size and presentation make a difference, not just in how much we eat, but in how satisfying we find our food.

I recently read a post from a friend who thought she could no longer have a certain food, because after eating a generous serving of it, her blood sugar went too high. The thing is, what would have happened if her serving hadn't been quite so generous, or if it had been served with other food that was just as loaded with carbs?

To the right is a sample of the nutrition labeling on foods. They suggest a serving size, then give facts, such as calories, carbs, sugar, for that size serving. Almost every day I enjoy some brown rice pasta, in moderation. What is "moderation?" It's the serving size suggested on the package, or less. In this case, it's 200 calories worth of brown rice pasta. It's also 4 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat, and 43 grams of carbs ~ or 14% of my daily allowable carbs.

It wasn't easy to figure out just how much fettucine this 2 oz. serving size was. So I cleaned off my table and dumped out a whole 16 oz. package, then I divided it into 8 roughly equal servings. No, I didn't count strand by strand, but the bundles of noodles were pretty much all the same size... about the size of a quarter when squashed between thumb and fore-knuckle. (Let's face it... if I cheat one day, I get short-changed on another.) So this is how much fettucine I prepare per serving. Similarly, I measure other pastas in a measuring cup. Once you have it figured out how much is a moderate serving size, cook that much per person each time.

Of course, if I served just that much pasta lightly dressed, it wouldn't be enough. It would be a tiny puddle of food in the middle of my plate... like service in one of those fancy restaurants that serve such a wee tiddle of food in the middle of a huge plate, that you feel the need to go eat out, after you've eaten out. ;p

Hence, presentation. How about some veges and hummus in a lettuce leaf? Or a nice big green salad? (Watch the serving size of that dressing!) Now, you see this picture. Doesn't that look good? Well, it's a nice size plate of food! Of course it's mostly salad, with my own dressing, made with 2 tsps. of garlic olive oil, a tbsp. of my own basil vinegar, pepper, dried parsley, and a tiddle of sea salt. I let the salad sort of spill all over the plate before serving up the 200 calories worth of brown rice macaroni with veges and the merest smattering of Daiya cheese. You see, the serving of pasta looks like more sitting up on top of some of the kale from my salad. So when I put this mighty plateful of food in front of me, it looks good! It looks like a lot of food! And by the time I'm finished this meal, I'm full!

Tips for helping you stay on your diet:
(By diet, I'm referring to a permanent part of your lifestyle, not a temporary exercise in denial done for temporary weight loss.. as it often is.)

Use a smaller plate. I mean, obviously it's going to look like less food than you might think you want if you're using a great big plate. Choose a smaller plate for your food and it will look like more!

Let those salad fixin's fall all over the plate... even under the other food. It'll make the other food look more voluminous, and you'll get to it eventually.

Make your own dressings. Yes, there are nutrition labels on store-bought dressings and you can measure them carefully onto your salad or into your pasta, but making your own with superior ingredients can be just that much more yummy and satisfying, and you can make adjustments as needed, like adding dried tomatoes, or lots of finely chopped garlic when you have a cold, or a bit more basil 'cause you like it that way.

Sure, you're on a restrictive diet because of health issues. That doesn't mean you have to rub your own nose in your food, so to speak. Measure carefully, and make both serving size and presentation a regular part of your diet. Do it for you. :)

Gluten-free, Vegan Lasagna

Ok, so it isn't traditional. It's yummy and it's healthy and hey, that's what's important. :)

I use a shallow Corningware casserole for this because the Daiya cheese melts better if it's covered as it bakes. Of course, you can always cover any shallow baking dish with tin foil, just so it doesn't touch the food.

I use Rizopia oven-ready, brown rice lasagna noodles. For them to cook through, start with a layer of tomato sauce (of choice) on the bottom. Then place noodles on top and layer your vege toppings. I use sliced zucchini and mushrooms, with leaves of baby spinach and basil for the first layer. Then more tomato sauce on that and a layer of Daiya cheese. Then another layer of noodles and veges... I put mushrooms and broccoli, sometimes also some asparagus, for this layer. Then more tomato sauce and Daiya cheese.

Cover and bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 mins. Serve in gentle servings with a salad. Yum. :)

(And you know, if you eat meat, the recipe police won't come after you if you add some of that too.) ;o)

It's the thought that counts... here's a thought.

Honestly, I've been debating about where to blog this, because while this blog is for recipes, it's very health-oriented and these two recipes I'm about to share have nothing to do with health... hahahaha. They are, in fact, a little bit sinful in their yumminess. They really aren't for every day, but they are for special meals on special days. They also make fantastic gifts, and this too is what this blog post is about. (I'm going a little bit Martha Stewart-esque today.) I'll link to my creative blog. ;o)

In these challenging economic times, the coming holidays can be as much about stress as about joy, with the expectation many of us have built up around gift-giving. Let's face it, most of us really don't need more stuff. So I give consumables. These are yummies that my gift recipients can feel good about receiving, and even better about enjoying. Once they've been received and enjoyed, they don't have to be stashed in a cupboard like an overbundance of knickknackery or a shirt that's too small and kind of weird-lookin' anyway. Of course, this idea can be accomplished with anything from store-bought fancy cookies, or a basket of goodies, to homemade yums. This past summer I made giant jars of my homemade dills for the dill pickle lovers on my list. That will be accompanied by some jams, jellies and/or some baked goods. For the diabetic on my list, I've lined up some locally-made sugar-free, dark chocolate wafers, which I'll package with some of my own no-sugar-added spread. (Recipes here: http://wshomehealth.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-sugar-added-spreads.html
So, with this in mind, I am sharing these two recipes and some ideas for presenting them.

The first is a perennial favourite: Bread n' Butter pickles. (Yes, these are better than the store-bought ones.) You just need:
3 good size or 4 moderate size English cucumbers
1 large red pepper
1 medium green pepper
1 package of pearl onions
1/2 cup coarse pickling salt
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 tsps. turmeric
2 tsps. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed

Peel the onions. TIP: soak them in ice water for a few minutes, slice off the root end, and rub with your thumb. The peel should come off easily.) Wash the peppers and cukes ~ DO NOT PEEL CUKES. Open and de-seed the peppers, slice the ends off the cukes, and discard. Chop the peppers into pieces about 1/2 to 3/4 inch square pieces. Slice the cukes and the onions thinly. Then alternate them into a large colander (place colander inside large bowl), sprinkling each layer with some of the coarse salt, leaving enough to sprinkle over the top after all the veges are in the colander.

Now, you can leave this sit overnight and finish the next morning, or you can put two trays of ice cubes over the veges, cover, and leave it three hours while you get your jars and lids, etc. ready.
(Preparations for preserving are here: http://quillingartandmore.blogspot.com/p/preparations-for-preserving.html )

Rinse the veges thoroughly, and while they are draining some more, place the sugar, vinegar and spices into a large preserving kettle (very large saucepan). Bring this to a boil. Add the drained veges carefully and return to a full boil. Pack into hot, sterilized jars, covering veges with hot syrup.

TIP: Ladle out the veges without the syrup, or much of it, first, to make sure your jars are fairly full of veges. Then bring the syrup to a fresh boil and ladle it over the veges, leaving the 1/4 inch head space from the rim. Wipe and lid.)

This recipe yields about 5 - 6 pints of B & B pickles. Yum!

***

Now this other recipe is a family heirloom, but I'm going to share it anyway. It's different and delish and makes a great gift. You just need a fair sized pie pumpkin, along with:
1 tsp. whole cloves
2-3 inches of cinnamon stick
4 cups white vinegar
4 lbs sugar

Cut the pumpkin up into about 3/4" cubes, trimming away seed goo and peel ~ discard. Set pumpkin aside in a large bowl. In a preserving kettle or very large saucepan, stir together sugar and vinegar. Place spices into a cheesecloth bag. (Cut a large square of cheesecloth, place spices in middle, tie it into a bag with white cotton thread, cut away excess cheesecloth from the top. This is your spice bag.) Bring syrup to a boil, stirring frequently, with spice bag in it. Simmer, covered, for five minutes. Add pieces of pumpkin... carefully. (Hot syrup burns.)Cover and cook pumpkin in the syrup until it's tender. (Test carefully with a fork.) Using the same fill technique as the pickles, ladle pumpkin, then boiling syrup into sterilized jars and lid.


The recipe makes about 6 1-cup jars of Spiced Pickled Pumpkin.Yummy, fun gift.








Use some wrapping paper ends tied over the top with ribbon, some fabric remnants if you sew, or even a brown paper bag, smooshed up, then flattened out and decorated.. yes, with pumpkin seeds if you like, and tied with jute string for that rustic look.

TIP: don't try to cut a perfect circle if you don't have a pattern. Just cut a square of paper/fabric, place it over the top and trim the way you like it. Hold the cover on with a small elastic before trying to tie ribbon/string attractively. It's easier.

Hope this post at least gives you some ideas! :)

Decadent, healthy dessert!

Picture it... chocolate birthday cake, and it's gluten-free!
Well, it was pertiful, and I hear it was yummy, but I couldn't have any, because there were real eggs in it... and I've been stayin' away from chocolate. Awwwww... po' Wendy. But wait! It's ok! I had an idea. (Get them from time to time.) ;o)

It's apple season and there are all kinds in the house ~ wild apples, our own apples, and apples from market. There are soft apples, medium apples, hard apples... hey, dessert!

Ideally, pick a medium apple, like an Empire, Spartan, Royal Gala for your apple dessert. Core it with an apple corer... like this one.
(This one is very old. If you're looking for one in a store, it probably won't look just like this, but close.)

Stuff the core with brown sugar and raisins, or use syrup, like maple or apple syrup, or even honey. Sprinkle a little cinnamon if you like. (Don't assume those raisins are g-free.. read the ingredients and warnings. I use SUN-MAID raisins.) Now drizzle just a little water into your microwave-safe dish.. really, just a wee bit, and nuke the apple on high for about 3 minutes. (A soft apple, like a Mac, requires less time and may turn to apple sauce. A hard apple, like a Spy, Delicious, or Granny Smith, will need more time, depending not just on hardness, but on size, and just a tiddle more water as well.)


Now, to make it decadent, you need to add some version of "ice cream." I used this.... Rice Divine Coconut Mango. You can use what you use for "ice cream." :) I spooned just a little all around my apple.


So it looked like this! Apple and raisins with cream! No gluten, no dairy, li'l bit o' sugar, Sugar. ;o)


Don't need no silly cake! ;o)




Note: the apple skin can be a bit tough, so either cut it a bit with kitchen scissors to get it started, or use a grapefruit spoon to eat it. It is worth the work.... sooooooo goooooood. :) Enjoy!