I sit here with what Michael Pollan has called the omnivore's dilemma. The introduction to his book, The Omnivores Dilemma, begins with the question “What’s for dinner?”
On facebook and live journal I have seen from time to time the question raised by my friends. I may self have raised it. Even in my long ago office job it came up at least once a week.
I bring up Michael Pollan because Holly and I are listening to it in the car. We checked out the book on CD from the library. We find it most fascinating and disturbing. We have become so disgusted at the state of how beef get to our table in the US that we have not been able to eat meat since. I referenced this in my post on My Mother’s Curry.
So Now I need to create a menu for the week full of meals that can be both vegetarian (ovo-lacto) as well as not for the rest of the family.
-an hour or so passes-
So now that I have had time to think with all the distractions from writing this today I have My Mom’s Lasagna, Sears Penne-Rigate Casserole, Imus Cowboy Sloppy Joes (and some leftovers for the meat eaters) Soup and grilled Sandwiches and Spaghetti for a possible play date dinner night with Meatballs on the side. I also have Tuna Noodle Casserole on to see if we can manage to eat that.
Hopefully, Holly and I won’t hear some long description of how awful tuna live and how unhealthy they are before they are slaughtered for our food.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
My Mom’s Curry
My mom came across curry shortly after she moved to California in 1969. I think the person she got it from was Indian but really just made it with what she could in the 1960s and 1970s.
My mom came up with a recipe from the experience and from some discussion with the woman. I am probably not quite telling the story right but I have it in essence. It became a staple of my diet growing up. It mainly was a way to use up left over turkey and chicken. When we were in the UK we found ‘real” curry and liked it as well. But in my book I loved my mom’s curry.
It is simple and easy to make. The hardest part is cutting everything up or, for me, remembering all the extra’s.
The curry itself is sliced onions and some garlic sautéed. Add to it left over cooked chicken or turkey (my mom usually allows about ¼-½ cup per person). Warm through and season with curry powder. Add gravy to make a sauce and heat through.
Serve over rice with toppings
Peanuts
Sautéed sliced bananas
Chopped green peppers
Toasted coconut
Chopped hard boiled eggs
Chunk or diced pineapple
Golden raisins
Sliced scallions or green onions
Bacon (we have been using turkey bacon to cut down on fat)
Chick Peas
Today we made this for our usual Sunday night gathering. We are using low fat everything and because we forgot to thaw out the left-over turkey from Christmas we bought some chicken breasts. Also Holly and I have become “grossed out” by meat.
So I made a veggie version with squash and firm tofu. It turned out very nicely. Holly liked it a lot too.
Veggie version of Mom’s Curry:
1 small winter squash in large cubes (we used a small acorn)
1 12 oz block of very firm tofu in large cubes
12 oz vegetable broth
1 small onion sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tsp arrowroot
2 Tbsp flour
4 tsp curry powder
In a sauce pan sauté the onions and garlic in oil or white wine (white wine works well to sauté when you want to save on fat). Once close to being nice and brown, add more wine or oil and the cubed squash and just toss in the pan, almost searing the squash.
Meanwhile whisk together vegetable broth, flour, arrowroot and curry powder. Pour in sauce pan with vegetables and gently stir in tofu.
Bring to boil and then lower heat until broth gets thick and squash is firm but pierces easily with a fork.
Serve over rice and top with appropriate toppings (see above)
The tofu will break up some but that is fine. Holly loved the little bright yellow tofu “bombs”. She was very happy with the curry which is great since I made this up in my head and I was worried that she wouldn’t like the texture of the squash.
My mom came up with a recipe from the experience and from some discussion with the woman. I am probably not quite telling the story right but I have it in essence. It became a staple of my diet growing up. It mainly was a way to use up left over turkey and chicken. When we were in the UK we found ‘real” curry and liked it as well. But in my book I loved my mom’s curry.
It is simple and easy to make. The hardest part is cutting everything up or, for me, remembering all the extra’s.
The curry itself is sliced onions and some garlic sautéed. Add to it left over cooked chicken or turkey (my mom usually allows about ¼-½ cup per person). Warm through and season with curry powder. Add gravy to make a sauce and heat through.
Serve over rice with toppings
Peanuts
Sautéed sliced bananas
Chopped green peppers
Toasted coconut
Chopped hard boiled eggs
Chunk or diced pineapple
Golden raisins
Sliced scallions or green onions
Bacon (we have been using turkey bacon to cut down on fat)
Chick Peas
Today we made this for our usual Sunday night gathering. We are using low fat everything and because we forgot to thaw out the left-over turkey from Christmas we bought some chicken breasts. Also Holly and I have become “grossed out” by meat.
So I made a veggie version with squash and firm tofu. It turned out very nicely. Holly liked it a lot too.
Veggie version of Mom’s Curry:
1 small winter squash in large cubes (we used a small acorn)
1 12 oz block of very firm tofu in large cubes
12 oz vegetable broth
1 small onion sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tsp arrowroot
2 Tbsp flour
4 tsp curry powder
In a sauce pan sauté the onions and garlic in oil or white wine (white wine works well to sauté when you want to save on fat). Once close to being nice and brown, add more wine or oil and the cubed squash and just toss in the pan, almost searing the squash.
Meanwhile whisk together vegetable broth, flour, arrowroot and curry powder. Pour in sauce pan with vegetables and gently stir in tofu.
Bring to boil and then lower heat until broth gets thick and squash is firm but pierces easily with a fork.
Serve over rice and top with appropriate toppings (see above)
The tofu will break up some but that is fine. Holly loved the little bright yellow tofu “bombs”. She was very happy with the curry which is great since I made this up in my head and I was worried that she wouldn’t like the texture of the squash.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
My Favorite Birthday Cake
I like birthday cake this should not be too much a surprise that I may like birthday cake. After my many posts on cookies. I like many cakes and eat cake as often as it comes my way. In the end my favorite is chocolate angle food with chocolate sour cream frosting.
This is a specialty of my mother and today because it is a day we will be celebrating my birthday (along with others) I am going to make it. I have mad the cake it’s self a few times the frosting is not something I make often. I don’t know if I ever have. I am glad that I have been collecting her recipes. (EDIT: 1/4/10 My Mother has reminded me that she was given the recipe by my grandmother as it is my father's favorite birthday cake as well. 1/4 is also his birthday)
Here is the recipe:
Cake:
Buy a box of angel food cake mix......yes a cheater recipe.......add 1/4 cup of sifted cocoa to the flour mixture make as directed on package.
Chocolate sour cream frosting:
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup soft butter or margarine
2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cocoa
Beat all ingredients together and spread on cake or cup cakes.
As I made this I remembered a few things about making it.
I don’t like using my stand mixer to make the cake as with a water only addition to the mix it just doesn’t grab the flour mixture on the sides well. I didn’t have much of a choice today as my metal bowl belong to the stand mixer and the glass bowl was in the bottom of the sink.
The cake should be dry looking on top to be done. The whole cracks on top is a good indicator but I have found that my cakes crack long before they are done they should not jiggle like jello and you really know if it is not done and you drop it and the top slides off.
One should always use a wine bottle to help it cool. The usual instruction say upside down. My pan does not fit upside down so I always do it right side up.
The colder the cake the better it frosts a benefit of living in Wisconsin in the winter. Zero and sub-zero temperatures work wonders on chilling things down. It sat in the front porch like this with another laundry basket on top to protect from stray critters. While I made the frosting.
It frosted well and tastes great. It may not be the prettiest cake but it is my favorite.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A Gift of Cookies
I got a message from a friend. She sent me a package and wanted to make sure it had arrived. I hadn’t, so the anticipation began. She had sent me a necklace as a surprise this summer. What could it be?
It came next morning. It arrived early without announcement. My husband saw it as he was pulling out of the garage. I needed to go to work so I ran it in put it on the table and left. It was addressed to the whole family. I got the feeling that she made us something. I couldn’t guess what. The box was bigger than I expected. A plain brown box with some dents from it’s journey. At work as I packed other boxes full of gifts for others it was all I could think of. What could it contain?
Eight hours later I am at home with the family gathered around the box. We get the scissors and with some difficulty we manage to cut the tape from around the top flaps of the box and open them. First brown paper then finally a tin decorated with squiggly Christmas trees and stuck on top a red paper with a handmade calligraphy label. “Cookies Handmade by Sherri and Christie”
It is the first time I have gotten cookies in the mail since I was a girl. I cannot wait even with knowing dinner is waiting I pull the top of the tins and rustling through the tissue paper I pull out a green sesame cookie and a ginger snap. They are better than expected. My first taste of vegan cookies.
The above is a piece I wrote for the writing group I am involved in. Until this week I had not gotten homemade cookies in the mail for many years. It moved me so much that. I felt I should post it here. Many thanks to Sherri and Christie who both write for Vegan Cooking Club. Sherri Let me know that many of the cookies come from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I look forward to reading that Cookbook. The above Picture was taken after some have been eaten. Getting cookies at Christmas time was something I looked forward to as a child.
Many years We got a big box of cookies from my grandmother and I remember the wonderful Santa sugar cookies thick with icing detailing his outfit right down to his black boots. She was an artist. Living half way across the country from her I never got to see her make them. I can’t remember when she last sent some.
It came next morning. It arrived early without announcement. My husband saw it as he was pulling out of the garage. I needed to go to work so I ran it in put it on the table and left. It was addressed to the whole family. I got the feeling that she made us something. I couldn’t guess what. The box was bigger than I expected. A plain brown box with some dents from it’s journey. At work as I packed other boxes full of gifts for others it was all I could think of. What could it contain?
Eight hours later I am at home with the family gathered around the box. We get the scissors and with some difficulty we manage to cut the tape from around the top flaps of the box and open them. First brown paper then finally a tin decorated with squiggly Christmas trees and stuck on top a red paper with a handmade calligraphy label. “Cookies Handmade by Sherri and Christie”
It is the first time I have gotten cookies in the mail since I was a girl. I cannot wait even with knowing dinner is waiting I pull the top of the tins and rustling through the tissue paper I pull out a green sesame cookie and a ginger snap. They are better than expected. My first taste of vegan cookies.
The above is a piece I wrote for the writing group I am involved in. Until this week I had not gotten homemade cookies in the mail for many years. It moved me so much that. I felt I should post it here. Many thanks to Sherri and Christie who both write for Vegan Cooking Club. Sherri Let me know that many of the cookies come from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I look forward to reading that Cookbook. The above Picture was taken after some have been eaten. Getting cookies at Christmas time was something I looked forward to as a child.
Many years We got a big box of cookies from my grandmother and I remember the wonderful Santa sugar cookies thick with icing detailing his outfit right down to his black boots. She was an artist. Living half way across the country from her I never got to see her make them. I can’t remember when she last sent some.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Meatless Shepherd's Pie
From what I understand and have been brought up to think, shepherd’s pie and cottage pie were inexpensive ways to stretch out meat in herding communities by adding a bunch of other things and topping with potatoes. Shepherd’s pie usually made with ground lamb and a gravy sauce. Cottage is made with beef and a tomato sauce base.
I made shepherd’s pie in cooking class as a 12-year-old in my 1st year of my English school. I remember making it, but for some reason that recipe is not in my lesson book from then. I always look there and then make it up but since I was planning on converting it to meatless, I decided I needed to start with a solid recipe.
I looked through all my cook books. I finally found a recipe for cottage pie that looked good and easy to convert in Graham Kerr's Smart Cooking. (For background Graham Kerr was once the Galloping Gourmet, he started to cook low fat and then minmax. This is a cookbook from that era and so I felt that the little meat in it could be easily substituted.) So I set out to make it.
I started with the basic recipe that Mr. Kerr wrote, substituting the meat and the bulgur with texturized soy protein (TSP). I measured and stirred and tasted. With the tasting I came up ...”Hmm needs something”. I opened my freezer and found both white puree and green puree from The Sneaky Chef. I added some of both. It needed more veggies and I added peas. This was a good improvement but it still needed something. I began to think that I shouldn’t have skipped the bulgur and next time I won’t. I looked in my spice cabinet and added garlic salt and basil (I wanted sage but could not find it). I saw sesame seeds and added about a tablespoon of those. This made a big difference. One more thing I may add in the future is mushrooms.
So here is what I made:
2 cups TSP/TVP
Fresh parsley
Fresh thyme
2 Carrots
1 onion
1 garlic clove
Garlic salt
Marjoram
Olive oil
Vegetable bullion and 1 7/8 cup water to rehydrate TVP
1/4 cup white
1/2 cup green
Can tomato paste
1 cup veg stock
Soy sauce
Frozen peas
Lots of mashed potatoes made with buttermilk
Cheese
Basil
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Rehydrate TSP with veggie stock and water. Meanwhile brown onions and garlic in olive oil. Stir in half tomato paste and TSP. Add seasonings and sesame seeds. Combine Green and White with remaining tomato paste and add to mixture. Bring to a bubble. Add frozen peas.
Put into oven-safe casserole top with mashed potatoes. Top potatoes with cheese. Put in oven until hot and bubbling Everyone liked it but we agreed it needed something more. We are thinking mushrooms.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Beanie Weenies
During Holiday time when there are parties and food constantly involved in celebrations it is also good to eat simply.
I don’t know when or where I started making this meal. I think it may be a hold over from beans on toast that I like to eat in the UK with a sausage (or banger) on the side.
For those who aren’t in the know bangers are not American sausages in the Midwest they are more like Brats, but very different in flavor.
My kids like to make or help make this meal. It is very simple and cheap.
1 large can of baked beans (I buy vegetarian beans to cut back the fat and not mix too much meat.)
1 package of hot dogs (some times we use a whole package some time we use half depends on the day. We use either turkey or all beef hot dogs.)
1-2 packages crescent rolls.
Salad.
1. Cut hot dog and put in sauce pan with baked beans. Here is Griffin cutting the hot dogs.
He is using a “lettuce” knife. I bought it for him at the grocery store for a couple of Bucks Holly had a pink one I got through Pampered Chef. They don’t cut little fingers but have plenty of cutting power for fruit and veggies (not carrots) as well as other soft food like hot dogs.
Prepare the rolls. Holly’s favorite job here.
Cook it all. Stirring the beans and dogs. Beans and hot dogs are done when the cut ends are no longer flat and dome out a bit.
Simple easy and a quick lunch or a light dinner and it is always
I don’t know when or where I started making this meal. I think it may be a hold over from beans on toast that I like to eat in the UK with a sausage (or banger) on the side.
For those who aren’t in the know bangers are not American sausages in the Midwest they are more like Brats, but very different in flavor.
My kids like to make or help make this meal. It is very simple and cheap.
1 large can of baked beans (I buy vegetarian beans to cut back the fat and not mix too much meat.)
1 package of hot dogs (some times we use a whole package some time we use half depends on the day. We use either turkey or all beef hot dogs.)
1-2 packages crescent rolls.
Salad.
1. Cut hot dog and put in sauce pan with baked beans. Here is Griffin cutting the hot dogs.
He is using a “lettuce” knife. I bought it for him at the grocery store for a couple of Bucks Holly had a pink one I got through Pampered Chef. They don’t cut little fingers but have plenty of cutting power for fruit and veggies (not carrots) as well as other soft food like hot dogs.
Prepare the rolls. Holly’s favorite job here.
Cook it all. Stirring the beans and dogs. Beans and hot dogs are done when the cut ends are no longer flat and dome out a bit.
Simple easy and a quick lunch or a light dinner and it is always
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving Day.....A week late(r)
An American eating blog with out an entry about all that was eaten for Thanksgiving. What was I thinking. Well I was eating.
We cooked and cleaned and ate. Poor Holly and her newly metal filled mouth (she got braces the day before) only ate olives, nuts and bolts (Kix, Cheerios, mini pretzels, and Goldfish crackers), mash potatoes and chocolate ice cream.everything else she tried just hurt too much.
There were few leftovers after Thanksgiving. Always a good thing.
Here is a quick round up in photos (not the best pictures but they will need to suffice):
Holly and Griffin ate snacks before dinner.
You can see the nuts and bolt on Holly's lap and corn chips, cookies, and baby carrots on Griffin's. I am proud to say he mostly ate the carrots.
Bill's Blueberry pie and two stages of his Chocolate Ribbon pie before and after the top layer of Cool whip.
And then my cranberry mold next to Holly's olives.
We cooked and cleaned and ate. Poor Holly and her newly metal filled mouth (she got braces the day before) only ate olives, nuts and bolts (Kix, Cheerios, mini pretzels, and Goldfish crackers), mash potatoes and chocolate ice cream.everything else she tried just hurt too much.
There were few leftovers after Thanksgiving. Always a good thing.
Here is a quick round up in photos (not the best pictures but they will need to suffice):
You can see the nuts and bolt on Holly's lap and corn chips, cookies, and baby carrots on Griffin's. I am proud to say he mostly ate the carrots.
PIES!
Bill's Blueberry pie and two stages of his Chocolate Ribbon pie before and after the top layer of Cool whip.
And then my cranberry mold next to Holly's olives. No pictures were taken of the rest of the food. I wish I had but all I wanted to do was eat.
We left for home sated. The kids slept and Bill and I chatted about how in comparison there is a lack of pies at his families events compared to my family (last year there was 11 pies and 13 people counting the 4 month old. The report from this year there was 7 pies and 9 people!
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