Hidden Healthy & Deconstructed Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie

I watched the Marilyn Denis show the other day which was about opening ourselves up to new things. I found it quite inspirational for both food and in life. One of her guests was Julie Daniluk RHN and is a leading nutritionist. I love her enthusiasm and her health conscious approach! Today she was talking about how to bump up the nutrition for those folks eat too much of one thing... those who gravitate primarily to fast food, or who eat mostly veggies (no proteins), or those folks who primarily eat meat (no veggies). The idea was to open up your taste buds to new things and balance out your nutrition at the same time. Her strategy of choice was to hide the goodness in things that people tend to gravitate to, or as she called it... use "stealth" to get the good things in.

Whether you call it "stealth" or hidden healthy, the idea is the same. On the show, Julie had some excellent ideas and you can see them here so that you can open up your taste buds to new tastes and flavours! Hidden healthy is a great way to bump up your plant based protein, improve your fiber, and sneak in some extra nutrition, especially for those uncooperative family members!

Some of my successful hidden healthy include chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy Joes, tourtière, and even meatloaf. In these items, I have simply used cooked lentils with the ground meat. Sometimes I reduce the meat by as much as half and slip in 1 to 2 cups of green or brown cooked lentils. In other cases, I just "bulk" up the dish by adding a little amount, up to about half a cup. It all depends on how well the lentils can be hidden. Spaghetti sauce or chili are dishes that are quite forgiving and as long as there is a lot going on, like lots of chopped up veggies, then I can safely add a larger amount of these nutritious pulses. In dishes like sloppy Joes, tourtière and meatloaf, lentils are added, but with a lighter hand to preserve the integrity of the original dish but also because there is not as much ability to hide much in them! Red lentils are great in dishes that get puréed and so you can hide a lot in your marinara sauce, lasagna meat sauce, and even in your broccoli soup.

So now, without further adieu, I give you one of my tried and true, family approved, hidden healthy meals. It is tasty, satisfying and really bumps up our veggie intake. Cottage Pie is one of my fall and winter go-to meals. It is economical, satisfying, and pretty darn tasty. Sometimes when I am in a hurry, I don't bake my cottage pie in a casserole. I call this my Deconstructed Cottage Pie. If you have a favourite Cottage Pie recipe (on this side of the pond we also call it Shepherd's Pie), you can certainly deconstruct your recipe too. 

This would also be a great recipe to make ahead. You could prepare the meat filling and do the potatoes up fresh on the day. The other thing I discovered was that this was a perfect recipe in which to hide lentils. I discovered that I could make this recipe more economical and incorporate some plant based protein with ZERO family uprising! Wooooot! 

There is a lot going on in the filling providing the perfect camouflage for green or brown lentils, so now I cut my ground meat in half and save the other half for another recipe and add in a cup and a bit of cooked lentils. To further hide the lentils, I found that mashing half the lentils into a chunky puree works like a dream too. Out of sight, out of mind really works.

Cook up your lentils; 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 cups water.

Sauté your veggies. 

Mix in your flavourings. Remember my budget tip for extra tomato paste? The tomato paste balls are from my stash in the freezer!

Add your broth and simmer for 30 minutes 

While your meat and lentil sauce is simmering, prepare and cook your regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. I like slicing in 1/4 inch slices for quick even cooking. 

Thicken the meat and lentil sauce with a flour and water slurry. Whisk until smooth!

Mix in your frozen mixed veggies. 

Ladle a few spoonfuls onto a plate and add a dollop or two of both kinds of potatoes. 

Deconstructed Cottage Pie 

 

1 large onion, medium dice

1 tbsp grape seed oil, or cooking oil of choice

2 stalks celery, chopped in a fine dice (nice but optional)

2 parsnips, chopped in a 1/4" dice 

4 oz cremini or button mushrooms medium dice (nice but optional)

1 lb lean ground beef or pork, pasture raised if possible 

OR 1/2 lb plus 1/2 cup  green or brown lentils + 1 1/2 cups water 

1 tsp dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, finely minced or 2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp heaped Dijon mustard

2 cups beef broth, or chicken broth, organic if you can

1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, depending on personal tastes

1 tbsp Tamari

1/4 tsp ground pepper, or to taste

3 tbsp flour

3 tbsp stock or water water

3 cups fresh frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn and beans)

3 large potatoes, I like Yukon Golds or Russets

1/4 cup milk of choice

a drizzle of olive oil or melted butter

A generous pinch of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

3 large sweet potatoes

1/8-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of nutmeg (I like to use a whole nutmeg and use my rasp to freshly grate it)

A generous pinch of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

 

In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the celery and parsnips and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook until the water has evaporated and the celery is tender, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl.

In the same pot, add a little bit more oil and then scramble fry the ground beef or pork and break the meat up with a wooden spoon. Add in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is browned, stirring regularly. Add the tomato paste, Dijon mustard, broth, Worcestershire sauce, tamari. If you are using the lentils, add them now with the cooked onion mixture. Add the stock and bring everything to a boil, stirring regularly. Lower heat to about medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. 

 

In a small bowl whisk together the flour and water. Make sure the slurry is lump free. Add this mixture to the meat mixture and stir until the sauce has thickened. If the meat mixture is not "saucy", add a little water or more stock so that the meat mixture is not dry and the sauce has a gravy like feel to it.

 

Stir in the frozen mixed vegetables and stir to combine. Bring back to the bubble, and simmer gently until the veggies have heated through, about 10 minutes.

 

While the meat mixture is simmering, get the potatoes going.  Peel the regular potatoes and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Place in a medium sized pot, cover with water and add about 1 teaspoon of salt.

Prepare the sweet potatoes in the same fashion except fill the pot about 1/4 full of water so the potatoes steam more than they are boiled. I skip the salt though. You can also cook them in a steamer if you prefer.

 

Cook the potatoes over medium heat until they are tender. 

 

Drain the white potatoes, mash and add about 1/4 cup of warm milk and a little olive oil or butter, salt and pepper to taste, and mash till light and creamy. Cover and set aside. Drain the sweet potatoes, mash and add cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover and set aside.

 

When the meat  mixture is all ready and both kinds of potatoes are done, you are ready to plate!

 

I like to put a few spoonfuls of the meat mixture in the centre of a plate and a spoonful or two of sweet potatoes and then the white potatoes as shown! Tada, deconstructed Cottage Pie.

 

 

Gazpacho - A Lovely Summer Soup

When I was younger, my mom found this wonderful recipe for Gazpacho and we made it regularly during the summer. I LOVE this soup. It is a wonderful, cold soup - perfect for those hot days when you don't feel like heating up your kitchen. It is refreshing, light and full of all kinds of healthy! Serve it as an appetizer or as a light meal with a whole grain pita and a bean salad. YUM! All you need is a good knife, a peeler, a blender and a fridge. Sadly, our family recipe went missing so I set out to re-create the recipe of my childhood. I believe I have succeeded!

Start by preparing your veggies.  Peel your cucumber, halve and clean out the ribs and seeds from your peppers, trim your green onions and celery. Chop everything in a medium dice.

Throw the chopped vegetables into the blender. Add 3 cups of the tomato juice to start.

Peel and mince the garlic clove. Measure out your olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Add it to your blender.

Blitz everything until a uniform soup results. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to do this in two batches. Transfer the gazpacho to a container to store in the refrigerator.  I prefer glass, but that's just me. Use whatever container you have on hand.  Add more tomato juice as necessary to get the soup consistency you enjoy. You can add the additional tomato juice to the soup in your storage container and shake or whisk it in. I like my gazpacho to be fairly "fluidic" so I have used as much as 5 cups of tomato juice, but I always start at 3 cups and add a little more at a time to get the best consistency. I like to chill this soup at least 3 hours or over night to let the flavours combine. The soup keeps well for several days too, so you can snack on the left overs.  I even found out that I could pour it into single servings (not the added veggies though - add those at serving time) and freeze the soup. Once thawed in the fridge, the gazpacho is as tasty as

 freshh! Who knew?

At serving time, finely dice the remaining cucumber, red and green peppers and a medium tomato of your choice. 

Pour the soup into your serving bowls and sprinkle the finely diced veggies into each of the bowls evenly. If you like, you can add one extra drizzle of olive oil too.



Gazpacho

A wonderful summer soup, refreshing yet substantial. This recipe serves 6-8 people.

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Ingredients

• 1 can of Roma tomatoes – 796 mL (in season Roma tomatoes , 5 or so fresh, skinned and seeded, could be substituted)   
• 1 sweet red pepper, halved and seeded                                    
• 1 green pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 green onions, green and white parts
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and cut in half
• 1 good sized garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
• 3 to 4 cups tomato juice (approximately)
• 1 generous pinch or 2 of a good quality salt                                    
• A few grinds of pepper
• 1 medium tomato (garnish)

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Instructions

• Reserve the other halves of the red, and green peppers, and cucumber for garnish at serving time.
• Roughly chop the cucumber, red and green peppers and green onions.
• Finely dice the celery.
• Add all chopped veggies, canned tomatoes, 2 cups of tomato juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper to the blender. Blend on high. Do in 2 batches if necessary.
• Pour the soup into a large pitcher. Check the consistency of the soup, Add the remainder of the tomato juice, more if required; stir well and chill for several hours – minimally 3 hours, but preferably over night so the garlic mellows a bit!

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Serving

• Finely dice the reserved red and green peppers, cucumber and the tomato.
• Pour the soup into bowls, sprinkle with a generous serving of diced veggies.
• If you want, you can drink this soup as a quick snack, simply by pouring just the soup into a tall glass. Such a speedy way to get a whole bunch of goodness. Who needs V-8?

Petit Pan Squash or Zucchini & Potato Latkes

 

The promise of summer comes and goes.  One day we are melting, the next we are making a dash for the warm clothes we finally put into storage.  Yikes!  What is a girl to do? On those warm weather days, I love the lighter foods, but when the mercury plummets for this time of year, I crave warm comfort food, like these sumptuous squash and potato latkes.  Crisp on the outside with a soft and delectable inside. How can you go wrong? In addition to how satisfying these tasty bites are is the fact that they are SO budget friendly and made from basic pantry and freezer items - for me, a match made in heaven... Tasty, affordable AND made from around the house ingredients!

My recipe is my adaption of a Canadian Living recipe for Mini Zucchini & Potato Latkes for appetizers.

 

INGREDIENTS
2 cups grated zucchinis, about 3 or 4 small (I used frozen petit pan squash that was grated and in my freezer from last fall)
1 tsp. salt
Several grinds of black pepper (to taste)
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled (about 1 lb)
3 green onions; green parts too, white parts finely diced, and green parts thinly sliced
1 egg from happy chickens, lightly beaten (next time I will try a Flax egg)
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour or oat flour for gluten free
Keep 1/4" vegetable/olive oil combination in pan for frying (add more as required)

INSTRUCTIONS
With a box grater, coarsely grate zucchini. Transfer to fine meshed sieve and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of the salt and toss; let stand for 30 minutes. Using tea towel squeeze out liquid.

 

Because I used 2 cups of grated petit pan squash I had in the freezer, I thawed it over night in fine mesh sieve to drain the excess water. Then I put it into the tea towel to squeeze out the moisture.  

 

Transfer to large bowl.

 

Coarsely grate potatoes. Using tea towel, thoroughly squeeze out liquid; add to zucchini.

 

With fork, stir in onion, egg, flour, pepper and remaining salt to combine. (Since I used frozen squash, I added the full amount of salt to the mix.)

 

 

 

In large skillet (I LOVE my cast iron fry pan!), heat enough vegetable oil to cover bottom of pan over medium-high heat.

 

Add a scant 1/4 cup measure of the  potato mixture per latke, leaving at least 1 inch  between each; flatten slightly.

 

Cook latkes, in batches, adding more oil as needed and turning halfway through, until golden and edges are crisp, about 5 minutes.

 

Drain latkes on paper towel-lined racks.

 

To Make-ahead: Remove paper. Let stand for up to 4 hours or cover and refrigerate on rack for up to 24 hours. You can also freeze which will allow you to make ahead longer.  Just remember to thaw before reheating.

 

Reheat on a baking sheet in 400°F oven (375°F for convection), 6 to 8 minutes.

 

 

 

I made these ahead as an experiment.  I froze them in a single layer on a baking sheet and then popped them into a storage container and returned them to the freezer. When I was ready to use them, I set them out on a baking sheet to thaw.  Once they were thawed, I was ready to reheat them.  Leave yourself about 1 to 1 1/2 hours for counter top thawing. 

 

To Reheat:

I preheated the oven to 375° F. While the oven was preheating, I placed my baking sheet in to preheat as well.  Once the oven came to temperature, I let the baking pan continue heating for a few more minutes. I wanted the pan to be super hot. 

 

I, then, quickly took the pan out of the oven, placed the thawed latkes on the baking pan in a single layer. I let the latkes reheat for 4 minute, then carefully turned them, and continued re-heating for another 4 minutes or so. I watched to make sure they didn't start to darken too much.

 

I was very pleased at this reheating method. I would have to say, they were as good as freshly cooked.

 

My favourite way to eat latkes is to serve them with my homemade applesauce and a dollop of sour cream.  Tonight, I used a non-dairy sour cream substitute made from cashews, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt. I got my recipe from Oh She Glows, one of my go-to vegan recipe sites.  This stuff is guilt free, has good fat, and is really tasty!  I highly recommend this condiment substitute. You could even flavour it up with herbs, or garlic and a little Dijon and use it as a creamy dressing or when I am eating my occasional "chippies for the hippies", a dip.

Zucchini and Potato Latkes

 

INGREDIENTS
2 cups grated zucchinis, about 3 or 4 small (I used frozen petit pan squash that was grated and in my freezer from last fall)
1 tsp. salt
Several grinds of black pepper (to taste)
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled (about 1 lb)
3 green onions; green parts too, white parts finely diced, and green parts thinly sliced
1 egg from happy chickens, lightly beaten (Next time I want to try a Flax Egg!)
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour or oat flour for gluten free
Keep 1/4" vegetable/olive oil combination in pan for frying (add more as required)

INSTRUCTIONS
With a box grater, coarsely grate zucchini. Transfer to colander and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp (1 mL) of the salt and toss; let stand for 30 minutes. Using tea towel squeeze out liquid.

 

Because I used grated petit pan squash that I had in the freezer, I thawed it over night in colander to drain the excess water.  Then I put it into the tea towel to squeeze out the moisture.  

 

Transfer to large bowl.

 

Coarsely grate potatoes. Using tea towel, thoroughly squeeze out liquid; add to zucchini. 

 

With fork, stir in onion, egg, flour pepper and remaining salt to combine. (Since I used frozen squash, I added the full amount of salt to the mix).

 

In large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to cover bottom of pan over medium-high heat. Add a scant 1/4 cup measure of the  potato mixture per latke, leaving at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) between each; flatten slightly.

 

Cook latkes, in batches, adding more oil as needed and turning halfway through, until golden and edges are crisp, about 5 minutes.

 

Drain latkes on paper towel-lined racks. (Make-ahead: Remove paper. Let stand for up to 4 hours or cover and refrigerate on rack for up to 24 hours or freeze.

 

To Make-ahead: Remove paper. Let stand for up to 4 hours or cover and refrigerate on rack for up to 24 hours. You can also freeze which will allow you to make ahead longer.  Just remember to thaw before reheating.

 

Reheat on a baking sheet in 400°F oven (375°F for convection), 6 to 8 minutes as described above!

 

 

Non-Dairy Sour Cream

by Oh She Glows

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 4 hours, or overnight

1/2 - 3/4 cup water, add as required
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Place cashews in a bowl and cover with water.  Soak for a minimum of 2 hours preferably over night or 8 hours if you have time.

Drain and rinse the cashews and place in the blender

Add the lemon, vinegar, salt, and about half the water. Blend on HIGH until smooth.  You may need to scrape down the sides. 

Continue adding the water a little at a time until it is thick and smooth.

Transfer to a small container and store in the refrigerator until read to you use.  It will thicken a little more as it sits.

Pancakes For Dinner, Chia Seed Jams, And A New Smoothie

For dinner on "Meatless Monday", we had my daughter's favourite breakfast...pancakes! Ok, I know my goal is to eat fewer meat based meals, but as it turns out, our meatless meal night fell on Monday and I was wanting to make do with pantry and fridge items already on hand!  Not to mention, I really had a craving for pancakes!  I took my "go to" pancake recipe and tinkered with it, yet again.  

It is essentially a half and half white flour and whole wheat flour recipe, with a little wheat germ tossed in for good measure. This time, I cut the white flour back by half and subbed in some quick cooking oats.  I also used almond milk instead of dairy milk. The pancakes were just as tasty, a little more dense than usual, and the batter didn't brown as well as usual.  Recently, I learned that I can make oat flour by whizzing large flake oats in my food processor with the S-blade.  I think I will give this a try next time and substitute the white flour with the oat flour instead. Perhaps this will lighten the texture a bit and allow the pancakes to brown better.  I will let you know. 

To make our pancake supper a little more special (and sneak in a little more nutrition), I made a raw chia seed strawberry jam out of my frozen strawberries and tried the Oh She Glows recipe for a cooked vanilla blueberry Chia seed jam.  Both jams were fabulous!  

Basic Pancakes

 

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup almond milk

2 tbsp canola oil

1 egg

1/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup quick cooking oats  (next time try oat flour)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbs wheat germ

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbs sugar (I used organic evaporated cane juice)

1/2 tsp salt

 

DIRECTIONS

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together

In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients together

Preheat cast iron frying pan over medium heat

Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just blended. Do not over mix.

Wipe fry pan with a light layer of cooking oil

Ladle batter into pan, cook until golden brown on the bottom and there are bubbles on the surface of the pancake. Flip and continue cooking until light brown on other side.

Keep warm in a 200°F oven.

Since our dinner was breakfast, I thought it would be fun to make smoothies to drink with our pancakes.  I used some fresh pineapple, a frozen organic banana and then decided to be adventurous and tossed in half a red pepper and 1/4 of a yellow pepper, organic of course.  The peppers were sweet and turned our smoothie into a pretty pinky-orange concoction.  I added just a touch of honey for a little extra sweetness and used a combination of almond milk and water to blend.  I thought it was yummy... The kid, not so much!  The only down side was that the peppers did not blend as smoothly as the pineapple and banana so there were teeny chunks through out the smoothie.  Perhaps, if I get a Vitamix one day, this won't happen?  Anyway, a good experiment and the smoothie was lovely with the pancakes!

It was a real treat to have breakfast for dinner.  We even ended up with 2 extra pancakes for a mid week instant breakfast for Erika!  


TIME SAVING TIP!
If you like making pancakes for weekend breakfasts, I highly recommend that you make a double batch.  Then you can take the extra pancakes and cool them on a baking rack. Once they are cooled, leave them on a cookii sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Once the pancakes are frozen,  put them into a large Rubbermaid container or a freezer bag. This  makes it easy to grab one, two or more pancakes in the morning.  The pancakes can be reheated in the microwave or thawed first and then put into your toaster.  Serve your favourite fruit topping or with maple syrup, Yum!

Salisbury Steaks with Cauliflower/Potato Mash & Leftovers

Welcome to Tuesday!  I am feeling rested, rejuvenated and accomplished.  We had 4 glorious days together as a family.  We enjoyed a wonderful Easter and birthday feast with some extended family on Saturday night.  We even managed to do some clean up in the front yard; YES, there IS a garden bed under all the leaves from the fall! Yes sir-ee, things are starting to take shape!

I am pleased to say, that I tried some new and wonderful plant based recipes last week and I even found a way to make some of my traditional recipes more plant based. My repertoire is getting bigger and I think I am well under way to "clean up" our traditional Christmas Season feasts as well! 

As I have so much to tell you about my food exploits of last week, I think I will have to break my blog up into bite size pieces.  But just to give you a taste of what is in store, I would like to share a few of the menu items I made.  Some of these are NEW to me while others are my tried and true traditional recipes which I have made a little healthier without compromising on taste. 

A Good Old Fashioned Comfort Meal

Vegetarian Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Gravy

Cauliflower & Potato Mash

Mixed veggies

 

 

 

Hot Cross Buns - CLEANED UP

 

 

 

 

Easter Dinner - CLEANED UP

Roasted Turkey with Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Mash 

Steamed Broccoli, Dried Fruit Dressing, Jellied Fruit Salad 

Cranberry Sauce, and Gravy

Angel Food Cake with Lemon Curd - Traditional and Vegan 

served with a dollop of Whipped Cream

 

 

Left Overs BUDGET FRIENDLY

Vegetarian Salisbury Steaks for me/Turkey for the family

Cauliflower & Potato Mash

Plus all the fixings from Easter Dinner

 

In addition to trying out some vegetarian Salisbury Steaks, my daughter, Sara, sent me a link to Oh She Glows for some festive Christmas "Meatballs" to be served with cranberry sauce.  I am looking forward to doing a test run with this recipe so that we can also have a meatless entrée for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!  If they are as tasty as the Salisbury Steaks, I am so STOKED!

As my family knows, I am a stickler for making sure my leftovers are used up.  I HATE wasting food.  It is  the best way I know to stretch your meal-time budget especially when I heard just how much folks waste.  On average, Canadian families throw out $1000.00 of food a year. In Toronto, a single-family is said to waste 275 kilos of food per year.  The figures are just as bad in the US.  Yes, we can compost it which is a more environmentally appealing solution to putting it in the landfill, but that does not help my budget much.  Bottom line, it is much better to EAT the food you buy.

When I plan my meals, I plan to send them for a hot lunch the next day or sometimes I plan on how to use the leftovers in a second meal... either "ditto" which is just a reheat of the meal OR I transform the components of my leftovers into a brand new dish.  That being said, sometimes even the best laid out plans go awry and I still end up with single serving of this and that.

If we can't finish these single servings before they will spoil, I will generally move them to the freezer.  I have had great success in dicing up left over meats and poultry to be later used in stir fries or in lunch wraps.  I freeze single servings of soups, stews, pasta sauces.  I even freeze gravy and cheese sauce, even though the experts say you can't.  I label and date the freezer containers, and keep a running list of what is in my freezer so I don't lose track.  I have also learned that HOW you thaw and re-heat your leftovers is crucial to enjoying them... but that is for another blog!

With all that being said, you are wondering why the little detour into food waste and leftovers? First, because I want to share a kitchen tip to save you money and stretch your food budgets!  Second, I thought I should explain why I have a 500 ml mason jar of gravy in my freezer and that it was the need to use up this left over gravy that gave me the inspiration to find a recipe for a meatless Salisbury Steak!  Since I already had gravy in my freezer, I only made the Salisbury Steak recipe which I followed to the letter, with a minor change.  Subsequently, I cannot comment on the tastiness of the mushroom gravy on the blog post, but it does look yummy.  I will definitely be trying it with these Salisbury Steaks next time, IF I don't have any gravy in my freezer.

As promised on the Oh My Veggies site, these vegetarian Salisbury steaks were meaty, tasty and satisfying.  I would think you could make them vegan by whipping up a flaxseed egg to substitute for the chicken egg.  As I said, I followed the recipe from the site with one minor change... I had already sautéed the finely diced onion before realizing that it was actually for the mushroom gravy which I wasn't making.  So, not wishing to waste anything, a threw the cooked onion into the "meat mix" and continued with the recipe.  I think the onion addition is brilliant, so it is staying!  I ended up sautéing the 4 ounces of mushrooms (as per the recipe) and seasoning my gravy similarly to the gravy in the posted recipe and adding the Tamari too. It was a huge success!

I also tried out a cauliflower & potato mash.  I peeled and cooked a few Yukon potatoes.  I drained and mashed them in my usual way... a little almond milk, and butter since I didn't have any Earth Balance Spread, with some salt, and pepper to taste.  I set it aside.  I also steamed about 1/4 of a large head of cauliflower until tender.  I dropped the large pieces into my food processor, and whizzed it till it was coarsely mashed.  I added some butter, almond milk, salt, pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, and a generous pinch of thyme.  Whizzed it all together until it was smooth and resembled traditional mashed potatoes.  Then I folded the potatoes and the cauliflower mash together into the serving dish,  Man oh man; it was SO good on it's own, and even better with a slug of the mushroom gravy!  The "meat", "potatoes" and mushroom gravy were so comforting and tasty, that even the plain Jane fresh frozen mixed veggies rocked the plate!

Salisbury Steaks BEFORE Baking

Salisbury Steaks AFTER Baking

Salisbury Steaks with Cauliflower/Potato Mash, Mushroom Gravy and Mixed Veggies

Next on the blog docket... Hot Cross Buns and Easter Dinner! 

Menu For the Week, Food Rules, and Bolognese Sauce

The weekend is usually the time I try to get some of my food prep for the upcoming week done.  Traditionally, my husband took last night’s leftovers for a hot lunch.  I now try to get ahead on my meals, so I can send my husband back to the city with at least 3 or 4 lunches.  That means planning my meals a week in advance (something I do regardless of cooking ahead), a lot of slicing and dicing, simmering, stirring and searing!

The menus for this week:

Sunday

Roast pork, homemade apple sauce (canned last season), roasted beets, sweet potatoes and carrots, steamed broccoli, and a little gravy.

Monday

Cilantro pesto pizza with sautéed onions, tomatoes & mushrooms  plus a regular tomato sauce pizza with sautéed onions, diced red peppers, mushrooms & tomatoes and of course, a new broccoli salad I want to try out.

Tuesday

a vegan Bolognese sauce that I found at Veggieful.com, to go on whole wheat linguine plus a mixed green side salad.

Wednesday

Hot pork sandwiches and lots of steamed mixed veggies

Thursday

Lentil and mushroom sloppy Joes served on whole grain pita buns

& a mixed greens salad.

Friday

Leftover Day

I can’t wait to eat this week!

As an aside, if you are looking for suggestions, here are some things I put in my 14 year old daughter’s packed lunches:  PB & J sandwiches made on whole grain bread (currently I am weaning her off of Kraft peanut butter while switching out to an organic peanut butter… shhhhh), spinach, red pepper and diced chicken wraps, quinoa cups and a side salad, a slice of leftover pizza plus some broccoli with dip. I also add in home baked muffins, blueberries with a tich of organic evaporated cane sugar, some roasted unsalted cashews, and of course a thermos of the green tea she so enjoys.  I know she would rather eat the crap her friends have in their lunches, but that won’t be happening as long as I am in charge of lunches!

Over all, I have always had a pretty decent diet and have made sure that my family eats well too.  My mom did pass on many nuggets of wisdom like eat your veggies and don’t buy the sugary cereal like Lucky Charms and Honeycomb.  My favourites were, if you are hungry there is fresh fruit in the fruit bowl or fridge or you can make yourself a sandwich or if you are thirsty, there is milk, water, and juice and if you don’t want any of those, you aren’t really hungry/thirsty.  These were her replies when we said we were hungry or thirsty but were actually rooting for junk food like pop and chips.  Yes, even though my mom really didn’t enjoy cooking, she was sensible and wise enough to understand that good health for her family started with (mostly) whole food and made sure that we always had sit down meals with plenty of veggies and fruit on our plates, limited our intake of cookies, cakes and the like.  Much to our unhappiness as kids, chips, cheezies and pop were heavily curtailed and I remember that our Friday night movie snack was generally popcorn, albeit with lots of melted butter.  Yes, my mom’s food rules certainly started me out on the right track.

I took these food rules with me when I left home.  They came with me to university, they came with me when I got my first job, and they came with me when I started my family.  But over the years, I have improved my knowledge base, adding more food rules as I went.  These include NO MORE processed cheese slices or margarine, eat MORE veggies at dinnertime; include MORE veggies and fruit at lunchtime; change your milk from 2% to 1% and ultimately, down to skim. One of my biggest additions was, if you cannot pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it or at least try not to eat too much of it.  I am referring to the ingredients on the labels of “made for me” foods.  This rule naturally minimized my intake of a lot of processed foods which was certainly a step in the right direction for good health.  These rules carried served me well for the past 20 years and I have now continued to fine tune and improve my food rules while travelling on the next leg of my food journey, which of course, is to eat cleaner; eat more plant-based meals, drink more water, and when I do eat animal products, my goal is to source the best possible sources that are organic and humane.

All that being said, my current journey to eat more plant-based foods has brought me back to learning how to cook all over again. I even have to use recipes.  It takes a conscious effort to ensure my pantry and fridge is stocked properly and that I am ready to cook with my new-to-me ingredients, all the while, making sure that I can make it as "family friendly" as possible.  No more auto-pilot for me in the kitchen.  A meal that normally takes me 20 minutes to prep, takes so much longer from planning to execution.  Thank goodness for the internet and my eldest daughter Sara for finding information, tips and recipes!  Slowly, but surely, I am building a repertoire of “family approved” meals.  It is challenging enough to embark on a lifestyle change journey for myself, but to drag my family along is another story altogether.  This is especially true since they have not willingly signed on to the trip!  Suffice it to say, I am breaking them in slowly and have taken meals like Shepherd’s pie, lasagna, and sloppy Joes and have cut back the ground meat in half and supplemented with lentils and/or the store bought veggie ground meat.  This has been going well and generally well received... mind you what they don't know about, they can't complain about!  I call this tactic "hidden healthy" and has served me well through my children's "picky eating phases".

 

On Saturday, I made my FIRST 100% pasta meat sauce with absolutely NO meat.  It is completely vegan!  I tried the sauce when I made it on Saturday and thought it was AMAZING.  There is just a little variation in texture, but otherwise, I could be convinced there is meat in it.  I will let you know how it goes with the family. Tuesday is Bolognese Sauce on linguine night.  I think I will garnish the plates with finely diced sautéed celery and raw red & yellow peppers to “distract” them from the slight texture change of the meat sauce.  Wish me luck!

 

 

More Plant Based Learning

The first day of spring!  Wahoo!  A beautiful, sunny day, and I think there is hope that we managed to get through this crazy winter.  Then again, maybe not so crazy... more like the past 5 years of winters all at the same time, given that the winters over the last several years has been very mild and almost non-existent.  I guess we are just not used to the white stuff and all this cold.  None the less, I am happy to see bits for ground peeking from under the snow and the ice.  The birds are singing first thing in the morning too!  So even with the excitement for the official first day of spring, I am feeling a little drained and very tired. 

I spent 12 hours in front of my computer (not straight, but 12 hours nonetheless) working on skill learning.  I decided to delve into some web site creation using the Google website tools.  It was an arduous learning curve, but I think I am making some headway.  I created a web site for one of my desktop publishing clients (actually, my only client at this time) just to see what I came up with.  The site is still a work in progress, but after 12 hours, it looks not too bad.  No, it is not an elegant or especially awe inspiring, but it does convey all the information my clients' restaurant needs to share on line.  I would love to find other websites made with the Google website software so that I could see what exactly it is capable of.  But for now, Red's Pancakes to Cupcakes can tell the world a little bit about themselves, make their menu available on line, tell the world where they are located, and post announcements for those interested in subscribing to them. 

Last night, I finished playing around on my pet project around 11, made my youngest a huge packed lunch to take with her to her rugby tournament in Oakville, tidied up for the night and went to bed.  Do you think I could sleep?  I flipped and flopped till way past 2 AM (probably all worried that I wouldn't wake up on time).  I tell you 5 AM came way too early... and a grumpy camper I was this morning bumping heads with my not a morning person daughter who needed to be at the school for 5:50 AM to catch the bus to her tournament.  Back to bed for a couple of hours and now I am feeling a whole lot better... that and I started my day with some liquid green with EXTRA leafy greens because I really need them today.  Thank goodness for Liquid Green!




1 English cucumber, 2 apples, 1 celery stalk, kale & spinach

I am half done my green juice and feeling a whole lot better.  Next up, my green tea! 

So the last few days in my conscious effort to incorporate even more plant based foods into my diet I tried a vegan Alfredo Sauce and I have to say WOW! My oldest daughter sent me a link to A Spoonful Of Sisters Blog for this recipe and I have to say I couldn't believe it was so tasty.  Who would have thought that cauliflower and cashews could produce such a creamy sauce.  I served mine over whole wheat spaghetti and added sautéed mushrooms and steamed broccoli. Have I already said WOW?!   It wasn't the prettiest of presentations, but I was SO hungry I had to be super fast.  I will definitely be making this again.

Vegan Alfredo on whole wheat spaghetti... YUM!

 Along with being conscious of what I put in my body, I have been working towards cleaning up our personal items like cosmetics, creams, soaps etcetera.  My most recent discovery was the use of unrefined coconut oil for my hair.  My oldest has been using it in her mane for many months now and so I thought I would give it a whirl... after all, what harm could it do since I actually eat this stuff too! 

I scooped out a hefty tablespoon of the oil, let it warm and partially melt in my hands, and then massaged it into my scalp and hair; I tied it all up with a clip and let it sit for an hour.  You might find that it even makes your hands feel better too. I shampooed, gently toweled my locks and then drip dry styled to let my curls do what they want.  OMG!  I couldn't believe that my hair didn't feel like the usual course hair.  It even stayed soft and touchable for the next few days too.  I read that you should do the treatments every time you plan on laundering your hair for a few months to make sure that the hair is thoroughly moisturized and then one can cut back the treatments to once per week or month, or to whatever schedule works best.  The eco-holic inside me is thrilled and my hair is thrilled... a win/win I would say!  I will let you know how it works out.  This morning is my 3rd treatment this week and I am thinking that this is such an amazing discovery...  and speaking of my coconut oil hair treatment, it's time to wash it out. 

Have a glorious day!