Thai Curried Noodles with Tofu

I saw this in an old issue of Vegetarian Times last week and figured my son would LOVE it.  He loves spicy and he loves tofu so it seemed the perfect fit.  I was right, the only complaint that he had was that it "needed a little more spice!"  It was super quick and easy to make so it was perfect for after our long day spent at the Grand Beach <3

Thai Curried Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli

1/2 box of fettuccine noodles, cooked according to package instructions

2 diced shallots

2 cloves minced garlic

1 inch grated ginger

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp curry paste

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1-15 oz can coconut milk

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1 package of tofu, drained and dry fried

4 cups chopped lightly steamed broccoli

*Saute shallots, garlic and ginger in olive oil for 5 minutes.

*Add cilantro, curry paste, curry powder, cumin and turmeric and stir for a minute.

*Add coconut milk and broth and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

*Cut tofu into 1/2" cubes and add to mixture.  Cook an additional 10-15 minutes.

*Add broccoli and noodles and stir to mix.

Camping Weekend :)

Curried Chickpea Salad sandwiches

3 cups cooked chickpeas

3 stalks thinly sliced celery

1 diced red pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

3 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper

juice from 1/2 lemon

*In a large bowl, mash together the chickpeas and mayo.

*Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

*Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cream Cheese and Bean Spread  for fist-pump vegetable wraps

1 cup of softened cream cheese

1 cup of pinto beans

1/2 head of roasted garlic cloves

salt and pepper

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

*In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients until smooth

*Spread on a wrap and top with veggies (we used spinach, cucumber, red onion, carrots, and red pepper)

Grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  We used these awesome double toasters that I picked up at Canadian Tire to make these AWESOME sandwiches and the vegetable and cheese ones that are pictured next.  Best purchase I have made in a long time!

These black bean burgers are one of our favourite meals so when I had to pick a burger to bring along this was a no brainer.  We paired with a baked potato made in the fire and a green salad for a super easy and delicious camping meal.

Black Bean Taco Salad

Remember how I talked and talked about how it was never going to be warm?  Well, here we are.  It's not warm, it's HOT.  So hot that we spent the day playing in the water attempting to cool down.  As a side note, our a/c has decided not to work today so that was a big thumbs down!  Needless to say, making anything with the stove or anything that took longer than 15 minutes was out.  I had big plans for our meal but I scratched all of it from the menu in favour of a very simple (and very delicious) taco salad.  A one bowl, easy clean up, filling meal served with some fruit kabobs... perfect for this very hot and humid day.  Now all I need is for someone to fix my central air...

Black Bean Taco Salad

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1.5-2 cups cooked black beans mash half

1 cup corn

5 chopped tomatoes

1 cup salsa

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper

3 cups chopped lettuce

1.5 cups Tex Mex blend cheese

1 bag crumbled tortilla chips

*Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft

*Add beans, corn, tomatoes, and half the salsa, and spices and cook another 5 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

*In a large bowl, toss together lettuce, bean mixture, remaining salsa and 1/2 cup cheese.

*Serve bean/lettuce mixture on top of a bed of crumbled chips topped with remaining cheese.

Yet another Monday.

When you wake up Monday morning thinking that it's Friday you know it's going to be a long week.  The day just dragged on from there and by dinner time, I was done!  I was so thankful that I had planned this low-prep meal; even with the chickpea nuggets I think the whole thing took less than 1/2 hour.   We literally ate every last drop of the entire meal though, and were fighting over the remaining nuggets.  I keep saying that I'm going to have to start doubling the recipes but now I think I really have no choice now!  Can you imagine when the kids are teenagers?  Tonight we had a simple cream cheese pasta dish, with chickpea nuggets and a spinach salad.  Our favourite 2 year old did not enjoy this meal but next week we are having Boon Burger... so maybe then?  Cross your fingers!

Cream Cheese Pasta

1 box spaghetti prepared according to package instructions

1 tbsp butter

1 finely chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1 chopped red pepper

1-1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli

1 cup plain cream cheese

1 cup milk

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic and herb seasoning

salt and pepper

*Saute onion and garlic in butter until softened.  Add red pepper and broccoli and cook until tender.

*Break cream cheese into chunks and add with remaining ingredients.

*Stir frequently for 5 minutes until everything is well blended.

*Serve over pasta <3

Super-Grouchy-Pasta-Monday

Today is super-grouchy-Monday, I'm not sure why that is but I'm going with it.  On super-grouchy-Monday I didn't want to put any extra effort into supper and had conveniently planned this no prep meal with a small prep side dish!  Realizing that was the only non supergrouchy thing about this Monday ;) 

We are big on walnuts in our house- my daughter even has an afternoon walnut snack  every day when she gets home from school and I often find my 3 year old sneaking into the pantry to get fistfuls.  I find it pretty cute that she thinks that she has to sneak around to get them.  Tonight's meal is brought to you by the Simple Suppers  cookbook, and a roasted red pepper salad.  I think it is finally time to punch out my parenting time card and go to bed.  Tomorrow has to be better than today, right?  (Please say yes!)

Pasta with Broccoli, Edamame, and Walnuts

 1 box of rotini, cooked and drained

1/4 cup olive oil

1 chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

3 cups bite-sized pieces of broccoli

1 1/2 cups shelled edamame

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup chopped thyme

red pepper flakes

1 cup chopped walnuts

salt and pepper

feta cheese (the recipe says parmesan but we were out!)

*Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet on low.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

*Add broccoli and 1 cup of water, cover and cook on high for 2 minutes.

*Add edamame, salt, and herbs and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

*In a serving bowl, toss together pasta, broccoli mixture, walnuts and cheese.  Serve immediately.

Gong Show!

Today we had my daughter's 8th birthday party.  8!  I can't believe that she'll be 8 soon, but that is another post entirely.  We had 15 children at the pool and then back to our house for pizza, fruit, veggies and cake pops!  It was an exhausting (but wonderful) day and I can hardly put two words together tonight.  I had plans to write a very good FAQ post but now I think I can save that for another night.  I took a photo of our meal from last night so I'm going to share that very simple recipe with you.  My husband found a similar recipe many years ago and has never been able to find it again so here is our version ;)  It's an easy way to use up leftover rice on a lazy day.

Chickpeas and Rice

 1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 cups cooked brown rice

3 cups cooked chickpeas

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup vegetable broth

salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

*Saute onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil until soft

*Add rice, chickpeas, cumin, cayenne pepper, broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil

*Lower heat and simmer until liquid is reduced

*Add parsley and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often

Lentil Tacos!

I have had a life-long love affair with tacos; it's the only thing I can remember loving as a meat eater.  I've tried a lot of different ways to make vegetarian tacos and most have turned out okay but today I think I have officially perfected it!  The only thing is that this was not nearly enough for our family.  Everyone wanted seconds (and thirds) but only 1 person was able to do that....and that someone ate it in the pantry so nobody would know ;)  I served the tacos with leftover tomato soup and some raw broccoli and carrots.

Lentil Tacos

3 cups cooked lentils

2 tbsp olive oil

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

*Place half of the lentils in a food processor and pulse several times with 1 tbsp olive oil

*Saute onion, garlic and ginger in remaining olive oil until soft.

*Add both whole lentils and pureed lentils along with spices and tomato paste and cook for 8-10 minutes on low.

*Warm taco shells in oven at 350 for 5 minutes.

*Spoon lentils and whatever toppings you like into shells and enjoy!

FINALLY! A real spring day!

I've been waiting for a day like today!  15 (celcius) and sunny, it was a perfect day to spend outside and not in the kitchen!  I must have sub-consciously known what it would be like today because I had planned on making quesadillas and a fast cooking soup.  I saw this recipe in a magazine a long time ago but I never made it.. and I never cut it out... and I couldn't remember any ingredients beyond the black beans and corn.. so I decided to just wing it!  The end result was pretty good, I might have made them slightly spicier if it was just for me but the kids seemed to enjoy them.  The tomato soup we had was the perfect side dish!

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1 finely chopped red pepper

1 finely chopped green pepper

1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup of frozen corn

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp cilantro

6 tortilla wraps

1 1/2 cups of monterey jack cheese

*Saute onion and garlic until translucent.  Add peppers and cook for 5 more minutes

*Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

*Place one wrap on a hot skillet, spoon in 1/4 of the mixture and some cheese, top with another wrap and cook for 4 minutes.  Flip once and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Tomato Soup

1 chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

2 chopped carrots

2 stalks chopped celery

7 chopped tomatoes

2-3 cups vegetable broth

1 tbsp chopped rosemary

1 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper

*Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft.

*Add carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes.

*Add tomatoes, broth, and spices and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30-40 minutes.

*Pour 1/2 of the soup into food processor, pulse until well blended.  Repeat with remaining soup.

*Return to pot to warm.

Broccoli and Red Pepper Soup

Because of my children's ages I can still get away with putting most of their activities in the daytime/evening, leaving our weekends free.  This session we do have swimming lessons on Saturday but otherwise we are obligation-free on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  I love being able to spend the days reading, playing games, catching up on chores, and just being us.  I usually try to keep the meals pretty simple on those days so that I'm not spending too much time in the kitchen.  Today we had a really delicious broccoli and red pepper soup from the Garden of Vegan cookbook, cheese biscuits, and corn on the cob.  We ate super early because we are going to watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid, wish me luck! 

Broccoli and Red Pepper Soup

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

4 cups chopped broccoli

2 chopped red pepper

3 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp braggs (or soya sauce)

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp black pepper

*In a large soup pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes

*Add broccoli, red pepper, stock, braggs, tarragon, thyme, and pepper and bring to a boil

*Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes

*In a blender or food processor, blend 1/2 of the soup at a time

*Return to pot and reheat.

Matthew's Delicious Tofu

I have no idea who Matthew is but I'm pretty sure that today he is a hero in our house.  I found this recipe in The Garden of Vegan last week and thought it sounded okay.  I had no idea it would be so well liked though!  To quote my son, "This is spicy but delicious!" and I didn't even tell him the name of the recipe ;)  In the cookbook it doesn't have you dry-fry or marinate all day, but I figured it couldn't hurt!  We had the tofu with a mixture of brown and wild rice, and steamed carrots and broccoli. 

Matthew's Delicious Tofu

2 packages of medium firm tofu, dry-fried and chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

6 cloves of minced garlic

 2 tbsp of grated fresh ginger

3 tsp Asian chili sauce

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup braggs

juice from 1 lemon

*Saute tofu in olive oil until browned

*Reduce heat and add garlic, ginger, and chili sauce. Saute 5 minutes.

*Add maple syrup, braggs, and lemon juice.

*Cover and cook until the liquid has evaporated.

You can serve it just like this or place it in a container to marinate in the fridge and then re-heat it in a frying pan later on.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Fries

It is spring break for the two oldest kids and we are celebrating all week with some of their favourite meals!  Their first choice was a definite grilled cheese sandwich and fries and we were running quite low on our freezer stash of bread so we spent the afternoon baking.  In my opinion quinoa whole wheat bread is one of the easiest breads to make, plus the kids love it and it freezes really well.  We had sweet potato fries and broccoli on the side but our little Monday friend still hasn't loved any of our pre-dancing meals.  There is always next week, right?

Whole Wheat and Quinoa Bread

7 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups quinoa

1 1/2 cups steel cut oats

  4tbsp yeast

2 tbsp honey

6 tbsp vital wheat gluten

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup wheat bran

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup oat bran

7-8 cups whole wheat flour

*Add room temperature butter, quinoa, and oats to milk in a large bowl.  Mix well and let sit for 45 minutes.

*Add remaining ingredients except flour and mix well.

*Add flour a little at a time until it is difficult to stir.

*Remove from bowl, and knead while adding flour for 8-10 minutes.

*Cover and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour.

*Liberally grease 5 loaf pans.

*Divide dough into 5 pieces and place in loaf pans.  Let rise again for at least 1 hour.

*Bake at 400 for 45-55 minutes.

*Allow to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting!

Tofu Sloppy Joes!

Thursday is our swimming and hockey day, so we are always eating on the run.  Sloppy Joes are easy, quick, and the kids LOVE them.  Well, they love anything with tofu but this seemed to go over extra well.  We've tried a few recipes in the past so today I decided to just see what I could come up with.  I served it with a green salad and just because my son asked extra sweetly, we had strawberries with whip cream.

Tofu Sloppy Joes

1 package of extra firm tofu

1 chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

1 chopped green pepper

1 chopped red pepper

1 chopped jalapeno

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp cumin 

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tsp soya sauce

salt and pepper

*Pulse tofu in food processor until crumbled.

*Saute onion, and garlic in oil until soft.  Add peppers and saute 5 more minutes.

*Add remaining ingredients and simmer until reduced.

Falafel Balls

Every night when I sit down to write my blog, I ask my husband how I should start.  He's a writer so I assume he can come up with something better than I can.  Every night he says something ridiculous but somehow I haven't learned yet not to ask.  We're all fala-"full" here.... Yup, that is my husband.  Try not to be too jealous...

Last week at bootcamp someone suggested I make falafel balls.  It was quickly added to the menu for the week.  I always find it difficult to find a recipe for them that doesn't include deep-frying.  Besides not having a deep fryer, I don't really want to take something healthy and turn it into a heart attack ball!  Although it would be a delicious heart attack ball.  I decided to kind of wing it tonight and combine a bunch of different recipes together.  Here is the end result, served in a pita with tahini, mayo, cucumber and lettuce with some raw veggies on the side.

Falafel Balls

2 (20 oz) cans of chickpeas, rinsed

3 chopped onions

6 cloves of minced garlic

4 tsp cumin

4 tsp coriander

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (to taste) 

*Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it looks like a thick paste

*Form into balls and place on a greased baking sheet

*Spray lightly with olive oil

*Bake at 400 for 40 minutes, turning once midway through

Breakfast for supper + menu planning

Tonight was a nothing-special kind of supper, if comfort food is nothing special! One of the best things out there is breakfast for supper and tonight we had pancakes, eggs and hash browns. It wasn't gourmet but my kids were happy, as evidenced by their multiple helpings.  My eldest daughter ate 8!

Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2eggs

2 cups milk

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

* Sift together dry ingredients

*Make a well in the centre of the bowl and add eggs, mix

*Slowly add milk and mix again

*Add vanilla and oil

*Pour batter onto non-stick grill and wait until bubbles form at the top

*Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes

I usually do my menu planning on Sunday nights, but as its a long weekend I am working on it tonight.  I'd love to hear from you guys for some ideas for next week!  Any favourites that I should try?  Here's what I have for this week:

Tuesday: Mediterranean Lentil Soup

Wednesday: Curried Bean Burgers

Thursday: Shannon's French Onion Soup

Friday: Calzones (first try!)

Saturday: Slow Cooker Chili in Bread Bowls

Sunday: Baked Macaroni and Tofu Fingers

Monday: Sweet and Sour Lentils

Stirfry

We had a pretty easy meal today.  Some "dry fried" tofu in a simple marinade, stir fried veggies (broccoli, red and green pepper, green beans, carrots, and celery) and some chow mein noodles.  I only recently heard about the dry-frying method for tofu, and it works fantastic!  Great consistency, and good absorption of flavours. 

Tofu Marinade

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/8 cup rice vinegar

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 inch grated ginger

2 chopped green onions

2 tbsp sesame oil

chopped parsley

juice from half a lemon

1 tsp brown sugar

dash red pepper flakes

First Post

I've been considering starting a food blog all week.  In anticipation I decided to take a few pictures of our meals from the week.  What a great way to start off!  Please don't judge my picture taking abilities, its the food that counts :)

 Vegan Cinnamon French Toast with Blueberry Compote

 Easy Mixed-Bean Burger with a side salad and steamed asparagus

White Three Cheese and Spinach pizza, Cheese Pizza, and Raw Veggies

So here we go!  I hope this blog works out better than the last few tries, and I hope you enjoy the ride! Up next, tonights dinner...