Meatless Monday - But on a Tuesday....

Krissy wasn't kidding when she said these were good! Yummy! I made zucchini fritters (except mine had zucchini and summer squash (from Gypsy Family Farms) that I had to use up in my fridge.) They have feta, fresh mint, dill, lemon zest, garlic... I made my mixture then went to get the kids and when I came back the house smelt amazing! Like garlic, lemon and fresh herbs!

I was a little worried about them falling apart when I fried them after the falafel incident but they turned out pretty good! I wish I had some time to make homemade coleslaw to go with my tomato salad and fritters but out of time so packaged it is :(

I am definitely getting more adventurous in my vegetarian cooking. I bought some quinoa at the health food store yesterday.. oh and some tofu! I had never heard of quinoa let alone ate it before I started eating at Island Chill. So I am ready to take on a few different recipies and try some more of it. I kind of scares me though because it is like cooking rice and I am HORRIBLE at cooking rice. It always turns out like rice pudding... pudding quinoa won't be so good for my salad!

Meatless Mondays I am back!!

Totally inspired today but my yummy lunch at Island Chill (maple ginger tofu wrap & quinoa salad - yes I am getting more adventurous in my choice off the menu!), my girlfriend had a spicy Thai tofu stir fry that looked so good.... so stir fry for supper it is! I decided to stay on the veggie track for Meatless Monday!

It really shouldn't be hard to do with all the veggies I have from Gypsy Family Farms in my fridge. I made a stir fry with the giant summer squash as the 'meat' of the dish... my kids think they look like spaceships so they are always excited to eat them. Threw in some other veggie and over the top of noodles... again a kid favorite, kids LOVE noodles! Of course I got the usual grunting from my poor dirty husband who has been on a roof all day 'is this a meatless Monday thing? humph... would be good with some meat'... I don't think he is going to be turning vegetarian any time soon!

Now for something creative for next week......

The Meatless Monday posts I forgot to post!

So I missed two of them I think...??

Ok one day I made a mushroom pasta with sour cream and smoked paprika... hmmm....

As you can tell the boys loved it...!!!

The other meal I made was a spinach and mushroom lasagna... I don't have any pictures because my camera battery was dead. The recipe was from cooks illustrated. Someone bought me the magazine to read while I was in hospital and I thought to myself 'hmm I should try this for Meatless Monday'!

Meatless Monday - Veggie Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries

Ahhh Meatless Monday how I have missed you.... I have been out of the kitchen for 2 weeks but watch out I am back! LOL I found this recipe on the food network... I was a little stumped as to what to make this week (blame it on the foggy brain) but luckily I spent a lot of time watching the food network the last couple of weeks and remembered a 'Guy's Big Bite' show where he made veggie burgers.... Brilliant! It looked super easy good way to get started again!
I bought pre-cut sweet potatoes in a bag. A little lazy yes but they were calling my name. I thought if I just tossed them in oil and some seasoning salt and put them in the oven they would turn out like oven baked fries... or crispy roasted potatoes.. or like the sweet potato fries at the Anchor Inn.... Wrong. 1st disaster of the night.


Now as I am putting all the ingredients together I am reminded of the 'falafel disaster' where everything just disintergrated in the pan as soon as it touched the hot oil. Veggies, beans, chickpeas, oats.... I am just dreading the 2nd disaster of the night... I am also thinking to myself maybe I shouldn't be worried about a project like Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' when I can't master Meatless Mondays!


My hubby is doing the Atkins Diet which I just don't get... I guess it works for some people but all the meat you can eat just doesn't seem healthy, although granted a 'manly way' to diet. I guess I can't knock it my everything in moderation diet doesn't seem to work.. not counting the half a tub of mint choc chip ice cream with chocolate shell and skor bits I had for lunch. Needless to say he won't be joining us on Mondays for supper until his dieting days are done.


But...... they turned out ok! I probably could have browned them a little more so they were a little bit more golden brown but they stayed together! Don't they look better and healthier than the ones above??? And they tasted pretty damn good too!!! oh and btw I opted for regular oven baked fries to have with it instead!

My Meatless Monday Veggie Burgers! Yummy!!!

Meatless Monday - Tomato, brie & mustard tart.

Mondays always seem to roll around so fast... Bad because it means the weekend is over :( But good as I get to try a new recipe. I love to cook so trying new recipes is exciting! Today's was made really simple as I had a ready made pastry shell so I thought 'what the hell!'... I am a terrible pastry maker.. just terrible. You bake it for 10-12 minutes first empty. You are meant to blind bake it but soon as I had no beans etc.. to do that I just shoved it in.. It didn't rise too much! You smear the bottom with a tablespoon of whole grain mustard, some grated cheese and lay the sliced tomatoes. Lay the sliced brie on top and pour over 2 eggs whisked with salt, pepper and herbs. Bake for 35 mins at 375 degrees.

Yummy!!!

Mason (the little guy) is a super picky eater.. Once you shovel a few mouthfuls in him he usually eats it (once he has realized he has no choice), but if it's not pasta or mashed potatoes you get the usual whiny line 'I don't want that' or 'I don't like that'. But he loved supper tonight! I told him it was egg pie with cheese (not a complete lie). Super easy to prepare and fast! I used an extra egg as I thought it would be a little more appealing to the kids, but it took a lot longer to cook. I also found that there was a lot of juice from the tomatoes. Maybe it depend on what kid of tomatoes you use but we are limited in the grocery store here and I love the flavour of the ones on the vine so that's what I used! Anyways.. very yummy. Give it a try!

Next week: I don't know yet! Any suggestions??

Meatless Monday - Wildrice Chili

Ok, So my Meatless Monday post is a little late.... and I have a confession to make....

Due to family Easter dinners we didn't do Meatless Monday until Tuesday! But I still did it this week... just a day late :) This week was wildrice chilli. It was so good packed full of veggies, beans... I used a mixed rice that you can buy in the grocery store, reason being my kids don't like straight wild rice. Super easy to make and tastes just like chili minus the meat - and healthier and full of fibre! Sean protested initially that it couldn't be called chili if it had no meat in it. But once he tasted it he said 'wow, this is good it tastes just like chili!' (yay I won him over!) I also added a little extra to the recipie like a chopped zucchini, some red and green peppers, mushrooms, canned tomatoes.... Here it is if you want to try it!

Wildrice Chili.
chopped onion
chopped celery
garlic
olive oil
can of tomato juice
1 cup water
bay leaves
2/3 cup wild rice
2 cans of beans (black beans, kidney beans, white kidney beans whatever you like!)
paprika
chili powder

Saute onion, celery, garlic in olive oil.... Add water & juice. Bring to boil & add bay leaves & rice. Stir, cover, simmer until rice is cooked. Add all the other stuff and cook until done! Don't forget to take out the bay leaves!!
We had ours with toast but garlic bread or some other fresh warmed bread would be good too!!


Next week: Tomato & Brie Tart.

Meatless Monday - Falafel disaster......

This is our first Meatless Monday. Why are we doing it? Well 3 reasons really...

1.) To be healthier
2.) To reduce our carbon foot print
3.) To expand our horizons!


I first read about this organization in this months Macleans... Funnily enough it coincided with a lunch at Island Chill and new vegetarian eatery in Gore Bay. Now I don't consider myself narrow minded by any means... I have traveled all over the world and LOVE food, so I will try anything! (unless super spicy) I was amazed though when I went to Island Chill that I had no idea what to order on the menu... I had no idea what Tofu tastes like, or a hemp burger? I mean if I am in a restaurant and I have a choice between a hemp burger or an 8 oz steak.. I pick the steak! I felt really silly... I ended up having a Panini filled with home made roasted red pepper hummus, red onions, olives and feta and a bowl of the most amazing veggie barley soup. All tasted amazing, full of flavour and of course fresh yummy veggies! AND HOME MADE!! Doesn't get any better than that!

I decided for my first Meatless Monday to make Falafels. Should be easy right? Grind up the chick peas, fry them stick in pita bread with salad... tadaaaa!!! Not so much. So this is what I ended up with... sludge in the bottom of a pan filled with oil. I tried breading them because I thought maybe they were too wet and needed something to dry them out... (those are the ones with the more golden brown coating - still sludge in the middle) No luck. My cooking skills do not extend to bread or falafels. Luckily however I live across the street from the grocery store and I was determined not to give up on my first Meatless Monday!!!!

Blue Menu Veggie Lasagna it was!!! So I invite you to follow me on Mondays.. I am going to do a 'meatless' post and discover vegetarian cooking! I'll post my triumphs and disasters and I am determined to stick to it!! Even if it means more Blue Menu!!! I am also open to any great vegetarian recipes you may know of that I can give a whirl!