Lentil "Stew", Chickpea Tagine, and Roasted Potatoes tossed with Chermoula...

....i.e. things I don't have a proper recipe for. This lentil "stew" was really more like potatoes, lentils, and noodles with a little bit of broth. It was really tasty no matter what you call it. I cooked one diced onion with three red potatoes, some salt, a bay leaf, a few cloves of chopped garlic, and a generous amount of red pepper flakes. It smelled fantastic, and I could have eaten it as was....but it wouldn't have been a very complete meal....not that that always stops me.

Yummy right? Next I added some rinsed lentils and stock and boiled it for about ten minutes before adding the macaroni noodles. I cooked it for about 9 minutes more and served it with whole wheat rosemary garlic bread. If I had some baby spinach I would have tossed it in at the end. I added extra red pepper flakes to mine and my husbands bowl. Everyone really liked it.

This lovely meal is a chickpea and carrot tagine that I made to suit what I had on hand. I added some frozen spinach to the mix for an extra veg, and I doubled the chickpeas and spices.

The potatoes were simply roasted and then tossed with chermoula. I liked both dishes, but felt they didn't go super well together. The next day I tossed the chermoula with rice and it was a much happier pairing. Don't get me wrong, the potatoes were fantastic, I just think they would have been better paired with something else. I am thinking it would make for a lovely lunch if I added some chickpeas and turned it into sort of a potato salad and stuffed the whole mess into a pita.

Mujadara in a Pita with Spicy Eggplant Sauce

I saw mujadara over at The Vegan Mouse, and my first thought was why have I never made this?? Lentils.......onions....rice??? This is cheap, this is easy, this is flavorful........it will help if you like the flavor of onions, and I really really do. You will find recipes for mujadara all over the web, I chose a simple one that involved only rice, lentils, salt, pepper, cumin, and onions...I added a bay leaf while it all cooked up, but other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely....I wish I could find that recipe now. It is bookmarked on my other computer. I will add it when I get the chance.

Mujadara is very tasty on it's own, but I wanted a little zing to make it into a pita sandwich the next day for lunch. I thinly sliced an eggplant and pan fried it in about 1tbs of oil over medium heat, along with one onion also thinly sliced and 1/2 tsp of salt. I cooked the eggplant for ten minutes, then flipped and cooked for ten more minutes. Then I added a jar of tomato paste mixed with one cup of water (make sure you lower the heat before you add this as it will splatter a good bit). I simmered this covered for about 20 minutes until the eggplant cooked into a mush (mmmmmmm eggplant mush). I removed it from the heat and added about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, more salt, and a generous amount of cayenne. I actually think this sauce would be quite good on it's own as a dip for pita bread, or over rice. I was inspired by a Persian eggplant dish that I have been wanting to make for a while. However I was missing some key ingredients, so this was my compromise. You can use 1/2 cup of coconut milk to replace the heavy whipping cream.

In short this dish will be making the rotation, it is warm and comforting and I imagine it would be quite good in the summer months with some sort of cucumber yogurt sauce. Most of the onions are on the side, which appealed to my daughter, and it's super cheap which appeals to all of us. I heart lentils, how about you?

Lentils In a Creamy Spicy Tomato Sauce

I am a lean (kind of) mean (not on purpose of course) meal freezing machine!


Little man had a stomach bug that totally caught me off guard. All he wanted was to be held and cuddled 24-7, and while I in no way mind doing so it made me aware of the fact that we are getting low on freezer meals. Anyhoo, you may see a little less of me in the next few weeks as I build up my reserves. In the mean time, we are also still working on squirrelling away money to put into savings. And what is cheaper than lentils?? Right? Well I served this dish over rice, and you could use any type of beans you like in place of lentils.

This meal is the perfect example of why I like to have lots of spices on hand. This is really a quite ordinary dish...garlic, tomato sauce, beans, not very exciting at all. By using some spices that I always have readily available, garam masala, cumin, paprika, it turns into a scrumptious dish that the whole family enjoys.

What you need:

2 tbs butter (or olive oil)
3 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1 tsp chili powder
dash or two of cayenne
5 cloves of pressed garlic
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
1 can coconut milk
Salt to taste
2-4 cups of cooked beans (I used lentils, kidney beans might work well in this too)
If you want to go with canned beans, be sure to drain and rinse them well.I used a lot of beans, I was going for a high protein high fiber meal. Add the beans to your liking and tastes.


Melt the butter (or heat the oil) over medium heat and add the spices (garam masala, paprika, cumin, ginger, chili powder, and cayenne). Cook about a minute and a half until fragrant.

Add the garlic and cook one minute more.

Add the tomato paste and stir. Lower the heat if necessary, tomato products are quick to burn (if memory serves me this is because of their high sugar content, anyone know for sure?)

Slowly stir in the tomato sauce and the coconut milk.

Add salt to taste and heat through.

Add the beans and cook until heated through once more.

Adjust to suit tastes (more cayenne, salt etc) and serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro.

Although this lovely dish looks kind of like dog food it was quite tasty, and we all enjoyed it very much. I hope you do as well.

Lentil Croquettes

We are about to spend 450 dollars on a plumber. It is going to be ok though, because I will just take it from our food budget for the month.....let's see...
wait a minute, let me do the math.....
Yes, we will still have -50 dollars for groceries....

...

craaaaawfish

And my husbands birthday is coming up....

double craw fish.

Ever have a month like this? We will actually be ok, the money will come out of our emergency fund. However, I like to replace that fund as quickly as possible. So I am hoping to cut down on our grocery bill this month in order to pay our savings back.

One of the recipes I turn to when money is tight is lentil croquettes. They are filling, tasty, and cheap. You can dress them up with Indian spices, or sauces, such as tomato chutney.

Lentil croquettes are basically caramelized onions, lentils and bread crumbs shaped into patties. The full recipe is from the book "Vegetarian Cooking for everyone". I think this book is another must have. It's really quite fantastic. So once again I have no recipe (sorry) or picture.....all I have is this horrible heat induced migraine and a cup of chamomile tea...mmmmm.

Perhaps while I'm recovering you could keep yourself busy by telling me your favorite super cheap go to when you have to drop half a thou on pipes of all the stupid things, when what you really need is pants that fit.....hmmmm....just tell me about your favorite cheap dinner. :)

Or you could check out some of my other posts that include recipes and photos....here are some of my faves!

Curried Pumpkin Soup
Apple Cinnamon Dessert Pizza
Creamy Indian Spiced Spinach
Garlic Ginger Butter
Roasted Eggplant Unmeatballs

Coconut Ginger Rice with Crispy Fried Shallots

My Husband wanted me to make this for a potluck that his work is having....I wanted to make pasta salad. We have a jar of mayo in the fridge (no clue why, I just work here), and I'd like to get rid of it because little man is allergic. My thought is...people like mayonnaise. If I make a pasta salad, people will eat it, the mayonnaise will be gone, and all will be right with the world once more.

But my husband looked at me with those eyes that said, " I am really excited about this* dish." So I gave in. I won't be there to see the polite, yet inquisitive faces when he sets down a large bowl of rice and lentils, so I don't have to know how it is received. I will be at home chowing down on some leftovers and watching "13 going on 30" in peace.

This decision however posed another question....do I make it to suit my own taste? Should I tone down the spices for a more mellow flavor that would be pleasing to the masses? Or do I kick it up a notch and wait for the leftovers to come back to me. I decided to compromise at about halfway. Feel free to adjust it to suit your tastes.

I really enjoy this recipe, and so do the kiddos. The coconut milk is full of fat and calories that are super good for their little growing bodies. I usually take a smaller portion for myself, and load up with a big side of steamed veggies. It's all about moderation, don't ya know.

Also important to note, the crispy fried shallots make an excellent topper on steamed veggies! It's the crunch of a breadcrumb, the taste of an onion ring, all without the gluten!


What you need

1 can coconut milk
2 tbs plus one tsp minced ginger from a jar
6 cloves garlic peeled and pressed
2 tbs sugar
cayenne to taste
2 dashes nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3 rice cooker cups rice
1 rice cooker cup lentils (rinsed well, drained, and sorted as always)
broth
more salt
rice cooker

oil
shallots
more salt

Whisk together the first seven ingredients in a bowl.

Add the rice and lentils to your rice cooker, and pour the coconut mixture over the top. Add broth up to the liquid line required for four cups of rice.

Press down the lever and walk away.

Meanwhile in the frying pan.....

Heat your oil over medium heat and thinly slice your shallots.

Carefully add the shallots to your hot oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Cook until crispy, flipping once. For me it took about 3 minutes on each side, but it may take longer depending on how your stove cooks...how thin you slice...etc.

Remove shallots with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel (preferably out of reach of the hubster, trust me it makes a difference) taste, and add more salt if desired

At some point your rice cooker will tell you it is done. At this point you should walk over and find out if it's a lying sissy la la or not. You will be able to tell by...
1.) the liquid will be gone
2.) the taste test, it should be the right texture............................................

....

Mine was not done...grrr....slam down the cook button and show that rice cooker who's boss. If it makes you feel better you can mutter under your breath, "I'll tell you when you're done". When your rice cooker is really and truly done, dump the contents into your serving bowl, season with salt to taste, fluff, and sprinkle shallots over the top as garnish.



*I was going to say, "look at me getting all fancy here with the italics and stuff. Don't worry it took me about twenty minutes to figure out how to do that, and switch it back. I'm not getting all high tech on you". Then I hit publish and totally forgot about my little asterisk friend for about 24 hours...oops....ya high tech editing is at the bottom of my list of stuff to improve on. How bout I focus on finishing my blog once and a while.

Saffron Rice with Lentils and Garlic Butter

The good news is I found my camera...the bad news is that it wasn't before I took this picture.
This was yummy. I'd like to say we all enjoyed heaping bowls of this round the dinner table, but that would be a lie. The truth is that my darling son woke up early from nap time, and he woke up hungry. And consequently he ate 3 adult size bowls of this, the result being that there was little left for the rest of us to eat. So I will definitely be using this as a side dish next time. Maybe along side some grilled veggies. If you don't have saffron, I'm not going to say you should go out and buy some just for this recipe, as it is very expensive. However, should you happen to have a bit left over from another recipe, or if you just love saffron rice as much as I do I think this is a good place to use it. I made this in my rice cooker......what's that, you don't have a rice cooker? Well go get one, no seriously, they are awesome.

What you need for the rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of lentils rinsed and sorted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pinches of saffron
1 tbs butter
3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
Broth

What you need for the garlic butter
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
Pressed garlic (I used 4 cloves) and salt (I used about 1/4 tsp) to taste.

Add the rice, lentils,salt, pepper, chopped garlic, butter, and saffron to your rice cooker. Add broth to the fill line required by your rice cooker for 3 rice cooker cups of rice. Cook. :)

Mix together the remaining garlic, butter, and salt to taste. Top your saffron rice with this mixture as desired. I think this would have been outstanding with a few tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs. Maybe next time.

To veganize simply replace butter with vegan "butter".

On Saving Money and Time

This is a gluten free cake I made, it has nothing to do with the following blog. Doesn't it look yummy though?

The hubster and I eat out about once a month, sometimes less. It seems silly to pay triple the amount for something that we could easily make at home. Not to mention worrying about food allergies, cross contamination, a child with sensory integration problems is no fun in a restaurant, and oh there was that one lovely occasion that I took a big bite of my veggie burger to find it was a beef burger........yuck. Beyond that, since moving here we have found no food that is so superb, or that tickles our taste buds to a degree that we MUST have it. So in short, until a vegetarian restaurant opens in town, or we find the ultimate Thai curry we will be partaking of most of our meals at home.


We stay super busy though, when I'm not at Dr.s appointments, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, the gym, gymnastics, story time, the park, play group, or church, I am at home. While at home I am cooking, cleaning, crafting with the kids, lesson planning, cooking, and blogging about what I am cooking......sometimes I sleep. Here are a few things I do so that my family is always fed, and also a few tips on making meals special without spending all a lot of dough.

• I thought it would be fun to make this blog bulleted...I like bulleted blogs, they are quite fun aren't they? I hope you like them too, imagine....mankind finally found a good use for bullets, just another wonder of the interweb.
• I keep a well stocked pantry, plenty of rice, beans (canned and dried), coconut milk, pasta of all sorts, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sulfite free dried fruits, Spices. There isn't a bean or veggie I have met yet that doesn't taste good with Indian spices on it, if I'm stuck for an idea or I just have to work with what is on hand I will turn it into a curry.
• I also keep a well stocked freezer, not only with frozen vegetables that I have bought at the store, but also foods that I have made. I always try and keep a few of the kids favorite meals in the freezer like chili or spinach soup. Beans also freeze well. I will often make a large pot of beans when I have time and store them in the freezer for future use. Currently in my freezer I have home made broth, chickpeas, chili, taco filling, spinach soup, home made pop tarts, and cookies.....cookies freeze well too.
  
• Meal planning is important!!! I started meal planning in the land before kids and it has really paid off to have it as a habit. I shudder to think how much food we threw out before I started meal planning, produce wouldn't get used, or I wouldn't have to make this that or the other thing....oh it was awful. Now if I know Tuesday afternoon is going to be hectic I know I need to throw something in the crock pot Tuesday morning or declare it left over night. This saves us from making a mad dash to a restaurant because "I don't have time to cook" or even worse if because of poor planning I start thinking about what to make for dinner after everyone is already hungry. Crock pot meals are for busy days, casseroles (because they reheat well) are for days when I know the hubster won't be home in time for dinner, and leftovers or previously frozen meals are planned for the nights when the hubby has the kids all to himself. Produce that will quickly go bad is used early in the week, while squash, carrots and potatoes can be used later.
  
• I have plan B meals, a mac and cheese recipe that takes 15 minutes, pita pizzas that can be thrown together in no time, and other meals that I always have on hand.
  
• I love me some small appliances. The crock pot, toaster oven, rice cooker and even the waffle iron can cut down on time in the kitchen, and I experiment with them regularly, but most often in the summer when we don't use our oven.
• We picnic! At the park, in our yard, and even sometimes in our living room. My daughter gets tickled pink at the idea of eating an a blanket on the floor. It makes sandwiches and diced up fruit seem special and fun.
• The hubster and I sometimes eat a special dinner after the kids are in bed. I might buy one fancy ingredient like truffle oil or an imported cheese, and it is still so much cheaper than eating out.
• In a word.....lentils. Lentils are cheap, and full of protein. Learn to love them
• Buy seasonally! Join a co-op, shop farmers markets and oooooh...
• Grow your own!!!! Anyone can have an herb garden, it's so easy and fresh herbs spruce up any meal. Plus some can be dried, or even frozen for future use. And if you have the space why not a veggie garden? Eating a fresh tomato is a wonderful experience.
• Lastly....and I'm putting this last because it really doesn't count as "not eating out"....but it's my blog and I'll do what I want. Sometimes we go out just for dessert. We get ice cream, or stop by a bakery, and I'm sure the kids enjoy it just as much (if not more) as if we had eaten a whole meal out.
  

Pantry cooking....really mostly lentils

The dishwasher, and bathtub broke.....so we didn't go grocery shopping this week. I love that I live in a place and time where even when we "don't have anything to eat", we still have food. And I feel incredibly blessed to have a dishwasher in the first place so I am not going to complain if it doesn't work for a week or so.
I love a challenge, if they cooked with lentils, and artichokes on Chopped, instead of eel and scallops I would totally go on that show. I may bomb, but I think I would have fun. Now I don't have measurements, because I wasn't paying attention, because I was really absorbed in the fact that I felt like poo....but if I make these again (which I totally will because they were the bomb diggity) I will come back and amend this blog.
The first dish, I have decided to call "citrusy lentils and Thai lime pilaf salad". I sauteed some garlic, ginger, and a healthy dose of cayenne in olive oil and soy sauce. Then I added about a cup of lentils (rinsed...always rinsed) and enough water to cover, a bay leaf, and about 1/4 cup of orange juice. I simmered it until the lentils were done, adding more water and O.J. as needed. Then I tossed this mixture (minus bay leaf) with some Thai style lime pilaf from T.J's...it was fantastic, I could totally see myself serving this in lettuce cups on a hot day. DH loved it.

The second dish is a lentil curry I make quite frequently in my rice cooker, it's just two parts lentils, one part rice, an onion, crushed garlic, cayenne, curry powder, turmeric, salt, and a couple handfuls of raisins, it comes out delish, and DD loves it!

Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole

I had some lentils leftover from yesterday so I decided to throw it in a pan with a bunch of other stuff we had lying around, and call it a casserole. This was actually a big hit. DD ate an adult size serving, DH had two servings. Even DS had two servings, directly after which DH called out "Not it!", seeing as DS isn't potty trained yet.

You will need...
2 cups cooked brown rice
2ish cups cooked lentils
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
4 tbs butter divided
3tbs flour
2 cups milk
salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste

In a large pot melt 1tbs of butter, add the mushrooms and some seasonings and cook until brown. Add the lentils and rice and toss to coat with the buttery mushroomy goodness. Empty this mixture into a casserole dish. Put the pot back on the stove with the remaining butter and wait until it has melted. Whisk in the flour until a paste forms and cook for about a minute more, then pour the milk in all at once and whisk like mad. Cook until thickened, season with salt, garlic salt, and pepper to taste. Pour this sauce over the top of the casserole and bake until warmed throughout.
I will admit, this is one of those dishes that made me wonder if we would have loved it as much if we ate a conventional American diet, but if nothing else it's proof that if you offer kids healthy options they will eat them...maybe not always, but sometimes. And if you just keep trying new foods different ways, you may just find yourself some day raving about lentils.....

Creamy Sweet Potato Curry with Lentils

Sweet potatoes used to really gross me out. I've had them butchered in more ways than I care to recall. However, I read in a book that they were super healthy and oh so good for women to eat, and I decided I would try them in different recipes until I liked them. I found that not only did I like sweet potatoes in sweet recipes like sweet potato casserole with pecan struessel, but I enjoyed them even more so (and could eat a surprising amount of them) when added to savory dishes like this curry. I was quite tired when I made this so while I tried to keep track of how much of this and that I was adding, I just couldn't keep my mind on the task at hand, most of these ingredients can be adjusted to taste.

2 tbs Olive oil
dash o' salt
1/4 cup curry paste (Indian style)
dash o' cayenne
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbs minced fresh ginger
3 cups COOKED lentils
5 roasted sweet potatoes (skins removed, and mashed)
1 can coconut milk
some veggie broth to thin

Heat the olive oil in the skillet and add the curry paste, stirring until it is evenly dispersed. Add the garlic, ginger, and dash of salt heating over medium and stirring until fragrant (about a minute to two minutes). Add cayenne and lentils and lower heat, stirring until mixed thoroughly. Stir in sweet potatoes, and coconut milk, adding broth to thin to desired consistency. Serve over brown rice.