Day 23 - Stir fry with Tempeh

I can't cook a decent stir fry.  My stir fries always come out soggy, overdone and with the flavours all wrong.  Fortunately dear husband is better at it than me.  Actually he is much better at it.  We both know this.  So if he offers to cook the chances are it is going to be stir fry.  And If I don't feel like cooking, or I have a lot to do, (such as getting an assignment in on time as was the case last night) - I buy bok choy.

The tempeh was fried in a little dark soy sauce and served on the side.

We play to our strengths.  And I think that is good for a marriage.  In fact, I think it is a good approach for life in general.

Day 22 - Bangers, Mash, Onions and Veggies

After all that whinging and whining last night about making dinner I feel a bit silly blogging about what I made when I finally got to it.  Funny how once you actually get off your lazy butt the task becomes so much more manageable then when you are sitting around moaning about it.

Dinner took me 17 minutes from start to the plate (yes I timed it).  The potatoes took the longest.  I don't peel potatoes, which saves time and increases nutritional value.   Last night I cut them up very small so they would boil quicker.  Mashed up with a dash of Vitasoy (soy milk), a blob of Nuttelex (margarine), a sprinkling of salt and a dousing in gravy = yummy.  Mashed potato is such a great comfort food. 

Dear husband cooked dinner tonight and it was delicious.  But you will have to wait until tomorrow to see what he made.

I need a cool blog name for my dear husband.  All the cool bloggers have cool code names for their partner.  I can't keep calling him dear husband, that just doesn't sound cool enough at all.  I have never been very good at "cool".  Daggy and nerdy maybe.  Cool - not so much.  So I am open to suggestions (from those of you who know my dear husband, and even from those of you who don't) about what to call dear husband in my personal blog land. After all, if he is going to make an appearance as the chef in tomorrow's blog, surely he deserves his own special cool name.

Day 21 - Curry in a Hurry

Lovely left-overs for dinner last night.  It was even yummier than the first night.  But I didn't take a photo.  Left-overs in the fridge make life so much easier.  A couple of minutes in the microwave and dinner is sorted.  

Right now it is time to get dinner ready for tonight but I just can't be bothered.  I know I should go and make us a healthy dinner.  Earlier today I had been planning to make something nice for dinner - right now I am over that plan.  There are plenty of veggies and some simple vegan convenience foods in the fridge/freezer.  Most of the time I enjoy preparing food, even if it is just a quick and simple dinner.  But today lethargy is taking over.  I know that if I get up off this chair I could make us something yummy and healthy.  But I don't feel like something yummy and healthy.  I feel like eating doughnuts.  Or chocolate.  Or cake.  Or all three.  And I am wondering why I didn't make two Orange and Poppy Seed cakes a few days ago so we would still have some left to eat now.  Dreadful isn't it?

It is even more dreadful because I went to the dentist today and I had to have a filling.  Ok, so I had to have 2 fillings.  Just what would the dentist think of me if she knew I would prefer to eat chocolate pudding than vegetables for dinner tonight?  Maybe she wouldn't be that surprised, after all, she did get a good look at my sweet tooth today.

Well that is quite enough wallowing and whinging.  Time to act like a grownup and get on with it. 

I really admire all those mums out there who make dinner every night for their kids.  When I feel like this it is no big deal if I don't make dinner.  Dear husband is perfectly capable of getting himself something to eat.  And if won't kill me to eat peanut butter on toast for dinner.  But if I had couple of kids around I suppose I would have to make dinner.  How do mums do it?  Night after night?  Hip hip hooray for all the mums, and dads, who made dinner tonight!

Day 19 - Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry

Last nights dinner was made from a recipe in Veganomicon.  Such a great recipe book!  So grateful to my friend for leaving her vegan books with me while she is on the other side of the world.

Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry. 

This was not difficult to make.  The only changes I made to the recipe was to leave out the 1.5 teaspoons of salt and add 2 cloves of garlic (we like garlic).  The recipe says "Partially cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender but not completely falling apart."  And then you turn the heat off and let it stand for 15 minutes with the lid on.  Unfortunately by that time my cauliflower was starting to fall apart so next time I will be turn the heat off a little earlier.

The recipe is not on the Post Punk Kitchen web site.  Isa and Terry are very generous with putting their recipes on line, but we can't expect them all to be there I guess.  Someone has submitted a version of the recipe here on Spark Recipes if you want to try it.  If you leave out the carrot and use a large parsnip instead you will be pretty close to the Veganomicon recipe.

I love making curries like this that keep so well in the fridge for a few days.  So great to have such a healthy, delicious lunch to take to work the next day!

Day 18 - Orange and Poppy Seed Cake

No, we didn't have cake for dinner.  As if!  (Although, to be honest, if I did have cake for dinner it wouldn't be the first time.)   We had falafel gyros for dinner.  But you have already seen photos of that a few days ago.  And if you have seen one gyro made by me you have kind of seen them all.  So I thought that I would show you what I baked today instead.
 

Moist, zesty Orange and Poppy Seed Cake.  I was pretty happy with the outcome but I was thinking I could maybe tweak the recipe a little more to make it truly perfect.  But when I mentioned this to my dear husband he said "It's delicious! I couldn't imagine an Orange and Poppy Seed Cake being any more perfect"  So there you have it.  It is scrummy just as it is.

This loaf did develop a few cracks on top.  Does that mean my oven was too hot?  Too cold?  Too much moisture?  What?  But, I don't really mind it looking like this. I think it gives it that "home cooked" look. 

I adapted the recipe from my faithful old Family Circle recipe book: "Cooking.  A Commonsense Guide."  The recipe in the Family Circle recipe book suggests topping it with a lemon butter cream icing but I don't think the cake really needs it (and why lemon, not orange, I don't know).  It is very satisfying just as it is, especially with a cup of tea while it is still warm from the oven.  But you could dress it up with tangy orange cream icing if you felt like it.  And of course the icing would hide the cracks in the top if they bothered you.


Ingredients
1½ cups self raising flour
⅓ cup ground almonds
¼ cup poppy seeds
185gm margarine
⅔ cup castor sugar
¼ cup orange marmalade (but remove any large pieces of rind)
3 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
⅓ cup orange juice (squeezed from the orange you have just grated zest from)
¾ cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Grease and line a deep loaf tin.  (You could use a round cake tin or ring tin if you you prefer).
3. In a large bowl mix the flour, ground almonds and poppy seeds.  Make a well in the centre.
4. Mix the vinegar into the soy milk and allow to stand for a few minutes.
5. Put the margarine, sugar, marmalade, orange rind and orange juice in a pan.  Stir over a low heat until smooth.
6. Poor the orange mixture into the dry ingedients and whisk until smooth.
7. Add the soy milk mixture and whisk until just combined.
8. Pour into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
9.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the tin.

Day 17 - Pumpkin Soup.

When it comes to pumpkin soup I like to keep it simple.  No fancy ingredients or exotic flavor influences.  Just pure, unadulterated, thick, creamy pumpkin goodness. 

Okay, maybe just a sprinkle of nutmeg.  But nothing else.

And, as you can see from the pictures, I like it thick.  Very thick.

Most of you can probably make pumpkin soup perfectly well without a recipe.  But here is my offering to the cyberspace catalogue of soup recipes just because I would rather type it up than go and tidy up my messy house. 

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons margarine (but you could use oil)
Approx 1kg of chopped up pumpkin
(I started with 1.2kg and ended up with just under 1kg)
2 cups stock
2 cups water
1 cup soy milk (a creamy one - don't spoil it with a low fat one).

Method:
1.  Saute the onion and garlic in the margarine over a medium for about 5 minutes
2. Add the pumpkin, stock and water.  Simmer with the lid on loosely for about 25 minutes, until the pumpkin is super soft and falling apart.
3.  Allow the soup to cool a little then use a stick blender to blend the soup until very smooth.  The mix will almost resemble pumpkin puree at this stage.  (You can process the soup in batches in a blender if you have the misfortune of not owning a stick blender).
4.  Add the soy milk and stir.  If it is too cool gently reheat over a low heat while stirring frequently. If it is too thick for your liking then add a little more soymilk, water or stock until it suits you perfectly.
5.  Serve with a sprinkling of nutmeg or pepper and fresh bread (multi-grain or wholemeal of course).