~Round Two Of Meatless Mondays~

~Round Two~

Well this week turned out FANTASTIC! I had no idea what i was going to cook BUT i knew it was going to have BEANS in it so my boys would feel fuller, seeing thats what they all noticed last week after dinner....

So this morning i soaked 4 different kinds of beans you can use what ever kind of beans for this recipe i would imagine :) its not a recipe i found its one i threw together after looking at my spices and the contents of my fridge and pantry!

~What you need~

i think i measured out 4 cups of dryed beans from my jar!

Green Peppers(capsicum)

Onion (diced up thinly!)

Garlic

Dried Oregano

Ground Cumin

Ground Coriander

Sea Salt

Paprika

Chilli Powder

Tomatoe Paste

Canned Diced Tomatoes (keep the juice incase you need a lil liquid in begining)

Pasta of your choice or whatever you choose to serve this up with!

REMEMBER IF YOU ARE USING DRYED BEANS YOU NEED TO EITHER COOK THEM OR SOAK THEM BEFORE YOU START THIS DISH!

~How to throw it together~

Heat your oil in a pot when hot toss in your onions and garlic!

once they have cooked down some what start adding your spices (all to taste as per usual) so in goes the oregano,cumin,coriander,chilli powder and paprika! Stir through then add a few tablespoons of tomato paste if its to dry at this point add some juice from your canned tomatoes! This will help it out :) I also used some of the water from the beans about a couple of tablespoonfuls i believe! When the mixture has cooked a good 10 mins start adding your drained beans and mixing threw, at this point once all our beans have been added put your canned tomatoes in and let everything sit and simmer for about 15 mins.

I added the green peppers last as they were frozen :) and it melded in nicely while the pot was simmering! Taste and add salt if needed. I left the pot simmering a good hlf an hour before serving it on a bed of whole wheat thin noodles!

My hubby and son added a spoonful of sour cream to the top of theirs and loved the taste they said it was very YUMMY :)

~Beautiful Bread~

So have you ever made your own loaf of bread? From scratch? And realised just how delightful it is? After all the hard work you put into it and then taking the time to wait for it to rise then bake? I know it takes sometime but when i first started doing it i know that once i pulled out that piping hot loaf of bread out of the oven NOTHING else mattered! All that hard work was WORTH every minute specially once you slice of the first piece of bread when its still hot and you spread some butter on to it and it just oozes and melts across it! DIVINE i tell ya! It really is worth making your own bread these days because YOU know what goes into your bountiful bread! I have put so many things into my bread dough mixes its so much fun! And along with that its so much healthier for you when you do venture out and add goodies like grains and sometimes even cheeses and herbs!

This loaf pictured here is a whole wheat, wheat germ and steel cut oat sandwhich loaf! It made such beautiful slices of toast!

~Hearty Italian Soup~

This is a recipe i came up with sunday evening when i realised my son and hubby where on their way home and hey we dont have anything in the fridge they can heat up for dinner! So i ran to the fridge,freezer and pantry and here is the list of things i grabbed!

Fresh Green Beans

Garlic

Onions

Green Peppers (Capsicum)

Mushrooms

Ground Fennel

Dryed Basil

Frozen Pesto Cubes

Home Stewed Tomatoes

Homemade Tomato Juice

Homemade Stock (think it was chicken)

Heavy whipping Cream

Italian Sausage Mince or Links

Olive Oil

Water

Sour Cream and Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese for garnish!

~As per usual everything is to taste~

Remove skin from sausage if using sausages, heat pot with oil once hot and thinly diced onions and garlic saute for a few minutes then throw in your sausage, peppers and mushrooms cook until the sausage isnt pinkish anymore! Drain the mixture if you like as sauasage is pretty fatty! Once you have drained it add your fennel and basil and mix well, add a couple cups of stock at this point and mix well let the soup sit and simmer for about 15-20 mins. Now add 1-2 cups of water to your soup at this point you will want to add your green beans :) let the soup cook another 20mins stir it through out this time. Add about hlf and cup to a cup of heavy whipping cream depends how creamy you want the soup to be, keep in mind this is NOT a thick soup at all! The longer it cooks the tastier it gets :)

The bowls of soup you see pictured are garnished with sour cream and freshly grated parmesan cheese!

~Roti~

No recipe for these delish breads :) just some pictures so you all can see wat i was talking about in a previous post about Curry please check it out if you havent done so :)

~Praying For Good News~

Well the last couple of weeks have been rough on me mentally and physically but ive not really said anything about it in bloggy land....A couple of weeks ago i started having some extremely bad pains near/over my right ovary...so painful i've pretty much spent the last couple weeks doing not much house work wise or going back to work with my mother in law since our break after new years...And i can tolerate a good amount of pain....(tho if you had of seen me getting my first pair of tattoos a couple weeks ago you would not believe me BUT thats a different post to come....) BUT anyway i finally decided it was enough and that i shouldnt let the pain continue for the sheer fact that i only have ONE ovary....and we really do want one more child atleast....and have done for a very LONG time now to be honest but ive had fertility issues......So friday i seen my OBGYN and she had blood drawn..now im playing the waiting game until wed when i will be having an ultra sound to see what kind of state my ovary is in...she is hoping i dont have a Tubal Pregnancy i decided last nite that i was NOT going to look this up and understand what exactly the whole thing meant...i half new what it was but considering ive been living off of 2 hours of sleep a nite due to pain and worry....it would be best to leave it be and not know fully what i was looking at IF the results came back and this was what my situation was..So as you can see i did NOT follow threw with that... Anyway so this is the reason why i am hoping and praying for good news.... Sorry to be a downer i do have some foodie posts to put up but i needed to get this off my chest...and i could use the extra prayers!

~Fryed Cabbage Onions and Bacon~

This is an extremely EASY side dish to serve with any meal! You do NOT have to add bacon it will still taste delish!

Take a few strips of bacon slice them up thin toss em into a hot pan that has a little olive oil in it (wait for the sizzle! lol)

Then add crushed/minced garlic to taste!

Add thinly sliced onions to the pan and saute!

Add a lil salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions!

Then add your sliced cabbage to the pan! Stir the mixture throughly to get all the tasty flavours coating the cabbage!

Cook till your cabbage and onions are nice and sauteed!

Serve with your fav main dish! Its pictured here with Beef Curry

~Malaysian Curry~

Oh how i love the smell of a GOOD curry slowly simmering on my stove!

How many of you have made a real authentic asian curry?

I have been asked plenty of times "What exactly goes into a Malaysian Curry"

The answer to that is below in pictures :) (minus the Beef that is and onions, potatoes and a can of coconut milk!)

What goes well with curry? Besides rice we love to eat our curry with a asian style pancake or indian style naan i guess you could call it! We eat ours not all the time but sometimes we eat our curry with Roti which is so yummy! Sometimes i will fry up an egg if the boys are feeling the mood for some creamy yolk ooze over the top of the curry! I if on hand will slice up a cucumber to crunch on as well with the curry YUMO! What else goes with it? Lets see any kind of veggie really :) Sometimes i will fry up some cabbage onions garlic a lil chilli and bacon! DIVINE! Or if its a hot curry i will make up veggies like sliced carrots chopped cabbage, onions, green beans, potatoes garlic ginger and coconut milk this makes the curry a little more calmer!

~Meatless Monday~

Yep this household has now started doing "Meatless Mondays" We didnt get here as easily as i had hoped for BUT we got here! So whats on the menu for tonite?

I served my boys as follows:

Creamy Veggies Tortilini Bake

10 Grain Whole Wheat Bread

and

Creamy Balsamic Vineagar Asparagus!

My so was very impressed with dinner, he did NOT believe me when i told him there was no meat in that meal at all! He gasped very funny to watch a very over dramatic 6 yr old reacting to that information!

~Asparagus Recipe~

Asparagus Spears

Hlf an Onion

Garlic

S&P

Olive Oil

Butter

Cream (heavy whipping cream)

Balsalmic Vinegar

* Snap the ends off your spears and wash

*finely chop your onion

*heat your oil and butter in a pan

*add the onions and garlic to the hot oil/butter

*sautee the onions and garlic till nice and tender

*add a tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar

*then add a couple tablespoons of cream and let it simmer to make a nice sauce

*now add the snapped asparagus spears and mix threw the sauce

*turn the heat off and put the lid on the saucepan and let the spears steam and sautee in the sauce.

~Tortilini Veggie Bake Recipe~

Mushrooms

Butternut Squash

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Yellow Squash

Zucchini

Onion

Garlic

Cream (heavy whipping cream)

Stock(chicken/veggie whatever u have)

S&P

Olive Oil

Fennel Powder

Dryed LimeBasil Leaves

Grated Parmesan Cheese

*Chop/slice up all your veggies to desired bite sized

*Heat pan and add oil and till hot

*Add your onions and garlic

*Add 1/2cup of stock to your onions/garlic let simmer

*Then add your fennel and basil to taste and simmer a lil longer

*When your onions have cooked down add your veggies

*Cook to your veggies to desired texture

*Add 1/2 a cup of cream and let simmer

*Preheat oven to melt cheese on the bake

*Take your cooked Tortilini and pour into a cassarole dish

*Take your veggies and pour over the pasta evenly as best you can!

*sprinkle your cheese over top and place the dish in the oven to melt the cheese!

~SERVE AND ENJOY~