Basil, Pasta, Vegetables.

It's been a long time since I've actually cooked. I went to PEI, and ever since I got back things have been a little off kilter. But I bought fresh ingredients and promised myself I would use them. This is what came out of it. It was so good... way better than anything else I've made. There was fresh basil involved, and I'm sure that was part of it because otherwise this is pretty standard.

In it is:

EVOO
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
1/2 a broccoli crown
1/2 package of fake ground beef
handfuls of coarsely chopped fresh spinach
handfuls of more finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 tbsp (ish) butter
grated parmesan
pepper
2 servings of pasta

that made about 2 portions. I had it for lunch today too!

Rice and Lentils (and corn, and broccoli...)

It's corn season!

My mom used to make us Rice and Lentils with cream of mushroom soup and I've been thinking about it lately, so I got some instructions and it turned out to be crazy easy. I usually hate the phrase 'comfort food', but this totally is one so it can't be avoided. And with low-fat soup, it's not even that bad for me.

Use 1/4 c. lentils to 3/4c. brown rice, and empty a can of cream of mushroom soup into a measuring cup. Fill with water until it gets to 2c., then pour in a pot with the rice and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and let it cook until all the liquid has been absorbed.
That's it! Add some salt, and you've got dinner.

Pasta with Garlic and Parmesan (etc.)

I bought a lot of parsley. Like, a lot of parsley. It just all happened so fast... And to make matters worse, we're leaving town for the weekend so my produce will be left unsupervised.

So basically, whatever I made tonight had to use up a sizeable chunk. I made up some kind of pasta/fakemeat/garlic/parmesan thing, and it worked out really well. I'm definitely going to try and repeat it. I intended to use fake ground beef, but realized at the last second that I had accidentally bought fake ground chicken instead. It was no big deal, and may even have been better this way.


I used:
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 yellow onion
1 orange pepper
2 stalks broccoli
2 stalks green onion
handful chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c. parmesan
1 1/2c. macaroni
1/2 pkg. soy ground chicken
Salt, pepper, garlic salt.

To start, put a pot on to boil with heavily salted water, and steam the broccoli in the microwave for 2 minutes. Heat a pan over low heat with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add garlic and onion and simmer until they've browned a little. Put macaroni in water. Add peppers, broccoli, and green onion to the pan and turn up to medium. Saute for several minutes, then add ground soy. Once the pasta is ready, strain it and add to pan. Add remaining tbsp. of oil, and toss. Add parmesan, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. I think this is best with a ton of pepper, but do it to taste of course. Cook for a few more minutes, then serve! This makes 2 large portions, and probably 4 side dish portions.

Strawberry Oat Muffins

I'm in the mood for muffins!

These turned out pretty well. They were dense and hearty, and not very sweet - definitely a healthy-breakfast item, not something you'd bring to a brunch. I went for the absolute healthiest, lowest fat, lowest sugar, lowest calorie recipe I could find... but I think I can do better, so I'm not getting too attached to this one. More are on the way, because I still have a ton of raspberries and banana in the fridge.



I got the recipe here: http://www.kelownaparents.com/?p=67

1c. whole wheat flour
1c. rolled oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnacom
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. yogurt
1/2c. brown sugar
1 c. strawberries

Pre-heat oven to 425. Grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a seperate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, yogurt and sugar. Mix in strawberries. Stir strawberry mixture until evenly moist. Spoon into cups. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

They're about 115 calories each.

Basic Oatmeal

I had a nice breakfast this morning and thought I would sing oatmeal's praises.

When we were kids, it was mandatory to eat a bowl of oatmeal while waiting for the pizza guy to arrive - my mom felt better about letting us eat junk if we filled up on something super healthy first. It was a pretty solid plan, and I grew up associating oatmeal with good times. It's the absolute easiest to make, and there's nothing better than a big bowl of something warm in the early hours. (Okay, it's 10:30.)

There are tons of fancier ways to do this, but I like to keep it as simple as possible so I'm never disappointed if we're out of anything. I know I have oats, I know I have water.. that's all I need. Also, I'm more inclined to make it if it takes minimal effort.

I use 1/3c. quick oats and 3/4 c. water. (You could switch some or all of that out for milk)

Put it in a pot and bring it to a boil (stirring, stirring). Set it to low and let it simmer until it looks like oatmeal. Turn the heat off, and let it settle for a minute or two.. then it's done!

I suggest topping it with brown sugar, cinnamon and berries. Although, if you want to make it hilariously diet-friendly..... I swap the brown sugar for light syrup. It tastes fine, but I don't think I would serve it to anybody else like that.

A hilarious and delicious adventure.

It was late.

Somehow or another, I managed to convince Jeremy that there would be nothing more satisfying than a homemade ice cream sandwich using a shredded wheat biscuit instead of cookies. The dry crunchiness giving way to sweet, creamy insides... I can't think of anything I'd rather eat.
But here's the best part - it was actually awesome. The flavour contrast was kind of like eating ice cream from a cone, but the wheat splinters mixing in made it way better.

I can't believe I'm recommending this, but man.. have a shredded wheat ice cream sandwich right now.

Sweet Potato Fries

I've just discovered the sweet potato, and boy am I smitten. This is the only thing I can do with them so far, but it might be all I ever need.

I looked at some recipes for common tips on making fries, and then just kind of made it up as I went along. The result: sooooo delicious. I had them with some tofu and arugula in a PC garlic and rosemary marinade.




I used a whole sweet potato, on the smallish side. I peeled it, cut in half and then into strips. Then I boiled them for 5 minutes at the suggestion of the internet (and dried them off a little afterward to make sure the oil would stick). I put a layer of tin foil on a baking sheet, and sprayed it with low-cal canola oil. After spreading out the strips so that none were touching, I gave them a coating of spray-oil, and sprinked sea salt, black pepper, and cinnamon over them. Mix them up so that everything's coated in spice, and it's good to go. I put them on the top rack of the oven at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Beans and Vegetables

Today was the Hamilton Potter's Guild sale; there was tons of great stuff and I bought myself a really incredible plate. It demanded a good-looking dinner, so this is what I made:



I made two portions of this and saved one for tomorrow. Here's what's in it.

1/2 c. green lentils
1 c. pinto beans
1 c. chick peas
3/4 broccoli crown
1/2 can green beans
1/2 package frozen spinach
1 zucchini
3/4 c. pasta sauce
parmesan cheese

Instead of using regular oil in the pan, I tried this spray kind I found with hardly any calories - 10 per 1 second spray. It worked just as well, and I love not having to add an extra 100 to whatever I'm eating.

It was pretty good, but I think next time I'm going to try out some fresh herbs or something.

Also, the other day I made sweet potato fries and they were amazing. I was too excited to blog it, but I'll do it again this week for sure.