Jan 11-17

Monday: Pineapple Corn Salsa Soft Tacos
     
~ This is a recipe I got from e-mealz.com. Which is a site you pay $5/month and they provide you with weekly recipes and your grocery list. The plus side to the recipes are they use very common ingredients. Things are pretty easy to find. It is also very convenient to have your grocery list pre-made for you. The downside is the recipes begin to be slight variations of one another, some of them are really gross, and our grocery bill fluctuated vastly from week to week. There were several times ingredients were left off the grocery list. This particular recipe is really tasty and easy to make. It is a warm pineapple and corn salsa, with a chicken alternative. I added the Tortillas to make soft tacos. 


Tuesday: Spaghetti with Steamed Broccoli 


~There are few things cheaper than spaghetti!  I used to make my sauce from scratch, but HEB has some really delicious jarred sauce. It is very inexpensive and saves me a ton of time and energy. I use whole wheat spaghetti noodles and always add a couple cloves of garlic to the sauce. 


Wednesday: Indian Cauliflower and Kidney Bean Stew w/ Coconut Milk
       - Recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker


~I forgot to get the coconut milk, and this recipe and the curry recipe ended up falling on the same day. So I scraped this and used the veggies and beans to make my own creation. I used a lavender spice blend from a local lavender company call Hill Country Lavender. The soup was good, but nothing spectacular. My husband hates sage, and unfortunately the blend had it... which means this was a one time experiment. 


Thursday: Chipotle Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
                1/2 lb of cooked black beans
                1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies
                1/2 cup cilantro leaves (optional)
                1 14 oz can of chipotle diced tomatoes
                2-4 oz chipotle peppers (reserve and freeze adobo sauce for future recipes)
                5 tortillas*
                2/3 cup of cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine beans, mixed veggies and cilantro leaves. Mix well. Fill tortillas with cheese and bean mix. Fold and place in baking dish. Combine tomatoes and chipotle pepper in a separate bowl and spoon over enchiladas. Bake for 20 mins.

Friday: Gwen's Meatloaf Gone Vegetarian with Butternut Squash Fries


            Gwen's Meatloaf Gone Vegetarian:
            1/2 pack McCormick meatloaf seasoning
            1 can (15.25 oz) Hunts Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf
            1 cup of  dry texturized vegetable protein cooked in 2 cups of hot water
            1 package  (12 oz) Light life Smart Ground Original
            2 large eggs, beaten
            1 cup dried bread crumbs (you can use oats or crackers)
            1/2 green pepper diced
            1/2 onion diced


Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix 1/2 can sauce, texturized vegetable protein, Smart Ground, beaten eggs, green pepper, onion and 1/2 envelope McCormick meatloaf seasoning. Shape into a loaf in a casserole pan. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Drain the grease off. Add remaining Hunt's Seasoned Tomato Sauce for meatloaf (spread over the top) and return to oven for 10 minutes. 


        Butternut Squash Fries:
        1/2 large butternut squash, cut in thin strips
        2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
        1 TBL olive oil


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place butternut squash strips in 9 x 13 baking dish. Crush garlic over squash and pour olive oil on top. Mix well to ensure garlic and oil is well distributed in the squash. Cook until squash is soft with golden or dark spots. (depending on taste) Average cook time of 30-40 mins. 


~This "meat"loaf recipe is a variation of my mother-in-laws actual meatloaf recipe. Her meatloaf is a family favorite. There is a story of one of my husband's childhood friends frequently stopping by and asking for her meatloaf. This vegetarian recipe is delicious. My husband says, it should not be called meatloaf. I suppose that is because the consistency is quite different. It definitely lacks the grease meatloaf usually has... and it does not stick together like a standard meatloaf, but the flavor is dead on. I really love to make this! I started making the butternut squash fries after seeing my friend, Suki, make something very similar. Her recipe used chunks of squash, and onion. I omit the onion and make squash strips, so they are more like French fries. If you like sweet potato fries, you will love this. The butternut squash has such a light flavor, and works so well as a fry! 


Saturday: Refried Black Bean Burritos


Sunday: Curried Garbanzo Beans with Spinach over a Bed of Kasha
      - Recipe from Romancing the Bean pg. 74


~This is one of my all time favorite recipes. It is so delicious! It is also surprisingly easy to make. I was worried this time around, because the recipe calls for coconut milk... which I had forgotten to get at the store. Joanne Saltzman explains how to make variations and use different cooking liquids... which saved the day. I used soy milk instead. I was afraid it would not be as rich of a sauce, but I was not disappointed! It was still amazing! We had plenty of left over butternut squash from a previous recipe, so I added this to the recipe. It was such a good move. It was soft and absorbed the curry well. It was a good complement to the garbanzo beans, and tied in well with the spinach. YUM! This is the first time I have tried Kasha. I finally found it at Whole Foods.  Kasha is  toasted buckwheat groats. It sounds quite odd, but it is soft, easy to make and has a wonderful flavor. Not to mention it is whole grain!  I would recommend trying it. We are definitely going to be eating more of it! Here is a good website on how to prepare different types of whole grains. I use a rice cooker.. I think it is the easies method.