Menu Plan

It's Saturday, and I should write a menu plan. I'm having a hard time though, because my poor, sad tummy is upset. But, I've got to try and put good stuff in it.

The Plan:

Lentil Dahl -- leftover from last week

Veggie Soup -- new batches of the same tummy goodness

Moroccan Chickpea and Potato Soup -- This sounds really good, but I am going to replace the yukon gold potatoes with sweet potatoes (because that's what I've got. Hopefully I don't turn orange again).

I linked to Organizing Junkie.

Veggie Tamale Pie

I bought a cooking magazine last week. I got my mom a subscription for Christmas because she had talked about going to a library sale and picking up tons of cookbooks, but she decided not to buy any of them, because they are all online. My thought was sure, everything is online, but you have to go find it. Sometimes it's just easier to have something bring ideas to you.

I bought Vegetarian Times. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. So it seemed great. What is even better about this magazine is it had an index that categorizes each recipe. There are categories like 30 minutes, easy, and as a bonus -- gluten-free.

The editors are very aware of the gluten-free label. As I was looking at various recipes, I thought, well that shouldn't have gluten in it. But on closer look, the recipe had soy sauce in it, which does have gluten. It is easily replaced with gluten-free soy sauce, but it was also very nice to see recipes that are gluten-free without any specially purchased ingredients.

Last weekend I tried out the Veggie Tamale Pie. I took it to a party, and all my friends really enjoyed it. Besides tasting good, it is basically a pantry recipe, and the magazine had it as a freezer casserole. It can be stored up to a month and cooked straight from the freezer.

There are a few changes I will make next time, so here is my version (although it is deeply indebted to Vegetarian Times.)

Tamale Pie

1/2 cup dry corn grits

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus extra

1 tsp vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 15-oz can black beans

1 1.45-oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 tsp brown rice flour

(I would also say that you could replace the spices with a tbs or so of taco seasoning.)

Make the topping, bring 2 cups water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in the grits and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 30 min and add the cheese.

In the meantime,

Heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic. Add the zucchini, bell pepper and spices.

Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and corn.

Mix the rice flour with 1/4 cup water, add to the bean mixture. Cook until thickens slightly.

Spread bean mixture in an 8-inch baking pan, cover with the grits, sprinkle on a little cheese, and cook at 375.

Gadgets with Dahl and Soup

I got two new kitchen gadgets for Christmas. A crockpot and an immersion blender. I was really excited, so I have used them both this week.

The immersion blender was great for the Lentil Dahl. It blended everything up perfectly and was super easy to use.

I adjusted the recipe for the Lentil Dahl again.

1 cup lentils, soaked
3 cups water
1 T oil
1 onion, diced
1 t chili powder
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t cumin
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/2 t red chili flakes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 t sea salt

Saute the onion and spices in the oil. Add the lentils, water, and tomatoes. Once everything boils and the lentils are soft, use an immersion blender to blend them.

Serve with rice or other grain.

I loaded up my new crockpot for soup last night. I let it run overnight and then loaded up a jar to take to work today. Perfect!

And I realized that I have never posted a recipe for my soup, which makes sense because it's always different, but I eat it all the time, so I should post a recipe.

Vegetable Soup

1 T olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 t minced garlic

2 carrots, sliced

2 celery ribs, sliced

1 sweet potato

1 zucchini, diced

5 (or so) mushrooms, sliced

1/2 green pepper, diced

About 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I use Rachel Ray's or Pacific Foods, those brands are GF and sugar-free)

2 bay leaves

thyme, rosemary

salt and pepper

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add the carrots and celery and let them saute for a little while. Then add everything else and boil until things are soft and the soup is good.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

And my muffin obsession continues into the new year.

Have I showed you my new muffin "tin" yet? It's the sillicon type. And it's better because it is red.

I made some muffins while I was at home and saw that my Mom had frozen blueberries in the freezer. I tossed them in my muffins, but because of the flour mix, they weren't the best muffins ever.

After pondering ingredients for a while, I decided that blueberries and bananas would go well together. So here is my recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free blueberry banana muffins.

I'm linking this to Amy's Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

1/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup almond milk

2 super ripe mashed bananas

2 cups gluten free flour (this time I used Bob's Red Mill all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xantham gum

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Mix the wet ingredients together (including the banana as a wet ingredient). Then add the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Make sure that the batter is runny, more like pancake batter.

Bake for 20 min. at 400 degrees.

Makes about 15 muffins.

Menu Plan

Christmas lead to a long hiatus. It was fabulous.

I'm trying to get the cooking/eating routine back under control. So here is the plan for the week.

Veggie Tamale Pie (new recipe for dinner with friends on Saturday)

Lentil Dahl

Veggie Soup

Blueberry Banana Muffins (a recipe I am working out for Monday with friends)

And at work on Tuesday this week we are having our day long meeting and a "dessert challenge," I am still thinking about what to make and take.