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Meat-Free Mal & Matt?

Matt and I are experimenting.  Our lunches are pretty much the same thing throughout the week—he takes a sandwich or a wrap with deli meat along with a snack of some sort, I take leftovers from the weekend.  On the weekends we like to indulge in lots of meat…for example, this past weekend we managed to eat two meats that come from a pig, one that comes from a cow, and one that comes from a bird.  It was delicious, but also very overwhelming.  It will make for wonderful leftover lunches throughout the week, and I had a wonderful time cooking up some new recipes and some old favorites.  However, meat can be expensive…especially if you are trying to purchase meat of any decent quality…and I find that the more meat we put in a dish, the less veggies we end up consuming during the meal. 

With our CSA box coming every other week and random cravings for vegetables lately, we came to the conclusion that we’d try to take our Monday-Friday dinners meat-free.  We made it through week one and are just starting week two.  The first week was pretty easy, since we had a crockpot full of sweet potato soup leftover to start us off on Monday, and we went out for Thai on Tuesday (Thai is one of the easiest cuisines to go meat free with).  Thursday, our planned risotto was a bust when I was off my feet with a lingering back pain and really just wanted a big plate of stir fried veggies…Buddhist Tofu from the Chinese place across the street it was (so delicious and simple!). 

However, I imagine it will get a little more challenging in the coming weeks.  To prepare for this, we started a list of things that we love that can easily be meat free. We have a long list already…and most of the things so far didn’t even come off of that list! One stipulation: we aren’t going to make meaty things with meat-like products….the point of this experiment is for us to eat more veggies, not to eat more fake meat.

This is a dish we actually made a couple weeks ago, but I just realized that it’s not one that’s on our list…adding it now!  I first made this before Christmas for a couple friends and it might be the new favorite Italian dish in my repertoire.   Special thanks to our Kentucky friends Bob & Shannon, who sent us two jars of homemade marinara sauce.  AMAZING.  We still have one left because I want to save it as long as possible.  We shot through the first one with this dish and then a mini-meatball sub and salad dinner a couple nights later. 

Zucchini Parm for Two

• 1 large zucchini sliced lengthwise into four strips
• 2 Tb flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• marinara sauce
• a handful of your favorite italian cheese

1. Heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a deep pot over medium heat
2. Bread each slice of zucchini by dusting in flour, dipping in egg white and then dredging in breadcrumbs (you could also use cornmeal and it would probably be amazing)
3. Fry in hot oil, about 2-4 minutes per side, depending on heat of oil and thickness of zucchini.  Flip when crust in deep brown in color.
4. Drain on paper towels.
5. Place zucchini slices in a small baking dish in one layer.
6. Top with marinara and cheese.
7. Broil or bake until sauce and cheese are hot and bubbly.

I served with roasted broccoli and shallots and some orzo tossed in some additional marinara (which I was eating right out of the pan while waiting for the zucchini to fry…very classy).

This is ridiculously easy and made a fun and easy dish to serve to company.

Love it.

It’s officially fall…

I am on the road.  Insanely on the road.  Next week I actually get to be in the office for the whole week, but other than that I’m spending most of my time out of town until Thanksgiving.  Fun and new places, but exhausting!

Even though I have a bit more time while I’m on the road to write, the preparation for the travel has made blog food scarce.  We’ve been relying on a lot of old standby meals, leftovers from the freezer, and way too much restaurant food.  We’ve also done some crazy travelling as we’ve moved from summer into fall….including our trip to North Carolina, during which Santana stayed at PetSmart.  The very next weekend we zoomed down to Berkeley for a wedding, which Santana can also fill you in on.  Both were a bit quick and chaotic, but really fun and relaxing.  I loved being able to have a couple trips with Matt to just relax and enjoy our time together without work craziness getting in the way.

In better food news, since fall has definitely set in, it is crock pot weather for sure!  We actually used the Crockpot a decent amount during the summer, but fall means lots of soups, stews and chili…plus lots of leftovers to restock our freezer!

We said goodbye to the summer with a light meal that lasted us through two dinners and 1 lunch for me.  Tomato bacon quiche (which we had frozen from a couple months ago) with a spinach honey mustard salad and some lightly salted Kettle chips.  We were both huge huge fans of this meal, which is why it was repeated twice…usually we make some changes, switch up the side dishes, etc.  This time the same meal found its way to our plates two nights in a row.  So delicious and satisfying.  And a nice light end to the summer.  Bonus: homemade garlic croutons!

 

To welcome in the fall, we made a vegetarian chili cornbread casserole that completely outdid itself as a shared dish at a potluck, dinner for us at home, and is lasting Matt through this week while I’m out of town.  To make the chili, I mixed 4 or 5 cans of black and pinto beans (1 can of beans got mashed up) in the Crockpot with sautéed onion, green bell pepper and garlic.  I also added some spices, hot sauce and a can of green chilies.  Two cans of diced tomatoes rounded out the liquid in the pot and it cooked all day on high, bubbling away. 

I poured the cooked chili into two casserole dishes and topped each one with the batter for this cornbread with the addition of some shredded cheese to the mix.  They baked for about 40 minutes or so and then one went to the potluck, while the other chilled in the fridge, waiting for us the next day.

For our leftovers, we covered the 2nd casserole and popped it back in the oven to reheat.  While that was cooking a tossed some fresh broccoli with a tiny bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Into the oven it went to roast away.  It got crazy crispy and had a tiny zing from the balsamic.  Really wonderful.

The other star of the potluck and our leftovers was a fruit cobbler with fresh plums, pluots and nectarines, frozen blackberries, and a whole wheat cobbler crust.  Served with vanilla ice cream, obviously.

 

Meanwhile, Santana’s meals have remained pretty steady.  Because of her allergies and anxiety, she gets Benadryl and Pepcid before dinner.  Since she is so fussy, she gets the wonderful treat of having her meds wrapped in peanut butter (freshly ground peanuts from Whole Foods….Matt and I don’t even get this fancy for ourselves!). She follows this up with some dry food which must be amazing because she gobbles it down like a fiend.  What a gourmand.

 

A Wonderful New Blog (and Giveaway!)

For any of you who love any of the following things:

1. Books/reading
2. Hilarious up-and-coming writers
3. Young Adult literature
4. Shenanigans
5. Free stuff!

One of my good friends, Corey, has started a site called Twin Pigeon.  I lived with Corey in my freshman year of Undergrad in KY and we spent a lot of time goofing around, eating wonderful college food and talking about music/books/movies.  Corey is hilarious…there is really no other way to describe her in a nutshell.  I am always thrilled when I see an email pop up in my inbox from her because it is full of goodness.  She got me hooked on the Twilight series, and I’m not sure if I should thank or curse her for that.  It’s too late now though, so we just spend a lot of time making stupid jokes about how many times the word “chagrin” is used in the series. 

In case you missed the subtle hints above, Corey is big into Young Adult fiction.  I am not as well-versed as she is, but I love it! For me, between semesters in an English BA (followed by more semesters in an English MA) program, something like Twilight is just what I needed.  YA novels tend to suck you in like no other (except maybe Picoult?) and get you to love characters who have a good chance of being ridiculously annoying and will probably make horrible decisions repeatedly throughout the book.  It’s awesome.

Another wonderful thing to know about Corey:  she had a KICKASS wedding…I was a super-helpful bridesmaid, dressed all in red.  We marched up the aisles of the KY theater for a dark and wonderfully romantic ceremony on the stage with a delicious reception full of movie-themed goodies all around.  Yet another reason she is great.  Does this make you want to visit her new blog???

ANYWAY, Twin Pigeon is currently mostly about reviewing YA books…it’s just getting started, so send her some love/suggestions/harsh criticism/knee-slapping jokes about vampires/whatever.  BUT to start things off on a blogger-friendly note, Corey is giving away a book!  A FREE BOOK! This one is a brand new, hardback, just released, fresh off the presses, exciting work of literary wonderment. You all know how contests work, so click your way over and enter Corey’s contest and explore her quickly growing site

PS.
Corey, WOOO!

Comfort Food Guest Post from Mom

 

I have more recipes and things to post, but haven’t gotten myself organized enough to find time for them.  I am expecting a pile of editing work this weekend, so hopefully next week I’ll get back on track.  Until then, here’s another one from my mom!! This is pretty much top secret information I’m about to share, so be grateful.  My grandma makes something we have always called Easter Bread…it has very little to do with Easter for me, since I remember eating it all the time.  She used to send it to me in college and one of my roommates and I would devour an entire loaf…it’s amazing. Super simple, but somehow you have to get it just right otherwise it won’t be the same.  My mom has been working hard trying to get it to be as good as grandma’s, and she is pretty close…there’s just something about grandma food, right?? 

Anyway, here it is.  Can you really go wrong with bread, cheese, pepperoni and ham?? Nope! I actually like it better when it is leftover in the fridge after a day or two (if it lasts that long).  The bread is nice and chewy and soft and because it’s all rolled up, you get a bit of cheese, pepperoni and ham in each bite and it’s one of the most comforting snacks for me Take it away mom!

Easter Bread à la Grandma, via Mom

Or as mom calls it: “For the girls that need to add a couple inches to the waistline.” Of course that’s not me and I really don’t know any.  Never as good as  hers but we keep trying cause it is so yummy.

• Bread dough rolled thin (Mallory note: mom has a bread maker, which makes this part wonderfully easy…I have no bread maker and have not yet attempted to make this for that exact reason.)
• Ham, Pepperoni and cheese  -  sharp please
• Dad and I started adding some pizza seasoning too

1. roll…seal with cold water
2. 350 for 30 minutes…

MISTAKES	HINTS
I love my cheese but too much will make it burst…	When some bursts out of the badly sealed edges  -  YOU get to eat it….
forgetting the seasoning on the 2nd loaf	Great for me to take to work for breakfast
I can get flour all over the kitchen in 2 seconds..	Wonderful heated slightly with some tomato or marinara sauce for dipping (Mallory note: AGREED!)

 

What to do with all this apple butter??

A quick morning treat that we had along with a ham, cheese, onion and red pepper scramble to give us the energy for a little hike with friends today!

Apple Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

• 1 tube crescent roll sheet (Pillsbury makes crescent roll dough that isn’t cut into triangles because they realized that people like me like to use crescent rolls for EVERYTHING!).  You could also use actual cinnamon roll dough if you were inclined to make such a thing
• 2 heaping tablespoons of apple butter
• 3 Tb AP flour
• 3 Tb brown sugar
• 2 Tb butter
• 1/2 Tb cinnamon
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tb orange juice or milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Unroll crescent roll dough and spread with apple butter (try to leave a little space at the top of the sheet where your roll will end.
3. Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and cut in cold butter until crumbly.  Spread this on top of the apple butter.
4. Roll either lengthwise or widthwise, depending on how many/how big you want your rolls. 
5. Slice into even rolls and place in ungreased pan (I used a glass pie plate).
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes…keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
7. While they’re baking, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and juice/milk.  Add more liquid if necessary.
8. Let the rolls cool just a bit before adding glaze.

Sweet and yummy! A great morning treat! The glaze sort of soaked into the rolls a bit while I made the eggs. 

We’re headed out for a mini-hike with our friend Nicki and Santana’s good friend Bonnie.  When I say “good friend”, I mean Bonnie and Santana have had 2 play dates at our apartment.  Once, Bonnie threw up.  Once, Santana peed on the floor.  Neither time did they try to play with each other.  GREAT friends.  I am interested to see them on neutral territory today.  Santana thinks she is too human for other dogs.  If she wasn’t so adorable and sweet, this would be a problem. 

Bonnie inherited Santana’s pink jacket, since it actually fits her.

 

Santana was skeptical…

Very very skeptical.

We’ll see how they do today and maybe get some adorable pictures of puppies possibly becoming friends???