Meatless Monday - Egg and Potato Skillet

Ahhhh - I missed Monday again!  I need to get on the ball here.

Anyway, here's your recipe for the week!

Egg and Potato Skillet

This was one of those meals where I was hungry and the fridge was getting bare, so I just looked around and made something up with whatever I had.

A great thing about this meal, is it can be made with mostly food out of your garden, and if you live in a rural area, you can probably find a local farmer to get your eggs from too!  Also, you only need one pan!

Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)

vegetable oil

2 potatoes

1 onion

1 green pepper

1 tomato, chopped - drain off some of the liquid

4 eggs

herbs (I used the epicure herb and garlic mix - you could use oregano, basil, rosemary...whatever you like!)

shredded cheese (a few tbsp) - I used parmesean, but any kind of cheese would be good!

As you can see here, I added the tomatoes before the egg, but I would recommend doing eggs first.  The tomatoes really don't need to cook that long.

Directions:

1) Chop up all of your veggies, but don't mix them together.

2) Heat the oil in a skillet (medium heat).

3) Add the potatoes to the skillet.  Fry them until they start to get soft (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently.

4) Add the onions and peppers to the potatoes.  Stir fry until the onions start to get soft.

5) Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a bowl, mix in the herbs, and whisk the eggs.  You may want to add some milk in as well, but I generally don't.

6) Add the eggs to the pan, and stir them up as they cook (making scrambled eggs).

7) When the eggs are mostly cooked, add in the tomatoes.  Keep frying until the eggs are all firm and there is no eggy liquid left.

8) Put the mixture onto a plate or bowl, then top with shredded cheese.  If you used a cast iron skillet you could just eat it right out of the pan, but I find that the pan is a little hot, so I didn't do that.

ENJOY!

Ironic Article

I was searching meatless monday ideas online, and ironically I came across this article that is written by someone named Carmen Cox.  Clearly it is not me, as it is an American article...but interesting nonetheless.
Meat Industry Has Beef with Meatless Monday, Forces USDA Retraction

Meatless Monday: Udon Noodle Stir-fry

First, I will apologize to those of you who have been following this blog and looking forward to a post last Monday.  I went to visit my mom for a week, and totally forgot to post a recipe!

But no worries, I am back :)

This weeks recipe was inspired by my mother-in-law, who introduced me to the deliciousness of Udon Noodles.  These Asian noodles are kind of like thick spaghetti, but softer.  I like to use them in stir-fries, so this week I am featuring a REALLY EASY stir-fry that ANYONE could make.  And it's really inexpensive too!  A great meal for those of you who will be going to college or university next month!

Here it is!

I know it may not LOOK that amazing, but it's really yummy.

Udon Noodle Stir-Fry (this recipe makes 1 serving)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

Extra-Firm Tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes - about 1/4 of a pack)

Chopped veggies of your choice (I used 1/4 red pepper, 1/4 yellow pepper, 1 thick slice eggplant, 1/4 onion, and 1 portabella mushroom)

Udon Noodles (I got these from Zehrs for about $0.35)

Asian Sesame salad dressing (I like Renee's) - 1 to 2 tbsp

Directions:

1) Heat the olive oil in a wok or frying pan (medium heat).

2) Add the onion and cook until it starts to soften.  Then add the rest of the veggies and the tofu.  Cook until the veggies are tender-crisp.

3) Add the noodles and the dressing.  Cook until the noodles and dressing are heated through.

4) That's IT!  You're done!  Eat!

Meatless Monday - Zucchini Patties, Yogurt Sauce, and Chick Pea Salad

My husband and I went to the farmer’s market last week for an outing with Peanut and to sample some of the local fare.  There is nothing like fresh Ontario produce in August!  We picked up some zucchinis (as well as tomato, onion, berries, peaches...etc. etc. etc.), so I needed to find something to feature these delicious treats!  Enter Zucchini Patties and Chick Pea Salad!

Zucchini Patties (makes about 12 patties)

Some of the Zucchini Patties with the Yogurt Sauce

I served these to my in-laws for dinner on Friday – they were a BIG HIT!  So yummy!  I also reinvented the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!

For breakfast the next morning I at the leftover patties.  Instead of yogurt sauce, I melted white cheddar on top, then placed them on top of a delicious slice of Ontario tomato, and some greens - mmmmmmmm!

Ingredients:

½ C grated carrot

½ C chopped onion

½ C green pepper (or do ¼ C each red and green pepper)

2 C fine soda cracker crumbs (I made mine in the food processor)

¼ C all purpose flour (...I wonder how it would work out with WW flour...)

1 tsp baking power

¾ tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

3 C grated zucchini, with peel

2 large eggs, fork-beaten

Vegetable oil cooking spray (or 2 tbsp cooking oil)

Directions:

1)      Measure the first 9 ingredients into a large bowl.  Stir.

2)      Mix in zucchini and eggs.  With damp hands, shape into patties using about ¼ C of mixture for each patty.

3)      Spray and heat pan.  Brown patties on both sides – I did mine on medium heat for 4-5 min per side.  I used a grill, but if you don’t have one, a frying pan will do nicely.  Just heat up the oil in the pan first, then brown the patties.

Cook the patties until they are nice and golden like this!

Yogurt Sauce (to put on the patties):

I’m not sure how much of each I used, but this is what I put in it...

Plain greek yogurt (regular yogurt will do as well)

Lemon juice (just a small squeeze)

Herb and Garlic seasoning (I used Epicure)

Chick Pea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad (serves 6-8):

Even though I don’t generally care for onion, I LOVED this salad.  It wasn’t a huge hit with the in-laws, but then again I didn’t know that Jim doesn’t care for tomatoes OR olives...he was so polite, however, that he ate it anyway and I didn’t find out until Matt told me later...how someone goes through life without liking tomatoes is beyond me – I used to eat them like candy, but have since decided that the canker sores are not worth the over indulgence.  Annnnnyway....here’s the recipe.

Delicious chick pea salad with local zucchini, tomato, red onion, and basil!

Ingredients:

1 ½ C dried chickpeas

1 medium zucchini

1 large tomato

1 small red onion

3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ C sliced kalamata olives

Dressing:

1 tbsp lemon juice

¼ C olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp honey

Directions:

1)      Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with cold water.  Leave to soak overnight.

2)      Drain the chickpeas, place in a saucepan, cover with fresh water and cook for 25 minutes, or until just tender.  Drain and leave to cool.
***you can skips steps 1 and 2 by using canned chickpeas, but keep in mind that the sodium content is much lower when using dried.  If you opt for the canned version, I suggest looking for “no salt added”***

3)      Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and cut into 1 cm slices.  Cut the tomato into cubes roughly the same size as the chickpeas.  Finely chop the onion.

4)      Combine the chickpeas, zucchini, tomato, onion, parsley and olives in a serving bowl.

5)      To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients.  Pour over salad and toss lightly to combine.  Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops - Kid Tested, Parent Approved!

I was babysitting a friend's girl this week (K), and she finished off my last "Trop Pop" - so it was time to make some more!  I asked K what kind she would like next, and of course she said CHOCOLATE!  So, I decided to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops.

The great thing is that they are creamy, chocolately goodness that kids LOVE, AND they are full of good stuff that parents love!

Here's the recipe:

3 frozen bananas

2 tbsp cocoa

1 or 2 heaping tbsp peanut butter (I used all natural pb)

about 1/2 C soy milk (use whatever kind of milk you want)

Blend together and freeze in molds!

Here are the results:

Hmmmm...what do I think?

Delicious!

Can I have another one?

Peanut liked them too!