Spicy Vegetable Pan Fried Spaghetti

Meals for 1! Created a vegetarian dish in lieu of not having any money for meat! It was pretty tasty.

Meatless Monday- Pesto Lasagna

Time for some Pesto Lasagna!

This recipe makes 4 Servings and I used a 9x9" pan.

8 lasagna noodles, cooked

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper

Combine the oil and veggies into a pan and cooked until tender.

190ml basil pesto (I used PC brand pesto... YUM!)

1/2 a bottle of pasta sauce
4 cups cheddar cheese, grated

First layer: Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan
Second layer: Lasagna noodles
Third layer: Pesto, vegetables and cheese
Fourth layer: Pasta sauce and cheese
Repeat! Until complete!

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Enjoy!

Meatless Monday- Curried Eggplant

This week we made curry eggplant with tomatoes, chick peas and onions on coconut rice! 

It's 100% vegan!

We are starting to run out of ideas for recipes, so Ryan actually had to do research for this one! The recipe was found at http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/curried-eggplant-tomatoes-basil 

Curried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Basil

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 Eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (we found this amount a bit weak, you may want to add more)
1 (15oz) can rinsed chickpeas
1/2 cup fresh basil (cut in half if you use dry.. we forgot to do that part)
1/4 cup plain yogurt (optional) (we didn't use any yogurt)

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes.

1. Stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

1. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until eggplant is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

1. Stir in the chickpeas and cook just until heated through, about 3 minutes.

1. Remove the vegetables from heat and stir in the basil. 

Coconut Rice
1 1/2 cups water 
1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup long grain white rice 

We have a rice cooker! So Ryan just set the rice cooker with all the ingredients inside.. I don't really know how to use it (wow that sounds sad...) I really should learn! It makes amazing rice!

Meatless Monday- Grilled Asparagus

Monday night was my first attempt at grilling up asparagus! It was fairly simple all I used for a small bunch of asparagus was...

1 heaping tbsp Margarine

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1/2 an Onion, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Using a grill on medium heat, wrap the asparagus, margarine, lemon juice and salt and pepper into a piece of aluminum foil and grill for 2-3 minutes or until they are as tender as you would like them.

I also made some Dill Carrots and Roast Potatoes to accompany the asparagus!

Dill Carrots

4 large Carrots, sliced

Enough Water to cover Carrots

2 tbsp Margarine

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Epicure Lemon Dilly Dip Mix

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the carrots and lemon dilly spice either in a skillet or in a very shallow pot and pour just enough water to cover the carrots. Bring the carrots to a boil and let simmer over medium heat until the water is completely evaporated and the carrots are nice and tender!

Stir in the margarine, brown sugar and salt and pepper and enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes

Enough potatoes to feed your family, chopped into 2-bite pieces

Enough Olive Oil to coat the potatoes

1/2 an Onion

Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash the potato wedges and coat with oil. Pour into a large pan and add onions, salt and pepper.

Bake at 425 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until potatoes are crispy.

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday- Cheese Stuffed Tortellini with an Alfredo Sauce

Meatless Monday has come again! This week we made Cheese Stuffed Tortellini with a homemade Alfredo Sauce.

Here is the recipe for the sauce!

Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. 
Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. 
Stir in parsley.
Enjoy!

Definitely a bit different from my light Alfredo Sauce... But soo much creamier!!

Meatless Monday- Veggie Tortellini Soup

Took me until Thursday to post this!! Geeze I'm getting sloppy!

Veggie Tortellini Soup

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove of garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp epicure minced garlic)
3 stalks green onion
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans water
900ml vegetable broth
A large package of fresh cheese tortellini

• Put oil, garlic, green onion, carrots and onions in the bottom of a large soup pot. Saute until tender.
• Add cream of celery soup and water to the cooked veggies
• Add vegetable broth and tortellini 
• Heat until tortellini is soft.
• Serve and enjoy!

My Dinner!

Day 5- My dinner!

This synced up with meatless monday very lovely! For dinner this evening I had...

 Cesar Salad!

 "Chicken" Quesadillas made with fake chicken of course, peppers and jalapeno cheddar.

And for dessert.. Key lime pie!
My friend cooked all this up for me so unfortunately I don't have any recipes, but I assure you.. It was delicious!

Meatless Monday- Meatless Burgers!

This was absolutely terrifying! Only because I was using ingredients I'd never dealt with before, but they came out delicious and I will definitely be making these again!

Meatless Burgers

1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (and you can save some for a garnish at the end if the mood suits you)
2 tsp epicure beef and steak spice
2 fresh garlic cloves (or 1/2 tsp epicure minced garlic)
1/4 cup flour (plus a bit extra for rolling the patties)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 (14oz) can corn kernels

• In a food processor (or in my case all I had was a blender) process chickpeas, cilantro, spices garlic, flour, salt and pepper. Pulse until well mixed. 
• Add corn and pulse until you have a good texture going.
• Form the patties and allow to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Heat a greased skillet or griddle to medium heat and cook each side of the patty for 5 minutes.
• Garnish to your desire and enjoy!

Meatless Monday- Vegetarian Quiche

So this recipe ended up making an insane amount of vegetables but they were delicious and I ended up using the leftovers for stir fry the next day!

Recipe for Vegetarian Quiche

1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped zucchini

Sprinkle salt over top of zucchini and let sit for 10 minutes

1 9" pie shell

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook pie shell for 5 minutes.

After the pie crust is cooked reduce heat to 350 degrees.

2 tbsp margarine
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove of garlic

Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onions, peppers, tomato, mushrooms, garlic and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes or until they're nice and tender.

Add some salt and pepper to taste then gently put the veggies into the baked off pie crust.

5 Eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 grated mozzarella

Mix eggs, milk, and cheeses in a bowl. 

This is enough egg mixture for one quiche however there's enough veggies for like.. 4! You can make the call on how many you want to make :)

Pour egg mixture over top of the veggies and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 Let sit for a few minutes before digging in. Then enjoy! 

The finished product!

Meatless Monday- Thai Ivory Cuisine

Instead of cooking this week we decided to do meatless Monday out on the town!

We chose Thai Ivory Cuisine in Dartmouth

http://www.thaiivorycuisine.ca/

 Appetizer Spring Rolls

 (top) Spicy noodle stir fry

(bottom) Vegetarian Pad Thai 

Deep fried Banana

This was one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a long time! Everything was delicious from the appetizer to the dessert! I'd been to other Thai Ivory Cuisine locations and was less then impressed so the fact that an absolutely delicious meal was presented in front of me was a very pleasant surprise!