Oats(w/ Papaya), Hazelnut-Red Peppers Sauce over whole wheat Pasta and PB&J Sandwiches

Breakfast
Oats with Papaya (rating 4 out of 5)



Lunch



Hazelnut-Red Peppers Sauce over whole wheat pasta (rating 5 out of 5)
2 cup whole hazelnuts
4 red bell peppers (about 2 cups chopped)
6 cups undrained canned tomatoes (2-28 oz cans), or 4 medium fresh tomatoes
2 garlic bulbs
5-6 tablespoons red wine vinaigrette (leftover from last week) (or 5 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar)
¼ cup red wine
pinch of chili flakes
small bunch spinach

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. (or use a toaster oven)
Spread the hazelnuts on an unoiled baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. While the nuts are baking chop the bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Heat the vinaigrette in a saucepan, then add the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, wine and chili flakes. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. The peppers should still be crunchy.
Cool the baked hazelnuts for several minutes, and then rub them briskly with a towel to remove most of the skins. Finely grind the hazelnuts in a food processor or nut grinder or in several batches in a spice mill. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Modified from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Dinner
Peanut butter, jelly and trail mix sandwiches (rating 4.5 of 5)



Cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel bread
peanut butter (grind it at the store!)
jelly
trail mix

Um, yea. You know what to do.

Oats(w/Cranberries), North African Cauliflower Soup and Apricot Bulghur Pilaf and a Salad

Breakfast Oats with Cranberries! (still!) (rating 5 out of 5)



Lunch North African Cauliflower Soup and Harvest Bread (rating 4 out of 5)



North African Cauliflower Soup (serves 4-6)
2 ½ cups chopped onions
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 potatoes (about 2 cups diced)
1 med head cauliflower (about 5 cups chopped)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons ground fennel
4 cups hot water
32 oz vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons lemon juice
salt and ground pepper to taste

In a soup pot on medium heat, saute the onions in the oil for 5 to 10 minutes, until translucent. While the onions saute, dice the potatoes and chop the cauliflower.
Stir the cumin, fennel and potatoes into the pot and cook for a minute. Then add the hot water. Cover, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Add the cauliflower and vegetable stock and return to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables and broth until smooth. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Reheat the soup if necessary, taking care not to scorch it.


from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Dinner Apricot Bulghur (not barley!)(rating 5 out of 5) Pilaf and Salad (rating 5 out of 5)

salad:
Red leaf lettuce
cucumbers
grated carrot
avocado
red bell pepper
tamari sunflower seeds (left over from Hummus Sandwiches last week)
Red wine vinaigrette



Apricot Bulghur Pilaf (serves 4-6)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups chopped onions
1 ½ cups bulghur
2 ¼ cups boiling water
½ cup chopped dried apricots (preferably unsulfured)
1 ½ tablespoon fresh spearmint leaves, minced ( 2 teaspoons dried)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (1 ½ teaspoons dried)
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
juice to 1 lemon
salt and ground pepper to taste

In a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil and saute the onions for 3 minutes. Stir in the bulghur and saute for 2 more minutes. Add the boiling water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apricots without stirring them in, cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until the water is absorbed and the bulghur is fluffy. Stir in the mint, dill, parsley and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to tast.

Also from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Oats(w/Cranberries), Stir Fry and Hummus Sandwiches

Breakfast

Oats with cranberries! (rating 5 out of 5)



Lunch
Stir Fry (rating 4 out of 5)



Sauce:
Soy sauce
sherry
hoisen sauce
chinese 5 spice
water
cornstarch

Stir fry the veggies:
onion
garlic
ginger
broccoli
soy beans
yellow squash
red bell pepper
pour some sauce on it and serve it over noodles

Dinner
Hummus sandwiches (leftovers from last week) (rating 4 out of 5, since it is the 2nd week)

Unique meals

So, I have debated telling you about other foods we eat. Yes, it is true, we don't just stick to this menu 100% of the time. Sigh. We go out to eat. And we also often make unique food on cooking and shopping day. For instance, last weekend we had delightful sandwiches made with sauted veggies with muenster cheese on a hoagie roll and sweet potato fries.



That was Paul's treat to me for me doing my first recreational bike ride of the season. What a good guy. The reason I debated including these types of meals is that it will complicate this blog. In the end, I have decided that it is worth it. Our unique meals (out and in our home) add spice to our lives, and they will probably do the same for this space.

We really do like to eat out, but we don't do it as much as we would like to. Breakfast is my favorite meal to eat at a restaurant, but we only do it about 2 or 3 times a year. This weekend I decided that I wanted to make french toast. (I don't think I have ever made french toast on my own). I bought Challah bread to make it with and it turned out well. It satisfied my want for breakfast out. (sorry, I did not take any pictures!) The VERY NEXT DAY Paul suggests that we go out for breakfast with a friend! I NEVER turn down an opportunity to go out for breakfast, so we went. The timing was funny though. We shared a greek omlette, hashbrowns and pancakes. And we had a lot of coffee. YUMM!


This week:

Breakfast

We are having Oatmeal with currents and golden raisins. The currents are leftover from the dogfood scones from last week (the dog is loving them, by the way). I give this combination a 4 out of 5 stars.



Our lunch is Barley Mushroom Casserole and Roasted Garlic Mashed Butternut Squash. It sounds all right, doesn't it? Well... I am not really thrilled. I give the casserole 2 stars and the squash 3 stars. I would have the squash again, but would not say they are great. We got these recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at home



Our dinner is Hummus Sandwiches and fresh fruit. I give them 5 stars. Yumm.



Shopping list:
1 container plain Hummus
1 container spicy Hummus
raw sunflower seads
Soy Sauce
carrot
spinach
Ezekiel bread

Mix the containers of Hummus together and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Toast the sunflower seeds in a skillet. When they have browned sufficiently, add some soy sauce to them and keep stirring until they are fairly dry. Take them off the heat to cool. Grate the carrot and wash the spinich. Paul had already made up a spicy mustard using brown mustard, honey and chipotle Tabasco. Heat the bread in the toaster a little. Put a layer of mustard on the bread, layers of the Hummus mixture, sunflower seeds, carrots and spinich. We are having apples and bananas with it. Delicious!