Thanks Giving Menu!

To Begin:

Rum Punch

Green Salad with onions, pecans and died cranberries

To Continue:

Slow-cooker Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes

Roasted turkey breast with creamy pepper sauce

French onion green bean casserole

Cornbread dressing

Texas Mac & Cheese

Bacon Brussel Sprouts

Mau's Spaghetti

To Wrap it Up:

Classic Sweet Potato Casserole

Chocolate Cream Pie

Mau's Gelatina

This week: cabbage, bananas, pumpkin, and sweets

It's that particular time when I'm craving sweets like a mad woman.  I've been all over the internet looking for Weight Watchers recipes that won't get me kicked out of the healthy eating community, and I'm making them today to save myself from myself!

I should've gone into a little more detail last week about the whole food routine.  One thing about being healthier and eating healthier is that you've got to dedicate some time to it.  At first this was really bothersome to me, because I already feel like there's not enough time in the day. (I mean, who doesn't?)  But it's turned out to be kinda awesome.  I spend Sunday planning my food, going grocery shopping, and then cooking or prepping for the rest of the week. 

Here's this week's challenge: 

quinoa

left over bananas

left over bell peppers

cabbage

major sweet tooth

Mexican food withdrawal

and the need for comfort food.

So here's what I've came up with:

Stuffed cabbage casserole (but I used chicken instead of beef, and quinoa instead of brown rice)

Tabbouleh with quinoa (I added chicken to this one, also)

Corn, bacon and potato chowder

Pumpkin Muffins

Homemade protein balls (teehee)

and Crock pot Santa Fe Chicken 

Super Mega New Year and New Me

Long story short, last year about this time I signed up with Ron Lyon's Ultimate Body boot camp.  It was a great experience, and besides getting a whole new look on fitness, I learned a lot about nutrition.  And what I think I learned most about nutrition is that if you don't want to always be craving restaurant food, you better learn to cook.
Fast forward to this year, I have signed up for Weight Watchers, and I'm learning to cook (again).  haha
I've also signed up as a shareholder in a local CSA (you should do the same if you get the chance).
Last week's locally grown organic fruit and veggie haul was:

apples, oranges and pears
bananas
spinach
cabbage
rainbow chard
leeks
bok choy
butternut squash
and red potatoes

and at the grocery store I got:
zucchini
mushrooms
feta
tomatoes
and lemons.

Out of that (plus some random pantry items) I made:

homemade apple sauce with cranberries (really good with vanilla greek yogurt)
oven fried zucchini and squash
pasta with butternut squash
chard and ham stuffed potatoes
stuffed mushrooms (soooooooo good!)
plus I bagged up the leftovers for random veggie additions later in the week.


Week one--- total success!  Yum! Plus I lost 2 pounds!

-MM

Green Beans and Fennel Ragout

Ok, first of all, what the hell is fennel?

Good thing the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home Cookbook has a reference section, which explains that "The nutty, sweet, anise flavor of fennel seeds nicely complements breads, cookies, Italian biscuits (etc., etc.)... soups, marinades and tomato sauces. " So, hmm. Still no idea what fennel is, (or anise, for that matter), but I'm definitely not picturing the plant (above) when that pops up from a Google search. Ok, well, whatever.

I picked this as my first recipe to try because green beans are a familiar veggie, and why not start out with that's not so foreign and intimidating? I don't really know what ragout is, but for some reason I'm thinking goulash. Then again there's a faint idea that maybe this will be like spaghetti sauce. :)

The recipe calls for:
-3 garlic cloves
-1 and 1/2 c chopped onions
-3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large potatoes
-3 c undrained fresh or canned tomatoes
-1 tsp thyme
-1 c water
-1 lb green beans
-2 c sliced fennel bulb
-2 pinches saffron threads
-1 and 1/2 tsp orange peel
- juice of 1/2 lemon
-salt and ground black pepper to taste

I've got everything around the house except onions, fennel, saffron (I know it's yellow but that's about it) and thyme. Off to the store on my first quest for weird new items. I decided to try the local farmer's market as opposed to Whole Foods for obvious reasons, plus I thought I could try them as a last resort if the small market didn't carry everything.

I was a little surprised at how easy it was to find the stuff. Although the fennel wasn't labeled, I asked someone where it was and it was pretty easy to identify after seeing it online. It does have a weird, nutty smell, but it's nice. It's Thanksgiving, so the dried thyme was sold out. Saffron was $15 for a bottle, which melted my brain a little, so I stood there appalled for at least 3 minutes (I am a school teacher, after all) before I decided to let it go. I happened upon the Mexican spice rack (El Guapo, no less) on the way out which had dried thyme, as well as Safflower (which Wikipedia said is "occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for saffron, and [is] thus sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron.") Both were only 75 cents a bag! Score. Hell yeah. And the grand total was only $6.08. I am shocked at cheap vegetarian cooking so far. So delightfully surprised (and hungry) that I stopped at McDonald's on the way home. Oops!

So yeah, I live in a warehouse and we made a make-shift kitchen in one little corner. You can see that I, literally, have a hotplate, a microwave/convection oven, and a set of knives from Ikea. If I can learn to cook vegetarian cuisine, anyone can.

Thoughts while cooking:
* Sliced fennel really just seems like a funny-looking onion.
* All of these flavors in one pot. Hmmm. I'm hoping (hesitantly) for deliciousness.
* This would make a great crock pot recipe. Now there's some white trash thinking for you.
* This recipe would, and I'm not kidding, feed a vegetarian army.


What I think once it's done:
* As an amateur vegetarian, I would cut the fennel into smaller pieces.
* My boyfriend, who considers potatoes and corn the only veggies he'll eat, said that it smelled like a really good soup. He even tasted the broth and said it's "pretty good." I don't think you realize what a big deal this is.
* Fennel kind of tastes like a milder squash.
* True to Moosewood's word, I would consider this a fairly fast & easy recipe.
* I like it! It's like beef stew with no beef, but plenty of flavor and textures. Nice for winter months.
* I think next time I'll cook rice, too, and serve the ragout like gumbo. Or with cornbread. Sweet!

Until next time, America,
-MM