Manor Minis and More

Happy Menu Plan Monday!

This week’s menu started with a trip to the Oriental Market. I went for some sesame oil and for some fried wheat gluten in a jar (that is just yummy in spite of what it sounds like). If I have the time, and I did last Friday afternoon, I like to just window shop. How I missed this before I don’t know, but there was a great big aisle full of all sorts of  (not expensive) dal.

Now, I usually shop at the Food Lion or Kroger, neither of which is known for an extensive Indian food section (at least where we live). So I grabbed a bag of masoor dal and a bag of chana dal to add to my purchases. Next step – find out what to do with them. After some googling and a lot of “ooh! that’s sounds good” I had a great big bunch of recipes to try. Then I got real and paired it down to just a few for this week.

So on the menu is:

Masoor Dal with Spinach (palak)

Rotis

Cucumber Raita (no picture – it basically looked like yogurt with green bits – my husband loved it)

Aloo Paneer

And, not Indian “Chicken” Noodle Soup

I followed the recipe here to make the paneer myself. I didn’t have cheesecloth and tried using two yogurt containers to weigh down the paneer to form cubes. Didn’t work for me and I ended up using a kitchen towel and some fiesta ware and bags of beans. So my paneer was a little crumbly (note to self – get cheesecloth). Still tasty.

What’s on your menu?

Sandra

P.S. Is it too early for St. Patrick’s Day goodies?

Okay, no Shoo Fly Pie, but I did make Apple Pan Dowdy.

I’m really excited about getting a grow light set up – finally. I used to try to start seeds indoors, but they always got leggy even in a sunny window. Thanks to Amazon, I purchased a grow light for this year and I’m hoping it works as advertised. My less than planned garden did well last year and I hope to do even better this year with some planning.

On with the rest of Menu Plan Monday.

The yummies for this week are Black Bean Soup (made with scrap stock), Reuban Casserole, and Kung Pao “Chicken” made with Quorn Tenders.

I like to make the Quorn into Tempura Bits for Kung Pao. This is also great in Sweet and Sour “Chicken” or just by itself.

My Reuban Recipe calls for TVP chunks. I didn’t have any on hand, so I made Corned Beef Seitan. (I found a lot of recipes online and combined a few to get what I thought corned beef should taste like.) Yes, it’s more work, but it was well worth the trouble. So much better in flavor and texture. I highly recommend trying it.

That’s it for this week.

What’s on your menu?

Sandra

P.S. If you’re tired of snow, warm up with some Spring Flowers Clipart at Bry-Back Manor!

This is what people do when they live in a place where they know the wall will be torn down.

Conan or Dr. Who with a fez? You decide.

Now on to Menu Plan Monday.

No theme this week – just (hopefully) good eats.

I tried this week to use what I have. So I made a a Spinach Lasagna dish with tofu instead of Ricotta.

My husband received a Broccoli Soup Mix from someone at his school. I made it a little heartier with Potatoes and Leeks.

Some extra Leeks as a snack for me. Yum!

Last, I made Arroz Rojo which basically turned out to be some tasty Spanish Rice with Red Beans and Achiote Paste. I got the Achiote Paste when I was in my wild crazy Mole ingredient buying mode and found a recipe online that sounded interesting. I was surprised to find that it was not as spicy as I had expected it to be. Something tasty and different though.

That’s it for this week.

What’s on your menu?

Sandra

P.S. If you just come to read the blog, check out the Valentine’s Fun at Bry-Back Manor!

P.P.S. Hey! I actually posted this on a Monday!

Is anyone besides me just tired of being cold? Okay, I guess not if you are living in Australia. On to Menu Plan Monday!

This will be a week of comforting casseroles.

First on the menu, Shepherd’s Pie. One of my husband’s favorites. I made my mashed potatoes from scratch with Yukon Golds.

I had a great crop of zucchini this Summer. So much that even I got tired of it and I love zucchini. So a lot went into the freezer. Being February, it seemed about time to pull some out and cook it up. (The zucchini has been making a few appearances in minestrone, but not as a main dish.) I looked at some recipes online and did my own variation. Zucchini with white sauce and herbed bread stuffing. Simple and basic.

Eggplant with cheese (just for me since my husband is not an eggplant fan) and plain old pasta with sauce round things out. And since I need (really, I need soup in the winter!) to have a soup for the week, Tortilla Soup is on the menu as well. Instead of the chicken I see in many recipes, I use sliced Quorn cutlets.

Wow! That’s a lot of food!

What’s on your menu?

Sandra

P.S. If you just come to read the blog, check out the Valentine’s Fun at Bry-Back Manor!