My older son made beef chili without a recipe. This is a big accomplishment! He is starting to cook with fresh ingredients from the market. Wheeeee! I feel like I'm making a difference. It's exciting. He sent me this picture, so I'm posting it. He used ground beef, fresh peppers, tomatoes, cherry bomb chiles, and a can of kidney beans. :)
I did a lot of cooking on Sunday, since it was such a crappy day. I put a couple of trays of pumpkin & squash into the oven to roast. I pureed the pumpkin so that I don't have to buy those $4 cans whenever I want to use it, and froze it in one cup batches. I spiced the squash and put it aside for soup. I blanched the edamame I bought at the market, and divided it up between a few ziploc bags for the freezer. I made a meatloaf & mashed potatoes for the kids, and some trout for myself, for dinner. I am eating my way through a delicious bag of fresh baby spinach from the market, for salads. I even made a batch of vegan "cream cheese", using soaked cashews. Since my son has so much forbidden dairy in the fridge, it'll help with my urge to indulge.
Last night I threw together a quick, spicy roasted sqush soup. As a base, I sauteed an onion, a jalapeno, and my last apple from the tree in the backyard (the rest have succumbed to frost). I used the dense, intensly orange-coloured flesh from the buttercup squash, and some of my Thanksgiving turkey broth. Wow, is the soup ever decadent. To go with the soup, I had a craving for quesadillas. Now, my usual method (for the kids) is to use store bought salsa and grated marble cheese as a filling. However, I remembered seeing something a wee bit different recently.
301. Cheesy Quesadillas with Crunchy Salad (Jamie's Recipes iPhone App, 10-Minute Meals pack)
Ok, I confess, I didn't make the salad. But it's just fennel, carrot & radish, grated in the processor. The dressing is yogurt, red wine vinegar, EVOO, salt & pepper. I have made this, or something very similar, before. I will probably make it in the next week, since I have all the ingredients in the fridge. But last night was cold and rainy and I needed hot soup instead!
The filling for the quesadillas was very cilantro heavy (which is good thing for me!) I put a small bunch of washed cilantro in the processor, along with a small onion (the recipe calls for scallions but I didn't have any). I also added a portion of a red chile.
Then I grated a block of cheese into the mixture. I could have used cheddar, but my mom left a bit of swiss cheese here at Thanksgiving, so I went with that instead. Either way, it's dairy and I shouldn't be eating it. :p I spread this mixture onto my store-bought tortilla in a large frying pan, and topped it with another tortilla. I put it over medium-high heat for a few minutes until starting to brown, then confidently flipped it over without making a mess! I cut it into wedges and served it on a plate beside the soup.
Mmmm, this hit the spot! Very, very different from the usual. The soup and the quesadilla both had a nice kick to them, and warmed me up.
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For dessert, I had a deconstructed lemon raspberry cheesecake. By that, I mean lemon curd topped with yogurt and a few raspberries, with ginger snaps to dip. Today, I brought left over spicy squash soup for lunch. I plan to eat it with a toasted vegan cream cheese & tomato sandwich. :) Did I mention it's October Unprocessed? Check it out!
October traditionally doesn't seem to be a big cooking month for me. I mean, yes, Thanksgiving always comes, and it's always crazy and fun, but I am usually travelling the rest of the month. This year is no different. I probably won't post again for a few weeks. I'll be trying to eat healthy and unprocessed in restaurants and arenas for the next little while.....no easy feat.
One year ago, I was recovering from my Carribean cruise!
Two years ago, I was taking a hiatus!
Three years ago, I was giving thanks!
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