We
are not sure where the time goes…maybe Elfs have a different time and space
measuring device because it seems like we were just talkin’ to y’all. (and we
DO know the real plural is elves)
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OK—it’s
time to report out on our recipes for this past week. We had selected two rather diverse recipes
and our reviews are mixed. First up, we
prepared Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran:
We found the
spice (Panch Phoran or Panch Puran as shown on the package) at a local Indian
Grocery (more about Patel’s Grocery later)
We then heated
a wee bit of peanut oil and threw in the spice until the ‘pop’ indicating it’s
ready for more food
The onions
went in next and were allowed to absorb some of the wonderful and aromatic
flavor until softened
Our
cauliflower flowerets were ready to go in with some diced tomatoes (we drained
the tomatoes)
These were
allowed to simmer for a while to continue to absorb flavors
And then, we
added the dal (red lentils) prepared earlier by cooking in ‘no-chicken’ broth
and let them get thoroughly heated. This was our final result
Our
next EXPERT recipe was Seitan Scaloppine with Lemon Olive Sauce.
We are big fans of seitan and prepare it
quite frequently…almost all of the plant-based meat alternatives we use are
some form of seitan. In any event, here’s how that went.
This is what
the seitan cutlets looked like as we prepared them for steaming.
And here’s
what they looked like being browned. We
were not happy that the cutlets took on the shape of the foil packet in which
they were steamed, but not surprised. Seitan expands when it cooks (either
steamed, baked or simmered). We will have to work on a way for the cutlet to
maintain that ‘natural’ shape rather than an artificial one.
We added the
wine, ‘no-chicken’ stock, olives, lemon juice and let them simmer until the
sauce thickened. Then we added some flat leaf parsley from our garden.
And here is
the final cutlet garnished with a cooked (and yummy, we might add) lemon slice.
The final two
recipes are shown as plated
We
both (Big Solid and The Elf) really loved the Cauliflower Dal recipe. The
Seitan Scaloppine, not so much and even then we differed. Big Solid loved the
consistency of the cutlet as it was substantial and chewy. The Elf, however, thought it was too dense.
We noticed that this seitan recipe contains tahini, which is not typical of
seitan recipes. And we also noted
Susan’s instructions when the dough is completed to work with it quickly and
now we understand why. The dough is initially very elastic and difficult to
stretch into a cutlet shape (and retain that shape) and we suspect we worked it
too much. As a result, it was a denser dough/cutlet than was The Elf’s fancy.
The Lemon/Olive Sauce was delightful. So, the net-net…we’ll try the seitan
cutlet recipe again to see if the amount of ‘hands on’ did actually result in
the dense texture. And, again…Big Solid liked the denser cutlet.
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Grocery Store
Creep
As
promised, we took a look back over the time since we launched our The
Expert and The Elf project (2/18/15) to see what, if any, changes had
occurred in our shopping habits, our planning habits and our spending habits.
We compared monthly grocery bills (and extracted things like gas, extra cash
and other non-food items) from January to March, which gave us a baseline of
January, two weeks in Feb and all of March. The result is pretty interesting.
- January saw a total of 11 grocery store transactions. February had 6 transactions and March 10;
- The February food expense was $125 less than January (even considering the shortness of the month, that’s pretty significant);
- March, however, is showing some definite grocery store creep with 10 transactions and a significant uptick in spending.
This
was an eye-opener for The Elf although in the back of her mind, she’s been
aware of a slow loosening of the initial commitment of one grocery trip a week.
We also have to qualify that slightly. We in MS seem to have grocery stores
that do not carry all the items needed to complete a prepared list. For
instance, Kroger is the store in our town that carries a particular non-dairy
coffee creamer that we like BUT Kroger does NOT carry unsalted pretzels we
prefer. Walmart (ugh) does. This is so frustrating because invariably we
wind up having to go to more than one store to get everything on our list. And,
this revolving door grocery store shopping only increases the
temptation/likelihood that we’ll purchase things on a whim.
But
the MAJOR culprit in the upswing of both shopping trips AND higher expenditures
has been a complete failure on the Elf’s part to maintain the rigid planning
routine we so eagerly and energetically initiated in February. Therefore, we
are re-grouping and going back to in-depth menu planning. We are also adding
another layer of monitoring by saving and reviewing our grocery store recipe
each week to make sure we are only spending on the food items we need and not
counting things like birdseed or Scotch tape. So, this week begins this
re-doubled Elf-fort.
So
here’s our menu for this week and we’ve already been to the grocery
store…forgot 3 items ON OUR LIST and could not find the unsalted pretzels. Geez
Louise…you’d think that if it’s WRITTEN DOWN, we’d at least remember THAT!
GRR!!
Sunday
night 4/26 – we are dining out at Anjou. They have a very nice vegan entrée
that is reasonably priced and delicious. OK—easy enough as this comes out of
Big Solid’s budget. We don’t always dine out on Sunday but when he asked, the
Elf rejoiced.
Monday
night 4/27 – We are having one of our MOST favorite Ethiopian dishes,
Atakilt-Wat with smashed garlic potatoes. This is from the wonderful Vegan Richa site.
Tuesday
night 4/28 – This is the night we will prepare our EXPERT recipes for the week.
We moved the recipe night up because one of the ingredients is kale and we
didn’t want it to wilt. We are going to follow Susan’s video on her website on
how to remove the kale from the stem, wash thoroughly and store in a plastic
bag til Tuesday. Our EXPERT recipes for this week are Okra Masala and Healthy
Hash Brown Casserole.
We
realize that Big Solid does not particularly care for casseroles but we do know
that he loves potatoes and kale…so maybe he’ll enjoy.
Wednesday
night 4/29 – We are having a Za’atar Roasted Chickpea Salad (from One Green
Planet) and a grilled ‘cheese’ sandwich.
Thursday
night 4/30 – Thursday night is our ‘burger’ night, so a vegan burger with oven
fries.
Friday
night 5/1 – MAYDAY!! Date night only I’ll be soloing at The City Grille as Big
Solid is out of town!
Saturday
night 5/2 – Having squalled through My Old Kentucky Home and watched the Run
for the Roses, and maybe had a mint julep or two, The Elf will dine solo on leftovers and read the rest of the
night away.
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Our
baking this week has already been devoured, even though we made enough to
freeze for the ‘future’…which in this case turned into a couple of days.
We made
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and Oatmeal Raisin and Pecan cookies to share
with our good folks at the Animal Rescue Fund of MS. These folks do such
incredible work that it’s the least that we can do to share some sweetness
along the way (and good sweetness at that). There is no special recipe for
these cookies other than the recipe that is found on the back of an oatmeal
container that we veganized by using vegan butter instead of real or margarine
AND egg substitute rather than real eggs.
And here’s a
small share of the buttload of cookies that we shared with ARF. We also had
another 3 dozen or so to freeze, which like we said, lasted two days.
And finally,
we’ve shown these cookies before but they are SO incredibly good, we made them again
to share at a meeting. And that’s the real name of these cookies – Ugly but
Good Vegan cookies. They are gluten free as well albeit slightly labor
intensive…so worth it!
So
there you have yet another week in the kitchen with The Elf…we hope your ‘encounter’
with The Elfin kind has been fun, entertaining, enticing you to become or stay
plant-based. In the coming weeks, we have much to share about a young woman who
is making a commitment to plant-based eating based on our discussions and shared
foodstuffs to show her that plant-based food is delicious! And, we have talked
to the owner of the Indian Grocery here to see if he would allow us to feature the
store in an upcoming blog. AND finally, we have been TRYING to remember to do a pictorial account of ‘makin’ bacun’ so you can see this plant-based alternative
in action. Look, we are almost in one of the BEST times of the ENTIRE year…FRESH
(read REAL) TOMATOES!! Just gotta have some Bacun for that!
Y’all
take care and remember to breathe deep, eat plants, laugh loud and love life.
The
Elf
