Enchiladas

I made enchiladas using this sauce and a recipe I can't find anymore, but it definitely included spinach. I thought they turned out great. I probably used more cheese than the recipe called for. The sauce is a little spicy, so I put minimal amounts on Leela's. Leftover sauce is in the freezer for future use!

Breakfast for Dinner - "Sausage" Strata

In an effort to use up things we have on hand (and not let them go bad!). I tried my hand at a strata using Rachel Ray's Spinach and Sausage Strata as the guide - sort of. The things I used up - green pepper, cheese from fondue, stale bread cubes! I prepared everything in the morning as Leela ate breakfast - not ideal, but we were only a few minutes late dropping off at daycare. I meant to prepare everything the night before when Leela was in bed, but I got into a cleaning groove and got side tracked - good way to get side tracked in my opinion though.
On to my process...
I knew Ebon wouldn't like the spinach, and we didn't have any, so I skipped it. I sauteed the onions, garlic and green peppers and veggie sausage (Gimme Lean). Mixed up the eggs (I used 10 because I had a smaller dish and probably not quite enough bread, per the recipe), milk and S&P. Because I was going from memory (not very good most of the time), I forgot to add the mustard.
I assembled everything in 2 layers - bread, sausage mix, cheese (both leftover fondue cheese and parm), bread again, fondue cheese again, and sausage again. I left the last layer of Parmesan cheese off to be added just prior to baking. I wrapped it in foil and put in the fridge for about 10 hours while I toiled away at work :)
When I got home, I turned on the oven, took off the foil from the dish, added the Parmesan cheese and put it in the oven to warm up gradually (didn't have the 30 min to bring to room temp as the recipe states). I started the 1 hour cook time when the oven came up to temp.

Overall, I was happy with how it turned out, and the leftovers were pretty good too. I'd love to try this again to include the mustard to see what I'm missing. This seems like it could be a very versatile dish - mushrooms, herbs, different types of cheese, different sausages...many possible filling options and combinations, so I'll keep it in my wheelhouse when trying to figure out what to do with all the stale bread we have from time to time! Also good as a brunch option.

Things to change for next time - follow the recipe - ie use an oiled dish for baking, and don't forget the mustard. Try different fillings too!

Korean-sytle Mapo Tofu

This Korean-sytle Mapo Tofu was a bit of a miss, but the leftovers seemed to taste a bit better. If I were to make it again, I'd probably add more gochugaru and soy sauce or salt. It needed more spice and salt

Soup for a cold day

I felt like having soup and had limited things on hand to make it with. I ended up with a comforting soup of onions and garlic, potatoes, rice cake balls, and some egg to add a bit of protein.
I wished I had had some green onions, as it turned out pretty white/yellow, and it would have balanced out the color and flavor, but I've just got to go with what I've got.

1. Remove the rice cake balls from package and set to soak in enough water to cover them.
2. Saute' 1/2-1 diced onion and 3 chopped garlic cloves in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.
3. Add in two potatoes, peeled and 1/2" diced, and simmer under a lid until the potatoes are almost done.
4. Add 8 cups of water and appropriate amount of stock powder (6-8 Tbsp in my case for a vegetarian stock powder Ebon bought). Bring to a boil.
5. Drain the rice cake balls and add to the boiling soup. Reduce heat to med/med high. Cook until the rice cakes are tender.
6. Add some pepper to taste.
7. Beat two eggs and slowly pour into the soup.
8. If you have them, I would add 1-2 chopped green onions at this point.

I thought it turned out quite yummy! I loved the rice cake balls. I'll have to try to find them again. I'm pretty sure I got them at the Reliable Market. I only got them because they were a smaller package than the flat rice cakes I normally get.

Minestrone

I made this minestrone many weeks ago. I liked how it turned out. As always there wasn't enough broth for Ebon...

Coconut Red Lentil Curry (reboot)

I made a Coconut Red Lentil Curry before but this time I flew by the seat of my pants and used what was on hand:

~2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots
1 carrot-shaped sweet potato (very small)
1/2 onion
2 small potatoes
5 garlic cloves
1 jalepeno (optional)
maharaja curry powder ~1tbsp
1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
1 can (15 oz?) coconut milk

I chopped everything pretty small, about 1/4" dice or slice. I sauteed all the veggies (minus the hot pepper) then added the curry powder, lentils and water. I added the coconut milk after the lentils were just about cooked. I added the jalepeno last after I dished out Leela's portion, of which she ate a little bit - mostly the carrots.
If I did it again, I'd add the curry powder after sauteing and before adding the water/lentils.
The leftovers were even better than fresh I'm guessing because the flavors had more time to meld.

Roasted Red Cabbage and Apples with Italian "Sausage"

I made Roasted Red Cabbage and Apples with Italian "Sausage" last night. It was pretty easy and I thought it turned out great. Ebon was skeptical, but ate the sausage and some of the cabbage mixture. Leela didn't eat any of the cabbage, but ate all of the sausage that I gave her, once she discovered she liked it dipped in brown mustard. Mustard FTW!