Indian Food- Quick and Easy (this meal)

Mmmm! We love Indian food at our house.  This picture isn't from us, but it looks like what you would typically get at an Indian restaurant.  My step dad is from Wales and Indian food is a common type of food over there, so he introduced us all to it, and now my family eats it quite a bit.  Tonight I made some pretty simple Indian food so I thought I'd share it for anyone out there who wants an introduction to this type of food.  Easy-peasy.

I made Simple Buttery Rice with Onion, Tandoori Chicken, Naan Flatbread, and Whole Green Lentils with Garlic and Onion.



Tandoori Chicken

Buy jar of "Tandoori Sauce" (can be found in most grocery stores in the Asian and Indian food section)
Follow the directions!  (you'll need chicken and plain yogurt as well)

Simple Buttery Rice with Onion

Ingredients:
2oz (50g) butter
3oz (75g) onion, chopped
Basmati Rice measured to the 15 fl oz level in glass measuring jug
1 tsp salt
11/4 pints (700ml) water

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium.  When hot, put in onion.  Stir and saute until it is almost translucent.  Do not let it brown in the slightest.  Put in the rice and the salt.  Stir and saute gently for a minute.  Pour in the water and bring to a boil.  Cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low and let the rice cook for 25 minutes.

Naan Flatbread

Buy box and follow directions!

Whole Green Lentils with Garlic and Onion

Ingredients:
4 T vegetable oil (we just use olive oil)
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped (you can buy jars of already chopped garlic which saves lots of time!)
3oz (75g) onion, chopped
7oz (200g) whole green lentils, washed and drained (have I ever washed or drained them?)
11/4 pints (720ml) water
1 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, put in cumin seeds.  A few seconds later put in garlic.  Stir and fry until the garlic pieces turn a medium brown color.  Now put in onion.  Stir and fry until the onion pieces begin to turn brown at the edges.  Put in the lentils and the water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for about an hour or until lentils are tender.  Add the salt and the cayenne.  Stir to mix and simmer gently for 5 more minutes.


This meal turned out delish and I highly recommend trying Indian food.  The recipes we use are also GREAT food storage recipes- they all have lots of spices, but hardly any fresh produce, and you can always used canned meat for the main dishes.  We use spices like cumin, coriander, and tumeric.  Other ingredients we use lots are canned tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, onion, potatoes, chicken, and beef.  Anyway, I just like this food:)

TOFU!

Yum right? Well, the other night we tried a recipe for the first time with tofu and I have to say that.....I love it! At least, I love the recipe it was in: Tofu-Pesto Lasagna.  Seriously amazing.  It was probably especially amazing though because I was a little leary of it, so if you're going to try it, make sure you're a little leary of it first because maybe that's the real key? I have to say that Kellen and Cole weren't as thrilled as I was about it but they still liked it.  In comparison to regular lasagna I would rather eat this one.  This is the only way I can explain why: Tofu brings a 'warm' taste to the meal.  The same type of 'warm' taste that ground hamburger brings, but I don't feel sluggish after eating the tofu like I do with ground beef.  That may very well not make any sense but I'm not sure how else to explain it.


Here is the recipe (from "Eat Right 4 Your Type"):

Tofu-Pesto Lasagna

1lb. soft tofu mashed with 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or part skim ricotta (I used mozzarella)
1 organic egg (optional- and I'm pretty sure mine wasn't organic...)
2 packages frozen, chopped spinach (it doesn't say what size of package so just use whatever looks good)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
4 cups pesto sauce (you may use less-which we did)
9 rice or spelt lasagna noodles (we just used white flour noodles)

Mix tofu and cheese with egg, spinach, and seasonings.  Layer 1 cup sauce in 9 x 13 in. baking dish.  Layer three noodles, then some of the cheese mixture, then sauce.  Repeat, and finish with noodles and sauce on top.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 30-45 minutes, or until done.
4-6 servings



Enjoy!

Catering to a Stressed Mom

Today I had one less thing to stress about: dinner.  Crockpots I love you!!
10am- Went to Ikea with son, daughter, and friend
12pm- Tried to help Cole not freak out everytime we took him away from something, this is also when we started bribing him with a cinnamon bun, and about the time that my shoulders were down to my hips from carrying Gracie around in front carrier
12:30pm- tried to give Cole hot dog instead of cinnamon bun
12:45pm- Cole drank soda
1pm- Unloaded kids and Ikea goodies from the car (with help of friend-thank you!)
2pm- Threw food into crockpot
2:30pm- Rested
4pm- Went to Home Depot with Hubby and kids
5pm- After helping Cole to feel better because he wasn't allowed to do something for the umptinth time, let Cole play with a paint bottle sampler - bright orange
5:05pm- Cleaned half bottle of paint off Home Depot floor and off screaming child (Cole)
5:30pm- Home Depot lady explained to us that the cheap paint we wanted would actually take more coats than a more expensive brand would unless we wanted to buy a different tinted primer for every paint color.....back to square one
6:30pm- Got home
6:40pm- Served up a lovely dinner magically provided by Mrs. Crockpot in which mom didn't have to do any work before eating it.  It was WONDERFUL!

Tonight we ate Scalloped Potatoes and Chicken, recipe from "Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook".  It was tasty, and next time I will add broccoli or some other wholesome green food; it just needed it.

Xoxox.

The Two Topics Here Are So Not Related.

We're in the middle of unpacking at our new house right now, hence the posts right now about random things.
 Today's post: Frozen Burritos.

When I was a youngster I LOVED frozen burritos.  Heat them up in the microwave for one minute, then lather on the sour cream and salsa.  The first time I bought frozen burritos since we got married was a couple months ago, and they were not the burritos I remember eating.  Were frozen burritos really always this gross??

Today though, I cooked the burritos in the oven and......oh....ya.  That is what they tasted like when I was younger! So, that was a nice discovery.

Speaking of discoveries, I recently purchased a book.

My Aunt has had some pretty amazing results with this diet plan-well, lifestyle plan I guess.  It looks interesting.  The premise of the book is that every blood type has different nutritional needs.  For instance, I'm type A so most meats and dairy act like a poison to my body and if they are a regular part of my diet, my immune system is weakened, I have less energy, and I retain weight (according to the book).  Kellen and I are going to try it so we'll keep updating as to how it's changing our lives!

Mmmm...Blackberries

Not just blackberries, but wild blackberries. Every morning the kids and I go for a walk. Right now, it's gorgeous outside.  The season is changing so it's a little cooler and there's a feeling of Fall in the air, everything is a lush green and some of the leaves on the trees are starting to turn.  And then we'll walk by some lovely blackberry bushes, and, I ask you, what could possibly make a morning walk more enjoyable? They add a fresh delight to our otherwise pleasant, but regular walks.  Yum!

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to the food blog! From now on you will read about delicious commentaries on different aspects of, yes, FOOD.  Tasty treats, tasty spots, tasty recipes, tasty snacks, tasty commentaries.  We also give ourselves permission to write about things that aren't so tasty.  Like this picture.

May be fun...but not tasty.