RECIPE: African-Style Vegetable Stew

Since I had so many positive responses to my Spicy Black Bean Bake, I thought I'd share another recipe for a quick and easy vegetarian entree. This simple stew is more filling than you might suspect. It's perfect served with fresh homemade bread, biscuits, or cornbread on the side. More vegetables can easily be added based on what you've got hanging around in the fridge and freezer.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 small or 1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions:

In a large saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in oil until onion begins to soften. Add the cabbage and sweet potatoes and cook over medium heat for a few minutes until cabbage softens. Add tomatoes, water, peanut butter, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Serves 4.

Love the peanut-and-tomato combination? Try these other recipes:
West African Style Baked Beans
Spicy Peanut and Tomato Soup

Need to use up the rest of that cabbage?
Colourful Cabbage Salad

I shared this recipe at Just Another Meatless Monday, My Meatless Mondays, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays, Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday,  Frugal Food Thursday, Recipe Swap Thursday, the GCC Recipe Swap, Friday Favorites, Fat Camp Friday and Seasonal Sunday.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #21

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now! 

This week is another one where I've cooked a lot of recipes not yet on the blog, so again, not so many links. The good news is I don't think I'll run out of recipes to share any time soon.

Breakfasts: baked oatmeal, cornbread with jam, banana chocolate chip muffins, pancakes

Lunches: peanut butter toast, Toad-in-the-Hole, pizza, leftovers

Dinners: 

Monday: Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells, creamy cucumber salad

Tuesday: Speedy Black Bean Soup, cornbread

Wednesday: Fried Rice (using up leftovers)

Thursday: Crispy Parmesan Chicken, mashed potatoes, milk gravy, broccoli and carrots

Friday: leftover taco stuffed shells 

Saturday: Cheesy Mac & Beef Skillet

Sunday: Sweet & Sour Pork, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cake

Snacks & Sides: apples, clementines, bananas, carrot sticks, popcorn, peanuts

For more great meal ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Why It's Worth It To Bake Your Own Bread

I've been a bread-baker for a long time; I've been cranking out homemade loaves for well over a decade now. We eat store-bought bread so infrequently that my kids protest whenever I pull out one of those purchased-on-sale-and-stashed-in-the-freezer emergency loaves for those times when I fall behind on my breadmaking schedule. They're so used to the freshly baked goodness of a homemade loaf that the store-bought stuff is vastly inferior in their eyes.

So, making your own bread is definitely worth it just from a quality perspective. Heck, it might even be worth it just because of the way it makes your house smell! That being said, there's no denying the financial advantages of home baked bread. I've always known that making my own bread saved a lot of money, however until recently I hadn't bothered to calculate the exact savings. 

Here's the cost breakdown for a batch of my Whole Wheat Refrigerator Dough (which makes 3 loaves of bread):

5 tsp yeast (purchased in bulk) = 28.8 cents

1/2 cup sugar = 11 cents

1 cup mashed potatoes = 12.6 cents

1/2 cup canola oil = 24 cents

1 egg = 17 cents

3 tbsp ground flax seed (purchased in bulk) = 5.5 cents

1 1/2 tsp salt = 1.4 cents

4 cups whole wheat flour (purchased in bulk) = 33.6 cents

3 1/2 cups white flour (purchased in bulk) = 30.8 cents

Total cost for a batch = $1.65, or 55 cents per loaf.

In comparison, a loaf of decent-quality bread costs $1.99 on sale, and it doesn’t go on sale for that price very often. Since our family of four generally goes through the equivalent of 6 loaves of bread per week (or 24 loaves a month), it’s difficult to stockpile enough in the freezer to get us through from one sale to the next (plus I’d rather dedicate that freezer space to other items). 

Monthly cost savings of making my own bread:

24 loaves of sale priced bread @ 1.99/loaf = $47.76

24 loaves of homemade bread @ 0.55/loaf = $13.20

$47.76 - $13.20 = $34.56

Now, if you have a very large grocery budget you might not find that a huge savings. On our modest grocery budget of $375 a month, a nearly $35 savings per month on a single food item is huge - that's nearly 10% of our total budget!

Making bread using my refrigerator dough method is easy and convenient, and for our family it is well worth the minimal effort involved. It's also an activity I enjoy doing, and it even makes a great gift.

Do you make your own bread? If not, have I convinced you to give it a shot?

RECIPE: Spicy Black Bean Bake

Photo by Filomena Scalise/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My older son *loves* black beans so I'm always looking for new ways to use them. I came up with this dish one night when I wanted something meatless, quick, and filling. Both my boys loved it, so it's definitely going in our regular menu rotation (I would have a photo, but the midnight snackers ate the leftovers I was saving to photograph during daylight!)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cups salsa

3 cups black beans

1 ½ tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp each salt and pepper

juice of 1 lime

1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

cornbread batter for topping (recipe below)

Instructions:

In a large frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the salsa, black beans, chili powder, cumin, salt pepper and lime juice. Simmer over medium heat for a few minutes to allow flavours to blend.

While bean mixture is simmering, prepare the cornbread batter.

Pour the bean mixture into a greased 11x7" lasagna pan. 

Sprinkle with grated cheese, then pour cornbread batter over top and spread evenly.

Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.

Serves 6.

Cornbread Batter:

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

⅓ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

In bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and beat well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. 

I shared this recipe at  Tasty Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Fat Camp Friday, the GCC Recipe Swap and Friday Favorites.

Winter Walk Challenge Update

Back at the beginning of December, I issued a "Winter Walk Challenge" and invited my readers to join me in the goal of walking outdoors at least 30 minutes per day. I have trouble staying motivated to get out of the house during the colder months and this was my plan to get some fresh air and exercise daily while avoiding cabin fever! I meant to issue an update right at the beginning of January, so I'm a bit late getting to it, but on the "better late than never" theory, here it is.

I'm afraid I have to report that I had very limited success during my first month of the Challenge. On Day 1, it was raining, but I went out anyway, so I was proud of myself for that. The very next day, minutes before I was to embark on my walk, my older son fell and got a very impressive gash on his forehead that required stitches, so instead of a walk I got a trip to the doctor's office. The day after that, I was busy trying to catch up on all the stuff I didn't get done while I was at the doctor's the day before! For about a week after that, I was very consistent and got in a daily walk. After that, things fell apart, and to be honest, from about December 10th on is a giant blur and I got in the occasional walk here or there, but I know I didn't come anywhere close to walking every day.

I'd like to be able to say that once the new year rolled around, I got right back on track, but (ahem) it didn't quite work out that way. I did venture out on a New Year's Day walk, however, since then it's been hit-or-miss again. Today's a nice bright sunny day (albeit, minus 13 Celsius!!) so I am going to renew my resolve, get all bundled up, and get out there. I want to see if I can stick with it every day for the rest of the month. If this frigid weather keeps up, at least I won't have to worry about getting stuck walking in the rain.

One thing I *did* manage to do consistently was attend Bikram Yoga classes weekly. I've been going faithfully every Friday since the last week of November (and even went twice the week between Christmas and New Year's). Since I ride my bike there and back as well (about 5 km in each direction), I get a LOT of exercise on Fridays. I purchased a 20 class package through Groupon, and although the class is very challenging, I love it! In fact, I used the money I received as Christmas gifts to purchase more classes, and I plan to start going twice a week.

How about you? If you joined me on the Challenge, how have you made out so far? And if you haven't yet joined in, it's not too late. Hop aboard and we'll root each other on for the rest of the winter.

Weekly Menu Retrospective #20

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now! 

Wow, I really have been cooking up a lot of new recipes lately - so many, in fact, that I have nothing to link to this week as none of them are up on the blog yet! I promise I will share them here, starting this Wednesday.  

Breakfasts: pancakes, Aloha Muffins, French toast

Lunches: leftovers, pizza, peanut butter toast

Dinners:

Monday: Turkey Salsa Casserole

Tuesday: Southwestern Beef & Pasta Soup 

Wednesday: Ham & Potato Hash

Thursday: Smothered Meatballs, mashed potatoes, carrots

Friday: Spicy Black Bean Bake

Saturday: Leftover pizza by myself (kids on a playdate and hubby working)

Sunday: Fish in Spicy Coconut Milk, rice, carrots, Pineapple Coconut Cake

Snacks & Sides: apples, bananas, clementines, fresh pineapple, carrot sticks, popcorn

For more great meal ideas, stop by Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

RECIPE: Indian-Spiced Honey Garlic Chicken

I came up with this recipe when I had a stockpile of sale-priced chicken and wanted something a bit new and different. This is a mildly spicy twist on honey garlic chicken that is kid-friendly. Serve with plain, coconut, or curried rice and vegetables.

8 chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in (skin on or off as you prefer)

2 tbsp butter, melted

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup honey

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

½ tsp cumin

¼ tsp turmeric

Place the chicken pieces in a glass baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken, turning pieces over a couple of times to make sure they are well-coated. Cover dish with foil and bake at 375°F for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender and no trace of pink remains. Pour a generous spoonful of sauce over chicken when serving. Remaining sauce can be poured over rice or vegetables if desired.  Serves 4.

I shared this recipe at Fat Camp Friday.