Mushroom Stroganoff with Mashed Potato

A new recipe tonight from the Quorn Cook Book. I was really looking forward to making this new dish. The Quorn Supremacy had given it a very good review. I dashed home from work and made it very quickly, then ate it very quickly before going to the dentist. Thankfully I did manage to eat it because he put some stuff on my teeth and asked me not to eat or drink for two hours. It was tasty, I just wish I'd had more time to taste it. I'm hoping I will be able to savour it for lunch tomorrow.

Strange mushroom

Spinach and Feta Pie with Green Beans

I went for a five mile run this evening after work while Mr VST made his Spinach and Feta Pie. I have to say it was the best one yet. He put plenty of nutmeg in it this time and it was really flavoursome. mmmm.

Quorn Mince Linguine Bolognese

A cheap on calories classic this meat free Monday. I added some soy sauce today which made it much more flavoursome.




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Sunday Roast

We went to a wedding reception last night and then on up to Bristol to stay with some friends so that Mr VST could join his Best Man for a 60 mile Audax this morning. I sat and chatted with Best Man's girlfriend and cuddled their gorgeous 5 1/2 month old baby for the morning before heading to The Spotted Cow in Bedminster for lunch. The ride turned out to be 70 miles rather than 60 and they didn't get to the pub until about 2.45pm. I ordered the veggie roast which was the usual roast potatoes, parsnip and carrot with cabbage and a pithivier (aka little round flat pie) stuffed with leek, red onion and blue cheese. Thankfully there wasn't much blue cheese in it as I'm not that keen on it and it was delicious. It was all served with a tasty gravy.  We then moved onto pudding, which Mr VST had undoubtedly earned, me not so much! We shared a chocolate delice with an almondy soft biscuit and a chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. Both were absolutely delicious and the delice was out of this world.

Needless to say we were both a bit full and having eaten so late didn't really need supper. Mr VST had some eggs and then joined me when I had some cheese and crackers.

Creamy Cheese and Tomato Macaroni

I haven't made this for ages. It's a really quick and easy store cupboard recipe. I made it with light cream cheese instead of crème fraiche today because I don't usually have anything else to do with the crème fraiche and it goes to waste. It's quite flavoursome and filling, especially served with salad.

Leek and Mushroom Strudels with Roasted New Potatoes

My second attempt at this meal was more successful as there was no alcohol involved! The parcels are really tasty and easy to make, sorry strudels. I used the left over feta cheese from the frittata earlier in the week and I didn't have quite enough leeks but they were still really tasty.

Heart shaped roastie - awww!

Pasta and Veggies

I'm not sure the whole protein thing is working. After two days of protein based meals I've never been so hungry! Back to pasta and veggies on Thursday evening made by Mr VST.

Quorn mince tortilla stack with potato wedges and salad

I was reading this week how protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer and takes more calories to burn that carbs or fat so I've been hunting out some protein rich meals. This quorn mince stack is a really tasty option especially with the wedges. I just wish I'd par boiled the potatoes as they took ages in the oven and I was so hungry this evening. It was worth the wait though.




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Cheese and Onion Quorn Burgers

The sun shone at the weekend and it made Mr VST crave a barbecue or at least burgers. I was reading The Quorn Supremacy and came across the recipe for home made quorn burgers and they had a pretty good review.  I followed the recipe and the helpful tip from Ali about making the patties in a cutter so that they keep their shape. 

 

Sometimes only the best processed accompaniments will do so I served these in big white oven bottom muffins with 'plastic cheese', you know the pre-sliced stuff and ketchup of course. I did put some salad on the side to boost the nutrition levels. The burgers themselves were delicious. Really flavoursome.

Lemon Meringue not Pies

In my quest for low calorie puddings to satisfy my sweet tooth I came across a supposed made over lemon meringue but when I added up the calories myself it wasn't that low calorie so I got to thinking about it and decided I would try a no pie lemon meringue. Having discussed the logistics with Mr VST we decided that individual portions were probably best. I had never made a normal lemon meringue pie before but my Mum used to make them all the time when I was a kid and they were always well received! I found the simplest recipe I could and followed it, all apart from the pie bit...

So I mixed the sugar, water, lemon juice and lemon zest together. Then the cornflour and water together which reminded me of the silly putty we used to make as kids. I was adding a tablespoon of water at a time to the cornflour and when I'd added about two it got to that amazing texture where if you tried mixing it hard it went solid and if you were gentle with it it would move - great stuff!


Anyway I then added the cornflour mix to the lemon mix and heated and mixed until it became amazing lemon curd. Then onto the meringue. The recipe said to use the rest of the sugar (75g) and add it to the whisked egg whites. The usual meringue recipe I used is 50g of sugar to one egg white. I decided to follow the recipe and spooned the meringue onto the slightly cooled lemon curd that I had shared between six ramekins and popped it all in the oven.

They took flippin ages to cook. I always forget how long meringues take to cook and making them after an evening trip to the supermarket for a massive stock up was a huge mistake. They took about 45 minutes in the oven and were of course then boiling hot and the lemon curd was completely melted. It was too late to wait for them to cool down to eat them so we ate them hot which wasn't great really!

They were nicer cold this evening but Mr VST still isn't a big fan. The lemon part is very lemony, like lemon curd and without the bland pastry it is too strong on its own for him. For me however it is fine :)

The King of Frittatas

I made this not so long ago as a variation on the spring onion frittata that I was making a lot last Summer. I have to say it is a tasty improvement. 4 eggs, 2 leeks, 300g potatoes (boiled then sliced up), 90g feta cheese, 30g cheddar cheese and a generous sprinkling of black pepper on top, its a winner!

You fry off the sliced, boiled potatoes in a tablespoon of oil until they are nice and golden (about ten mins) and then add the leeks and fry them off for a few minutes.

Then beat the eggs and add them to the pan, crumble the feta over the top, grate the cheddar over the top and grind a generous helping of black pepper on top of all of it, then cook it on a medium heat for about 8 minutes before putting the whole thing under a hot grill for three minutes. 

Curry with lentils

A lovely filling curry with aubergine, mushrooms, courgette, tomatoes, Quorn pieces and a can of green lentils too.








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Weird Ploughmans

I had the left over soup for lunch with cheese and crackers and Mr VST had a Ploughmans of his own creation. It included a banana. Need I say more?




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Portuguese Custard Tarts

These little treats are absolutely delicious, very kind on the calorie front and very easy to make too. I got the recipe from notquitenigella. Instead of rolling the pastry out flat and then rolling it up and cutting it, I just rolled the block of pastry into a sausage shape and cut from there. It worked just fine. The custard was so easy to make too.

 

I may have overfilled the pastry cases slightly!

Celery, Tomato and Apple Soup

I posted that last weekend when we went to my Mum's we had fennel, tomato apple soup. It was delicious but I was wrong about the main ingredient, it was celery not fennel (same family I think?!). I got the recipe from my Mum and decided to make it this weekend.

Ingredients:
60g butter
1 onion
170g/ 3 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
170g celery
2 apples, quartered, cored
600ml swiss bouillon vegetable stock
Pinch ginger
Pinch nutmeg
splosh of sherry/brandy


1. Melt the butter in a pan, cook off the onions
2. Add the tomatoes, celery, apples, spices and sherry

3. Wet a piece of greaseproof paper, fold it over and cover the vegetables with it. Leave on a low heat for 30  minutes until the fruit/veg are soft

4. Add vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
5. Blend together.

 The result is a lovely tangy, creamy, tomatoey soup. I can't quite describe it well enough to do it justice. It is very flavoursome in a subtle way.

Perfect Pizza

I had planned for us to have pizzas tonight. They do take some planning if you are making the dough yourself, which I nearly did. I got Mr VST to make it yesterday evening and it rose beautifully and then kept well in the fridge before it was used this evening.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

I made these for pancake day and they were delicious. I fancied making them again and as the veggie stall gods had it sweet potatoes were on special offer this week. I used some of them yesterday in my spinach and sweet potato dahl and had just the right amount left to make these pancakes. I exchanged the melted butter for 100ml of semi-skimmed milk to bring the calorie count down a bit. They worked pretty well and were delicious with a bit of honey on them.

Cottage Pie and Peas

The sun was shining brightly for most of the day today until my thoughts turned to my after work run at about 4pm then it kindly clouded over with a kind of "we're not going to make your run pleasurable in any way" sentiment. I thought I'd make the most of the not yet Spring weather by enjoying a cottage pie before it gets too hot and I don't feel like eating a heavy cottage pie.

Spinach and Sweet Potato Dahl

I searched the BBC good food website for a new healthy meal recipe and came up with this

The reviews are all very accurate. It was easy to make and very tasty. I put in 200g of spinach to bulk it out and had to add some more water to cook the sweet potatoes in. I also took the reviewers advice and cooked off my onions in some oil first with the chilli and spices. It makes 4 small portions. I couldn't find any healthy naans so I served it with pitta breads instead.








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Mushroom One Pot

I went for my run this evening while Mr VST made his speciality, Mushroom one pot, and it was lovely.

Monday Mexican

By the end of last week I was craving fresh vegetables. I think this is because I've been eating like a chocoholic pig for the last few weeks. I went to the market stall on Friday and stocked up on some fresh veggies so that we could have some this evening. I went for the classic veggie mexican with peppers, onion, courgette, aubergine, quorn pieces, a tin of tomatoes and some lovely spices. It was good to be back to simple foods again!

Fry up and cheese on toast

We were staying in a hotel which included a full cooked breakfast which was really nice. I'm not usually a fan of fried breakfasts but this one was cooked to perfection. A fried egg, two hash browns, two different types of quorn sausage and baked beans. I didn't much feel like eating after that! At about 12 ish we had a couple of biscuits each and then we nibbled on the wedding favours which were biscuits too. When we got home we shared a couple of the cupcakes with a cup of tea. Later on Mr VST got hungry and kind of made himself a second fry up! I had a couple of slices of cheese on toast.

Wedding Breakfast

On Saturday we went to Mr VST's cousin's wedding in Sheffield. It was lovely and the food was delicious. I still have no idea why they call it breakfast when you very rarely eat it before lunch?! Anyhoo, the vegetarian options were delicious. To start we had a mushroom risotto with parmesan crisp. We were then given a tiny mug of tomato soup and a slither of bread. For the main we had a disc of puff pastry with a delicious creamy egg and spinach in the middle. It was on a bed of delicious tomato-ey sauce and served with yummy roasted vegetables. 

Dessert was sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and it was really yummy. On top of that we had the most delicious chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and there was a buffet (which I couldn't face). 

Fennel, Tomato and Apple Soup

Friday night we travelled to my Mum's in Nottingham after work. She had prepared us a delicious soup that she said was really easy to make. It was very flavoursome and healthy feeling although I haven't got the recipe yet so I may be wrong on that front.

Sushi

On Thursday evening my firm was taken out for steak 'n' sushi at a local (non chain) sushi restaurant called, would you believe it, Steak 'n' Sushi. The only experience I had had of vegetarian sushi before was the pre-packaged stuff you get from Pret-a-Manger. Mr VST and I bought some for the flight to Iceland for our honeymoon. I got to order my own little selection of veggie goodness from the menu. I ordered three different things and I'm sorry to say I can't remember what any of them were called. The first were the traditional looking rounds of rice, wrapped in seaweed with cucumber and egg in the middle. Then I had some little squares of rice with avocado on the top and a little seaweed ribbon around the middle. Finally there were two rice pillows covered in a sweet egg pancake. All items were very tasty and it was surprisingly filling. The meat/fish eaters gorged themselves on a massive selection of fishy sushi and steak which went down well. No photos I'm afraid. I can recommend the veggie sushi but my colleagues had a bit of belly ache the next day. Not sure whether that was just the meat/fish or the sheer amount they consumed!!

Item 1 was like this but with egg in the middle as well

The 'pillow pancakes' were like the batter coloured pillows here

Dustbin Lid Vegetable Pizza

Now where did I leave off last week? Ah yes, Wednesday. I had a trial all day at work which left me quite tired and lazy so I decided to indulge Mr VST in the request he had been making for weeks that we go out for pizza. We strolled down to the quay and went to 'On the Waterfront' where they make delicious 16 inch 'dustbin lid' sized pizzas. We went for one of those covered in vegetables and a very flavoursome chutney (not how the Italians do it I'm sure!) and some beer battered onion rings which we delicious and filling. They meant that we had some pizza left over for lunch the next day.

Pancakes

I have decided that Pancake Day is the best 'holiday' of the year. There's no big build up, no expectations, no stress of present buying and no day off work. Not even lots of planning necessary for the food. A simple flour, egg, milk mix is more than enough. Then when they come along, the pancakes, they always exceed expectations. Even if you end up sticking them to the ceiling it's still good simple fun.

I have tried to do something slightly different with them the last few years. I make my spinach pancakes with cheese sauce a good few times over the winter. Last year I think I tried some kind of Quorn fillet with cheese and spinach wrapped in pancakes. This year I saw Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's sweet potato pancakes and decided to give them a try.

I first whipped up a classic batter this morning before I went to work. I use the best recipe I know which is from the Winnie-the-Pooh cook book that I bought my Mum one Easter (I think) when I was about 8 years old. 4oz flour, 1/2 pint milk and one egg. I doubled it and put it in the milk carton to transport it to work along with some oil, a frying pan, wooden spatula, lemons and Nutella.

Pannier Pancake Kit!

I set up my kit on the conference room table and my boss brought in his gas stove. My work day was nicely interrupted by requests for pancakes. Great way to spend the day!

The Pancake Batter was labelled so that no one accidentally put it in their morning cuppa!

Pancake day continued after my run with the sweet potato pancakes as designed by Hugh but with one minor change. I really don't like ground ginger, I think it has a horrible flavour so I added some mixed spice instead. The result was some very light fluffy Welsh cake type things that didn't really taste of very much but that were delicious with whatever you put on them! I guess that is the point of batter, it's a really good base for everything. 

I then moved onto the normal pancakes. I am a great lover of the traditional lemon juice and sugar but having tried a crepe with Nutella in France during my recent snowboarding trip I have to say I was converted. It helped that Nutella was on special offer in the supermarket when we last went. 

Of course I ate far too many pancakes of all types! Everyone always has pancakes on pancake day, says how great they are and that they should be eaten more than once a year but then we don't eat them again in the same way until the following year!