5 Days of Work Food - Challenge COMPLETE!

5 days have come and gone...that went fast!

So here is a quick recap on the meals I brought with me to work:

DAY 1:

Creamy Pasta with spinach and zucchini from the garden
Plain greek yoghurt with frozen raspberries (from picking) & blueberries (from road stand)
and local honey
chopped veggies sticks - celery, carrots, sweet yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes and cukes from the garden
a grocery store apple and ivanhoe cheese curd - white!

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DAY 2:

Spinach salad with sliced turkey slices, cherry tomatoes, cukes, sweet yellow peppers and diced Wilton cheddar cheese

Home made balsamic salad dressing

a grocery store apple

Veggie sticks - celery and carrots

Mexican oatmeal - quick oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder, brown sugar

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DAY 3:

Turkey-Pumpkin Chili with 2 johnny cake muffins (cornbread) in reused ziplock bag

Spinach salad with cukes, cherry tomatoes, sweet orange peppers, onions and walnuts served with homemade balsamic dressing.

Maple cinnamon oatmeal with chopped almonds and apples.

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Day 4:

Leftover Sheppard's Pie

Veggie sticks (carrots, cukes, peppers, celery)

1 whole orange, sectioned

small (reused) ziplock bag of Tostitos chips with 1/4 cup homemade salsa

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DAY 5:

TAKE OUT DAY!!!
(I thought I would treat myself and,
in the process, show you what I eat for fast food)

Sushi lunch combo B

Added BONUS:  It's across the street from my work - so I can walk there!

How's that for balancing the high carbon foot print sushi?!

I could have remixed any of the elements from the week's lunches to make a fifth lunch.

It wouldn't have been that hard, once I had all of the stuff on hand.

************

I tried to make a bunch of healthy snacks using stuff from the garden and pantry
for 5 whole days.
I tried to make sure I had plenty of protein (but not enough for a construction worker),
decreased my salt intake (by making home made stuff, stead of packaged),
bring stuff I could snack on throughout the day that was both sweet and savoury (to satisfy both cravings),
to eat the rainbow each day,
to reduce my waste by using and washing the same packaging...
and I think I succeeded!



So how did you do with the challenge?

Baked Flying Saucers - Mexican Style!

Its been a while since I did a recipe post...

In case you are wondering, I have been posting those all to my facebook page and group.

(It just seemed to happen like that this summer)

But I promise to stop that and even things out a bit!

We raided my mother in law's garden recently,

grabbing stuff that was just finishing up.

Like more flying saucer squash!

Ideally you want to pick those squashes when they are fist sized,

but like zucchinis, if you blink, they will grow to enormous proportions!

What you see above is ONE paddypan squash!

We halved it and scooped out the seeds and inner flesh.

What you get left over looks kinda like when you scoop out a pumpkin!

You can dry these seeds and roast them in butter and salt just like pumpkin seeds,

but we rinsed the seeds and dried them off for planting next year.

In a frying pan, we added cooked brown/wild rice, black beans drained and rinsed, roma tomatoes chopped and seeded, yellow tomatoes chopped and seeded, pressed garlic, 1 chopped white onion and spices.  The spices include cumin, cayenne powder, S & P to taste.

Cook off the mixture until the moisture is all but gone.

Fill the squashes, top with shredded cheese and bake at 350 degrees C for 30-40 mins.

Each half served one.

AMAZING!

Super healthy and filling for these cool fall evenings.

This dish also qualifies for Meat-Free Monday!

This dish is easily a meal in itself but you can serve it with a small green salad or cucumber/tomato salad.

I was STUFFED with just the squash...(pun intended)

Anyway, check out my facebook group or page (link beside this post)

for more tips, tricks, recipes and photos from other readers and their garden creations!

Enjoy this wonderful fall!

For those of you who asked...

For those of you who asked me about this on my facebook page & group...

The pattypan squash!

AKA The flying saucer squash.

Its a summer squash, like a zucchini.  It cooks like a zucchini and it tastes like a zucchini.

It just looks a little bit different!

And, boy, can they be different...

Pattypan squash is low in saturated fat and sodium and contains no cholesterol. It provides an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. One cup of cooked pattypan squash provides 38 calories and 43 percent of your daily value of Vitamin C, 13 percent of your daily value of folate, and substantial amounts of vitamin B6, magnesium, potassium and Vitamin A. Additionally, one serving of pattypan squash provides 5g of fiber.

 

Pattypan squash has many disease-fighting elements. Its fiber content helps reduce the risk of colon cancer and reduce dietary cholesterol. The vitamin C found in pattypan squash can also help prevent oxidation of cholesterol in the blood vessels, which in turn can decrease risk for atherosclerosis. Pattypan squash's potassium and magnesium content work to lower blood pressure. Magnesium also reduces the risk for heart attack and stroke.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/43951-pattypan-squash-nutrition-information/#ixzz23YG5KWFd

Above is the view of the top. 

I say top because, traditionally speaking, the plant is attached to the veggie via the stem. 

Above is the bottom view.

Now to the burning question!

How does one prepare such a veggie?

I slice off the top.

Then slice down the center.

(makes it easier for handling and further slicing)

Once halved, I quarter it!

Pattypans aren't supposed to be as big as your head, but like most summer squashes, if you blink, it will go from cute like disks to humungous veggie monsters!

This one was a little big and therefore had a small row of seeds.

The seeds are soft and you can cook them too, but I just sliced them out.

What you are left with is above.

(kinda looks like a heart!)

Continue slicing to your hearts desire.

The thinner the veggie slice, the faster it will absorb oil and cook.

You have to be aware of the thickness because you could end up with some slices where the inside is cooked, but the thicker outer rim is still raw.

My favorite way to prepare these veggies is to heat up some oil and fry them up, adding pressed garlic towards the end.  You can stuff them...

...roast them or steam them. 

Throw them in your favorite casserole, stir-fry or even muffins or bread (shred them for use in baking).

Since they are really mild tasting (or don't really have a specific taste of their own), you can add just about any spice to add flavour.  Chili powder, cayenne, coriander, black pepper.  Or you can serve them with a really flavourful food to balance out the meal.

Salt is a must!



These veggies don't keep, so its important to eat them shortly after they have been picked.

Trust me, if I ever find a way to store these beauties, YOU'LL be the first to hear about it!

Recipe Feature...3 meals in one post!

I've been away all week again...so I find the post ideas have been piling up...

I was about to make 3 posts with a lot of details about each meal.  Instead...I want my readers to get the most bang for their buck.  Here is a post that features 3 hit meals from the past week.  All were delicious.  Some were planned, some were accidental...some used recipes, some were made up on the spot.

Here are the delectible servings of seasonal, easy and CHEAP meals (they all required at least ONE ingredient that DIDN'T come from the backyard).



Dinner last Sunday, some for family and some for friends



Aubergine & Courgette Bake

1 large eggplant

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 lbs tomatoes (peeled and chopped)

a handful of fresh basil leaves (chopped)

1 Tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)

2 zucchinis (sliced lengthwise)

whole wheat flour for coating

shredded mozzarella

parmesan cheese

1.  Slice the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 45-60  min.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.  Fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened.  Stir in the tomatoes, half the basil and the parsley.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook, stirring, for 25-35 minutes until sauce has thickened.  Mash the tomatoe to a pulp.

3.  Rinse and dry the eggplant.  Dust the eggplant and zucchinis with the flour.

4.  Heat more olive oil in another frying pan and fry the eggplant slices and zucchini slices until golden brown.  Set aside.

5.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter an overproof dish.  Put a layer of eggplant, the zucchini in the dish, pour a layer of sauce and scatter with some mozzarella.  Sprinkle over most of the remaining basil and parsley.  Repeat the layers, ending with mozzarella.  Sprinkle with the parmesan and remaining herbs on top and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Serve at once.

(REF:  The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking, by Roz Denny & Christine Ingram, 1997)



Saturday Lunch at Home



Swiss chard noodles with Pesto sauce

a dozen large leaves of Swiss chard, sliced in long lenths

walnuts

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion cut in lengths

2 cloves garlic crushed

handful of basil leaves

a tsp of parmesan

handful of cherry tomatoes as topping

whole wheat bagels toasted with butter & a dash of parmesan

S & P

Fry up the onions and walnuts in some of the oil.  Add garlic and chard and simmer.  Grind salt over the whole mess.  Add basil and some of the parmesan.  Heat and serve in bowls with cherry tomatoes and toasted bagels.  Top greens with more parmesan.  



Dinner on Saturday night



Squash and Tomatoes on noodles

1 Flying saucer squash

1 pit red and black cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups chopped chicken breast

2 tbsp fresh oregano and parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

spaghetti noodles

shredded cheddar

S & P

Microwave the chopped flying saucers for 2 minutes.  Fry up the heated squashes in olive oil until browned.  Add garlic and chicken and simmer for 5 min.  Add sliced cherry tomatoes, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.  Simmer a 5 more minutes.  Serve over noodles and top with shredded cheddar. 

REVIEW:

These meals were a hit each time.  Each dish hit a different flavour of the season.  The first recipe was wonderful but WAY too much oven and frying for a hot summer day.  I could see me making that dish and freezing it for a fresh taste of summer in the mid-winter season (not sure how these ingredients would stand up to freezing...but worth a shot!).  The second two recipes were completely made up from stuff we needed to eat up.  Both required a minimal amount of frying and served up hot and fresh.  

If you wonderful readers make this dish, let me know, post a pic of your creation on my facebook page!  Lets all share our accomplishments.  

That's me...saving the planet one low carbon footprint meal at a time... 

Flying saucers...not necessarily from Mars

After last year, growing and eating zucchinis became a passion of mine.  I was never a huge fan of the tasteless gourd...but I am a born-again zuke lover.  This year I couldn't resist buying the flying saucer squash plant.  The picture on the tag was not unlike the image above.  I think they an adorable edition to our garden.  The debate between hubbie and I is are they a summer squash like zucchini?  Or are they like a winter squash like butternut or acorn squash?  The plant grows like a central bush like a zucchini plant, rather than vine-like as its winter squash cousins do. 

I have so many stuffed zucchini recipes put aside, that I thought I would try it out on something more fun...like a flying saucer! 



Because it is our first year with flying saucers...I had no idea what was the perfect picking size?  When they are cute and small?  Or do I neglect them for a few days and let them get as big as my hand (as shown above)?

I started browning some ground beef before I chopped off the top of the squash.  I simmered the beef for a few minutes while I dug out the center of the flying saucers.  Hope the martians didn't mind the renovations...

I added some chopped tomatoes, cooked brown and wild rice (I had in the fridge), some purple peppers (the turned green upon being cooked) and since we had no onions in the house, I used frozen wild leeks!  (we picked them this past May)



In the oven they went...at 375 degrees C and baked for 25 min.  Topped with mozzarella, of course.



After almost 35 min, I took them out of the oven, perfectly browned and crisp.  (I added a green zucchini and a yellow zucchini because I made too much filling...and truthfully, the flying saucers didn't look big enough to fill both  my husband and myself in one meal)

This was one yummy, healthy meal...and it occurred to me that the only thing we didn't grow ourselves was the beef, the cheese and the rice.  Pretty low cost meal indeed! 

What's the weirdest thing you've ever grown?  (could be the name, the shape or the colour)

Rawlicious and the Delicious NO COOK Marinara Recipe...

As many of you are already well aware...its been HOT out there...

I won't go on about it...just that with the humidity and the heat...it has not been a very active few days.  We haven't had rain in a while...so our rain barrels have been rendered useless.  The sun beats down like a laser.  I look at my garden and see the poor plants having a hard time with the air!

I also had a hard time thinking about feeding ourselves using any sort of heating device.  I would cringe at the sight of the oven.

It was this week that I dug up one of the Raw recipes I got out of Best Health magazine.  http://www.besthealthmag.ca/  There was a recent issue that focused on the raw food diet.  Raw is not a new idea, but I just discovered it.  According to About.com:


"The raw food diet is based on the belief that the most healthful food for the body is uncooked. Although most food is eaten raw, heating food is acceptable as long as the temperature stays below 104 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit (the cutoff temperature varies among those in the raw food community).
Cooking is thought to denature the enzymes naturally present in food. According to raw foodists, enyzymes are the life force of a food, helping us to digest food and absorb nutrients. If we overconsume cooked food, our bodies are forced to work harder by producing more enzymes. Over time, a lack of enzymes from food is thought to lead to digestive problems, nutrient deficiency, accelerated aging, and weight gain."

I was intrigued by the idea and did some digging.  I liked some of the recipes I found, however, you would probably need to live near a tropical or sub-tropical area in order for this diet to be kind to the environment.  It just isn't doable in Canada AND maintain a low carbon footprint.  I do appreciate its benefits though...and thought I would benefit from some of the recipes while the ingredients were ripening in my garden.  I would probably have to put raw dietism on hold in winter though.  Could you imagine the carbon footprint of the meal posted below in February???  **Shudders**

So I kept one of the recipes in Best Health Magazine and decided it would come in handy one day....that day came when the temp in our back porch was almost 100 degrees F and I wanted to disown my stove.

I grabbed it and went hunting in the garden for virtually all of the ingredients:

2 Tomatoes
1 cup of sundried tomatoes coaked in warm water
1/4 red bell pepper
2 tbsp chopped red onion
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic peeled
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
4 large leaves of fresh basil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp marjoram (optional)
1 small-medium green zucchini
1 small-medium yellow zucchini

You also need a food processor...

Put everything in the blender...except the zucchinis and blend a bit (thats the key...don't blend too much or it will be veggie juice).

I just rinsed off the zukes and went at them with a peeler.  I made the "noodles" about fettucini width or close enough.  They made pretty striped noodles on my plate!  Even the "noodles" aren't cooked...so I could have my marinara AND not cook it too!

I blended the fresh ingredients...

See what I mean about veggie juice?  My substitutions are below:

I didn't have a red onion, so I used a white one. 
I didn't have dried oregano, so I used fresh.
I didn't have sundried tomatoes, so I used a bit more red pepper and a bit more regular tomato.
I didn't have agave, so I used pure maple syrup instead.

I spooned the mix onto my "noodles"...

The recipe was in the article in Best Health magazine, but it originally came from a restaurant called "Rawlicious". 

http://www.rawlicious.ca/Rawlicious/Home.html

In the end, this meal satisfied me on a number of levels.  First, I didn't have to turn on one thing that generated heat.  Secondly, I ate a really hearty meal!  Third, I got to pick the bulk of this recipe from my backyard.  And lastly, it made a really pretty post!!!

I will continue to research the raw phenomenon...but I will also consider its impact on the environment as well as my body.