September = Chili Sauce

I made a double batch of chili sauce today so we had meatloaf for dinner.  I was able to get a bushel of Roma tomatoes at Freshco for $10.  Such a good deal that I had to take advantage.

I see more canning in my immediate future...

Julie

BTW I have lost 25 lbs to date :)

Cottage Pie

Tonight I felt like comfort food.  Even though the temperatures were in the 30's, the air conditioner was on and the kitchen was hot from jam-making, so I decided to put the oven on.  We had cottage pie and Mom and I both enjoyed it very much.  Such a simple and homey meal...

Ingredients for 4

1 lb of ground beef

1/4 cup of diced onions

1/4 cup of frozen peas

1/4 cup of fresh or frozen corn

1 carrot

beef broth

3 medium potatoes

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of milk

2 Tbsp of butter

freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp of dried oregano

salt & pepper

Start by boiling 3 medium potatoes for mashed topping.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  A pound of freshly ground beef from the butcher was cooked with some diced onion and salt and pepper.  It is then spooned into the bottom of a casserole.  The carrot is diced and par-boiled in some beef stock (about 1/2 cup).  Then peas, corn and carrots are spread over the top.  Add about 3 Tbsp of beef broth plus what is left in the pot with the carrots.  Season with salt, pepper and oregano.

Once the potatoes are soft, mash and add butter, milk, cheddar cheese and nutmeg to taste (I used about a tsp).  Beat until they are light and fluffy.  Spread over the top of the filling.

Spread out the potatoes and either make twirls or run the tines of a fork over the top.  That way, you'll have some nice bits that will brown.

Bake it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  I like mine with a little ketchup...

Enjoy,

Julie

Pan-Fried Steak

Yep, pan-fried, not BBQ'd.  I ended up with a sinus headache and just couldn't face the heat and sunshine in my "courtyard" with my headache pounding.  So I replicated one of my late father's favourite meals.   Pan-fried steak with mushrooms and onions, home fries with pan gravy and beets.  Yummy...

So, quite simple - potatoes were boiled until cooked, then sliced and browned in some olive oil at dinner time.  Beets were baked in the oven until cooked through (and no, I didn't put the oven on just for beets..you'll see) and then cooled, peeled and reheated in the microwave.  The steak was fried in a Tbsp of olive oil and mushrooms and onions were added after the steak was cooked on one side and flipped.  When finished, the meat and veg were kept warm.  The steaks were extremely lean so I added 2 tsp of butter to the pan and one heaping Tbsp of flour.  I stirred together and added a cup of wine and a cup of water and stirred til thickened.  Plate it and enjoy.

And the reason the oven was on...

Yes, you are right.  This is my mum's scrumptious apple crisp with vanilla ice cream on the side.   Ahhhh, heaven...

Julie

Update

I just posted last night`s dinner.  I didn`t include the recipe for cauliflower soup because I follow the same directions for broccoli soup.  You can look that up on my blog if you would like directions.  I always make soup after we`ve had broccoli or cauliflower with cheese sauce.  If you make a little extra, then you can make a great easy soup a day or two later.

Thanks for the e-mails I`ve gotten with words of support.  I did go a little off the rails and gained 2 lbs back but have now dropped 3 so 23 lbs down since January 1st.

And for those who asked about my missing chicken burger recipe, that is a long story that I won`t go into but rest assured that I will put it on the menu again.  If you want the recipe in the meantime, drop me an e-mail and I`ll pass Allyson`s recipe on to you.

Julie

Menu for Week of August 20, 2012

The best laid plans of mice and men...  I seem to be planning menus that I don't stick to and eating things that I really shouldn't lately.  The only difference this time is I'm not on a diet, I'm trying to institute a life change and I am never going to give up!  But I'm not going to beat myself up either...

Monday

Homemade Cauliflower Soup

Bacon, Egg and Cheese on an English Muffin

sorry no pretty photo editing...PicMonkey hates me

Tuesday

Ham and Vegetable Pie

Wednesday

General Tso Chicken

Thursday

BBQ Steak with Mushrooms and Onions and Roasted Garlic Potatoes

Friday

Salmon and Salad

I am linking to Stonegable's On The Menu Monday.  Check it out!

Julie

August 15, 2012.

Dinner on my lap in front of the telly tonight, watching Coronation Street...

Julie

Peach Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Tonight I BBQ'd a whole pork tenderloin (lightly brushed with olive oil) and brushed a glaze of homemade peach jam and chopped chives at the last minute.

I also sauteed corn (kernels cut from two cobs), finely diced onion and green pepper in a knob of butter.  Such a nice fresh vegetable and the pork tenderloin was juicy with just a hint of sweet peach.

Julie

This Week's Menu August 13, 2012

Monday

Homemade Tomato Sauce over Spaghetti.  The Meatballs are being replaced by one Lean Italian Sausage (Grilled and Sliced)

Tuesday

Pork Tenderloin grilled and glazed with homemade peach jam and chives, and a Sweet Corn and Green Pepper saute.

Wednesday

In addition to the plate above, I will be making a Fruit Salsa to serve with the fish.

Thursday

(picture to come)

Stuffed Chicken Breast (with low fat ricotta, spinach and mushroom and a wine sauce), Fresh Cucumber Pickle and Sauteed Beets.

Friday

(picture to come)

BBQ Ground Chicken Burgers (my niece, Allyson's recipe)

I am linking to On The Menu Monday at Stonegable.

Bon Appetit

Julie

Garlicky Chicken

Dinner tonight - chicken with 40 cloves of garlic (although I used only one large head of fresh garlic), mashed potatoes and corn freshly cut off the cob.  It was delicious but I need to get out tomorrow for some fresh veg and plan a new healthy eating menu.

Julie

Dinner Tonight

The new crop of beets are ready and I've been craving them!  Dinner tonight was bacon-wrapped steak, mushrooms and onions, roasted new potatoes and lots of beets.

Oh and BTW, I made banana pecan muffins tonight (check my blog for recipe) as we are hitting the road tomorrow to take my niece's stuff to her new digs.  She starts a new teaching job in a couple of weeks...

Julie

Stew and Biscuits

Well I haven't been losing more weight but I have been trying to eat well and I've still lost 22 lbs so far this year.  The Farmer's Market is starting to sell a wide variety of fruit and vegetables so I'm going on Saturday to stock up.  I just bought some canning supplies and found the rubber rings for the old canning jars at Canadian Tire so I'm going to use them for tomatoes.  It sounds like the price of food is going up so I'm going to try to be a bit more frugal.  For dinner tonight, I made a stew and cheddar buttermilk biscuits (both recipes are on my blog).

Julie

Pool Party

We had a pool party at my sister, Connie's yesterday to cope with the sweltering heat.  We then had a nice potluck dinner in the air conditioning.  I didn't get a picture of Allyson's hors d'oeuvres that we enjoyed poolside but they were great.  She had rounds of French stick drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, slices of fresh mozzarella, local tomatoes and fresh basil leaves from the garden.  Yum!

Menu for dinner was pork and beef kebabs, rice, grilled veggies, Greek salad and cheddar herb beer bread.  For dessert, Cheryl made delicious fresh peach pie.  It was all about fresh ingredients.

Connie made the rice and veggies.  I made a Greek salad - romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, black olives and feta cheese.  Dressing was olive oil, red wine vinegar and dried oregano.  A slight variation on the recipe on my blog.

I made a family favourite - beer bread (the recipe is on this blog).

The kebabs were made from cubes of top sirloin steak and pork tenderloin.  I marinated each bowl of meat with 3 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 1/2 limes, 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp of  Herbes De Provence and salt and pepper.  I marinated them for about 6 hours before BBQing.

Da-da-da-da    PEACH PIE

Julie