Creamy Cauliflower Kashmir Curry - time (30mins) eating (easy) skill (easy)

They're like buses these posts, none for ages then 3 come along at the same time. Ish.

Anyway Wednesday is cooking day. This recipe is from an old Weightwatchers book called Spice Up Your Life. I do like their recipes, they work and they taste lovely, even with their low fat and sugar substitutes, though I generally  ignore the those and use normal ingredients, like fat and sugar.

Talking of sugar, the osteopath/ naturopath has been encouraging me to stop eating sugar, and get calories from actual fats (like butter, lard, coconut oil etc) and to only use liquid oils as dressings or at the end of the cooking process so that the fat doesn't go solid when it takes me hours to eat my food - because globs of cold fat aren't too great! Anyway, I staggered onto the scales the other day and appear to have lost 6lbs. Just through not eating sugar. And also not snacking so much, cos let's face it, sugar = moreish snacks.  I'm a bit stunned because I've barely been moving inside the house and haven't been a metre beyond the front & back door more than twice since Christmas Day jaunts to the parentals for lunch and then the vet, and I've not changed anything else, though I'm probably eating more fruit and honey than usual.

So if anyone is in doubt - yes you can lose weight without moving much at all! (unless having 'restless legs' counts. I do wriggle a lot!)

In the pan, at night, in poor light. It's actually quite yellow and looks nicer in real life!

Carrot and Corn Bake - time (30mins) skill (medium) eating (medium)

Ages since I've done a recipe. But to be honest, I've had the carers cycling through old favourites that are already on here or forgotten to take photos. There've also been some hideous disasters - unripe mango with crab salad (with fish sauce) *shudder* and a rather odd 'yoghurt' made out of crushed cashew nuts that I sort of got used to by the end and may try again just out of sheer pigheadedness....

Anyway. I fancied something different, so I had a look at the 'little used' cookery books I own. I have one by Erica White called Beat Candida Cookbook.  Candida is a 'fungus' that EW and others believe 'overgrows' in your body and causes illness. I have no idea if that's scientifically proven, but I do know her recipes (a) work and (b) taste good.  The yoghurt, shredded coconut and vanilla essence recipe already on here is one of hers.

So, the bake. Quite simple, as my carer said - 'it's making a bechemel sauce with onion then adding the rest' but there's quite a lot of vegetable prep required which takes time. He managed it quite comfortably in the 45mins allotted BUT it needs a long cooking time so you need someone to get it out of the oven for you if you can't do it for yourself!  I think it would be nice in little individual pots which are easier to handle for us meeps... But he used a single dish.

What is it?  An oven bake made from onion, carrot, sweetcorn, celery, eggs and a bit of milk, flour and fat.

Time required? If, like me, your carrots need peeling and hand grating, and onion needs chopping, then allow 45mins, otherwise if you have grated carrot and chopped onion ready done from the supermarket, probably 20-25mins preparation time.

Cooking Skill required? Need to be able to prepare the vegetables, and make a smooth sauce from the fat and milk. So I'd say medium skill level.

Eating ability required? Depends on how fine the carrot is grated, but there's lots of sweetcorn so it's a bit chewy. So medium level.

CARROT AND CORN BAKE

Ingredients
 55g/ 2oz/ 1/2 cup chopped onion
55g/ 2oz/ 1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp unhydrogenated margerine (or butter)
2tbsp wholemeal flour (or whatever flour you have)
230ml/ 8 fl oz/ 1 cup soya or rice milk (or actual cow's milk)
2 free range eggs, beaten
1 large can of sweetcorn (sugar free) or frozen equivalent
255g/ 9oz/ 1 1/2 cups grated or shredded carrot

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, or 350 degrees F or gas mark 4
2. Prepare the chopped onion, celery and grated carrot
3. Saute chopped onion and chopped celery in the margerine/ fat over a low heat until transparent
4. Sir in the flour and mix well
5. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly and cook until thick and smooth (the lowish heat makes the flour swell so this takes time and stirring)
6. Remove from heat. Add beaten eggs
7. Add sweetcorn and carrot, mixing well.
8. Pour into a greased oven dish and bake for about 1 hour until a knife in the centre comes out clean.

Alternatives

1. I didn't have any celery. So we were going to add celery seeds, but we couldn't find them. In the end we didn't add any herbs, just salt & pepper. I think it would give a nice balance with the celery. But needs must....
2. Instead of celery? How about fennel, or mixed peppers or leftover boiled potato chunks? You could put pieces of bacon or ham in there too. Maybe cheese sprinkled on the top?
3. Eat with a salad, or cold cuts of meat or maybe roast chicken or other braised meat?
4. I ate mine with tomato and cucumber slices.
5. Put tomato slices on the top for decoration when you bake it.

Can it be frozen? Don't see why not, the Bechemel Sauce element baked into the carrot so it's quite a 'dry' dish. I suppose it may go watery on defrosting but then I'd just add a bit of milk to get it to go back together again.

Soy Sauce & Sesame Oil dressed Kale Salad - Time (20mins) Skill (easy) Eating (medium)

I've got a new carer, a lovely guy called Gary. Who likes to cook. Hurrah! So we did a Japanese/ Oriental feast. This is a leafy greens salad that was part of the feast....

You can make it fresh at the time, or use already cooked leafy green leftovers the next day by adding the marinade dressing.

Recipe - Ghanian Fish and Okra Soup - Time (30-40mins) Skill (Easy) Eating (Easy)

So, on a Facebook Group, people were talking about freezing bananas and I mentioned the green bananas in the freezer left over from this recipe, and was asked for it. So here it is, another lovely carer prepared meal that gets better the day after it's cooked.

As ever, no photo of my own, but this one I googled looks more or less like the recipe does

This image came from a Nigerian Recipe here

So, a soup/ stew made from fish, okra and green bananas. Not sure? Neither was I, but it's really really tasty. And the carer who cooked it (who doesn't like fish) gave it a little try and liked it too.

Recipe - Sausages braised with Lentils - Time (30mins), Skill (Easy), Eating (Easy)

Better late than never! Maybe.  Yet again, it got eaten before there were photos.  Oops.  so here's a photo from the web

This picture is from another blog called Big Girls Small Kitchen here

Right, so who doesn't like sausages! (no-one) Who isn't sure about lentils? (most of us I suspect....).  I first had a version of this at the Nicolas Wine Bar in Canary Wharf here. And very nice it was too. Imagine my surprise when I found I already owned a recipe for it in the Quick After Work French Cookbook by Hilaire Waldon here - which I've adapted a bit to my current needs...

Recipe - baked marinated salmon (or any other firm fresh fish) - Time (30mins) - Skill (easy) - Eating (easy)

Morning.  This is last week's recipe.  I wasn't feeling great last week, so ate it without thinking (again) that it might be a good idea to take a photo.  I shall have to find a stock one from the interwebs.

this pic is from someone else's blog HERE - they have good suggestions for what to put with your fish.  This is what the folded up packet of fish looks like when you put it in the oven

Anyway - fish.  Easy to eat but quite stinky to cook and if you're smell sensitive - urghhh! Which is why I like to bake it in a little paper & foil packet. And to make it more tasty with a marinate.

What is it? A salmon fillet (or any other fresh fish you fancy) marinated in a sauce, then wrapped in a greaseproof paper & foil parcel and baked in the oven. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Recipe - Sweetcorn & Potato Chowder (Soup) - Time (40mins) Skill (Easy) Eating (Easy)

Morning. I've decided what cooking will be done by my carer this week - based on what's going to go off - and that's potatoes.  And I've not had soup for ages. So, as the sweetcorn in the freezer has turned into an iceberg of frozen air & actual vegetable, Sweetcorn & Potato Chowder it is!

Image taken from Ocado's Sweetcorn Chowder Recipe

What is it? A vegetarian soup made from sweetcorn, potato, onion and herbs. You can eat it lumpy or whizz it with a handmixer to make it smooth.

Quick Cook Recipe - Spinach with Mustard Time (5mins) Skill (Easy) Eating (Easy)

What is it? Chopped spinach with a mustard & creme fraiche (slightly soured dairy cream) dressing.

I discovered this when I was a nanny in France years ago. It's great as a side dish of vegetables, or on its own as a quick snack or even as a meal if you don't fancy or are too tired for anything else.  If you don't use the Creme Fraiche it's also great for filling you up if you're trying to lose weight.

Time required - About 5 -10 mins - the length of time it takes to get spinach out of the freezer, into the microwave and mix mustard & creme fraiche into it.

Cooking Skill required - Easy. Ability to use a microwave and stir!

Eating Skill required - Easy. Very little chewing.

Recipe - Baked Cheese Savoury - Time (30 - 40 mins) Skill (easy) Eating (easy)

Sorry no pics yet. The last one got eaten very very fast!

What is it? - Batch cooking of cheese, milk and eggs baked in the oven to make a Savoury Bake. It's real comfort food for me, very versatile, you can eat it hot or cold and add different ingredients to make it more interesting without too much effort.

Time required  - about 5- 10mins to prepare and 20-30 mins in the oven. (All my recipes can be prepped in a 45 min carer call. Some may need leaving to cook before being ready to eat, but I'll warn you...) 

Recipe after the break: