Recipe - Sausage braised with cabbage and apple - Time 30mins, Skill (Easy), Eating (Medium)

Hello! Well I'm a bit surprised I've not blogged for over a year here. I thought I had. I planned to... But life got in the way, firstly I bought myself a machine that cuts and draws, thinking it would get me back into doing a bit of crafting (it has) and I've been blogging about that on my other blog HERE, and also, I was getting ready to, then actually moving house, then recovering from it.

Anyway lots of new recipes in my head, if only because since I moved here, and my carers who do batch cooking on Tuesday and Friday agreed to it, I now get an organic veg box every other week. So there's LOADS more fresh veg in my diet now. The other change is that I now only have a combination microwave. No hob and no oven (the previous owners of my new palace took it with them, it had more controls than a spaceship so I insisted lol). So for now recipes will be done for people with and oven and a hob but also, for my convenience, have microwave/combination instructions also. So. Follow one or the other not both! or you'll get confused!

This week I have rather a lot of vegetables, I wasn't feeling well so we didn't cook last tuesday and I'm feeling overrun. So this recipe uses up a whole cabbage.

[Picture to follow once it's been made. In about an hour or so...]

What is it? Sausages cooked with onion and apple and cabbage on the hob or in the microwave.

Time required? around 30minutes

Cooking skill required? easy to medium. Carer needs to know how to cut up an onion and to quarter, core and finely shred (long strands) a cabbage.

Some carers are quite slow at chopping vegetables. Remember you can buy onions ready chopped that are frozen so that makes it easier and also you can I think buy ready chopped cabbage. Anyway, it may take an extra 15mins if the carer is slow at prepping veggies. They will get faster, particularly if you either show or explain what to do, OR get them to watch a suitable you tube video. Oh and a sharp knife helps!

Eating ability required? Medium. Because cabbage does need to be chewed. Obviously the finer it's chopped the less chewing, but still. Also the sausages can be skinned and cut up, or even balls of sausagemeat used instead which makes it easier but even so. I think medium.

SAUSAGES BRAISED IN CABBAGE WITH APPLE
Portion Size 4 (I usually get 5 or 6 but then I use a LOT of cabbage and have one sausage per portion)

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp (tablespoon) of olive oil (or vegetable oil)

450g (1lb) of sausages - skinned and cut into bite size pieces.

It can take time to skin them, and the carer might not want to handle raw sausage meat - so either buy skinless or get the carer to cut up the sausages after they've been cooked if you can cope with the skins. If you are ok with cutting up your own food, they can be used whole.  Sometimes you can buy raw mini sausages or meatballs made of sausage, they could be a good alternative.

If you're a vegetarian, then I think SosMix would work well here
A word about sausages, the better quality you can afford, the nicer the recipe will be. I like them with caramelized onion or with apple. Today's were venison and pork, purely because I buy meat when there's a deal on at the online supermarket and that's what they had. I keep them in the freezer til I want to eat a sausage dish for a week. I just use a pack (usually about 4-6 sausages and ask the carers to chop each sausage into say 4 to 5 pieces and then make sure they understand when plating up that each portion needs 4-5 pieces ie one sausage's worth in it)

Large handful of chopped onion (as you know from previous recipes, I buy frozen ready chopped onion)

A large apple - any sort but the crisper the better. Washed, cored and cut to bite size pieces. If you want less to chew, peel it first!

A cabbage - washed, checked for wildlife, cut into quarters, cored and cut into shreds (long thin slices). Or smaller pieces if it's easier to chew.

Splash of cider vinegar - this is about two teaspoons I think. Not more than a tablespoon. It brightens the flavour. Don't use normal vinegar! In a pinch you can use a bit of lemon juice, I keep a bottle of it in the fridge for things like this.

Salt and Pepper - to taste

Water - better to be hot, the amount depends whether you want a stew or just a moist braised dish. For a stew you are looking at about half a litre/ one pint. For a moist braised dish you are looking at about 100-200ml/ quarter pint.

Herbs - You could add whatever herbs you liked, caraway or dill are traditionally eastern european, or a mixed italian one, or whatever goes with the sausages you are using. Or none at all. I like a bay leaf in it. I put herbs in at the same stage as the cabbage and water.

Garlic - You could also add garlic if you want at the same stage as the onion. I use ready prepped garlic that comes in a tube as a paste.

PREPARATION

Using a Hob:

1. Heat the oil in a pan big enough to take everything, and gently fry the sausage pieces until cooked through
2.  Add the onions (and garlic if using) on a low heat until they are translucent (see through) you aren't trying to make them crispy! If they start to burn, add a tablespoon of water or so, caramelised is fine, cremated is not!
3. Add the chopped apple and cook for a couple of minutes
4. Add the shredded cabbage and season with salt and pepper, the cider vinegar and the amount of water you've chosen to use. Add herbs if using.
5. Increase heat and cook until the cabbage is softened (it's up to you if it has some bite or melts in your mouth more. Get the carer to bring you a bit on a teaspoon for tasting).
6. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Using a microwave: (mine is an E category)

1. Get a big pyrex dish with a lid or whatever you usually use in your microwave. ALWAYS put the lid on - it keeps the food moist, but also, means you don't have to clean the microwave as often!
2. Put the oil and sausages in the dish and mix well. Put the lid on, cook for 2-3 minutes on full power, checking half way through and stirring. They don't have to be fully cooked through at this stage because that'll happen when the onions are added.
3. Add the onions and mix well, put the lid on, cook for 2-3 minutes on full power, again checking and stirring half way. Add a bit of water if it's looking dry.
4. Add the chopped apple and cook for 2 minutes on full power. Again, mix well and stirring half way. Add a bit of water if it's looking dry. Just to moisten it.
5. Add the shredded cabbage and season with salt and pepper and the water and mix well. Cook on full power for about 5 minutes but keep checking and stirring.
6. Add the cider vinegar and give it one more minute (the reason is I find that with microwaving either the flavour disappears for things like this, or gets super strong if you add it earlier).
7. Check it's cooked to the right bite/softness and adjust seasoning and serve. If it's too chewy cook for a bit longer. 
    

REMEMBER that you're batch cooking this and microwaving to reheat so it needs to be a bit chewier than you want, so that it is the right chewiness after reheating tomorrow.

Trying to lose weight? Then don't use the oil.  Instead, put a couple of tablespoons of water into the pan first, then add the sausage pieces, onion and apple. Let them simmer for 5-10 mins, then add the other ingredients in the order above.  The flavour won't be as rich/ caramelised, so you might need more herbs, or tomatoes to compensate - or higher quality sausages.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

• I eat it just as it is. If you want it a bit richer, then a blob of creme fraiche or plain live yoghurt (good for the digestion) works.
• Nice with a side of green runner beans or soy beans (good for ladies of a certain age) or fresh french bread & butter.  Or buttered carrots.
• It gets better, the flavours develop the next day. Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days as long as it's cooled fairly fast and refridgerated quickly (you have to be careful with pork)

ALTERNATIVES

•  Don't see why you couldn't use beef or lamb or venison meatballs if you fancied them instead of sausages.
  
  
• You could also use bite size chunks of any meat instead - diced pork, lamb, chicken, turkey etc.
  
  
• Loads of different sorts of sausages - I think chunks of dried sausage like chorizo or italian or salami also works well (your carer might find it easier to deal with skinning & chunking dried sausage). I think this is originally an Eastern European dish so any of their hard sausages would work really well, or German ones.
• Add other vegetables to bulk it out - Basically, if you've any fresh veg that you've not used up yet and is in danger of going off, this recipe can probably cope with a random variety! 
  
  You could leave out the meat altogether and have a medley of root veg instead.

Can it be reheated? Yes, it is even better the day after making and it is happy being microwaved (just add a tablespoon of water to stop it getting dry on reheating).

Is it freezeable? I haven't, but I don't see why not. You'd just have to be careful making sure that the pork is properly defrosted and heated right through.

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!

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 - Quesadillas (fried, filled tortilla/ flat bread) Time (20mins) Skill (easy) Eating (medium)

I like pizza. But it's quite hard to eat, in that it needs a bit of chewing and my fingers get messy.  I have found Quesadillas are a good alternative, easier to eat and can be very quick to prepare.

This Quesadilla was made with 2 plain chappattis, and a filling of chopped onion, red pepper and sweetcorn with a bit of garlic paste.

Recipe Quick Cook - Coconut & Vanilla Yoghurt

Sometimes I just want something quick and easy that's fairly neutral tasting, that doesn't need much chewing but has a bit of body to it. Which is harder to achieve than you'd think!

Years ago I bought a couple of books on Candida Albicans. And promptly ignored them. Since I've been this ill, I've been looking through my books to see what's in there that's easy to make and easy to eat and tasty.  And I was a bit doubtful about this one, which is from Erica White's Beat Candida Cookbook, but actually it's rather nice and you don't miss the fact that it doesn't have sugar in it. It's also quite filling.

This pic was from pinterest, it probably takes you to a site where coconut & milk is involved. I have no idea, I just wanted a pretty picture of yoghurt!

Recipe - Pot Roast Chicken with Vegetables - Time (2 hours) Skill (Easy) Eating (Easy)

I know, 2 hours to make, are you mad Lois?  I've thought long & hard about including this one, but, I think I've worked out a way for it to be doable so long as you can get to the oven to switch it off/ get the food out after the carer has gone.... Or the other way around, to make it up for yourself in time so the carer gets it out (less chance of burning yourself).  It's essentially a 'pot roast' something you could do in a slow cooker, but I don't have one, so I do it in the oven... And best of all, because the lid is always on the pan, the oven stays clean! Hurrah!

So, I LOVE roast chicken, with the crispy skin, but often it's a bit chewy and anyway, a whole chicken? Not only do I live by myself but it's too damn heavy to handle! And roasted vegetables, well they take a lot of chewing. This recipe gives you the taste (or near as damn it) without the excessive energy required to eat it.

So, I've noticed that supermarkets sell parts of chicken with skin on, including chicken breasts, and I've adapted what I used to do with an whole chicken, to use ready portioned chicken.  Suitable portions would be legs, thighs, drumsticks or chicken breast.  Skin on or skin off, your choice!

Apologies, I forgot to take a picture yesterday when it was all nice & warm, so this is after I've already had half of it and it's been in the fridge overnight!

Recipe - Cauliflower in Satay (tomato & peanut) sauce - Time (30mins) Skill (easy) Eating (easy)

So, it's harvest time, and the local Baptist Church of which I would be a member if I could get there, kindly donated some vegetables to me.  The carrots and potatos and onions will keep well, but there was a rather nice cauliflower.

I didn't feel like cauliflower cheese, and anyway didn't have any creme fraiche and couldn't be bothered to explain how to white sauce to whichever carer was going to be here (my regular carer's left so it's difficult to know what to plan if you have no idea who's coming or their skill levels!).  I was thinking maybe cauliflower in a tomato sauce, even using a bottled ready made pasta sauce like Lloyd Grossman's or Ragu.

But I decided to look in the cookery books. I have an enormous tome from 1985 by Rose Elliott called Complete Vegetarian Cookbook (over 1000 recipes). Which has line drawings but no pictures.  Which I've barely used because it does feel all a bit 1970s/ 1980s nut loaf or generally brown food....

But then I found this recipe - basically Cauliflower in tomato & peanut sauce.  Yeah I know, you're looking doubtful, so was I and so was the carer when she saw the recipe. However, it's genuinely really really tasty. And very cheap (particularly if your cauliflower was free like mine was!)  Also, I reckon that the sauce would work with all sorts of vegetables, or meat, and is very easy to do. It would also be great for using up leftovers of plain boiled cauliflower or other veg.  So it won 5 stars for easy cooking, tastiness and versatility: but it's not really a dish you eat with your eyes.... it's very, well, beige is a polite word for it....

Recipe Quick Cook - Tanzanian Makande Sweetcorn & Kidney Bean Stew

This is one I can do myself long as I can stand at the hob long enough to put a pan on, open the tins and stick the ingredients in the pan and set the egg timer.  For people who can stand for long enough to saute the onions, excellent, but it's just as tasty without doing that!  It's probably possible to do in a microwave also, but you'll have to work out timings for yourself for that.

According to the Recipe Book this is from - The African & Middle Eastern Cookbook (Josephine Bacon and Jenni Fleetwood) which is where I got the picture (the wonders of scanners!) this is a recipe from the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania.  Though I know Kenyans have something similar...

What is it?  A stew made from onions, sweetcorn, kidney beans, coconut cream and vegetable stock.  It's like a soup with bits in.

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 - 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: