May 24
May 24 | Uncategorized
I have not been very good at keeping up on my Last Night’s Dinner post. Every since Rowan came I kinda lost motivation to cook new meals each week and fell in to the habit of cooking the usual things over and over. Well things are changing! I miss cooking and well I miss being able to share healthy vegetarian meals here on jenloveskev.
Eating healthy is sort of a passion for me. Do I eat healthy all the time? No, but I really think it is important and food really is so freakin’ delicious when it uses fresh vegetables/fruit and herbs. Beats some greasy fast food any day. I had mentioned before that we were going to also be raising Rowan vegetarian and I got some comments about how people thought that it wasn’t a good idea. That’s ok everyone has there own opinion but it really is just as healthy for them when you feed the right foods. I am not a vegetarian that supplements meat for carbs.
We chose to do this because 1. how food is raised now a days for the most part is disgusting (please support local farms!) and if I chose not to eat it why would I give that to my daughter 2. I hope thru this we teach her how to be a healthy and mindful eater. It really is so important to me that, that is something she learns.
So, from here on out I will try my best to post a new weekly Last Nights Dinner post again but now it will also include a Last Night’s Dinner post for Rowan too. We have been making all her own baby food and I hope I can inspire you to try it out yourself and branch out from those generic sweet potato processed jars.
1st up…
Pan Fried Polenta with fresh Tomato-Bean Salsa
MMMMMmmm. This was my first time cooking with polenta and really it couldn’t be easier. I think it will make it’s self into a lot of up coming recipes.
Ingredients:
2.5 cups chopped plum tomatoes
1 cup white beans, rinsed and drained (you can also cook your own navy beans if you want)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 package prepared polenta, sliced to 1/4-1/2 thick rounds
1/4 cup Parm cheese
1. Stir together tomatoes, beans, basil and salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 mins. Blends all the flavors!
2. In a skillet add 1Tbsp of oil and heat on medium high heat. Place half the rounds of polenta in pan and cook 4 mins each side or until golden brown. Remove. Add 1 more Tbsp of oil and cook remaining rounds of polenta.
3. Arrange cooked polenta on plate and spoon tomato salsa generously over top. Sprinkle with cheese and extra chopped basil.
4. Eat. Eat. Eat.
5. I added a nice simple salad to my plate as well.
Next up…
Navy Beans & Beets
There is nothing more that I love then the smell of beets cooking! haha. Is that weird? I kinda wanted to eat every spoonful I was giving Rowan. You could really add a choice of different spices but I went for a little cinnamon. This little chart is really helpful if you aren’t sure.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried navy beans
4 Small beets with stems trimmed to 1in. Washed well
Cinnamon
1. Put beans in a pot. Cover with warm water. Leave to soak, covered over night.
2. Drain and rinse beans. Return to pot and add 2.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 mins. Skim any scum that comes up. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 1.5 hours.
4. Once cooked. Let cool then add to a food processor and blend. Set aside
3. Meanwhile, bring a medium pan of water to a boil and add beets. Make sure they are covered completey by water. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered fro 45 mins, or until the skins comes off easily.
4. Drain and let cool until you are able to handle them.
5. Remove and disgard skins. Chop and add to a blender or food processor.
6. Once blended add the puree of beans and a touch of cinnamon.
7. Blend together and serve.
8. This made 4 meals for us. I used one serving right away for dinner and then I froze the other 3 for later this week.
Beets are delicious but dangerous. haha. Just look…
Just a tip: They shouldn’t wear their favorite white outfit when feeding.
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