Gnocchi, because it’s nice

August 29, 2008 at 5:52 am (Uncategorized)
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The shepherd’s pie went down a treat. For me anyway. :) Tonight I have a large amount of that pasta sauce I made a couple of days ago (scroll down for previous post). I can’t be bothered cooking up more mashed potato to make yet another shepherd’s pie. Strolling the supermarket this morning I saw gnocchi and I thought perfect! Gnocchi is fresh pasta made from mashed potato. Another soothing to the stomach comfort food. So tonight it’s fresh gnocchi with the lentil/tomato/pretend mince and mushroom pasta sauce. A healthy sprinkle of freshly shredded parmesan melted on top. Yum!

Lunches the past few days have consisted of dipping into the left over mashed potato for a couple of spoonfuls, a handful of grated low-fat tasty cheese, and a beaten egg with a spoon full of water. Mix ingredients in small dish and microwave until egg is cooked. Today, just because I had some, I added a large hand of chopped fresh parsley. So the messy, eggy mush is sort of like scrambled egg with potato. Tastes good though and is soothing to the GERD afflicted stomach.

This afternoon’s snack was 3 slices of tinned peaches, a teaspoon of muesli for the crunch and nut factor, topped with yogurt that I’d mixed with a teaspoon of blood orange juice. Very tasty and quite filling. Normally I’d avoid citrus but I have found that a teaspoon of the juice of the sweeter varieties doesn’t upset me. And blood oranges smell divine!

Cheers,

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A Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

August 27, 2008 at 6:26 am (Uncategorized)
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I’m after comfort food today. Comfort food for GERD sufferers that is. Something that will not irritate, not cause an excess of stomach acid, something that will be soothing to my oesophagus and stomach and other digestive organs. This means cooking something with potatoes, you can’t go wrong with potatoes as long as they’re microwaved, steamed, baked or even boiled, just don’t add fat. Shepherd’s Pie. Lots of potatoes. But wait, I’m a vegetarian! How do I accomplish this?
Let’s start with the potatoes. I’ve chosen the casserole dish I’m going to use and worked out how many potatoes, once mashed, it will take to cover the dish. For me it’s 3 large potatoes (Lady Christl potatoes as it happens, nice yellow flesh that mashes nicely). I don’t bother peeling, just chop and microwave till tender. I mash them adding only 1 teaspoon of butter. Now here’s where I do something a bit different. My mash is quite lumpy and textured, nice but not smooth. I make up a small serve of Deb instant mash and add it to my own potatoes. Makes for a very yummy tasting potato mash! And it spreads nicely. Okay, potatoes done.
For the “savoury mince” I basically make up a very thick pasta sauce, vegetarian of course. For those GERD sufferers who are saying “but I can’t eat tomatoes” please remember the 10 minute/2 hour rule – either cook the tomatoes for less than 10 mins (i.e. leave them raw) or simmer them for 2 hours. This will eliminate or neutralize any acid in the tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes have usually been cooked so won’t need the full 2 hours, experiment and see.
My “savoury mince”/pasta sauce consists of sauteed onion (small) and mushrooms (lots), add a 425g tin tomatoes (no added salt), 425g tin tomato puree (no salt), 425g tin of lentils (Sanitarium’s Savoury Lentils), a squirt of worcestershire sauce (small squirt) (and I could have used red wine or other flavouring), diced carrots and chopped zucchini. A bit of water, some salt (1 tsp) and herbs and spices (remember to use “warm” spices only or if you’re having a bad day just go with the green or dried herbs). Allow to simmer on the stove top for an hour. Should thicken up nicely and smell delicious.
For extra protein I added a can of Sanitarium’s Casserole Mince. This looks like dog food which is why I only use it in thick, rich tomato based dishes. Once it’s covered it doesn’t look so bad. It is made from gluten, so for those of you who are allergic or wish to avoid gluten, try a soy based “mince”.
Casserole Mince

Casserole Mince

Place some of the “savoury mince” into your casserole dish. Top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle with your preferred cheese (I used grated parmesan) and perhaps some dried parsley and/or sweet paprika (just for colour). Bake in a 180C oven for about half an hour until the potato is crisp and golden or the cheese has melted.

Mine is cooling on the bench and smells just divine! (Sorry, no photo for now). Looking forward to dinner!

Cheers,

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Left Overs & Macadamias

August 26, 2008 at 7:28 am (Uncategorized)
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There’s still plenty of that pumpkin cannelloni left, so guess what we’re eating tonight? :)

My stomach and abdomen are still very sore and I’m having lots of reflux and regurgitation these past few days. Not pleasant. Powerade helps ease the nausea, I sip about 200mls over the course of the day. After many months of not eating them I have placed macadamia nuts back into my diet. For the calories and low volume. They also taste nice! My stomach seems to be enjoying them as it’s settled down a lot this afternoon. I used to mix macadamias with some diced dried fruit, but of late in Australia our dried fruit is often imported and tastes odd (I think so anyway). So I’m skipping the fruit and just eating the nuts. One has to be very disciplined not to eat too many nuts. I limit myself to 6 macadamias per day, I forget the number of calories or kilojoules that equates to, but it’s enough to top me up.

Cheers,

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Pumpkin & Ricotta Cannelloni

August 25, 2008 at 6:47 am (Uncategorized)
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Nice and simple.

Peel and chop into small chunks half a butternut pumpkin (squash). Spray with olive oil. Season with your favourite herbs and spices, I used fresh marjoram, salt and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper. I also drizzled 1 teaspoon of honey over the pumpkin pieces. Roast/bake in the oven at 180C for roughly 40 minutes until tender but not overcooked.

When the pumpkin is cooled slightly, mash with a fork or masher. Add some chopped fresh or dried herbs (I used fresh continental parsley, thyme and marjoram with a sprinkle of cinnamon). Add 250g tub of ricotta cheese (I use the low fat version) and mix together. Throw in a beaten egg and stir. This is the mixture that will be the filling for the cannelloni.

Whilst the pumpkin is roasting in the oven, sautee a finely chopped onion. Add 1 or 2 cans of chopped or crushed tomatoes (as usual I use the no salt tomatoes), a small jar of either pasta sauce OR a can of tomato puree. Add water to thin it out just a little and allow the lot to simmer for half an hour (it should evaporate down and thicken slightly). Note: You can make/buy your own favourite pasta sauce here, this was what I had in my pantry.

Take some fresh lasagna sheets. Cut in half. Place some of the tomato sauce in the bottom of your cannelloni dish so the pasta won’t stick and burn. Put a large spoonful of pumpkin ricotta mix onto the lasagna sheet and roll up to make your cannelloni. Place in dish. I had to use 4 different sized casserole type dishes to take all of the pumpkin/cannelloni. Spoon over the tomato sauce, ensuring all the pasta is covered. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan or romano cheese, even grated cheddar or tasty will do if that’s all there is in the fridge. I then, because there was some on the spice shelf, sprinkled pinchfuls of dukkah on top, to give it an earthy and crunchy topping. Bake in oven for 30-40 mins at 180C.

Divine.

And there’s enough left over to feed my partner and I for another two nights. Excellent!

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Muffins!

January 22, 2008 at 7:02 am (Uncategorized)
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Still feeling a bit off colour, although I like to think I am on the improve. We had a simple salad for tea last night, the day had been so very hot and a nice, cold, crunchy salad was just the thing.

This morning I roasted some pumpkin (butternut squash) and potatoes. I’ve made another salad with the mignonette lettuce, baby spinach leaves, lots of fresh chopped basil and parsley, diced and de-seeded cucumber, diced tomato (I used Roma tomatoes because of their low acid content, but I still de-seeded them). And some fetta and olives. Tonight I’ll serve the salad with the chilled, roast vegetables. This will really bulk out the salad into a hefty meal. And cold roast potatoes and pumpkin taste wonderful!

But my main foray into the kitchen today was to whip a batch of Rosemary Stanton’s Zucchini & Apple Muffins. I’ve taken the recipe from Rosemary’s book Healthy eating for Australian families, published by Murdoch Books.  First up, here’s a photo of the muffins. They turned out very well and taste scrumptious!

Muffins

According to Dr Stanton’s nutritional information, these muffins only contain 9g fat (1.5g saturated fat), 4g protein, 25g carbohydrate, 1.5g dietary fibre, 165mg sodium and 825kJ (that’s 197 calories) – per muffin! Excellent!

  • 250g (2 cups) self-raising flour
  • 95g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
  • 135g  (1 cup) grated zucchini (courgette)
  • 1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 tbspn macadamia oil or light olive oil (I used grape seed oil)
  • 185ml (3/4 cup) reduced-fat milk

I added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the mix. I like cinnamon. And it was a good choice, adding to both flavour and taste.
Pre-heat oven to 190C (375F or Gas Mark 5). Grease a 12-bun standard muffin tin (I use 2x 6-bun muffin tins).

Sift flour. Stir in sugar, grated zucchini & grated apple.

Beat eggs with vanilla, oil and milk. Add to flour mixture. Mix, but take care not to over mix. Gently fold it all through until it’s nicely mixed. Use a metal spoon.

Spoon mixture evenly into the muffin tin. Bake for 20mins. Cool in the tin for 5 mins then turn them out onto a rack.

The zucchini helps keep the muffin nice and moist, as does the apple. I can taste the apple, but not the zucchini. The green of the zucchini is very pretty.

And best of all, think of all those healthy vitamins in the muffins!

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