• HOME
• ABOUT
• BLOGROLL
• ARCHIVES

I think it is becoming increasingly common for people to be vegetarians these days.  Not only is it a "trend" but it is people who are becoming aware of what is healthy, the need to stay away from chemicals in meat, and of course the age-old reason of the inhumane treatment of animals.  I fully respect all reasons (except for the trend one…if you’re only a vegetarian because it’s "cool", get over it.). 

As such, I’ve met quite a few families who have the struggle of making meals for both the herbivores and carnivores in the family!  Life is busy, and it can be a challenge to make special meals for one or the other each night.  So how can you strike a balance?

We don’t have this particular issue in our home, but we do have friends who come over for dinner and we do our best to prepare meals that everyone can enjoy.  I thought that I would share some of those options to you as you consider how to feed everyone!

Option #1: Middle Eastern Food

Middle Eastern food has a ton of different dishes that incorporate both meat and vegetables.  Middle Eastern food makes for a great meal for vegetarians and non-vegetarians.  I made a meal a couple of weeks ago that consisted of channa masala (a chickpea based dish), masoor daal (a lentil based dish), beef keftas (meat), naan bread, couscous, and fresh veggies.  This satisfied the need for starch, protein and vegetables, and gave both vegetarians and non-vegetarians food they could enjoy.

Option #2: Mexican Food

Mexican food is also a great option for vegetarians and non-vegetarians.  One of the simplest meals to incorporate this is burritos.  In separate bowls lay out shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, salsa and sour cream.  And then do up a bowl of rice, a bowl of Mexican-flavoured ground beef, and Mexican-flavoured black beans.  I did up both the beef and black beans with the same spice mix and some onions and garlic.  Everyone got tortillas and could pile on what they wanted!  It was easy and it pleased everyone’s dietary needs.  You could also do the same thing with taco shells.

Option #3: Pasta

Everyone loves spaghetti or other types of pasta.  It’s a pretty safe option when you have company coming and you’re rushed, or when you need to whip something up for your family at night.  However, it can be an issue if you’re used to ground-beef based spaghetti sauce!  An easy solution for this is to cook your pasta like regular, and then cook two pots of the same sauce.  In one pot, add ground beef like usual, and in the other pot add a cup of lentils (or more, depending on the amount of people).  Lentils add protein and will give vegetarians the same nourishment as those eating the sauce with the ground beef.  Serve the pasta on the table and the two separate sauces so people can choose.  Add a side of salad, and garlic bread, and everyone can enjoy this meal!

Option #4: Pizza

Pizza is always a classic for parties, gatherings, and busy nights!  I make up a batch of pizza dough every so often and since there’s only the two of us I divide it in half and freeze one.  You could easily either split one pizza to have half vegetarian, and half with meat.  Or, if there’s more than two of you, you could have one vegetarian pizza and one meat pizza.  Of course the toppings can be endless, and it can suit your tastes!  Easy solution, and always a hit! 

Do you have any tips?

This is part 3 of a series on my love for tea!  You can check out part 1 and part 2 if you’re interested in some household tips for using tea, as well as some ways of brewing your tea and some of my favourite helpers in the kitchen for making tea!

This week I want to talk about keeping your tea available as a means of hospitality.  As we all know, tea is a wonderful beverage to serve after dinner and any other time of entertaining.  It’s a social thing, and it’s one that we enjoy sharing with our guests.  

In our home, we don’t just have guests over for dinner though…they’re over at all times of the day, invited and uninvited, and for days at a time!  Our house is always busy and some people refer to it as a "hostel"!  As such, it’s good for us to have our tea out and available for people to use so they can help themselves.  We’ve turned our kitchen table in a beverage station permanently, and this is what it looks like:

  <– Full table display   <– Up close of one box, sugar, honey and cups.

It was especially useful this past weekend when we had 14 people coming through our doors!  In one box I have Twinings tea (my favourite brand) and in another I have Stash tea (another one of my favourites).  In the basket is an assortment of green teas someone gave me, and I also keep the sugar, some honey and a couple of mugs ready and available.  The fruit is a nice touch too, but has nothing to do with tea.  :)

If I know people are coming over, I usually boil the water just ahead of time and put it in my carafe and leave it on the table as well so people don’t even have to worry about boiling their water! 

It’s just a nice way to let people know they’re welcome in our home, and that they can make themselves at home.  

"Tea pot is on, the cups are waiting, favourite chairs anticipating, no matter what I have to do, my friend there’s always time for you." (Unknown)

Last Wednesday I shared some household tips on ways to use tea beyond drinking it!  Today I want to share with you the differences between preparing different types of tea, as well as a couple of gadgets that we like to use at our house.

Black Tea: The boiling point for black tea needs to be at 99C or else the active substances in the black tea will not develop.  The most common problem when making black tea is using water that is not hot enough!  Black teas are best when steeped for no more than 5 minutes, but definitely not less than 30 seconds.  A popular black tea that my husband loves is Darjeeling tea.  He also loves vanilla plantation tea, which is another yummy black tea.  My personal favourite black tea is Lady Grey.  

Green or White Tea: Water for green tea should be around 80-85C.  Hotter water will burn green tea which will produce a bitter taste.  If you are drinking a high quality green or white tea you can add more water to the tea 4 or 5 times.  Bring the water to just before the boil and steep green tea for 1-3 minutes, and white tea for 3-5 minutes.  I like normal plain green tea.  It’s great for digesting food.

Herbal Tea: After bringing water to a full boil, steep your herbal tea for 7-10 minutes.  My favourite herbal tea is Peppermint.  It’s so aromatic and relaxing when needing unwind.

The Tea Tube: I have struggled with various tea balls, and other tea gadgets, but I have now discovered the most amazing tea gadget!  We own a tea tube, and it is wonderful.  It doesn’t let the little tea bits float all throughout our tea, and it is easily cleaned in warm soapy water.  This is used daily at our house!

French Coffee Press: I know, I know…this post is about tea…so what’s with the French coffee press, right?  Well, as much as I love the tea tube, sometimes you need to make a full pot of loose tea, not just one cup.  This is where the French coffee press comes in handy!  You sprinkle your loose tea in the bottom of the press, and pour your water on top.  Put the lid on, but DON’T PRESS THE PRESS DOWN yet…let it steep as per the instructions above, and the slide the press to the bottom.  You’ll be amazed at how clear your cup of tea is!  

Stay tuned next week for more info on the love of tea! 

Better late than never!!!  I’m trying to get caught up on blogging since going to Hong Kong!  Here is my menu for this week:

Monday: Out for dinner

Tuesday: Sloppy Lentils

Wednesday: Shake ‘n’ Bake Chicken, Potatoes, Zucchini

Thursday: Creamy Carrot & Apple Soup, Bread

Friday: Saucey Meat, Rice

Creamy Carrot & Apple Soup:

4 carrots, coarsely chopped

1 large potatoe, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large apple, peeled and cut into chunks

5 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. applie pie spice (or a combo of nutmeg and cinnamon)

1/2 cup half and half (or 1/3 cup of plain yogurt and the rest with milk works for me)

salt and pepper to taste

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large pot.  Simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are fork tender.  Blend in food processor or blender until smooth.  Return to pot.  Whisk in cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Once blended it could be put in the crock pot to simmer which brings out the flavours!  Add the cream in at the last minute if you do that.

Saucey Meat:

4 pieces of meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup italian salad dressing

1 red onion, chopped (or other vegetable)

1 tsp. italian seasoning

2 cups broccoli florets (or other vegetable)

1/4 cup shredded cheese

Take meat with 1 tbsp. oil and 1/4 cup chicken broth and cook meat in hot oil in large covered skillet on medium-high heat for 5 mins. on each side or until browned on both sides.  Stir in dressing and seasoning until well blended.  Bring just to boil.  Reduce heat to med-low; simmer 3 mins. or until meat is cooked through.  Add vegetables and cheese; mix well.  Cook 2-4 mins. or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionlly.  Serve over a bed of rice.  Sprinkle with more cheese before serving.

What are you eating for dinner this week?  What food is tempting your tummy?

Since sometime in the new year I have been steadily menu planning for my dinner meals each week.  Of course there are weeks where it doesn’t happen as much as I’d like it to, but for the most part, I’ve followed it pretty well!  I have really come to see the value in it, and I just want to share a few of the hilights for me from menu planning:

1.) It has cut down on costs.  I know exactly what I have to purchase when I go grocery shopping, and so this eliminates most (if not all!) of the impulse buying that happens.

2.) It simply organizes my meals and I know what I’m having on what day, and that’s a nice feeling!

3.) It saves time.  I don’t have to rush home and wonder what to do, and stress when I don’t have something thawed, or not enough time to cook something!  I have it all ready, and all I have to do is prepare it.

4.) It helps control weight and health.  This is not a benefit I thought about prior to starting meal planning, but it has helped a lot.  By knowing what I’m eating, I’m not just grabbing things to satisfy my hunger temporarily.  Plus, I’m eating much healthier.  This has worked for me, and I can’t promise that you’ll lose weight from menu planning, because it depends on what you cook!  But it has been an added bonus.

Do you menu plan?  If so, why?  If not, would you consider starting?

Club Soda is a marvelous substance!!  It has sooo many purposes!  I keep a case of cans on hand and I’ve found it to be a great addition to our house.  Here are just a few of the ways that we use it:

1.) It’s a good cleaning substance!  Use a little club soda on your windows or mirrors and it’ll shine them right up!  If you have an old spray-bottle, just pour some in and spray it out!   

2.) It’s delicious with a little concentrated drink syrup.  We buy blackberry syrup or mango syrup (or whatever flavour you like!) and you pour a little of the concentrate in your glass, top it up with club soda, and it’s a "fancy", yet simple drink!

3.) Club soda works REALLY well marinating meat.  I created a delicious marinade for beef which my husband and I enjoyed recently.  Here’s a rough explanation of what it entailed: 1 can of club soda, 1 cup of soy sauce, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 package of onion soup mix, 1 tsp. crushed red pepper, a dash of chili powder, a tbsp. of garlic salt, 1/2 tsp. of pepper, and any other flavouring you’d like to add in!!  I just went with what was in my cupboard, and it was delicious.  The longer you marinate the meat, the better.  The club soda just tenderizes it beautifully.  YUM!

What do you use club soda for?  Or do you have a "wonder product" that does multiple things?