http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/11/moroccan-lentil-vegetable-stew/
Damnit! So, I messed this up a little, I put too much cinnamon in and I used two different kinds of lentils ecause it was what I had. So, it's good, but not amazing. But I'm calling it a keeper anyway because its' one of my favorite things to pull out of the freezer previous times I've made it. Can't stop me.
Cost: haven't calculated it, but budget bytes claims it's like a dollar a serving.
Convenience: Very easy to make!
Delicious: Quite good!
Freeze: This is so good frozen and reheated. 10/10
Uses: It's a soup and it's different and it freezes amazingly well and is generally warm and happy.
Notes: Don't mess it up next time
Showing posts with label freeze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freeze. Show all posts
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016
Keeper Recipe: Spicy Coconut Pumpkin Soup
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmh
So I used the full fat coconut milk, which I'm sure makes this way less healthy, but it is fantastic. It's so easy, so delicious, and quite different
Note for next time taken from the comments section:
"We made this soup last night but didn’t feel like eating soup again tonight, so we threw it on top of some jasmine rice and added chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower for an instant curry. It was delicious!"
FAILED ATTEMPT ONE BELOW
I more or less made this soup:
http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/07/spicy-coconut-pumpkin-soup/
It's kind of a less because I made some desperate changes:
1. I used zesty chicken spice instead of bouillon. Turns out better than bouillion needs to be refrigerated. It smelled and looked fine, but I saw the label on the top after I'd left it out for three weeks. And given the weather has been freakishly warm and they literally sometimes use broth to grow bacteria in labs... it hurt me, but I tossed it. And I refuse to go to the grocery store twice in one week. Can't. make me.
2. Grocery store was out of fresh ginger when I went (see note: can't make me go to the grocery store again), and I know the powdered doesn't taste the same at all.
3. I was trying frozen garlic, but it didn't smell very strong.
4. I was in the middle of doing laundry, so I didn't toast the cumin and red pepper flakes, I just dumped it all in.
5. Didn't have anything else to put the cilantro in, so used the whole bunch. Cause at that point, why not?
I list this all, so that when I say, it didn't turn out quite how I wanted, it's clear that it may not be the recipe's fault. The flavor wasn't right and I think I was expecting more texture (it's totally smooth excpet for the onion)--I'll see what I think of it tomorrow.
That said, this recipe is fast and SO easy and different, so I'd rather give it another go and see if I can fix it rather than just ditching it.
Cost: Cilantro, Coconut milk, and pumpkin are the big expenses. Not bad at all.
Convenience: SOOO easy, fast, and convenient
Delicious: This isn't great yet-- but I'm going to start modifying and/or actually do the recipe correctly.
Although note, 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes will NOT make this spicy.
Freeze: Dunno, not finding out this time
Uses: SO FAST AND EASY. It's literally chop onions, garlic, ginger and toast those, then dump the rest in the pot and warm it up. If this could be delicious, it would be an incredibly easy recipe.
Notes: Ideas for modification: Follow the recipe!, Plain yogurt, sriracha, pumpkin or yam chunks, pumpkin seeds, coconut milk with more fat, fish sauce/lime/lemongrass/brown sugar? (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/146035/the-best-thai-coconut-soup/ )
Update: This recipe is definitely a keeper. I need to remake it how it's supposed to be made and then see what modifications, but I just made it worth having. I added sriracha, toasted sesame seeds, and tomatoes and it was quite good! Doing this right and with a few extra tweaks, this has real potential. I will continue to update with the modifications and when I redo this recipe properly with any regular modifications, I will redo this whole thing into a keeper recipe.
Modifications Tried
1. Sesame seeds, sriracha, and fresh tomato: mmmmh good, the flavor combo isn't right enough to be delightful, but good.
2. Didn't have any more tomatoes... but I did have some leftover sockarooni tomato sauce from the gnocchi. It was great!! It thickened it up just enough with only like a tablespoon in a bowlful. It did weaken the flavor some,but well worth it for fixing the texture. I'm hoping the bouillon would be able to do this too! I still might want to see about adding more veggies. Maybe one of the stirfry veggie bags in the freezer?
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Keeper: Easy Ricotta Gnocchi
I was super excited about this. For me, gnocchi is one of those recipes that is reserved for people who cook like magicians or professionals. Turns out, that couldn't be more wrong. Working with the dough was hard, because I don't know that I've done it since I was a little kid, but it was tons of fun. I ended up using way too much flour and it wasn't that pillowy, but it was still plenty good enough to eat.
So,
I used this recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/easy-ricotta-gnocchi/
but, next time, I want to try this one: http://www.deliciousdays.com/
Cost: Surprisingly cheap. I rarely get gnocchi because the store bought stuff is expensive, but with this recipe, it's totally doable.
Convenience: All the recipes say that it's SUPER fast. It wasn't for me, it took more than an hour to prep, but I believe the recipes that other people can be that fast. If I practice... I could knock out home made gnocchi in no time. So, this is still a project, but maybe soon....
Delicious: Gnocchi is amazing. The first attempt was like a 6/10, so still delicious, but nothing to write home about. My guess it was problems with trying something new rather than the recipe.
Freeze: Oh my god. The recipe says this is easy to freeze. I COULD HAVE MY OWN FROZEN GNOCCHI IN THE FREEZER. Someone call Martha Stewart so I can use my snooty voice.
Uses: I don't know. It's pasta. If I got good at this, it would be super fast and easy to make for other people and would be totally fake-fancy, but not yet.
Notes: So, the parchment paper WILL rip and get all over you. Should have put more flour on it. You should flour your hands too. It will help a lot. Don't whisk the dough. You'll be sorry. Use a spoon. Smaller is better for the pillows. Use less flour next time! It'd prob be faster to do them in one batch instead of multiples. Playing with the dough was a crazy amount of fun. I think I need an apron.... Had it with store bought Newman's Sockarooni and it was awesome, but looks like nearly any sauce goes good on it.
By round two, I bet this one will be a keeper. Just not quite there yet.
Round Two! So, what I did was whisk up the dough very good, added about a cup and a half of flour slowly whisking that in. Then I put it on a cooking board coated with flour (coated my hands too) and then started kneading it, adding bits more as I went(just have the measuring cup full of flour and grab and pinch). I'm still very slow, but it gets better all of the time. It was delicious!
I still need an apron.
So,
I used this recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/easy-ricotta-gnocchi/
but, next time, I want to try this one: http://www.deliciousdays.com/
Cost: Surprisingly cheap. I rarely get gnocchi because the store bought stuff is expensive, but with this recipe, it's totally doable.
Convenience: All the recipes say that it's SUPER fast. It wasn't for me, it took more than an hour to prep, but I believe the recipes that other people can be that fast. If I practice... I could knock out home made gnocchi in no time. So, this is still a project, but maybe soon....
Delicious: Gnocchi is amazing. The first attempt was like a 6/10, so still delicious, but nothing to write home about. My guess it was problems with trying something new rather than the recipe.
Freeze: Oh my god. The recipe says this is easy to freeze. I COULD HAVE MY OWN FROZEN GNOCCHI IN THE FREEZER. Someone call Martha Stewart so I can use my snooty voice.
Uses: I don't know. It's pasta. If I got good at this, it would be super fast and easy to make for other people and would be totally fake-fancy, but not yet.
Notes: So, the parchment paper WILL rip and get all over you. Should have put more flour on it. You should flour your hands too. It will help a lot. Don't whisk the dough. You'll be sorry. Use a spoon. Smaller is better for the pillows. Use less flour next time! It'd prob be faster to do them in one batch instead of multiples. Playing with the dough was a crazy amount of fun. I think I need an apron.... Had it with store bought Newman's Sockarooni and it was awesome, but looks like nearly any sauce goes good on it.
By round two, I bet this one will be a keeper. Just not quite there yet.
Round Two! So, what I did was whisk up the dough very good, added about a cup and a half of flour slowly whisking that in. Then I put it on a cooking board coated with flour (coated my hands too) and then started kneading it, adding bits more as I went(just have the measuring cup full of flour and grab and pinch). I'm still very slow, but it gets better all of the time. It was delicious!
I still need an apron.
Staple: African Peanut Stew
http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/08/african-peanut-stew-vegan/
This was my biggest absolute winner of 2015. I made it like four times. It's really delicious and really filling. It's been popular with a range of people and I love the taste.
Cost: Pretty cheap overall.
Convenience: Really easy. The longest part at this point is chopping up the stuff... if get faster than that... it's gonna be an absolute breeze
Delicious: It's so good. Mmmmmh.
Can you pressure or slow cook it?? I have no idea. Not tried yet
Freeze: Yup. It's not perfect, but it works quite well.
Uses: Make for other people, Eat all week, It's a favorite, use it for anything.
Notes: I actually prefer the non-natural peanut butter with it, extra crunchy versions. I've tried it with kale, but like it better with the collard greens. If you use the whole bunch of collard greens instead of half, it makes the flavor quite a bit less sharp, buuuut you get way more healthy greens so it's a tough call. I trade off like every time I make it. . The ginger is super important to it, if it's not fresh, it's just not as good. The best Tom suggested putting it on toast and it was super good -- bet it would also be amazing on naan or jasmine rice.
This was my biggest absolute winner of 2015. I made it like four times. It's really delicious and really filling. It's been popular with a range of people and I love the taste.
Cost: Pretty cheap overall.
Convenience: Really easy. The longest part at this point is chopping up the stuff... if get faster than that... it's gonna be an absolute breeze
Delicious: It's so good. Mmmmmh.
Can you pressure or slow cook it?? I have no idea. Not tried yet
Freeze: Yup. It's not perfect, but it works quite well.
Uses: Make for other people, Eat all week, It's a favorite, use it for anything.
Notes: I actually prefer the non-natural peanut butter with it, extra crunchy versions. I've tried it with kale, but like it better with the collard greens. If you use the whole bunch of collard greens instead of half, it makes the flavor quite a bit less sharp, buuuut you get way more healthy greens so it's a tough call. I trade off like every time I make it. . The ginger is super important to it, if it's not fresh, it's just not as good. The best Tom suggested putting it on toast and it was super good -- bet it would also be amazing on naan or jasmine rice.
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