Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

I don’t dig on lamb

NaBloPoMo!Amy and I are both trying to eat healthier these days, so we’ve both joined Weight Watchers. So our Recipe Roulette picks should be a little better for us from here on out!

Our dish for this week was based on a lamb kheema from Gina’s WW Recipes. I didn’t really want to use lamb, though, so I used ground turkey instead. I also didn’t have any cumin, so I left that out. I used lettuce leaves to make little kheema lettuce wraps.

I was a bit leery of this one at first. One of the things I don’t love about ground turkey is its color, but the spices in the kheema made the meat a rich, dark brown. The dish had a really lovely, deep and spicy flavor. I liked this so much, in fact, that we’re going to have it again this week!

Menu Plan Monday
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Quesadillas
Wednesday: Crabby Patties
Thursday: Turkey kheema
Friday: Pizza

Lamb Kheema with Peas
from Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
1 large onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, chopped (Note: I just realized I forgot to add this!)
1 tablespoon butter or ghee
1 pound lean ground lamb shoulder (Note: I used ground turkey)
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup frozen peas
1 chili pepper, minced (or more to taste) (I omitted this altogether, because I was being lazy)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and fresh pepper

In a large saute pan, heat ghee or butter and onions on medium heat. Cook about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes.

Add ground meat to pan and brown. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and cinnamon. Stir well. Add chopped chili pepper, cilantro, bay leaf, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer about 15 minutes. Add frozen peas and simmer covered another 5-10 minutes.

These would be perfect for a tea party

This was my week to choose our Recipe Roulette dish, and I wanted to do something really easy. When I saw these chocolate croissants from Joy the Baker, I knew I had my recipe.

These little guys really are incredibly easy. Poppy probably could have made them by herself — well, except for the oven part and the cutting. I handled those steps, and she was in charge of chocolate placement and some croissant rolling.

My only complaint? It would be way to easy to eat them all in the span of, say, half an hour. That hasn’t happened yet, but it very well could. They’re wee and so tasty.

Here’s what the kids had to say:

Poppy: “Mmm, this is delicious! Can I have another croissant, Mommy?”

Pete: “Mmm, Mommy! Wow!”

If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.

In which I do not accept the challenge

Our random Recipe Roulette meal this week was Chicken Biryani from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything.” Amy liked it, but I have a confession to make: I didn’t make it. And I most likely won’t, because it has saffron in it. Do you know how much the only bottle of saffron I could find cost? Twenty-five dollars. To which I said, “Oh please.” And also, “No thank you.” But only after I passed out in the spice aisle. Random recipe picker? I blame you for my failure.

Happily, I get to pick next week’s recipe. Rest assured it will not contain saffron.

Maybe it was a reactionary thing, but I seem to have picked a bunch of extra-inexpensive meals for this week. With the exception of the red beans and rice, they’re also low-effort. The red beans and rice will take a good bit of time, but I’m making a ton of it. So next time it’ll just be a matter of thawing and reheating it.

Menu Plan MondayButternut squash ravioli

Spaghetti

Red beans and rice

Tacos

Mexican pizzas