Mushroom Stir-Fry

This mushroom stir-fry was one of the first vegan dinners that I ever made.  When I first became in vegan (only a few months ago), I started with trepidation and enthusiasm.  But it didn't take long before I started to come home and make pretty much the same meal every single night.  Mushrooms (almost a kg of them) with either brown rice or toast.  As much as I love mushrooms, I needed more variety to keep my interest and to provide a diverse range of vitamins and minerals.


So here is a simple stir-fry that is fast and easy to make.  The beauty about stir-fries is that you can change them up every single time you make them.  Just use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge or freezer.  I like to stop at our local vegetable market on the way home and pick up whatever is in season to add to my stir-fry. If you don't have fresh baby spinach, you can use frozen spinach.  Just defrost it first and give it a good squeeze to get rid of all of the water. 

This particular stir-fry included mushrooms, onion, beans, spinach and udon noodles.  My very strict vegan friend told me to swap udon noodles for rice noodles or brown rice.  But that's because she also avoided eating any gluten.  I say to eat whatever grains tickle your fancy.

I used an electric wok to make my stir-fry but you could also use a fry pan if you wanted to.  

INGREDIENTS:

• garlic, sliced
• ginger, grated
• mushrooms, sliced
• brown onion, sliced
• green beans, whole
• fresh baby spinach (or frozen, see note above)
• udon noodles
• lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons) 
• soy sauce, about 1-2 tablespoons

METHOD:

1.   Heat wok to medium-high heat and add sliced mushrooms.  Don't stir them.  Just let them sit for a few minutes then give them a stir.  This reduces the amount of liquid that they release and (usually) stops it from becoming a big watery stew.  If there is liquid in the wok/pan just tip it out into the sink and keep going.
2.  Once mushrooms are soft and brown remove them from the pan and set aside.  We will add them back in in a sec.
3.  Add onions to the pan with a teaspoon of water to stop them from sticking.  Also add garlic and ginger and cook onions until soft.
4.  Add any vegetables that you have - I used green beans this time but sometimes I add broccoli and carrots etc.  Cook for just a few minutes or so.  Don't let them get overcooked and too tender (that is, mushy)
5.  Now it's time to add the mushrooms back into the pan along with the baby spinach leaves.
6.  Add lemon juice and soy sauce and give it a good stir to mix everything through.


This recipe is part of a meal plan - click here to see the whole day. 

Recipe: Salmon with Cauliflower Curry and Beans

I have never really liked cauliflower.  Except if it has been cooked in a really really cheesy sauce that kinda takes away the purpose of eating cauliflower!  Our kids like their vegetables plain, no sauces at all.  Just steamed.  Even cauliflower. 

So cauliflower is in season in Australia at the moment and I grabbed an enormous one from the fruit and vege shop with the intention to steam it for the kids.  But before I could make that happen I decided to do some research into meat-free monday.  It's been something that has been on my mind for a while.  I think that I could definitely reduce the amount of meat that I eat but I'm not sure how I would go transitioning to a full vegetarian diet.  So I looked for vegetarian recipes on Monday to see if there was anything that tickled my fancy. 

And I found a cauliflower kedgeree (?) by Jamie Oliver.  I thought that it would be the perfect way to use up the massive cauliflower and try something different at the same time.  We were also cooking steak and sausages so this wouldn't be the main meal.  And just for note, the cauliflower dish has been eaten for dinner on Monday, Tuesday (which is the salmon, above), Wednesday nights and I'm taking some for lunch today.  Yes, it was that big. 

My mother-in-law also made some curried baked beans.  They are divine.  I don't have the proper recipe for them though, so I will have to post that separately. 

Cauliflower Kedgeree

Blend - 2 garlic cloves, a small knob of ginger, fresh chili (if using), 6 spring onions (trimmed), bunch of coriander (stalks only). 

Cut - cauliflower into one centimetre sections and 'fry' without oil in a pan over med-high heat until it starts to turn brown. 

Remove cauliflower from pan.  Add 1tsp of tumeric, 1 tsp of mustard seeds and a tsp of oil and cook the spices.  Add the spring onion mixture to the pan and cook for a minute or two (until it becomes fragrant). 

Add either 2 chopped tomatos or a tin of whole tinned tomatoes. Then add a tin of light coconut milk.  Mix together. 

Throw in the cauliflower, put on the lid and let it simmer over a lowish temperature until the cauliflower is cooked to how you like it.  I like mine a little crunchy. 

To serve, top with lots of fresh coriander leaves. 

Salmon

We used frozen salmon fillets and cooked them in the oven.  My husband likes his food to be cooked well, so I thought that they were a little overdone, but they were delicious still. 

To serve, just take a large handful of mixed salad leaves (I use rocket and baby spinach leaves); place salmon on top with a good squeeze of lemon juice.  The vitamin C in the lemon juice will aid in the absorption of iron in the green leafy vegetables. 

Recipe: Slow cooker beef and vegetables - 493 calories (a lot of meat)

 

So before I get into how I made this deliciousness of dinner, I have no idea how much beef I actually ate.  I recorded it as five large slices (50g each; 250g in total) but I don't think that it weighed quite that much.  And, for the record, the photograph above is not all of the meat that I ate.  I went back twice.  

Making a beef roast in the slow cooker is so simple and it is destined to become one of my favourite quick and easy winter meals (although winter seems so far away after such a hot and humid night).  

I didn't take any photographs while I was making this, sorry.  

First I took a few potatoes and, leaving the skin on, I sliced them length wise - about1/2 a centimetre wide.  Then I laid these on the bottom of the slow cooker.  They are supposed to soak up the oils and juices that come out of the beef when it is cooking and stops the beef from sitting in a layer of liquid which would make it all mushy I guess.  

I placed the beef on top of the potatoes and then threw in, for flavour, chopped carrots and celery.  I then added 1/4 of a cup of beef stock.  

Then the lid went on and I cooked it on automatic for around 8 hours.  

When I got home from work, my husband and the kids had eaten some of the beef.  So I steamed some frozen vegetables and made some gravy (using a powdered gravy mix).  

The beef was so tender and just broke apart when it came time to serve it.  We didn't have any leftovers, but it would have been delicious pulled apart and added to a sandwich for lunch the next day.  

Recipe - Egg and Vegetable Omelet - 556 calories

The above monstrosity was an attempt to make a 'packed to the brim with vegetables' omelet.  It looks pretty unappealing in this picture and I will admit that it was not the tasty delicious meal that I was looking forward to.  And it had a lot of calories - 556 to be exact. 

So why did I cook this?  For starters I was unorganised.  They day before I had defrosted a split chicken to be cooked in the slow cooker all day so that I would be able to walk straight in the door after work and have a delicious and healthy dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.  So didn't happen.

Instead, I came home - starving - and there was nothing for me to cook.  This is usually when disaster strikes.  I'm starving, tired and the kids are banging on that they are hungry.  My usual go-to meal is pretty lame - pasta with a jar of pasta sauce.  So I made my husband (the poor thing) and the kids pasta while I dry fried (without oil or water) broccoli, capsicum and onion.  Then I fork-whisked two jumbo eggs together and added them to a small frypan with a 1/2 tablespoon of oil.  The oil is what really pushed up the calorie count, adding an extra 73 calories.  Perhaps I should have used a spray of oil or cooked the eggs on a very low heat to stop them from sticking and burning?  Anyway, lesson learned!

Once the eggs had started to set a little, I added the cooked vegetables plus a chopped tomato (fresh from our garden) and stirred together.  At the same time, I toasted two slices of grainy bread.

To, hahaha, serve, I just heaped (obviously) the cooked egg mixture over the toast and added some hot tomato sauce over the top.

It wasn't really tasty at all.  My husband was complaining that he had to eat pasta and he would have preferred my egg mixture thingy.  Once I started eating though, I assured him that he was definitely NOT missing out.

So I will just put this one down to experience and perhaps try to find a recipe next time? 

Thursday 13 February 2014 - 1076 calories

My week one progress post is here. 

Breakfast

Same as Tuesday's breakfast - cold cereal. 

Lunch

Same as Tuesday's lunch - tuna salad and a grainy breadroll.

Dinner

Rump steak with potato, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (from our garden) and, gravy, of course! 

This meal is delicious!

We buy all of our steak from a butcher located in Coomera (between the Gold Coast and Brisbane) called Springbok Foods.  My husband is South African, so this little South African supermarket is a familiar, comforting taste of home for him.  The bonus is that they sell the most tender, delicious AGED rump steak for around $17-$19/kg.  It is also cheaper if you buy a whole side of rump.

For this dinner, my husband seasoned the meat with Spur Seasoning Salt (also from Springbok Foods) and then sealed it on both sides on the BBQ.  Then he bastes the steak while it is grilling with Spur Marinade Grill Basting sauce (which I've just realised that I forgot to add to my calorie count for the day).

While he was grilling the meat, I boiled potatoes (with the skin on - lose so many nutrients when you peel it off, plus it just takes longer to prepare) and steamed fresh broccoli and carrots.  I also chopped up some tomatoes from our vegetable garden.  Then I made the gravy (straight from a packet with boiling water, I'm not fancy).

Here are the delicious results....

Exercise

Hmm, I didn't exercise.  My excuse was that our (almost) four year old was awake for 1.5 hours in the middle of the night and I was too tired after putting them to bed to go downstairs and walk on the treadmill.

Wednesday, 12 February 2014 - 1173 calories

Breakfast

Same as Tuesday's breakfast - cold cereal. 

Lunch

Same as Tuesday's lunch - tuna salad and a grainy breadroll.

Dinner

Chicken with rice, vegetables and gravy.  We used our stainless steel AMC Classic frypan to 'fry' the chicken breasts - which allows us to cook our food without adding any water or oils/fats.  I also added some cooked brown rice and boiled peas.  Lastly, gravy, I added gravy.  Gravy would have to be my favourite sauce of all time - I don't care if it is chef made or made from powder in a box mixed with hot water.  I love all of it.

Exercise

Another 15 minutes on the treadmill - walking at an incline.