Veggie Pot Pies

My fatigue has been really bad lately. I have been running around to the hospital for appointments and tests, picking up prescriptions, and trying to keep Mr.Surly fed. Recently, I have been brainstorming easy, heathfull, quick dinners.  This was just one of my ideas.

If I didn't feel so exhausted and worn out every minute of the day, I would have made my own pie crust. But I cheated and used a frozen pie crust, along with frozen veggies. These are so good and ridiculously quick to make. Dinner in 20-30 minutes; gotta love that.

 These are pretty filling. I only can only eat 1 10 oz ramekin, Mr.Surly can polish off two.
The possibility of veggies and spices are infinite. Use whatever you like.

Vegetable Lo Mein

I’m finally back with a post, yay! I have finished all my testing and dr/hospital appts until mid August. Hooray. My lip is healing nicely, and it looks like, as of now, I do not have sjogren’s syndrome (thank God). But since I’m borderline on the test results for sjogren’s, I have to go see the rheumatologist every 6 months for blood work to make sure I don’t develop it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. There’s another autoimmune disease to check off on the list. I wonder what they’ll test for next.

After all of the tests and appointments, I’m slowly easing my way back into the kitchen, starting with simple, all-in-one meals. I have a whole list of delicious-sounding recipes that I want to make; hopefully I can get them knocked out soon.

This recipe originally comes from a Cook’s Illustrated cookbook from a recipe for pork lo mein. Mr. Surly and I love veggie lo mein noodles, but the local Chinese take out lo mein makes us both horribly sick. So for the past year I have been trying in vain to find a decent recipe for lo mein noodles. Some recipes call for oyster sauce or fish sauce. I don’t know why, but just the sound of those sauces grosses me out. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a big fan of sea food that tastes fishy. Yuk. It goes back to my childhood and a mini shark fish named Sharky, that my dad loved and us kids hated, who came back from the dead . *shiver* But that’s another story, perhaps for another day.

Yellow Curry Sauce with Chicken

I love spicy food. I love curry. I love Trader Joe's Thai Yellow Curry Bottled sauce. I posted a recipe with it a long time ago, when my blog was new and my photo skills were poor because I was using my trusty canon point&shoot. That post is one of my top 5 most popular posts.

I figured there must be a way to make my own curry sauce so I went about creating one. It was actually pretty easy; it only took a few attempts to perfect. I'm not sure how "authentic" it is but it sure is tasty. It's a great sauce and for vegetarians and vegans, tofu can easily be used instead of chicken, and veggie broth could be used instead of chicken stock.

Guest Post: Fresh Corn and Chicken Sausage Skillet

I'm delighted to have my first guest contributor, Megan of Wanna Be a Country Cleaver, while I'm away on vacation. Have you seen her blog? It's amazing; you must check it out. I don't remember how I discovered it, but I'm glad I did. She has the sweetest finace, cutest dog, and killer recipes. And she can make amazing cakes. I love her blog and she is the friendliest person. She graciously agreed to do this guest post for me while I'm away on vacation. When I saw this recipe for Fresh Corn and Chicken Sausage Skillet I wanted it, and I'm not even a big fan of sausage. But this, this I could handle. Her pictures of the food prep are as amazing as the picture of the finished dish; I wish I had the gumption to take prep pictures; I'm just too lazy to do it. I have one word for this recipe: Stunning. And now, here's Megan.....


Quite possibly the best thing about the blogging community is the warmth and friendliness that emanates from every direction. These inviting groups of people share their zest and passion for any topic that speaks to them – in our particular realm of the digital world, it’s food. When Amy approached me to write a guest post for her, I jumped at the chance (perhaps a little overenthusiastically) to introduce myself to her loyal fan-base and share my love of simple food, and a somewhat country-esque lifestyle while residing in what I call “the big bad city”.

Amy is a kindred spirit with a heart of gold and I am monumentally excited and honored at her guest post proposal. For this little share session, I wanted to bring my A-game with a quick and incredibly healthy (in my eyes, because there is No butter involved) dish that’s a one-skillet supper ready in under 25 minutes. Prepping to plate in under 25 – this is what week night meals were made of.

So, I hope that you enjoy this little dish and thank you so much for indulging me with your time.

Corn straight off the cob is one of the most luxurious experiences of summer. It screams afternoon barbecue surrounded by your closest friends and cheery children tuckering themselves out at the local swimming hole. Bursting those kernels full of sweet nectar between your teeth is what a picnic is all about. When it's so readily available you have to jump on it and gobble up all you can.



For this latest Fresh Food Challenge hosted by America's Test Kitchen the secret ingredient was - corn. Brilliant!

When I got to making this recipe I wanted to ensure that it maintained as fresh of an appearance and taste as possible. And it needed to be quick. After a long weekend or busy day at work, slaving over a hot stove isn't the first thing on your to-do list.

My one requirement - its prepping to plate in 25 minutes or less. And this one achieved all of those pesky parameters.

Curried Lentils

I was so excited when I saw this recipe on Cooking.in.College. I love lentils and I love spices. And, lucky for me, lentils are low oxalate. I'm still strugglilng with finding appealing low oxalate recipes. This low oxalate diet is way more difficult than going gluten free. That's part of the reason my posting has slowed, I feel so uninspired in the kitchen. I'm not sure how much longer I need to follow this diet, hopefully not much longer. I went to the dr this week and discovered I've lost 5 lbs since going low oxalate. Neither my doctor, nor myself was pleased to discover this. I worked so hard to gain that weight over many months, and now I have to start again. I know people probably hate me for complaining about losing weight, but, trust me, a painful stomach disease is not an ideal way to lose weight.

Sorry about the digression, back to the lentils. I followed Meg's recipe, with a few changes. I omitted the carrots, (because they are high oxalate), and the mustard seeds (because I didn't have any). I used 7 cardamom pods, 5 whole cloves. Instead of oil, I sauted the onion in butter (because I'm trying to gain weight and I need the extra fat). I added more cumin and corriander. I also wrapped my whole spices up in cheesecloth, so they would be easily removed.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I’m still not really feeling much like being in the kitchen. Due to Mr. Surly being out of town on business for a couple days this week, I didn’t have to make any food. But when he returned I had to make something so I chose to make an easy, quick soup. The addition of the apple and apple juice adds a nice sweetness to this soup. It’s yummy as is, but I’m trying to experiment with different spices to try to jazz it up. This time I added cumin (probably my favorite spice), turmeric and a pinch of cayenne to give it a nice kick. Mr. Surly ate so much of this for dinner that I was lucky to get a picture of it before it disappeared.

Creole Chicken with Rice

Don’t let the unappetizing photo scare you off from this dish. It doesn’t look like much, but the taste is out-of-this-world phenomenal.

Back before I got sick, I read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman. I have always tried to eat as healthfully as possible and heard his book was informative. Basically, he maps out a caloric restriction diet/lifestyle. He recommends eating lots of fresh, raw veggies and eating meat sparingly, thinking of it as a condiment. I used the book as mainly a diet guideline and for some of the recipes--caloric restriction is a bit too extreme for me, I'm not really into counting calories. Some of the recipes are really good so I went online to Dr. Furhman's blog to find more. I saw this one and decided to try it. I’m so glad I did because this has become one of our top 5 favorite recipes. A word of warning, if you don’t like hot and spicy food this is not the meal for you. It definitely cleans out the sinuses.

I made this a lot when I had to eliminate gluten from my diet. I use Trader Joe’s brand chili sauce because it is gluten free and I love it. I’m not sure if all chili sauce is gluten free so if you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance be sure to check the ingredients of the sauce you use.

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

A few weeks ago Mr.Surly came home with a big bag of sweet potatoes. I have been feeling pretty ill lately and have had no desire to cook until last week. In an attempt to find a recipe that would help me use up some of those sweet potatoes I came across this dish on Martha Stewart’s website. It sounded good and I had all of the ingredients. I adapted the recipe a bit by added some spices and extra ingredients. It turned out really well. I love a dinner that is easy, quick, and requires minimum clean up. Also, the leftovers I had for lunch the next day were even better than dinner the previous night. Definitely a recipe I will make again.

Chicken Millet Skillet

I had never heard of millet until I had to go gluten free awhile ago. Luckily my celiac test came back negative, but my GI doctor still had me go gluten free for 6 weeks to determine if I was gluten intolerant (turns out I’m not). 

I learned about a lot of alternative grains/pastas/flours while eating gluten free, millet being one of them. Millet is bland and I wasn’t even sure how to serve it to make it palatable. Desperate to use up some of my millet, I found this recipe on Whole Foods’ website. I made modifications to suit our tastes. I was surprised at how good this was. I really didn’t have any expectations for this, I just wanted to get rid of some millet, but wow, this was so good. Mr.Surly loved it and he requests it often, which I don’t mind because it’s so easy and quick to make.

You could probably use quinoa if you don’t have millet. If you don’t have wine, substitute with chicken broth and, if desired, stir in a Tbsp or two of white wine vinegar with the swiss chard. Kale could also be used instead of swiss chard. Next time I make this, I think I'll add some pinenuts or almonds as garnish before serving.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

This week my nutritionist put me on a low fiber diet, hoping that it will help me gain some weight (I’m currently about 20 lbs underweight). I’m supposed to be eating pasta, potatoes, bread, lots of “white” foods. These are foods I normally do not eat so I had to buy a few things from the grocery store. Also, my abdominal pain has increased this week and the meds my GI doctor prescribed aren’t helping. 

I really haven’t felt much like cooking nor eating this week. But Mr.Surly still needed food and since he’s been working late I didn’t want him to come home and then have to make dinner.  I’m looking for easy, no fuss meals and dish fit the bill. Just throw everything in your pressure cooker and it’s magically done in under 10 minutes. This could be made in either a skillet or pot, it would just take longer to cook. There was also extra sauce left over, so I have some “pasta sauce” for pasta this week. Sorry about the unappetizing photo, I just took a quick picture to post along with the recipe.

Mustard Chicken with Potatoes & Leeks

Wow. I love simple dishes that are full of flavor. I also like that this effortless dish is so visually appealing. By steaming the veggies in the parchment packets they come out vibrant in color and deliciously crisp-tender. This dish was so simple to put together. While it baked I was able to make a salad and dessert. The mustard kept the chicken tender and moist. I can’t wait to make this again.

Pressure Cooker Chili

Most chili is made using a combination of ground beef, beans, and tomatoes. Since I am grossed out by the texture of ground beef, my chili usually is just a bunch of beans and tomatoes tossed into a pot and simmered with spices. Mr.Surly's brother told us about this chili recipe from Alton Brown that uses chunks of stew meat instead of ground beef and contains no beans. At first I was skeptical. How could chili have no beans? Could I tolerate chunks of beef in my chili? After one bite all my doubts were gone. This chili is awesome; it’s spicy and the meat is so tender you can cut it with a spoon. Trust me, you won't miss the beans in this, and like us, you'll be making it again and again. We use a Cuisinart electric pressure cooker we bought last year from Williams Sonoma. If you prefer a thinner chili consistency decrease the amount of tortilla chips and tomato paste.

Thai Yellow Curry Chicken and Rice

I love, love, love, curry; especially yellow curry. There was a Thai restaurant near my old office and I would often get their yellow curry with chicken for lunch. I was so excited recently when I saw this yellow curry sauce at Trader Joe’s.

Now I could attempt to recreate this delicious dish at home. The restaurant curry sauce was pretty thin and flavorful, almost like a soup. It was served with white basmati rice on the side so you could add the rice to the sauce to, allowing the rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. When I’m adding the bottled sauce to the pan I put a little bit of water (a Tbl or two) in the bottle, shake it up, and dump it in the pot so that I get all the sauce out. I suppose that if you feel like you need to you could add water or chicken broth to stretch out the sauce. I don't because I don’t want to risk diluting the flavor. Of course you could use any rice that you want, but I prefer brown basmati rice, since it has a low glycemic index. Also, you don’t have to add the sweet potato; you could use all white potatoes. But sweet potatoes are so nutritious that I try to mix them in with white potatoes any chance I get. I prefer using baby yukons because all you have to do is wash and cut them in half. I have used russets before, just peel them before cubing. I debated whether or not to add garlic, but decided against it this time. I think I have added garlic in the past. Of course vegetarians/vegans could use tofu instead of chicken.

Spring Vegetable and Bean Soup

This soup was surprisingly flavorful for how simple and easy it was to prepare. The original recipe called for fresh tomatoes, but since it's winter and tomatoes are not in season, I used canned. I also added a potato since I didn't have any cauliflower. I wish I had a sweet potato on hand to use instead of a yukon gold, it would have added a nice color. I would also like to experiment with different vegetables, like butternut squash or acorn squash. You could also use chicken broth instead of the vegetable broth, if desired.

Black Beans and Brown Rice

I’m sure everyone has some version of a recipe for black beans and rice. It’s so easy to make, the ingredients are inexpensive, the dish is filling, healthy and, most importantly, delicious. 

 

This recipe is based off a dish my aunt made for a family reunion years ago, after some members of the family became vegetarian. My sister used to make this for me during the two years we spent attending the same college, and it has always been a food staple for me. 

 

I make sure to have the basic ingredients on hand all the time because this is such a quick, easy dinner. Mr.Surly has never been a fan of this dish until last night. He declared it to be the best black beans and rice I have ever made; therefore, I had to record what I did so I will remember it in the future.

Spinach and Lentil Soup

Lately I’ve been making a lot of soups/stews because they’re quick, easy, and we can eat leftovers another night, thus saving me a day in the kitchen. I have been looking through a lot of cookbooks, magazines, blogs, etc looking for soup recipes that look interesting. I read good reviews about Jamie Oliver’s book Jamie's Diet Revolution and decided to buy it. It’s really good. He gives great tips and the recipes are basic enough that you can adapt them to your own personal tastes; I love recipes that are adaptable to what you have in your kitchen. I’ve only had time to try a few recipes and thus far they have been great. However, this one really stood out as being extra delicious. 

I saw that it served 6-8 and decided not to halve the recipe because I planned on freezing some of it to have on a night that I didn't feel like cooking. But once I made it, Mr.Surly ate so much of it that there wasn’t enough left over to save. I added some of my favorite spices to the recipe to liven it up a bit. We really liked the cumin flavor. I can’t wait to try more of the recipes in this book.