Winter is on the way and I am back from a busy but delicious summer and fall. Getting the family together a few times a week for dinner Is still top of my mind.

Lets talk reality, there are some nights when everyone is going in different directions and time is on short supply.

I still think whenever you can getting together for even 15 minutes it can benefit everyone …. It does not have to be sitting down at the kitchen table, anywhere you can gather to have a bite will do the trick.

If your kids are anything like mine asking them “how was your day?” often garners a response like “it was ok” or “fine”. I want to use the time as much as we can to really connect and create a memorable space for us that we will benefit them for a life time. That said I need to arm myself with a few questions to help get things going sometimes.

Tell me something that made you laugh today

What weird thing did you hear at school today

Tell me something that someone else said today at school

What did your teacher say that made you stop and think

What can you learn today that you could teach me

What are you looking forward to

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I love pasta, so quick, easy, filling and warm. What I have learned through my adventures in the culinary ring is that protein is king ….. Pasta is a whole lot easier to rationalize when protein is added to the equation.  Sometimes with pasta I don’t want the extra calories of nuts and I am not a fan of beans with pasta ( that never felt right to me although Italians have favoured this combination).

I recently whipped up a great recipe for linguini smothered in a lovely rich cream sauce with crispy mushroom “bacon” on top … All vegan and lots of protein. Take a look at the recipe below – dinner can be on the table in 35 minutes and it makes a great meal any night of the week.

Linguini Carbonara with “Bacon”

Serves 4

Cream Sauce:

2T liquid coconut oil or other oil of your choice

1Large yellow Onion diced

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1-14 oz pkg of soft tofu

1/2c water

2T lemon juice

3t sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Mushroom “Bacon”

1/2lb shiitake mushrooms, stems off and thinly sliced

1/4c olive oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

1lb of pasta linguini or your preferred shape

Start with mushroom “bacon”:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• On a rimmed baking sheet toss mushrooms with oil, salt and pepper
• Bake for 30 minutes flipping and stirring every 8 minutes (or so)
• Bacon is done when mushrooms are nice and crispy.

Cook pasta to package directions and set aside

Cream Sauce:

• Add oil to sauté pan and heat over med heat
• Turn up heat to med-high and add onion and cook past shimmering until just starting to brown (about 8-10 min)
• Add garlic and sauté for 1 min more until fragrant (do not let garlic brown
• Add the onion and garlic mixture to the remaining sauce ingredients in a blender or processor and blend until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes)

In a large serving dish pour sauce over pasta and top with the mushroom “bacon”

Enjoy!

Next post: tofu and all you can do I with it!!!

Do you have a “family favourites” recipe book or index?

Having a place to store all of your family favourites is a no brainer when it comes to organizing, planning and just reminding yourself and the other hungry folks what everyone likes!

Now I will admit that I have a serious cookbook addiction, if I cooked 1 recipe form each cookbook I have everyday it would take me more than a few months to get through them all!  But the one little recipe book that is never far form reach is my little black book.  This is a lovely, collection of all of our family favourites form breakfasts to snacks to the main course and cherished holiday favourites.

To help keep everything in one place my preference is the ARC notebook system available at Staples.

The best features is that it is expandable and really cost effective.  You can add pages and sections at will and even expand the ring system, accommodating your additions and culinary growth 😉

Having a little black book of family favourites makes weekly planning a much easier task.  On average people will cycle through under a dozen recipes at any given time, having your own personal reference makes getting to the table much easier.

Each week I typically go for a few new recipes but you will always find the favourites mixed in.  Especially with kids, it allows their pallet to have a break form new sampling and fall back on the comfort of knowing what will be for dinner and what it tastes like.  The more you prepare a recipe the faster and easier it is to get dinner on the table.  The key is to have a combination each week of familiar fare and new adventure.

If your preference is to forego the recipe book then consider this great online tool to help you organize you family favourites: Evernote.  Evernote offers you the ability to synch across all of your devices and gives you the flexibility to take pictures, create to-do lists and organize to your hearts content.  There is a free and a subscription version (which is around $40/year ).

If organizing your recipes is just not your thing then at least consider creating some sort of index where you can keep the recipe name, where it can be found and if it was hit.

Life can get complicated – with a little bit of thought and preparation something that was seen as a task can become manageable.

Never underestimate the value of passing down recipes and incorporating family traditions into your weekly roll.  A families history can be told in what they prepared and how they prepared it.  Your mother or father never passed anything down to you …. start a new tradition today.

There is great comfort in knowing where you came from, family traditions and secrets passed down form generation to generation.  Food is often how we express our love for one another.  Chart your own rich history and get people together to celebrate new or old traditions.  Remember it does not have to be fancy or gourmet, it just has to be.

An old family favourite for us is Sweet Potato Stew, it is easy to prepare, and leftovers are fantastic whether they are simply placed in the fridge or frozen.

Sweet Potato Stew:

1  med onion diced

3 cloves of garlic pressed or minced

1T fresh grated ginger

1T curry powder (use mild or strong to your liking)

1T extra virgin olive oil or aroma free coconut oil

1C dried green lentils

2-3 med sweet potatoes diced – bite sized pieces

4c water

1/3c Knorr Vegetable Bovril (or any other concentrated liquid veg broth)

1-28oz can diced tomatoes with juice

• Sauté the onion in the oil for about 6-8 minutes until just before they start to brown
• Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds
• Add the curry powder and stir for another 30 seconds
• Add in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and cook on low / med uncovered for 30-45 minutes (until the liquid has reduced and the stew is nice and thick)

Serve on its own or with crusty bread for dipping.

See you at the table!

Preparation is the key to sanity at dinner time.  Think about it, you plan your week at work so why not use some of your time management skills on the home front.

When work is done for me time feels like it magically picks up speed, the last thing I want to think about is what I am going to make for a bunch of hungry people.

Make you life easier by doing your “mis en place” before you get to the actual cooking.  Mis en place – a french saying for “putting it all in place”.

Do you know why cooking shows make it look so easy?  Most of their ingredients are already chopped, diced and prepared ahead of time … borrow a trick form the pros and whenever you have a minute or two prep something for your dinner tonight, tomorrow night or the night after!

• Cut 2 onions instead of 1 – you are already chopping, throw the additional onion in an airtight container it will keep fresh for a few days in the fridge.
• Peppers, carrots, snap peas and other hard veggies will keep well pre cut for a few days in the fridge.
• If you have 5 minutes on your hands put out the ingredients for your dinner that night or the following night (like oil, grains, spices, etc..).
• When you get home form the grocery store throw together a quick marinade in a large freezer bag, toss your protein in and freeze.  When you leave for work the morning you want that specific meal let it thaw in the fridge all day, turn it out into a casserole and bake – make a quick salad while your meal is in the oven and voila, dinner in no time (most proteins will bake at 350).

Remember eating together does not mean that everyone has to love what you have made (although that is certainly preferred).

I cannot tell you how many times my family has been loving and not so loving critics.  My brother once said “…I am not sure if this is the best or the worst thing I’ve ever tasted”!  You can’t win ’em all but the point here is to eat, laugh and experiment together.

A handy formula to help out at dinner time:

Basic vinaigrette

All you need to remember is: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar with a few add ins if you would like

(if you find the 3:1 too acidic then move to a 4:1 ratio)

Add in could be:

• salt and cracked pepper
• spices like fresh pressed garlic, paprika, thyme, oregano to name a few
• mustard or worcestershire sauce (start small like 1-2t then add if you want a bigger punch)
• a touch of lemon or lime juice (again start smallish like 2-3t)
• a touch of sweetness like maple syrup, agave nectar or cane sugar

Our favourite house salad dressing:

I use mason jars to make my salad dressings.  Add all ingredients and shake, shake, shake.  Most home made dressings will last in your fridge in an air tight container (like the mason jar) for about 5 days.

Sweet Maple Mustard Dressing

1/4c apple cider vinegar

1 garlic clove pressed

3T pure maple syrup

3T Dijon mustard

1/2t finely ground sea salt

1/4t cracked pepper

1/2c extra virgin olive oil

Family House Dressing

1/4c apple cider vinegar

1/2c nice oil, extra virgin olive, macadamia nut or flax oil

1 pressed garlic clove (more if you love garlic)

1T pure maple syrup

2T shoyu (which is a slightly more subtle soy sauce you can find in the asian section of your grocery store)

Remember what the goal is … get everyone sitting together at the family dinner table a few times a week

Our definition of a family has changed considerably over the years.  Today family is who you have in your heart, who you know has your back, who you can call and invite over for a meal.  Family can be defined by genetics or it can be defined by friendship and love.  My family may look different than yours, but at the end of the day, if you live in the midst of chaos or by yourself, enjoy your family table with those you care about.

Dinner does not have to be fancy or gourmet to sit down together, it just has to be.

See you at the table!

People generally fall into two categories, those who like to make a list and those who prefer not to.  I love to make a list, so planning my weekly meals is actually something that I look forward to.

My list is not complicated, in fact it is hand written each week and stuck to the fridge.  I am not picky as to when any meal might be cooked or even who cooks it, the list is there to let us know what is on the menu each week .

Flexibility is key in any meal plan or menu.  What I have discovered is that when you create a grocery list form your menu you save at the store and have less waste each week.  According to a US study in Aug 2012, the average American household will throw out 25% of food and beverage that they have purchased!  That is hard earned $$ being thrown out each week, I don’t know about you but that is a big number for me.

My goal here is not to turn all of you non list makers into a list lover but to offer food for thought (pun intended:-)

The main categories for our weekly menu:

• School lunches x5
• Lunches for us x2 or 3
• Dinner
• Snacks
• Weekend breakfasts

That is it.

Even a looser version of this can be helpful.  My mother was a fantastic cook but she did not enjoy cooking.  She saw it as a means to an end, somethings he had to do and for a lot of people the feeling is shared.  Especially if cooking is a task or a chore then trying to figure out on the fly “what’s for dinner” can become a frustrating part of your day, making the family meal even harder to achieve.

Give this a try:

• Pick 2 or 3 evenings you want to have a family meal together and start there

Every week I will be posting our dinner selections with a few recipes.

Here is what is happening this week:

• Broccoli quinoa burritos – garlic, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, cashew cream sauce all wrapped up in a lovely toasted tortilla
• Leek and Bean Cassoulet – Leeks, carrots, potatoes, peas, thyme and white beans cooked in a lovely creamy sauce toped with biscuits
• Enchilada Casserole – Sautéed onions, garlic, mushrooms and potatoes mixed in with pinto beans act as the filling in this Mexican type lasagne, layered with soft tortillas, a robust red sauce and topped with a  lovely cashew cream sauce
• Cesar Salad – A family favourite, we have veganized the classic cesar!  This dinner salad is bathed in a creamy classic cesar dressing, with croutons and sprinkled with lemon zest, served with roused veggies
• Veggie Curry – The key to a good curry is it’s heat and creaminess.  Sautéed veggies in a delicate, creamy curry tomato based sauce, made creamy by the inclusion of cashews

A few things you may have noticed in the menu:

• Looks time consuming and complicated ….. nope all of the recipes aside from the Enchilada casserole require some prep but will have you at the table within 30 minutes
• You use cashews a lot, what is up with that ….. good question, cashews are incredibly versatile and when soaked and blended up can create everything from a white sauce, sour cream or even whipped cream.  It does not take much to create a rich creaminess that will not blow your diet.  In most of the recipes I mentioned above for the entire recipe you would only need 1/2c to 1c 

Broccoli Quinoa Burrito:

Prep ahead tips – this can make getting dinner on the table easy and quick!

Quinoa can be made a few days in advance, I like to cook mine with vegetable broth for extra flavour.  Rinse your quinoa first using  fine mesh sieve, the actual grain has a bitter coating (this is to protect itself from being eaten by birds in the fields).  Left un-rinsed it can affect the taste of your dish.

1 cup of quinoa will give you about 3 cups cooked

For 1 cup of quinoa use about 2 cups of liquid. Bring it to a boil then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Fluff with a  fork and set aside or place in fridge once cooled for a few days in a tightly sealed container.

Cashew Cheese:

(Make ahead and keep in fridge for a few days in an airtight container)

3/4c raw cashews (not roasted) soaked about 3-4 hours or overnight if you have time

1 clove garlic

1/2c unsweetened, unflavoured almond milk

1/4c nutritional yeast (seriously yummy stuff, your local health food store will have this)

1-1/2t dijon mustard

1t white wine vinegar or lemon juice

1/4t onion powder

1/2t sea salt

• Combine all of the cashew cheese ingredients in a blender or processor and process until thick and smooth.  You may need to scrape down the sides of your blender a few times to achieve a smooth sauce.

For the Burrito:

2-3 cups of cooked quinoa

1t extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic minced, pressed or chopped

1-1/2c diced sweet onion

2c diced broccoli florets

3-4T chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes

4 soft tortillas, gluten free or flour or replace with large lettuce leaves

• In a large wok or skillet on med-high, heat the oil and cook the onions with a pinch of salt until translucent and almost browned, about 5-8 minutes
• add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds more until just fragrant
• Add the broccoli and sun dried tomatoes, sauté over med-high heat until tender, about 10  -15 minutes
• Add the cooked quinoa and cheese sauce and stir to combine with the veggies, cook until heated through about 5-8 minutes
• Spoon the mixture into the tortillas or lettuce leaves and serve, we love to give the wrapped burritos a quick hit on the sauté pan to brown on all sides

See you at the table!

*Study conducted by the National Resources Defence Council

*This Broccoli Quinoa Burrito was adapted from the Oh She Glows cookbook.

So lets talk about it, what does the word “Vegan” conjures up for you?

A fanatical, hippie, tree hugging, vegetable eating, pale skin, poor unenlightened person…

Don’t worry I am not out to convince anyone to become vegan or give up dairy or meat, instead consider vegan food as a “type” of cuisine.

I teach plant based cooking classes and it is funny when I advertise or mention the class on Facebook I get a flurry of comments like: “I could never give up cheese, or don’t you get tired of eating the same thing again – no variety, just veggies and rice, or I love my steak, how could you live without it”

My response is always the same, consider vegan food like you would Italian, or chinese or Thai.  You do not have to give up meat or cheese to enjoy a vegan meal.  I promise.

There are definite benefits to introducing more plant based fare into your eating routine but I will save that for another post.  Today is about having an open mind and realizing that vegan does not have to mean all or nothing.

Last night as we sat down at our family table, rushed and all starving, the hubby whipped up some veggie burgers with caramelized onions and oven fries with a small side salad.  It was all delicious and everyone loves a burger!

Make your life easier and throw some veggies together on a baking sheet and roast them while dinner is cooking.  It saves time and the results are fantastic.  I prefer a baking stone, which you can pick up at most anywhere just get one that does not need a pre-soak.  The veggies roast up beautifully and you will never burn your cookies again!  Just make sure when you roast your veggies you set the oven temperature between 415 and 450 and keep the veggies on separate sides of the pan.

Here is a lovely recipe for a great veggie burger:

Black Bean and Rice Burger

1c             black beans, rinsed drained and mashed

1c             cooked brown rice

1               clove garlic, pressed

2T             leeks finely chopped leeks

2T             cooked mashed sweet potatoes

1t             chilli powder

1t             Italian seasoning oregano (Pampered Chef)

1/4t        cumin

1t             sea salt

1T             EVOO

4               buns

• Mix everything together in a bowl except the olive oil
• Coat hands with EVOO and mix all ingredients together
• Divide mixture into 4 patties and grill on grill pan or in skillet until browned on both sides.

See you at the table.

What was on the menu last week?

15 minute creamy avocado basil pasta.   Blended basil, avocado, fresh lemon juice, cracked pepper …. all come together to gently coat spaghetti in a wonderfully heart healthy and delicious sauce.

Enlighten miso power bowl with roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa, edamame and a lovely orange maple miso dressing.

Cesar salad – classic cesar made plant friendly and dairy free, cutting saturated fats creating decedent lighter meal when time is in short supply.

Glo bars (the best granola bars I have ever eaten)!  They come together quickly, they are seriously delicious and packed full of ingredients that will have you glowing form the inside out!  These bars are so good that my ‘picky one’ is now happily eating, hemp, chia seeds and raw oats … seriously.  The bars can be made nut free for school and won’t take you long to throw together.

All thanks to Angela Liddon’s new cookbook: Oh She Glows

I have been waiting to get my hands on a copy of her much anticipated new cookbook and it does not disappoint.  Check out Angela’s blog at http://www.ohsheglows.com  It is chock full of tips, recipes and all-round good stuff.

Here are the stats:

I have 2 kids, one of which will try anything at least once and the other who is incredibly picky and only eats about a dozen things, I have a wonderful spouse and a schedule that is packed.

As most busy moms I struggle to get healthy, interesting and delicious meals into my family that are quick and easy to prepare amongst homework, meetings  and activities. Top that all off with the fact that we are vegetarian – vegan actually. What goes on our table and in our mouths is completely plant based ( mostly, the picky one will have dairy on the occasion ).

What is a Family Supper Club, a quiet revolution I hope.  Talking with other busy moms I am amazed at how many skip the family meal at the end of the day.  All saying that with 2 kids, 3 kids or 4 kids + they are just too busy – “we eat on the go and hopefully get a meal in once and a while on the weekends”.  Well it is time we take back the family table and gather a few more times each week.

So the plan is that I will be posting some easy, quick to prepare, menu ideas and musings on family and this crazy life.  I hope you will join me.

See you at the table!