Hometown Fun and Comfort Food

This past weekend was incredible. We visited our hometown for some major wedding festivities. We got to see family and friends, and we probably had a little too much fun... In addition to celebrating our friends' nuptials, we also learned about a couple pregnancies. Yep, it was a pretty epic weekend indeed!

All of this special friend and family time made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It made me comfortable to know that "home" is still homey. So now that my body has some-what recovered and is no longer craving fried drunk food, I'm ready to make my menu for the week. Comfort Food.

Comfort food means different things to different people. Growing up, comfort food to me was always cheesy or starchy or both. So this week, the week of recovery, we will be enjoying eggplant parmesan and tacos. Both recipes are adapted recipes so they will be posted along with meat-inclusive options. I offered my husband chicken parmesan and beef tacos, but he said he had plenty of meat the past few days and would be perfectly content with veg options. How easy is he? I'm glad the rehearsal dinner and wedding festivities kept his meat appetite fulfilled! But I will include detailed notes for those of you who may be curious how to adapt the menu to please both vegs and carnivores.


So off to the store I go. Tonight: Oven-Baked Eggplant Parmesan. The recipe will be posted tonight along with pics.

Recipe as promised...the store had a bad eggplant shipment (I know it is not in season, but it is Florida and there is usually an abundance of eggplant) so I had to improvise and use tofu instead. It was still delicious!

Oven Baked Parmesan:

Ingredients:

1 to 2 pounds Sliced Eggplant, Chicken, or Extra firm tofu (pressed and sliced)
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 16 to 24 oz jar store-bought marinara sauce (or home-made if ambitious)
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
1 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese
Dried Spaghetti

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, dried spices, cayenne pepper and salt in a shallow plate. Dredge the eggplant/chicken/tofu in the melted butter then cover with the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a greased shallow baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until a crispy brown color (or until done if using chicken).

Spray an 8x8 glass casserole with cooking spray. Spoon enough marinara sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Place the eggplant/chicken/tofu on the sauce. Layer with torn basil leaves, more sauce, and cheese. Repeat the layers.

Place the assembly in the oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and the mixture is bubbly. While waiting on mixture to cook, prepare spaghetti according to package directions.

Assemble the dish with the eggplant/chicken/tofu parmesan placed atop spaghetti. Serve with side salad and bread. Enjoy!

Crock-Pots and Compromise

Monday. Even as I sit at home, currently unemployed, Mondays still have that miserable blah feeling. I'm also a little scattered because we are packing for an upcoming trip to our hometown for my best friend's wedding this weekend! So how does one grocery shop for only a 1/2 weeks worth of groceries and still produce meals that are pleasing to a meat eater AND a vegetarian? Sigh, definitely a Monday! Thankfully, however, there is the God-sent invention called the crock-pot for days like this.

In case you did not know, I am a vegetarian and my husband is a very understanding meat-eater. He is always kind and does not usually complain about the lack of meat in most of our meals, but it's been a while since he had a home-cooked meat-filled meal. So tonight, the crock-pot is dedicated to him and him only. Marriage IS about compromise, right?

His meal tonight consists mostly of left-over veggies from some minestrone I made last week. What is one to do with unused bulk red-potatoes, carrots, and celary? Make a hearty crock-pot meal of course! The recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I love Better Homes and Gardens books and magazines because they are relatively inclusive of vegetarian options.

So back to the recipe, it includes the obvious for most hearty "meat and potato" dishes: potatoes, carrots, onions, and beef. For a crock-pot you want a pretty substantial cut of beef that will hold up for the long-haul. I have not eaten meat for a year and a half now so I'm rusty. When it comes to a split house, the butcher should be your new best friend. The butcher at our local grocer was wonderful and helped me find a cut that was not HUGE and would be the perfect size for just one person to eat over two to four meals for left-overs. It is a lovely piece of boneless shoulder roast...just a little over a pound.

Now, I know not everyone is willing to buy more expensive meat when the cheap stuff is so readily available and nice to the budget. It all looks the same, right? What you choose to put in your or your loved one's body is completely your choice.  The facts are that animal cruelty IS a problem in America's factory farms, but in addition to the cruelty factor is the humane factor. Most animals in factory farms spend a majority of their short lives sitting in their own feces and being pumped full of hormones and antibiotics. For these reasons, I prefer to get what little meat I buy from a local farmer or a market that supports local farms. Yes, the prices are a little higher, but it is what you are choosing to put in your body. Skimp on something else; trust me it is worth the sacrifice. Not only will you be putting a purer food in your body, but you will be supporting your local farmers and economy as well. And it just tastes better. Everyone wins.

Ok, back to the crock-pot meal. In addition to the veggies and meat, the only other ingredients are beef-bouillon granules, Worcestershire sauce, and dried spices. I love this recipe because it consists of things you probably already have in your pantry. And it's a crock-pot meal! Everyone goes in the hot-tub and you just go about and do your own thing for the remainder of the day. Not to mention this meal really is easy on the pocket-book. Just plan ahead...if you have left-over celery, onions, carrots, and potatoes, go buy some meat and there is you or your loved one's meat meal! You probably cannot even order a large pepperoni pizza for that price tag.

As for compromise? I am lazy today and absolutely do not feel like cooking one meal, much less two! So yes, I am doing the unthinkable....frozen dinner! Now, before you food snobs go about judging my choice, let me elaborate. Frozen dinners are not just limited to Hungry Man meals! In an ideal world, I would have a lovely frozen home-made veggie lasagna in the freezer or pesto sauce frozen from the warm summer months...the possibilities are endless! But we just recently moved a couple months ago so no home-made frozen meals just yet. So in times like this, I call on Amy's. You can get these frozen dinners EVERYWHERE these days. Even the dreadful Wal-Mart carries Amy's products. For $3 to $4 you can get a pretty tasty vegetarian Indian, Mexican, or Italian meal. You can even get a filling burrito for a little more than a buck. Your excuse for the sub-par fast food dollar menus? This evening, while the hubby is enjoying a meaty slow-cooked meal, I will be enjoying a quickly cooked vegetarian Indian dinner. Win-win.

So, I will post pictures of our split-house meal later this evening. But there you have it. With a little bit of compromise and a helpful butcher, a split-house meal can be completed on a lazy day, lasts for a few days, and is budget-friendly! Hmm...what should I plan for next week?

So here are the pics as promised: