meal mondays

This is becoming one of my favorite Spring-time meals.  It's good for the chilly Spring nights here in Seattle but it's not as heavy as a winter stew.  And I always have leftover pesto which makes for a great pasta later in the week.   The recipe and photo is from an old edition of Real Simple Magazine.  

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Ok, so it's not Meal Monday.  It's Wednesday.  But I made this last night and decided I should post it since I wasn't able to blog on Monday.  It's a better version of this recipe.  It only took 10 minutes to prepare and then 45 minutes to bake.  Not too shabby.  It wasn't as dry as the aforementioned recipe and much tastier.  I found the recipe & photo on kitchendaily.  

I was pretty skeptical about this recipe when I tried it out last week.  The meals I made for dinner on Monday AND Tuesday were shockingly bad. Jason actually threw out the entire pot of pasta I made on Tuesday - which is really saying something since he is loathe to waste anything.  Ever.  So needless to say, I didn't have high hopes on Wednesday when I was preparing this recipe.  Who makes enchiladas in a crockpot?   Seemed strange.  But the recipe got such rave reviews and it looked so easy, I had to give it a try.  It took me 15 minutes to prep, tops  Turned on the crockpot and walked away.  A perfect meal for after a new baby arrives.  Being (mostly) vegetarians makes it harder to put our crockpot to good use so I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and this ended up being so popular with Jason that we're going to try another variation of it this week.

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Here's the latest installment of Meal Mondays.   Free time is scarce after a new baby arrives and making a healthy meal can seem daunting when you are juggling the responsibilities of caring for a newborn.  

So this is my list of meals that:

• Can be prepared before baby arrives and frozen
• Can be easily & quickly prepared in a pinch 
• Could be doubled without hassle so you that you can eat some now and freeze some for later
• Are healthy & filling

It's Meal Monday again.  This week's recipe is a staple in our house these days.  We eat these enchiladas at least twice a month.  I almost always double the recipe and freeze one pan for a rainy day.  It's a great option for making before baby arrives or to take to new parents in need of a hearty meal.   I got the recipe from a friend so I'm unsure of the source.  The sauce recipe is from Emeril.

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Here is my second recipe for Meal Mondays.  I made this soup last week and it took no more than 20 minutes to throw together.  And I was chasing Gryffin around while putting it together.  Pretty fast for a soup.  It simmers for about 30 minutes to combine the flavors.   

I'm not in the habit of taking photos yet so I will once again post someone else's picture of the soup.   It's another recipe from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen site that I mentioned last week.  

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I'm trying to compile a list of easy, healthy meals to give to clients.  Either meals that can be made and frozen before baby comes or easy recipes that can be thrown together quickly after the baby arrives.  I posted a soup several months ago but then promptly forgot all about my list.  So I'm going to attempt to post a meal every Monday as I work on my compilation of recipes.  

I just found a blog called Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  My first thought was bleh.  I'm a pretty weak vegetarian, as most of my friends know.  And I'm pretty skeptical about anything that's vegan.  I haven't had very many tasty vegan meals.  But after my friend and backup doula, Brianna, introduced me to some incredible gluten-free brownies, I thought hey, it's a new day, maybe I should branch out a little more.  And I can't believe the variety of recipes I've found on the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog.  So I thought I would post one of her recipes here.  It's for spiced lentils and rice and it is the easiest meal I have ever prepared.  I meant to take a photo but forgot.   So this photo is from her site as well.

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One great way to plan ahead for the arrival of a new baby is to make some meals ahead of time and freeze them.  This ensures that you will have something nutritious and easy to prepare on those nights when you are all exhausted.   I am just starting to make and freeze some meals (mainly soup) in preparation for the arrival of our second child who should be arriving in just a few short weeks.  So I will be posting the various recipes I come up with along the way.    

The first recipe I'll be sharing is one of our all-time favorite soups.  We found it on Epicurious, an incredible resource for all sorts of recipes.   You can find it here or read on for the recipe with some of my personal notes.   

    Makes about 6 cups

Ingredients

• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 lb winter squash, such as butternut, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 lb boiling potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 whole peperoncino (small, hot Italian green pepper) or 3/4 tsp dried hot red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 3.5 cups boiling water
• 1 crisp amaretto (Italian almond macaroon), finely crushed (2 Tbsp)

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