Meatloaf

This is my third week of no carbs for two consecutive days.  I should say it would have been my third week, if I didn't eat 2 slices of my cherry pie today.  That's all that was left over, and it sitting on the counter didn't bother me one bit yesterday, but today was one of those days.  I'm not surprised that I couldn't stick with this "diet", and this just proves that diets are stupid, even if only for two days per week.  Besides I wasn't really following the rules of leaner fats and watery vegetables, so instead of losing nine pounds, I lost one or two, but then on any given day I'm one or two pounds lighter or heavier.

Anyway, yesterday I made a meatloaf with corn.  Sometimes I use peas, carrots, mushrooms, fresh herbs, or a mix of vegetables.  I do this to make the meatloaf more interesting and colourful, but also for the extra serving of vegetables.

Making a meatloaf is easy.  I didn't get home until 16:30, and I had dinner made within the hour, including prep.  I used ground pork, with marjoram, because to me it's the ultimate meat herb, thyme, oregano, sea salt and ground black pepper, 10% cream, a real egg, and a bit of my home made jalapeño ciabatta bread crumbs.  I know those are carbs, but the diet actually allows up to 50g of carbs per day, besides it's over.

Mix it all together with your hand, place in a baking dish, or make mini loaves, or one log shaped loaf, have the oven set for 375 F and depending on how thick your meatloaf is, check after about 40 minutes.  I don't cover it with foil, because then it comes out looking anemic.

Yesterday I served it with broccoli and parmesan cheese.

 

As well as an Asian mix of vegetables, which I sautéed in sesame oil, with some pepper, very basic, but tasty.  I only used sesame oil, because I like the flavour it gives these veg.  The meat loaf has a Cajun spice sprinkled over top, so I kept the veg mild, with just a hint of sesame.  Sometimes I use spices to sprinkle on top in place of bacon strips.

Today I reheated the meatloaf in a frying pan with a bit of water and covered it with a lid.  The water creates a steam and prevents the loaf from burning.  It's very quick.  I don't own a microwave, one came with this house and we gave it away.  Reheating things on the stove or in the oven, or a toaster oven doesn't take as much time as people think it might.  Food always tastes better not microwaved.  I'm totally disgusted when I see people microwaving their coffee, especially when it's in a waxy take away cup.

The other day when I made stock, I had cooked celery, leeks, and parsley, which I remove before making the soup, I keep the carrots in, and make whatever soup.  I put the cooked celery, leeks, and parsley in the food processor, and pureed them all.  I hate wasting food, so I try to think of ways to use as much as I can, and waste as little as possible.

I made these green jalapeño breadcrumb covered balls, and fried them in coconut oil.  

The remaining green puree I just sautéed in coconut oil, with a bit of spices, to add a little kick, and to heat it up.

En Guete!  (Swiss German)

Soup

I love soup.  Make a basic stock and the possibilities are endless.

I like meat based stocks, but you can make an all veg stock as well.  If using meat, boil the meat on it's own first.  Dump out the water, clean the pot, and rinse the meat if necessary; meat gets frothy, so this keeps your stock clean.  In a clean pot, add water, parsley, carrots, celery, peppercorns, sea salt, bay leaf.  You can add other vegetables and spices, this is just a basic stock.  If you're making a sour soup, add the cooked meat closer to the end of the soup being done, just to heat it up, otherwise the meat will get too hard from the acidity.

I used pork riblets for this soup base.  A package for about $4 is enough for 3 stocks, could've been 4, but this way there was enough meat to be part of the meal.  Here are some soup ideas:

Cream of mushroom, goes great with a sandwich, like porchetta on rye with butter and mustard.

Or with egg noodles, I left the carrots and meat in this one.

Pickle soup with star noodles.

I left the celery in for James, with carrots and pork.

Beet soup with flat noodles, using veal stock.

Pumpkin soup, specifically Rouge vid D'Etampes, my fave.  Great with any sandwich.

Tomato soup, which is tasty with noodles, rice, or even mashed potatoes, or on its own in a mug with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tripe soup.  Try it before you decide you don't like it.

Smacznego!  (Polish)

Indoor Gardening

A few weeks ago I started a mini indoor garden.  I try to have some fresh herbs, I do mostly outside when the weather is warm and stable.  I say stable, because for about two weeks we've had 20+ C outside, about 4x the seasonal norm.  It's the middle of March.  Today is cooler, hopefully winter won't be back.  I didn't want to take chances with planting seeds outside just in case it went below zero again.

Here is a photo of my mini indoor garden:

What you see there are 2 pots of heirloom garlic, I used my last 2 cloves, parsley, and mixed greens.  The fluffy green plant on the left is a decorative asparagus fern.  The garlic is growing very fast, so I knotted the leaves so the plant starts focusing more on the bulb, as opposed to the foliage.  I haven't decided yet, if I'm going to let one grow seeds, or if I will use both for the garlic cloves.  I might do that, and then just re-sow a few of the cloves, instead of growing it from seeds.  Last night I actually added two more cans, one with chives, and one with green sweet basil.  I love fresh basil.  Chives are delicious chopped on a fresh piece of crusty rye or pumpernickel with butter, farmer's cheese or cottage cheese, and s&p.  I prefer chives to green onions, they have a slightly milder flavour, and are significantly thinner, you can also dehydrate them.

I came across this nifty idea for indoor planting and reusing/ recycling:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150745621612053&set=o.189287804456890&type=1&theater

If I get my hands on some pop bottles, I will definitely try this.

BTW, this is what I've got blooming in my yard to date (this year):

The crocusses came in first, and the blooms are already gone, I only had 3 flowers, so I didn't bother collecting the saffron.  For those who don't know, saffron are the yellow (reproductive) bits inside the crocus flower.  I didn't actually plant them, they were there from previous owners, or possibly squirrels.  Super tiny and just poking from below the shrub you see in the background.  The mini daffodils, I planted last fall, in a not so straight row.  I love them all.  Instant smiles.  My winter rose has small buds, I planted it last year, so I didn't even expect any flowers this year.

Happy gardening!