Sunday, January 15, 2017

Enjoying a long weekend

Ahhh, the bliss of a Monday off. A three-day weekend is a blessing. Woo-hoo!

I was excited to find red lentils at Kroger. I love soup. I make lots of soups. In Kroger, the produce is the first aisle, and green cabbage was on sale. I got a good sized cabbage for $1. I like to see what's on sale and make my meal plans from there. Since cabbage turned out to be on sale, I thought I'd make cabbage soup and roast the rest in the oven.

When I got to the organic bulk section and was filling a bag with quinoa, I thought that maybe they would have red lentils, too.

Brown lentil soup is good, but it's heavy and pungent. I can have it only about once every two months. I stagger that with split pea soup, vegetarian chili with black beans, and vegetable soup with either a broth base or a tomato base. These are my usual winter soups.

I don't like to have brown lentil soup often. I like it but not every other week. Red lentils are lighter, brighter, and cook faster than brown lentils. They are sweeter and nuttier, and if cooked longer, they turn to mush with makes for either a nice, thick soup or a dip for a flatbread.

Kroger didn't have bulk red lentils but they did have Kroger label organic that was prepackaged for a good price! Yay! I am really loving the variety at this branch of Kroger. The fruit and veggies, grains and breads, all good and the kind I like.

This recipe adds carrots and onions to make a nice, simple red lentil soup.

I bought a ready made mushroom and green pepper quiche which was reduced in price. The sale price was such that I estimated it'd cost the same if I made it at home from scratch. Also on the docket for meals this week is another Pad Thai with shrimp, and yellow squash patties. The green beans looked fantastic too, and I bought a few of those. I will make a nice side dish. I still have to think up what to do with the cabbage, lol.

I love the availability of the variety of fruit at Kroger too. I got a fresh pineapple, kiwis, blueberries, and pears. The pears were overripe and in the red net bag, which meant they were 99 cents for 8 of them. I think I'll make pear 'applesauce' with ginger.

I did a few chores today, cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed. Tomorrow will be laundry and making soup etc., We've been blessed with 70+ degree days and I'm just loving it. It will be no trouble to go outside over to the garage to do several loads of laundry. I feel proud because today I organized a lot of my photos on my laptop. I made new folder and sorted them into grouped themes. Also wrote several essays for my other blog, ahead of time.

My pastor made many good points today at our wonderful service, and I'm looking forward to exploring those further tomorrow. It would not hurt my feelings if we had three day weekends every week, lol! After tomorrow, the work schedule looks like a long stretch with no breaks or holidays. I'm going to enjoy every minute tomorrow, for sure.

Have a nice holiday off, and a good week ahead.




3 comments:

Grace to You said...

I was surprised to see squash patties on your menu plan...you're turning into a true Southerner! :) Do you make them with egg and bread crumbs and fry them? I haven't made those in years but it sounds pretty tempting. :)

So glad you had a long weekend to enjoy...we spent it shoveling snow. :D Did you hear Crested Butte (in Colorado) got 8 feet of snow in 10 days??!! Makes you miss Maine, doesn't it? haha

Elizabeth Prata said...

I decided to make the squash patties because the bag was 99 cents and they were bruised. I needed to destroy them in some way to make them prettier. I am utterly a FAIL at patties. I've never gotten the hang of it. I've tried salmon patties, black bean patties, tofu patties, and now yellow squash patties. I used an egg and bread crumbs and fried them in a skim of oil, but they fell apart. I gave up, mashed them all together into a small baking dish, and baked them.

Grace to You said...

I've never made black bean patties (sounds good, tho!) or tofu patties, but here's my squash patties recipe...there's no bread crumbs in it like I thought (it's been a long time since I made them), but flour instead.

Squash Patties

2 c grated uncooked squash
2 T onion
2 t sugar
1/2 t salt and pepper
1/4 c + 2 T flour
2 beaten eggs

Combine squash, onion, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover and let sit for 30-45 minutes, then drain. Add flour and eggs and drop by spoonfuls in hot oil. Turn once and fry till golden.

I think maybe the trick to good salmon and squash patties is to fry them in enough oil to cover them, so all sides are being cooked at the same time...then they shouldn't fall apart when you try to flip them. It uses more oil, but I save it in the fridge to use again. Here's my salmon patties recipe:

Salmon Patties

1 lb canned salmon
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
mustard
white pepper
parsley flakes

Combine all ingredients and pan-fry till golden brown.