Well hello Monday...

4^th September 2017

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.  Kahlil Gibran

Well I started to attempt to follow one of Harj’s recipes yesterday, she’d even gone to the effort of sending me step by step photos!  It just wasn’t going to happen, until I have a complete kitchen, it’s a nightmare. I hadn’t got any turmeric so immediately I hadn’t got the ingredients needed, then I couldn’t find my sieve, it’s somewhere in the shed I’m assuming, so I free styled instead.  Fried up some diced onions, cumin seeds, garlic and ginger, left that cooking for ages whilst cooking red lentils with a little salt.  Once they were both cooked I threw in some garam masala and a bit of curry powder, mixed it all together, stirred through some coconut milk and a bag of spinach and dinner was sorted.  It wasn’t bad at all and so filling, there’s plenty left too for today.

I’ve just heard on the radio that 1 in 3 workers eat the same lunch every single day, is that a bad thing?  If it’s a healthy meal and they’re happy with it, why not.  We decided in our meeting last week that routine is a good thing.  We have such busy lives and so much going on that it’s good to not have to think about certain things.  Some people eat porridge for breakfast every morning and no one comments on that!  This is why I don’t read newspapers, give me a good audio book any day.

It’s a bit grim out there this morning, not going to dry my washing outside today!   It is comfort food weather though, thinking this Lentil Bolognese I’ve found on a website, it’s American but can be converted or used as a guideline  

Lentil Bolognese

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil (9sp)
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 rib celery finely chopped
• 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
• 7 cloves garlic minced
• 6 oz. can tomato paste (5sp) (puree)
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce (passata)
• 2-14.5 oz. cans diced Italian tomatoes
• 2 tbsp dried sweet basil
• 1 tsp  dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp  baking soda
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 c . red lentils rinsed and picked over (400g according to a conversion chart online) (31sp)
• 2 c . water (473ml according to a conversion chart online)

Instructions

1.   Heat olive oil in a large skillet.

2.   Add onion, celery, and carrot.

3.   Cook, stirring as needed, until softened, about 5-10 minutes.

4.   Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, for 30 seconds.

5.   Stir in tomato paste, and cook, stirring it in, for 1 minutes.

6.   Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with juice, basil, oregano, baking soda, and salt and pepper to taste.

7.   Stir in lentils and water.

8.   Simmer, stirring regularly, until lentils have softened, about 20-30 minutes.

This dish is, meat free, gluten free and vegan, great healthy dish for a Meat Free Monday.  It doesn’t say how many it serves (https://www.ihearteating.com/lentil-bolognese-recipe/#_a5y_p=3790289) but there is a little video to watch and even at 4 portions it’s only 11sp per serving.  Throw in some courgetti and you’ve got a really good, wholesome meal there.

Right I’m off for brunch this morning so need to get stuff sorted before I go, just done my online shop, now to get ready for meetings tomorrow.

Monday, we got this BeYOUtiful, let’s make it a good one!