I always seem to be behind with things here. This last couple of weeks my older beagle Made' has been ill - the poor little dear has never been a well dog since we adopted her some (nearly) six years ago. Fortunately we have an excellent vet who is very near to us, and right now this little girl has been in a cage for three days at the animal hospital being tested, x-rayed and ultra-sounded, treated for pain and fever, rehydrated, starved and whatever else it takes to diagnose and get her out of a serious and sudden collapse from what turns out to be acute pancreatitis. They're trying her on a little food today and with luck we might be able to bring her home today or tomorrow. We miss her and our other little beagle and our cat are at a complete loose end with her out of the house. Well, so are we.
Meanwhile, we must eat. I've been robbing the freezer of already-made yummies, and making a few already tried dishes. Wanna see some of them? You might as well! LOL
Pasta With Ratatouille This was the result of making too much ratatouille (and you all know what this is - I needn't elaborate) - so after eating it twice (very nice) I turned the leftovers into something to toss with pasta - with the aid of a little this and that, ya know how it is - right? LOL
This next one is a variation on a recipe offered from a member of a group I'm on - it is very good and can easily be adapted to taste.
It's an Orange Quinoa Salad - made here with some leftover red quinoa and more oranges than called for plus some shredded ginger root. Lovely!
Having a lot of mushrooms - we love mushrooms, but you must be on top of your game and not get distracted or the blamed things seem to almost multiply in the fridge and one day you just have to cook 'em or lose 'em. Here's what I did with one lot of portabello mushrooms:
Portabellos Over Spinach. Spinach cooked with onion, garlic and nutmeg makes a bed for the sliced mushrooms 'sauteed' in a little stock with sherry and low-sodium soy and loads of minced garlic. I thickened the sauce a little, as you see. Very nice with some black pepper!
We had the other mushrooms the next day as
Rotini With Mushrooms - cooked in much the same way, but with nutritional yeast added to make them a little different - as well as some dried chili flakes :) ('Not too much, but just enough!')
I also made a mushroom stroganoff, but that's something which I'll add here another day - with the recipe, if I can find it!
One day when I had eggplant overabundantly in my fridge, I also tried a lentil variant of a one of our favourites:
Moussaka! It was very good, as always. I begin to think you can't go wrong with this dish :)
And now back to virtual nail-biting and waiting by the phone. Take care, everyone, and if you have little puppers, give them a scritch from me!
12 comments:
Awwww.. Made is such a sweetie... I can only imagine how hard it is to have your baby sick and in a cage at the vets. I'm glad they figured out what was wrong with her and wish her a speedy recovery. Dogs are like children... I have both..
Your food looks awesome. I love how you turn your leftovers into pasta sauce. I do that too.. it is my favorite way to eat many leftovers... and wow.. your mousska looks delicious. Eggplant and tomatoes are the BEST combo.
I'm so sorry to hear about Made' having pancreatitis. =( I hope she gets well.
It looks like your freezer is stocked with the right amount of comfort foods however. =)
I will be saying a daily prayer for Made!! Hang in there!! My dog was very ill about a month ago, but her health has improved tremendously!! I wish the same for your dog :0)
The meals you've been making lately look fabulous - especially the Moussaka!! Such a classic Greek dish.
River:
What great food! Looks wonderful and I know you enjoyed it. I'm wanting to do more with Quinoa, so I'm going to have to try this recipe.
I have somehow never made ratatouille OR moussaka! I don't know why.. I should get on it.. especially considering how good yours looks!
Sending good wishes for your dog.
Any word on Made? I'd be beside myself and a total basket case. Thank heavens for leftovers in the freezer! Let me know how she's doing.
I pop over to the Yahoo Group now and again. You are an amazing woman to keep that going! Thank you.
Thanks to everyone who has posted - and huge apologies for not responding sooner or individually. It's not that I mean to neglect you, but we've been having a rough time with our little beagle Made'. For those who don't have dogs and/or don't understand how we dog guardians can go on like this as if it were a child in pain, you can skip the rest and come back when I have some more dishes to show you. Okay? Love you all!!!
Made' came home from the animal hospital Saturday lunchtime but hasn't been doing so well so had to see the vet again this am for some shots (four or five - I lost track) and now home again. We're trying to keep the pain under control AND get her to eat a little while giving the pancreas time to rest/heal/whatever. More when we know more. But thanks so much for caring. We love her to bits!
the moussaka looks amazing!! where did you get the recipe?! yummmm, i love eggplant! and i love eggplant the color too!
love to the pup too!
Alison - this is the third time I've tried to post an answer to your query about the moussaka pictured here. They'll probably all show up at once LOL
I followed a recipe (well, a bit of it, as you'll see) to remind me of some of the things that should go in a moussaka - otherwise I might leave some important herb or spice out, I sometimes think). Here's the one I did last time:
http://beanvegan.blogspot.com/2007/10/moussaka.html sort of adapting a Greek wedding menu for 25 persons (as seen here: http://www.vegcooking.com/InviteElegant_TradD2.asp - with a few alterations, of course.
The version you are asking about substituted lentils for the tofu, used homemade pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce, and used the same pasta sauce to top the dish (instead of the creamy silken tofu topping of the previous recipe). I may have adjusted the seasonings and quantities a bit - I don't honestly remember, but I'd be surprised if I hadn't ;)
That doesn't help much, does it? I tend not to use recipes much, not even my own, except for trying something new - and also for baking, of course.
Thanks for the good wishes about our lovely Made'. She was in the animal hospital again from Wednesday, but out again today looking sprightlier, wagging her tail, and thankfully able to eat (a couple of Tbsp at a time) and keeping it down. She's not out of the woods yet, but we're cautiously hopeful. She's such a dear! Hugs to you.
I really hope Made gets better soon. Mushrooms really are yummy, I love them in the winter. Your mushrom pasta reminds me of a mushroom pasta that I make with hummus. I haven't perfected it yet, but the trial runs were pretty good.
P.S. We have a beagle that looks a lot like her!
I too, have been behind in some of my blogging (reading/commenting).
So sorry to read about your dog. You wrote a few days ago that she's not out of the woods yet. Hopefully that has changed?
Jane of VeganBits.com
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