The Cluttered Pantry

I’m not sure if it’s the cold weather, the fast approaching holiday seasons or just the fact that we’ve been eating waayyyyy to many carbs this past few weeks, but I found myself walking through the produce shop and filling my cart to the top with such an assortment of vegetables that the check out girl thought I had been sent by management to test her on the inventory codes.

We are beyond fortunate when it comes to the Wee Kahunas and cooking/serving veggies. Both girls would happily trade a plate of sweet foods for one filled with broccoli. When we first returned home from Siberia with them we actually found ourselves bribing them to eat the calorie dense and high fat foods by saying “If you’ll take one more bite of cheesecake I’ll give you some more peas.” It was like opposite world for a while there, and altough the recent exposure to the world of Halloween candy has gone a long way to developing a real appreication for all things sticky, chewy and sweet, veggies are still the first thing eaten at most dinners.

I’ve started doing most of my cooking on Sunday’s.  It gives me a chance to get a bit ahead of our hectic week and to prep items that take longer to cook than I might have on any given day. It also seems to be giving me a chance to really slow down and just enjoy the process, and the experience of cooking.  There aren’t many slow down moments in our lives so I’m more than grateful for the time.

With all the veggies spread out on the kitchen counter it was pretty easy to pick some favorite recipes to start with, and even to give a try to updating an old family favorite that used to be veggie free. So for this week I made/prepped (click on the images to see the full recipes for each):

1. Vegetable Kugel – an upgrade/update to a family recipe that although scrumptious, contained so many eggs and so much oil and noodles that it needs to be saved for those special holiday meals.

2. Curry Spiced Stuffed Veggies – a savory dish that can be used as a main course or an excellent side to most any main course. Much easier to make than you think, and the veggies don’t get cooked so long that they become mush and loose flavor.

3. Split Pea Fritters (falafel wannabes) (recipe and photos coming later today)

4. Hearty Vegetable Stew (recipe and photos coming on Thursday)

5. Sourdough Rye Bread (because stew without it is just sad) (recipe and photos to be posted on Wednesday – the starter needs two days to ferment)

6. Pumpernickel Bread (because making one kind of bread seems silly) (recipe and photos to be posted on Thursday)

Popularity: 7%