Coffee Wars

Ha! So it is true you build your own help. Ok maybe not that dramatic but kinda accurate. For my husband's birthday one of the things he got was an 18oz coffee mug... yes I'm serious 18ozs.

So that means I have to make, each morning mind you 10-12 cups if I want any.... 😑

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Collaboration #1 with Serjio Dufour see more at http://sporttraffic.blogspot.com/2015/04/heres-mans-meal-for-sporty-type.html

Rice and peas!

So it turns out that a good pelau is the best go-to recipe. Yes, yes I know, rice and peas cook-up. It’s been done for just about everything right. Thing is if you make a big enough pot that could be a few days lunch. Which is exactly what I did!

Look, I realized that getting time to actually cook every afternoon was ambitious, actually let’s call it like it is, sheer madness. So the idea was borne to cook on Sundays and portion out the meals for the rest of the week or least as much as it can last.

 

Ingredients

·         1½ lb chicken, seasoned

·         2 tbsp sugar

·         1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup

·         1 bouillon cube (optional) Could be

·         2 cups water

·         1 cup coconut milk

·         1 tin processed pigeon peas (or 1 cup fresh pigeon peas)

·         1 whole green hot pepper

·         1½ cups rice

·         1 cup chopped pumpkin

·         1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

·         2 tbsp oil

·         Salt to taste

 

Method

·         Season your chicken, yes green seasoning (maybe I should put a recipe for that…). Set aside to marinate for at least 3 hours.

·         In a deep pot heat 2 tablespoons of sugar until slightly brown. Add the seasoned chicken. Stir in a little water (about 1/4 cup) and cook until evenly browned.

·         Continue to simmer for about 3 minutes. Prepare the peas, carrots, pumpkin, vegetables and herbs for the pot. Add to the boiling liquid. Stir then add the rice and coconut milk.

·         Add water and tomato paste (and bouillon cube). If you wish, you can add the hot pepper now. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

·         Uncover and stir occasionally so the rice doesn't stick. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the liquid has evaporated. If you add hot pepper, remove it from the pot. Serve pelau with cole slaw green salad or avocado when in season.

I shamelessly carried this for four consecutive days. So there!

Monday blues...

So this is going to be a short post. Remember how nice my Sunday lunch looked?

Well unfortunately this just doesn't transfer into a lunch bowl. to break it down, I leave home now at about 5:30 am travel for just about 1-2 hours before I get into work. So yeah, I'm at work from 7- 7:30 thereabouts, if the road is clear, earlier. The fact remains though  that lunch is at 12... so I have to heat up said lunch in a microwave.....

the pie, meat and callaloo, okay and the steamed veg will stand up to that but just the idea of having to walk with an extra bowl with the potato salad gets me down...

Oh yeah it's 'Sunday Lunch' time!

It’s Sunday and really I’m tired because jeez tough week right, and the two classes on Saturday classes don’t help but I’m committed. Yeah I know you’re probable asking, “So what exactly are you going to cook this Sunday?”

 

 

Not. A. Clue.

 

Hey, look my cupboards are full right it’ll come to me. Obvious first choice, Macaroni pie, the decision though has to be made between peas or callaloo, peas or callaloo.

 

Okay fine callaloo it is, I will just put pigtail in it , normal chicken is boring so I’m doing pineapple chicken oh yeah this is going good, but wait pie, callaloo, meat , I need something else oh yeah potato salad .

So I got my ingredients together, lay them out man, lay them out!

So I'll make some orange juice

Grate some cheese for the macaroni pie...

 

I could do some sliced beets to go with the potato salad...

Fresh seasoning to go in the callloo

The eventual menu was;

the macaroni pie,

 

the potato salad

Some steamed vegetables, because I felt I needed some colour

 

The Pineapple Chicken that just cried out to be eaten as it came out of the oven. No, seriously, the smell was amazing!

 

I did slice the beets, yum!

A fresh salad simply because... okay so the real reason is I saw I still had lettuce in the fridge and a leaf of lettuce just doesn't cut it by itself any more, so.

 

This was the eventual meal, at least until I remembered the meat... I know right? But you do see the callaloo in the corner right?

 

So, here it is meat added. Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

First trip out

So I have taken stock of what I have food-wise in my cupboard and OMG I am clearly living like a college student (okay so maybe it’s the college student I imagine but still), I have alcohol, chocolate, pasta, frozen chicken, crix and tuna. Huh.

This is not a problem. I’m going to use the resources at my fingertips right? Good, so I Google grocery list, and yes there are a lot of hits but one in particular catches my eye; “The Ultimatest Grocery Lists” well okay, that and free! But hey this has to be good right? Here’s the link; http://www.grocerylists.org/ultimatest/

So they have lists for vegetarians, the original lists (yes meats), PDF’s, a spreadsheet list and an editable list, Oh yeah, life is good.

 

 

So in a move of brilliance, at least in my mind, I download the original list and I’m telling you this plan has to be fool proof. So this is how it’s going to; I’m using this list to shop so I’ll be picking up things I already don’t have in the cupboard, remember, I already checked out my cupboard so  it’s really perfect. By executive decision, we head too Price Smart and by ‘we’, I mean I drag along my husband and my mother.

Hey this is a big project, and I intend to do some damage, and there I am, can’t you see me now going through the lanes, grabbing the stuff on my list and pretty soon a pretty impressive pile. I mean I get stuff I’m not even sure how I’m going to cook but it sounds cool. My haul (yes, yes I know it’s all in my mind) is EPIC this is going to be the easiest thing ever.

 

And so let’s get on with the cooking!

 

Why Cooking?



My aim is to carry prepared meals to work, yes I know it doesn’t sound very glamourous, exciting or heroic.



looks good right?

 Fact of the matter is though, I chose to do something that I could not only keep up with, but would keep me entertained and that I had the possibility of continuing.

 Let’s face facts now, the average lunchtime meal cost anywhere between $30 and $125.

 

Lots of lovely money

 

  

Yes, that is the food and drink and maybe something sweet for afterwards (Clearly this is not a Kiss cake and a ‘cokes’ right).

 

My last Kiss cake!

 

 

Most people work five or six days of the week and some even buy breakfast as well (so not going there). Realistically this is a huge cost that overtime means that all that lovely money that you are working so hard to get, is being spent on food and not on that new phone, a laptop or some other item you’ve had your eye on…no savings man! I want that money and will be saving the average cost of my lunch .(hopefully to get something shiny at the end of this!)

 

I get to save the money I would have spent on lunch!

 So first on my agenda is shopping, grocery shopping that is, huh, off I go!