Broccoli Skillet Toss

I go through small phases of really longing for certain veg. This week, I've not been able to get enough broccoli.

Saturday Night it was Broccoli and Chili Pasta, which I've posted about before and today I had a snack bowl of broccoli stir fry.

Broccoli Skillet Toss - Serves 1

1/2 head Broccoli.
1 clove garlic
2 rings red onion
2 small slices of fresh ginger
1/2 tsp chili paste
1 tsp oil of choice

• Cut broccoli into florets. Slice garlic as thinly as you can and matchstick the ginger.
• Heat your 1/2 tsp oil in a cast iron skillet to a medium heat
• Add garlic, onion and ginger and cook until starting to go translucent
• Add broccoli and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 mins
• Mix remaining oil with chili paste and drizzle into pan
• Cook for another 2-3 mins. If you have a lid big enough, place this over your broccoli to help it cook and keep the moisture in.
• Eat. Chopsticks optional.
  

I also had an epic food purchasing fail. Being as I love peanut butter I was very excited to see some cheap in QD (budget shop in my town). It turns out when a jar of peanut butter with chocolate chips in it is for sale and cheap, it's because it seems to contain no chocolate chips, just sugar.

Now, sugary peanut butter might be okay to ice a cake with, but it's not so nice on toast. Queue the quickest peanut butter improve know to man.

Chocolate Peanut Swirl

1 small jar peanut butter
4 squares (c 20g) dark chocolate

• Chop chocolate into chip sized lumps
• Microwave jar of peanut butter for 1 min. It should now be runny enough so you can't dig a hole in it
• Add chocolate chips and stir just long enough to incorporate the chips, but stop before the chocolate fully melts
• Place jar in fridge to harden

Actually, this saved the jar of peanut butter. I wouldn't go as far as buying peanut butter to do this to... but if you have one of those inexplicably sweet jars, go for it. It came out like a very budget version of 'Dark Chocolate Dreams' though not nearly as nice. Admittedly though, it was less than 1/4 of the price. I expect if I added more chocolate it would work better, but I fear that I would be throwing good money after bad.

Also, I've had a bash as coconut milk kefir. Basically, I took about 1 cup of coconut milk and added 1 tbs of soy kefir. I let then rest overnight on the counter top. It had separated out into especially sour 'whey' which has gone to make sourdough, and white creamy stuff. After straining, there was about a 1/4 cup of coconut cream kefir. I wouldn't bother again.

A Chilli Spring Day - Recipe included

Well, would yah guess it… the Bank Holiday was overcast and gloomy, then the first day back to work sunny and bright.

Work was work…. Had someone else in the office with me today, so it felt a little more lively. I left at five, as I needed to be home on-time to join my OH in taking Maisie to the vets to have the growths on her ears looked at… the vet cleaned out Maisie’s ears, and told us that she thinks the growth is benign… so all good.

Foods

Breakfast
Toast with Brown Rice Breakfast from How it All Vegan

My top tip for this is to spread the toast with vegan mayo and ketchup, then place then spread sides together and pop into a toaster bag (the sort for making toasted sandwiches) and reheat for a moment. This stops it getting slimey and cold by the time you have finished eating. Now top with the brown rice mixture.

Morning Snacks
Nakd Coco Loco Bar

Lunch
Avocado and salad sandwich, spread with hummus
Smoothie - Made with Orange, Apple, Beetroot and dark salad leaves

Smoothie looked very, very odd, but tasted lovely. Not beetrooty at all though.

Dinner
Broccoli and Pasta in a Chilli Garlic Sauce

From Ready, Veggie, Cook

Recipe
175g Wholemeal Pasta
1 head of Broccoli - Cut into small florets
½ head (4-5 big cloves) of Garlic, Sliced
75mls Veggie Stock
½ - 1 tsp Crushed Dried Chilli Flakes

Place Veggie Stock in a small pan. Add the sliced garlic and chilli flakes. Heat up until gently bubbling. Then, place on the lowest heat on you hob.

From Ready, Veggie, Cook

Start Pasta boiling in unsalted water. After 6-8 mins add chopped broccoli and cook for a further 3-4 mins until broccoli is bright green.

Drain pasta and broccoli mix, retaining about two tablespoons of the boiling water.

Put back into pan. Tip the garlic, chilli stuff in. Pour the retained water into the garlic pan and swirl around, tip into the pasta pan (This ensures you get all the garlicky goodness) mix up an heat a moment, then serve.

Yomp it up!

This was lovely, even though the Brocolli had really seen better days. Meh, you are simmering it for 3-4 mins, do you think you'll notice if it's a tad yellow?

Dessert
Co-op Blackberry and Apple Pie

This is nice, but not tart enough. Good to find a vegan pie though… so I’m not terribly upset.

From Ready, Veggie, Cook

Snack
Slice of fruit loaf, Toasted

And in a few mins I’m going to start prepping for breakfast. Slowcooker Chilli Beans. How awesome is it to wake up to a hot, tasty homemade meal? I love doing this one on in the slow cooker as it means all I really need to do in the morning is put some toast in the toaster, and slop beans onto the toast when done. Sure, I could do baked beans on toast, but really, that’s not the same!