Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

This started off with a healthy dinner in mind, but headed rapidly south when i started adding the cheeses!   Oh dear, not expecting miracles at my weigh in tomorrow, it's been a bit of a naughty week with the highlight being Sunday when I spent the afternoon parked on my bottom bits outside a wood fire pizza oven in satan's garden tasting a sample of every pizza making it's way out of the embers.  It was a true gastronomic apocalypse.

Anyway, back to tonight's dinner.  Spinach gnocchi made out of frozen spinach (thawed and drained) mixed with ricotta, parmesan, egg and flour.  Shaped into balls, simmered slowly in boiling water and then placed in a baking dish and smothered in tomato sauce and more parmesan.  Sounds good, tastes good too!

Ingredients for gnocchi
500g bag of frozen spinach
250g ricotta cheese
100g grated parmesan
2 eggs
150g flour
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

1 Bottle of your favourite tomato pasta sauce (I like the one with four cheeses as you don't have to add to much more cheese)
Grated parmesan to scatter over the top

Method
Thaw the spinach and squeeze out all the water.  Chop spinach finely before mixing it with the rest of the gnocchi ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Put in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Remove gnocchi mix from fridge and form into small balls.  Dust each ball with flour and place on a baking sheet.  Once you have shaped all the gnocchi, poach the balls for about 5 minutes in boiling water.

Once the gnocchi has been poached, remove from saucepan with slatted spoon and place in a baking dish. 

Cover the gnocchi with your favourite pasta tomato sauce and sprinkle over parmesan.

Bake at 180 for 30 minutes and serve with a green salad.

Catalan style Chicken dishes....

I think there is something so appealing about Mediterranean cooking, especially Chicken catalan style.  My favourites include Delia's Chicken Basque(http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/poultry-and-game/chicken/chicken-basque.html) which incorporates those ingredients that make this style delicious like olives, paprika and chorizo.  Also just doing a simple chicken casserole like the one I cooked last night ticks all the boxes.  As a friend commented 'it makes your house smell so welcoming'

Recipe

Ingredients
4 large skinless chicken thighs on the bone
olive oil for browning
1 red onion
2 red peppers
1 clove garlic
50g sliced chorizo sausage
600g pototoes suitable for casseroles cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 glass wine
2 bayleaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
handful olives
salt and pepper

Method
Brown the chicken in a pan and set aside.

Fry the onion, garlic, chorizo and red peppers until soft. 

Add the can of tomato, tomato paste and paprika and simmer for another minute.

In a casserole place the potatoes on the bottom, cover with the soft vegetables, top with chicken, and pour over the stock and wine.

Season with salt and pepper, scatter over the olives and add the bayleaves.

I then cooked this for 2-3 hours in a 170 degree oven until the potatoes were soft.  It would also work well in a slow cooker.

The Bolognese that just keeps on giving...

Bolognese with Garlic Chickpeas and Spinach

Every week I try and make a vat of Bolognese as it's one sure fire way of getting vegetables into my fussy children.  I freeze if off into portions to make a multitude of meals from spag bol, mince and cheese pies, mincy rice, cottage pie, mince on toast etc.  Today I made a batch and fed the kids spaghetti bolognese.  I then fried up some chick peas in garlic, added some baby spinach leaves, and then some bolognaise to create a tasty gluten free dinner.   Served with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a green salad, all that was missing was a fat glass of wine.  I have decided to avoid alcohol until I can't stand it anymore to kick start the weight shift.


Bolognese Recipe

Ingredients
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
2 courgettes
2 carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 kg lean beef mince
100g fat free chopped bacon bits
1 fat glass of red wine
2 400g cans chopped tomato
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Method

Put the onions, garlic, carrots and courgettes  into a food processor and whizz into a mush.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the vegetables and bacon, sauteeing for 10 minutes on a low heat.  Turn up the heat and add the mince, stirring until browned.  Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce during this browning process.  Add the wine, chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer for 2-3 hours until rich.  Sometimes I add a cup of milk to the bolognaise along with the wine just to make it even richer and luxurious, but it's not necessary.

And the next day...

This afternoon my children requested mince and cheese pies made in the little pie maker my son gave me for mothers day.  Honesly with left-over bolognese it takes all of 5 minutes to make these pies.  Firstly you need an electric pie maker.  These make nice little pies, a good size for children. 

You also need some reduced fat pre-rolled pastry, leftover bolognese and some low-fat cheese.

Cut the pastry with the rings that come with the pie maker, one large ring for the base, one small for the lid.

Place the pastry base in the pie maker, one for each pie.  Add a spoon of Bolognese to each pie, and top with some grated cheese.  Finally top with a pastry lid.  Close the lid of the pie maker, and leave for 5 minutes to cook.

And finally you have two tasty, but healthier than the pie shop pies enough to please the most fussy little and big eaters.  BTW The reduced fat pastry has 4 weight watchers pro points which is roughly the same as 2 slices of regular bread)  But not for me today, as I'm not eating wheat.

The problem with dieting....

Day 1

Is that you spell it DIE with a T on the end. It always feels like punishment. I am determined to lose 10 kilograms and enjoy what I am eating. Without constantly measuring and obsessing about every crumb I put in my mouth. I know I have been eating too many carbs and sugars lately, and just too much in general. So I have decided to follow different eating regimes based around how I am feeling that week, and see whether it works. I have nothing to lose at this stage apart from pounds...


I just can't deal with portion control this week, so have decided to drop the evil wheat carbs and sugar for a week and see what happens. So far, so good, although it's only lunchtime. I can literally feel those lbs melting away (!?)

For lunch I have just enjoyed a delicious broccoli salad loosely based on Jamie Olivers Cowboy Salad (minus the bacon and much less fat in the dressing) - basically take a head of broccoli and cut into nicely sized florets(not too big) and blanch in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Add 1 chopped tomato, and several chopped spring onions to the broccoli. I then added a can of smoked chicken breast, but you could add tuna, tofu, or any other protein of your choice that's healthy. Even Weight Watchers chicken bacon would be really good in this. I then made a dressing of 1/2 clove crushed garlic, salt and pepper, 1 tsp Dijon mustard. 3 tbs wine vinegar, and 1 t oil. Mix it all together and you have a healthy salad lunch for two.