bd's favourite potatoes

Every week, we get a delivery from Bryson's Organic Farm in Shawville. We've signed up for a two person basket, even though there are five of us, because we like to ease the children into new things. According to research I've read, it can take up to 20 tastes of a food before a child will tolerate the flavour of a new food on a regular basis. Kale took us a year and a bit. We are still working on cooked zuccini.

Anyway, we only get a two person portion of potatoes every week, so I save up the potatoes and we try to have this every two weeks or so...

8 medium potatoes, coarse chopped
2 largish onions, quartered
1 T safflower oil
1 T olive oil
5 grinds of the salt mill (1/2 t?)
2 grinds of the pepper mill (1/8 t?)
1/2 t dried basil leaves


I don't usually peel my potatoes, just cut out the yucky bits and green spots. It is an advantage to organic produce.

Once I've chopped the potatoes and onions, I put them in my round roasting pan with the lid. You know, the black enameled kind your grandmother probably used? That kind.

I rinse the veggies with cold water, in the pot, so there is a bit of water left on them, but they aren't sopping wet, then add everything else and stir it up.

I start up the BBQ and put it off heat. For those who don't know, that means I put it on the side that doesn't have the burners on, creating a bit of convection and reducing the chances that the bottom will burn before the potatoes are cooked.

The length of cooking time will vary, depending on the type and size of the potatoes, the ability of the Q you have and what else is on the grill. I generally leave it on for about an hour, shaking the pot and checking them every twenty minutes or so. They tend to caramelize nicely.

stuffed shells

On the weekend, I cooked to celebrate some family birthdays. My mother very kindly hosted, which made the seating thing much easier as there were 15 of us. The shorter children sat in the summer kitchen(sunny mud room)(5 kids there) at the bar and the rest of us sat in the dining nook at the large square table. There are two who don't eat meat, three who don't eat squash, four who don't eat greens, several who said they don't like tofu and one who would eat only meat if you let her.

We had a pork roast, a buttercup and butternut squash mash, a steamed kale, chard and broccoli medley, herbed french bread, a tossed salad and

Stuffed Shells
1 box large pasta shells
500ml tub of soft plain tofu
500ml tub feta, crumbled
package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
250 ml jar of basil pesto
can of tomatoes


Boil noodles according to the directions on the box. I generally do set the timer for one minute less than the box says so that my noodles are firmer when I'm using them and don't go to mush when they are being baked. drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking.

Combine tofu, feta, spinach and 1 cup mozzarella in a medium bowl.

Get out your favourite 2 quart casserole dish or baking pan.

Using a blender, combine tomatoes and pesto until smooth. pour a bit (1/3 of a cup or so)onto the bottom of your dish and spread it around so your shells won't stick when you start putting them in.

Using a tablespoon, scoop a generous amount of tofu feta spinach mix into each shell. Place them filling side up in your casserole dish.

When your shells are all full and arranged attractively, pour out some of the blended sauce ontop of the stuffed shells. You don't want your noodles swimming in sauce or they'll overcook and but you need to have them covered enough that the tips won't burn, so about half covered, making sure you pour it over the points of the shells, if that makes any sense. It is quite all right to have sauce left over. If you have to reheat for any reason, the extra sauce will come in handy, also useful if you are going to be freezing some stuffed shells for later. the sauce will help the reheating process.

Sprinkle remaining shredded mozzarella over prepared shells.

Cover with foil or lid. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, remove cover and bake ten more minutes to brown the cheese. Remove from oven and let rest for ten minutes or so. This step helps set the cheese and gives it time to maybe not burn the roof of your mouth when you serve it:)

It seemed to be greatly enjoyed and we had very, very few leftovers. A bit of squash and a few stems of greens and three slices of bread and some salad.

meatball soup

Usually, when I think meatball soup, I think of Italian Wedding soup. I really don't like Italian Wedding soup, but my three children LOOOVE it. I can't stand the smell of it. It actually triggers a gag reflex. Not good.
This Friday, I invited a friend over and said I'd make lunch. Soup is fast and easy. I went to grab my go-to bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower and well, there wasn't quite enough. So...

1 c froz broccoli/cauliflower
3 c froz mixed vegetables(peas, carrots, corn, lima beans and green beans)(the inexpensive ones)
2 onions chopped
2 c sodium reduced chicken broth

2 c leftover burrito stuffing
1 c salsa
1 1/2 c frozen mini meatballs

I brought the first 4 ingredients to a boil, simmered for I think about 8 minutes. Then, I used my friend the immersion blender to buzz through the soup. I pulsed the soup instead of fully blending it, as I wanted to see pieces of the vegetables I was eating. Also for the eye appeal-green veggies plus orange veggies blended make brown soup. Brown soup is not very appetizing(unless it is a french onion soup mmmmm).

I added the next three ingredients and heated thoroughly. The burrito mixture of beans meat and spices added some thickening to the soup, the salsa added a bit of spice and colour and the meatballs a bit more spice and eye interest.

We eat with our eyes, and this was interesting to look at. The different reds of tomato and kidney beans, carrot orange, the different greens in the peas, salsa peppers and green beans and the shape of the meatballs meant each mouthful was beautiful.

An awesome soup for warming up.