Dinner, 31/8/20: Curried Chickpea & Pine Nut Pasties, Cucumber Salad, Bread & Cheese

These were a lovely flavour inside the pasty, and a good texture to the pastry,  and we ate them with some salad, and bread & cheese. A nice summer meal. (From Cook, Share, Eat Vegan)

Dinner, 30/7/20: Tagliatelle and "meatballs" with red wine sauce

These meatballs are made using a good quality meat-like vegan sausage, deskinned and with some other stuff added.  You could also use vegan mince if you prefer. The sauce is a tomato and red wine sauce, and was really rich and tasty.

Dinner, 29/7/20: Spicy Coconut Lentil Dahl

From the cookbook Mob Veggie with some modifications by Olivia, who cooked while I went and collected Alex from a friend's house.  Yummy yummy.

Book 55: My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart (re-read)

Re-reading Stormy Petrel the other day put me in the mood for more Mary Stewart - this is one of my favourites, but I haven't read it in a while, so I thought I'd revisit it.  Still pretty good, though slightly dated in some ways. But it still works, as her characters fit the time in which they are set.

Dinner, 28/7/20: Spiced pea and potato cakes

Slightly Indian Spiced (not really spicy, just warm), and served with a big salad. Summery!

Dinner, 26/7/20: Moroccan Roast Vegetables with Couscous

Roast vegetables are such a great meal - delicious in themselves (here with some Ras al Hanout and a tin of chickpeas, served with couscous with chilis and preserved lemons) and a great way of using up bits and pieces that are hanging around - in this case, a purple kohlrabi, a couple of small courgettes, a bunch of different coloured carrots, a couple of onions, some celery, a single sweet potato and a small wedge of cabbage.  Also made some hummous to have alongside as well. Tasty!

Book 54: The Boy Who Hit Play, Chloe Daykin

This is a kids' book which I picked up in a charity shop - about the right age for my former class of Year 6s, or a little older.  It was cute -about a boy who was found as a baby in a zoo and his quest to find out the truth about why. Reminded me a bit of The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared in tone - not really much like it, but it was that kind of fast-paced adventure with comical touches amid the seriousness.

Dinner, 25/7/20: Fajitas

Every time we have fajitas, it's a little different. This time, I did some crispy fried tofu with spices, along with a variety of veggie things - really nice. We had some padron peppers in our veggie box this week, so I roasted them in the oven - they made a really nice addition to the fajitas.

Book 53: Stormy Petrel, Mary Stewart (re-read)

Wanted something light to read in the evening, so I picked this one up again. I've read all the Mary Stewarts, several times each, but they are nice to revisit when you need something comfortable. 

Book 52: The Singer's Gun, Emily St John Mandel

This is the third of Mandel's books I've read and I really have enjoyed all of them (though perhaps Station Eleven is still favourite, as I do have a fondness for the post-apocalyptic setting). I do like, however, that each of them is so different, while still having a very distinct feel that it's the same author writing. Off in search of more - I know there's a new one, but I also feel I've missed one somewhere along the way...

Dinner, 23/7/20: Lentil and Butternut Squash Salad

This one makes fairly frequent appearances as one dish in many, if I'm doing a spread e.g for a dinner party, but we don't often have it on its own, as a main course.  But it's yummy, so it works well when we do - also had a loaf of fresh bread from the bread machine. Nice!

Book 51: Open Road Summer, Emery Lord (re-read)

Dinner, 22/7/20: Vegetable Soup

Using up some bits and bits from the freezer. Served with cheese (vegan or dairy) and vegan biscuits. 

Book 50: The Names they Gave Us, Emery Lord (re-read)

Book 49: The Map From Here to There, Emery Lord

The sequel to the last Emery Lord book I mentioned. It was cute, and at the same time, talked sensibly about issues relating to young adults. I like about her books that they are both relevant to young adults, but also not over-the-top emotional. 

Dinner, 19/7/20: Potato and bean Curry

When what you have to use up in the house is curry leaves, tomatoes and new potatoes, a curry is a great solution. I bought some more green beans as I had to go to the shop yesterday anyway to get stuff for our picnic, and threw in a tin of kidney beans, too.  The rest we just made up as we went along.

Book 48: The Start of Me and You, Emery Lord (re-read)

A nice, fairly gentle (though not without addressing real issues) YA read - I've read it before, but there's a sequel, so I wanted to refresh my memory before reading the sequel, which Sarah passed on to me. Just the sort of undemanding-while-still-holding-your-attention book I need right now to recover from the last term of school. 

Dinner, 17/7/20: Pasta with Green Pesto, Garlic Bread

Originally this pesto was going to use broccoli and other stuff, but the broccoli which was in our veggie box got subbed out for something else, so I made a pesto of rocket, spinach, some carrot tops, pine nuts, lemon, garlic and olive oil.  Pretty straightforward, but nice.

Book 47: A Piece of Justice, Jill Paton Walsh

Second in the series, and I think better than the first - like she's relaxed into the characters a bit more. Looking forward to the third (too bad it's such a short series!)

Dinner, 16/7/20; Stuffed Courgettes

We had yellow courgettes in our veggie box this week - interesting to compare them side by side with the green ones; definitely quite different.

Book 46: Goldenhand, Garth Nix (re-read)

And this is the last in the series, which I've been re-reading. It's relatively newly published, so I've only read it once, whereas the rest of the series (except no 4, Clariel) I've read more than once.

Dinner, 15/7/20: Tacos Two Ways

A vegan option and a meat option. The vegan one (mushrooms) was glorious - really lovely. The meat one (beans and chorizo) was also nice, but the mushroom one was better. To be fair, hard to go wrong with tacos.

Dinner, 14/7/20: Salad: Assemble!

A nice summery meal - salad with lots of stuff in it - which is adaptable for those who don't eat various things, for whatever reason. Lots of stuff to choose from, and you can just have what you want and don't have what you don't want.  

(This photo is just blurry, no idea why, but the original on my phone is that way. Oh well.)

Book 45: Abhorsen, Garth Nix (re-read)

The third in the series, and originally, the end of it.  He then wrote two more - one is a backstory of one of the relatively minor characters from the first three books, the other is a continuation of the story of Lirael (on whom this one and the previous one centre).  For the moment, I'm going to skip no 4 (the backstory) and go straight to number 5.

Dinner, 12/7/20: Tamarind Shallots, Roast Carrots & Peppers; Tomato, Cucumber and Bean Salad

At the moment, the day before the next shopping gets delivered is often an unplanned meal which encompasses anything which is around the house, needing to be used up, perhaps augmented by one planned dish or so.  This week, I knew there were some carrots and peppers which wanted using (roast vegetables with some barley), and I had bought a punnet of shallots at the farmers' market to have another try of the Tamarind Shallots from the other day (excellent).  And then I added a bean, tomato and cucumber salad as there were lots of lovely cherry tomatoes in from both the veggie box and the farmers' market. And best of all, nice enough to eat outside!

Dinner, 11/7/20: Lentil Shepherd's Pie

A lentil shepherd's pie, using some leftover lentil ragu from the freezer, with some added spices and extra veg thrown in; the topping is a combination of swede and potato. Yum!

Book 44: Lirael, Garth Nix (re-read)

Second in the series, which I am re-reading.

Dinner, 9/7/20: Black Bean Tofu with Broccoli

Dinner, 8/7/20: Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Wraps

We really like this as a way for having sweet potatoes -they are roasted in the oven with Indian spices, then served with various things, including quickly pickled red onions.

Book 43: Sabriel, Garth Nix

First in the series. I've read these before, but I was looking for something light (but not too light) and which I knew I would enjoy. It's been a long June and July, and my brain just isn't up to anything too challenging.  Sometimes you just gotta head back to the old reliables...

Dinner, 7/7/20: Wild Rice and Veggie Soup

Yum. Does what it says on the tin, as they say. Except no tin involved!

Book 42: The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield

Picked this up used back in January, after I really enjoyed Once Upon a River. This was good, but not as brilliantly gripping as ....River.  A little less magical.

Dinner, 5/7/20: Roasted Veg Traybake with Bulgar Wheat

A good way to use up all the veg floating around that hasn't been used in the week. Here we have roasted kohlrabi, carrots, romano peppers, broccoli. Served with bulgar wheat rather than rice or couscous for a bit of a change.  And some chili sauce from the farmers' market.

Dinner, 4/7/20: Linguine with Courgettes & Pine Nuts

A (small) glut of courgettes, so this was a perfect solution - linguine with courgettes (done in ribbons), pinenuts, lemon and a handful of rocket & other salad leaves which were also hanging about needing to be used. Instant (almost) dinner!

Dinner, 3/7/20: Thai flavour vegetable soup

New potatoes, green beans, bamboo shoots, with coconut milk, coriander, lime, chilis and other Thai flavourings. 

Dinner, 2/7/20: Tofu, Veggie & Kimchi Stir Fry

Using carrots and courgettes along with the kimchi and tofu. Unfortunately, this kimchi (indeed most kimchi) isn't vegetarian (shrimp paste) so for Liv's I took her tofu and veggies out before adding the kimchi. The sauce is still flavourful, so it wasn't totally boring for her!

Dinner, 1/7/20: Sausages, Sweet Potato & Potato Wedges, Broccoli

This is one of those meals which can be meat or not, depending. In this instance, the guys had meat sausages and Liv and I had veggie sausages (these ones had quite a lot of beetroot in and were very nice, I think they were by Heck). 

June Round Up

WHAT WAS  FOR DINNER, JUNE 2020

• 30th: Vietnamese Spring Rolls
• 29th: Fend for yourself Monday
• 28th: Quesadillas with pinto beans and sweet potato
• 27th: Green Bean and New Potato Curry
• 26th: Rustic Beans & Spinach with garlic yogurt
• 25th: Feta & Leek Frittata
• 24th: Aubergine & Mushroom Curry
• 23rd: Kung Pao Prawns & Asparagus
• 22nd: Roast chicken, potatoes, greens (A &G)
• 21st: Pasta with tomatoes, olives, capers, etc
• 20th: Brocoli & Kohlrabi with Cheese Sauce, Oven Potatoes
• 19th: Teriyaki Salmon Noodles
• 18th: Takeaway
• 17th: Pork Mince Ragu with Papardelle (Geoff cooking)
• 16th: Broad Bean Risotto
• 15th: Fend for yourself Monday
• 14th: Braised Chicken & Lettuce; Mashed Turnip and Potatoes
• 13th: Caramelised carrots; onion and goat's cheese pizzas
• 12th: Sausages, Roast Potatoes & Turnips, Broad beans
• 11th: Spinach and New Potato Curry
• 10th: Korean-style Prawn and Spring Onion Pancake
• 9th: Minestrone
• 8th: Fend for yourself Monday
• 7th: Pasta with Bacon & Artichokes
• 6th: Potato, Spinach and Camembert Tart
• 5th: Fish & Chips
• 4th: Courgette, mint & goat cheese salad
• 3rd: Frittata with Chorizo and Red Pepper
• 2nd: Salmon, Potatoes, Cabbage
• 1st: Ravioli, garlic bread, salad

June Reading Update

This year, I'm just going to keep track of books I read as I go through the year - not worrying about how many books I have waiting to be read or anything like that. So each month's roundup will just be a picture collage showing the books I've read, with a running tally for each month. I think I'll break down new (to me) books and re-reading as well. And maybe pick a favourite each month. This could change as the year goes on... Once again, I'll set my goal as 100 books - it's about what I have time for, more or less.

So,  in June: new (to me) books read: 4; books re-read: 2
Favourite Book in June: Muse of Nightmares, Laini Taylor

 in May: new (to me) books read: 5; books re-read: 1
Favourite Book in May: Toffee by Sarah Crossan

in April: new (to me) books read: 6; books re-read:  0
Favourite Book in April: A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World, C A Fletcher

in March:  new (to me) books read: 5; books re-read:  5
Favourite Book in March: The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag

in February:  new (to me) books read: 6; books re-read:  0
Favourite Book in February: Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

in January:  new (to me) books read: 6; books re-read: 3
Favourite book in January:  Once Upon a River, Diane Setterfield

In June, I read:

• The first in the detective series featuring Imogen Quy (The Wyndham Case, Jill Paton Walsh)
• Another in a detective series I've been reading and re-reading my way through. I don't think I've read this one before, but I'm not 100 per cent certain. The blurb sounded familiar, but I didn't remember the book while reading it. (Blood from a Stone, Donna Leon)
• I re-read an old favourite when I was reminded of it for some reason (Watership Down by Richard Adams)
• I read a young adult crime novel which Sarah passed on to me (One of us is Next, Karen McManus)
• Had a quick re-read of the children's book Wonder (R J Palacio), as we were watching the film at school and I wanted to remind myself of how the book differed.  Forgot to log this originally, so it's not in the collage!
• I read the sequel to a fantasy novel I read a while back (Muse of Nightmares, Laini Taylor)

Book 41: Muse of Nightmares, Laini Taylor

The sequel to the book Strange the Dreamer, which I read a while back and enjoyed. I like these two, though I'm not sure I like them as much as the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, but she writes well and creates interesting worlds.