Cleaning frenzy and freezer cooking

Since Buddha died I have been in a cleaning frenzy. I washed and polished and dusted like a woman possessed.
Today I ran out of dirty things so I started cooking.

This is worryingly odd behavior for me, but it did come in handy, seeing that I had just received a crate full of organic veggies that otherwise would have gone off in the fridge and ended up feeding the worms (as it regularly occasionally happens...).

So now my fridge is empty and my freezer is full, and I won't have to make lunch for the next couple of days.


Those are the veggies I had. The big bowl of spinach was the biggest challenge, as I am the only one in my family that considers it eatable.

 

I decided to hide the spinach and made Spinach and Ricotta Canelloni. 

It is quite easy to do, tastes delicious and can be frozen.

For three people you will need:

a couple of handfuls of spinach
250 g (8.8 ounces) of Ricotta cheese, or 250 g of cottage cheese, or a mix of both
a can of chopped tomatoes
about 8 canelloni rolls
grated cheese (mozarella, gouda or parmesan)
3 tbl spoons of sour cream
an oven proof casserole dish
spices
olive oil

First wash the spinach and then put it in a pan with a little oil until slightly wilted (about 5 minutes). I seasoned with some lemon juice and some black pepper.
Put the spinach in a bowl and heat the tomatoes in the pan, again seasoning according to your taste
Once the spinach has cooled, cut it smaller (I used normal scissors which worked fine) and mix it with the cottage cheese or ricotta.
Cut the corner off a freezer bag, put the mixture in and squeeze it into the canelloni.
Pour the tomatoes into the casserole dish, put the canneloni on top and spread the sour cream over them.
Add the grated cheese.
Then preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Today I made enough canneloni for three different meals, filling them in aluminium casseroles and freezing them (without putting them in the oven first).
To serve let them de-frost, then heat in the oven.

My family opted to eat one portion of the canelloni for lunch. By the time I had finished cooking all the different dishes they were so starved that they couldn't wait for me to take a picture of the baked canelloni before digging in  :-).

The pumpkin I turned into this soup, using potatoes and a leek (wash, cut and brown slightly in a pan) I still had instead of butternut, and leaving the coconut milk out.

Then I made two portions of mousaka. By now both the kitchen and my hands looked rather worse for wear, so there aren't that many pictures anymore :-).

For the mousaka (2 portions) you will need:

500 g (1.1 lbs) of ground beef

1 onion

2 eggplants

mashed potatoes

1 can of chopped tomatoes

spices 

grated cheese, again either gouda, mozarella or parmesan

Brown the onion in a little oil, then add the ground beef and brown. I added some lemon juice, thyme, black pepper, a dash of paprika and some salt. Once the meat is done add the tomatoes and a bit of water. Let it cook in for about 15 minutes.

Slice the eggplants, salt them lightly on both sides and let them stand for 10 minutes. Wipe the salt off with a kitchen towel, heat up some oil and brown the eggplants on both sides. You can also put them in the oven if you don't want to use oil.

Make the mashed potatoes (I used a packet)

Now start layering in two casserole dishes. First the meat, then the eggplants, then the mashed potatoes, and the grated cheese on top.

Put it in the pre-heated oven (200 degrees celsius, 392 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 30 minutes or freeze. Defrost before baking.

And then I made this delicious rhubarb cake.

Despite not liking rhubarb any better than spinach, my daughter ate both the canelloni and a big piece of cake.

And now I can do some more cleaning, my kitchen looks like a bomb exploded in it :-)



Lots of love to you,

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