March 4th Menu Plan + Fried bananas recipe

Monday is here again, and we're back to being only three. So, this week I've had no help menu planning, so it's been back to my old and trusted recipes. I loved having G. around last week, and I so wish she could have stayed longer, but what can't be can't be, and I have to accept it.
Pity, because she was such a help!

I've decided to keep the "possible breakfasts" list, as I did last week, because it helped me a lot to actually eat breakfast! Also, I grabbed some dinner and snack ideas from there, so even when we felt like not following the plan, we had something loosely planned and did not have to run to the store for extras.

Monday

• Lunch: Maccarroni with beef fajita's leftover sauce.
• Dinner: Pork loin with salad.

Tuesday

• Lunch: Strogonoff chicken
• Dinner: Fish with seafood and caramelized onions.

Wednesday

• Lunch: Fried rice.
• Dinner: Mixed sandwiches (ham&cheese, Nutella)

Thursday

• Lunch: Spaghetti with bacon, cheese and cream.
• Dinner: Puff pastry roll.

Friday

• Lunch: Meat loaf.
• Dinner: Breakfast for dinner: chocolate cake-in-a-cup.

Saturday

• Lunch: Onion soup baked chicken drums.
• Dinner: Scrambled eggs with whatever I have on hand.

Sunday

• Lunch: Leftovers. Or maybe lunch at my in-laws, it's not sure yet.
• Dinner: Soup

Possible breakfasts in no particular order

• 3 minute chocolate cake-in-a-cup
• Fried banana with chocolate ice-cream and drizzled raw honey
• Mixed berries and strawberry yoghurt smoothie.
• Eggs and bacon (this is so rare around here that we're not sure we'll dare!)
• Oreo and chocolate milkshake.
• Chocolate milk and biscuits.
• Homemade lemon sponge-cake.
• Mixed berry muffins.
• "P ão de queixo" (I have the packet there, the just add water and egg kind, and I need to use it soon)

And today, as an extra and because I've been asked about it a few times, my decandent calorie-laden fried banana recipe:

For two servings (or a generous one!), you need:

• Two bananas
• 4 tsp honey
• 2 scoops ice cream (I prefer chocolate or, in second place, stracciatella, but others should work too)
• Oil to fry. I use olive oil, but any oil should work. The healthier the better, though!

Cut the bananas in half and then in half lengthwise. In a pan, heat enough oil to nearly cover each banana portion (in the photos you can see better how much; maybe a cm deep) and when it's hot, put the bananas. 

Lower to medium heat and fry for 2-3 minutes, then flip them and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes more. 

One side done, golden and crispy.

The less you cook it, the less sugar will be released; the more, the more sugar will get caramelized, so the bananas will get crispier. If you overcook them, though, they'll get soft instead of crunchy: not that they are bad this way, just harder to get out of the pan.

Chocolate and bananas go so well together.

While they are cooking, put one scoop of ice cream in a bowl. Top it with the fried bananas and drizzle a bit of honey on top. If you, like us, have raw honey that crystallizes in winter, put 4tsp or so in a microwave safe container and microwave it for 10 seconds. That should be enough.

Doesn't this honey look yummy?

 Eat fast so you can enjoy the cold and hot extra-sweet goodness.

Excuse the mediocre photo, I could barely wait to eat it.

A dollop of whipped cream on top would make it even better, but I opt to skip it so I can pretend it's a healthier dessert. What do you think? Want to try it? If you do, let me know!

Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday, at the Stone Gable blog and at Erin Branscom's Menu Monday!

Oath's Mom

Stuffed aubergines/eggplants

Since I was a kid, I have loved aubergines (or eggplants). The color, the shine, and the thin fried slices my mother did instead of chips some days. Stuffed aubergines were, and still are, one of my favorite dishes.

Now, despite having the family recipe, I did not get them quite right, but I have managed to create a new version: it is not like the original I was trying to replicate, but I love it too (Partner doesn't, and I am afraid he'll ban it from menu planning soon, pity). They can also be frozen before cooking, so you just have to pop them in the oven for a quick meal!

To feed two people, you need:

• 2 medium aubergines
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• Red and green pepper (maybe a quarter of pepper of each? I just cut until it looks roughly as much as the onion)
• Tomato sauce
• 250gr grounded meat (pork, beef or mixed. Or whatever tickles your fancy, really)
• Breadcrumbs
• Olive oil, salt or beef bouillon, grounded pepper, nutmeg.

(You can adjust quantities depending on your appetite or the size of the aubergines. Keep in mind that they shrink when cooked. If you end up with smaller / less aubergine than you expected, you can bake a potato, hollow it out and use it too.)

So, the recipe, step by step:

1. Wash the aubergines, cut the top off and cut them in half lengthwise. Hollow them out leaving a half inch wide wall on every side (where you cut the top too. Do not be like me and forget.) and reserve the "stuffing".
2. Put them on the microwave, covered (with a microwave lid or saran wrap), for 8 minutes on high. You could also bake them or boil them, but I never have.
3. While they cook, finely chop garlic, the onion and the peppers (or, even better, use a mincer).
4. Put a tablespoon of oil and the garlic in a pan and heat it up. Then, add the onion and sauté until it softens.
5. Add the peppers and cook until they soften, too.
6. Add the meat. Stir frequently.
7. While the meat is cooking, cut the aubergine you reserved into small dices (or use the mincer again). Add it to the pan when the meat is almost done.
8. Season with the black pepper, nutmeg and salt (or a bit of beef bouillon powder instead of the salt) and stir.
9. When it looks like it's done, add two tablespoon of tomato sauce (enough to create a paste, but not too much) and an egg-yolk, and mix well.
10. Stuff the aubergines with the paste. Put a teaspoon of tomato sauce on top of each and spread. Sprinkle breadcrumbs to cover.
11. Put in the oven, preheated to 220ºC, for five minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the eggwhite until you get soft peaks.
12. Put whipped egg on top of aubergines, bake until golden. Serve with tomato sauce.

(here I underestimated how much the aubergines would shrink so I had to do the potato too. It was a bit dryier so if you do, add more tomato sauce to it so moisten it a bit)

I hope that, if you try it, you enjoy them as much as I do!

Oath's Mom