Home grown meal #1

(Home grown as in New Zealand - not my house lol).

OK, so this is the first dinner on the menu for eating food that is (or can be!) grown entirely in New Zealand. I didn't plan it this way, but while deciding at 4pm what to make for dinner I was pondering this out loud when Nathan jumped to attention and ran and consulted his menu plan he'd put together for us over the weekend (gotta love a list-boy who comes up with good ideas!).

The next item on the list was "Baked potatoes with coleslaw".

This has been a favourite for years, even before we consciously began eating more vegerarian meals. It really came about through my need for a lazy-meal.

Tonight though, I decided to modify the combination.

First up, I popped some potatoes in the oven to bake for an hour.

Then, instead of having a raw coleslaw I decided to saute up the coleslaw with ginger and garlic which is something I often do as a side dish to use up the masses of cabbage that appear in our vege box. So, I sliced up half a red cabbage, grated a carrot, chopped up half an onion that was left over from lunch today and sauteed it all together with a clove of garlic and a spoonful of minced ginger (the garlic and ginger weren't grown in NZ, but definitely can be which is what matters most to me at the moment).

I then had a small portion of tomato pasta sauce left over from some I'd made for lunch (once again, the tomatoes weren't sourced in NZ, but I plan on upping the number of plants I grow this year to ensure a longer lasting supply).

I boiled up some eggs and grated some cheese.

I then just layered it all up - cut open the potatoes, dollop on some tomato pasta sauce, spread the cabbage combination over the top, added a handful of grated cheese, and chopped a boiled egg on top.

Dinner!

(I would have included a photo, but it really wasn't an attractive looking meal, but sure is tasty and well balanced).