First Wednesday of Great Lent ~ the making of lentil loaf

Loving the beauty of these flowers!

Recognize this? A Tupperware flower shaped 'mat' to help open jars...

I could not find it for a bit and thought of how I would be lost with out it!

I made the lentil vegan "meat" loaf today; I just call it lentil loaf... :)

Though in this one there is also 3 cups of mushrooms!

(which was 1.5 containers worth of fresh mushrooms FYI!)

I think after I chopped the onion, garlic and most of the mushrooms,

I had to stop to make lunch.

I did not get going until after 10 (maybe 10:30?) and by 12:30 I was done cooking lentils

and then cooked noodles instead... 

It took a long time to get everything done in part because I had look up how to cook lentils and how many lentils to make 1 cup cooked (answer 1/4 cup).

So lunch was salad with cooked pasta noodles, oil and these two newer

Trader Joe's seasonings, the mushroom seasoning and vegan 'chickenless' seasoning salt. 

I added a can of (drained) clams to the hot noodles with sunflower oil and the

2 seasoning salts. 

 After lunch a little siesta was had and then back standing in my kitchen,

finishing the mushrooms....

I had to figure out a thyme substitute as I did not realize I was pretty much 

OUT of it.  Such  pantry depletion always surprises me as I try to always keep

what I use fairly often in good supply.  Needless to say,

more thyme is coming in tomorrow's grocery delivery! 

(And dried parsley as I am low on my pantry supply of it)....

I re-hydrated 4 mushrooms for the gravy for this recipe. 

My immersion blender in my small gravy pan worked perfectly. 

I found by the end (and with a quick trip to the garage to freeze some dairy things

to use after Great Lent DV) of making this lentil loaf that I was a 

bit frustrated to be honest; so many ingredients to use, to measure; 

I used oats not walnuts btw and spelt flour; 

and more measuring spoons needed for the gravy...

it began to feel a bit over the top in ways,

and making sure it did not burn, covering the meatloaf tightly afterwards while

it rests.... I was feeling a bit frantic...

and needing dinner to be on the table so we had time to eat and

go to church again tonight! 

I made (vegan) instant mashed potatoes and a quick salad

and WHEW.  Dinner was served...

The gravy absolutely made this dish. Without it I would not want to eat it.

The really good news is that I got a total of 12 (unevenly done) slices 

and am going to freeze 10 of these.

That way we will have one meal of this per week for the following 5 weeks of

Great Lent... so that's a real blessing! 

(I made the vegan instant mashed potatoes with oat milk and vegan margarine,

I added a bit more potato flakes as the vegan products are very watery.) 

It was great to be in church again.

I love this week and how much we see our local

church family.

It's a real blessing.

***

Well, even though I felt a bit overwhelmed by the end of my 

culinary adventures for today

(the huge amount of clutter and dishes from both the lentil loaf

and lunch and other things did not help) 

but I am really quite happy that I made the lentil loaf because

I can freeze it for the next while; I hope it freezes well!

The recipe itself did not say...

I am not worried... if it falls apart, I will just make more gravy

and it will still be super that way. 

I liked how it was warm and tender. Again, the gravy really makes this.

***

BTW, if you either can't make it to church for a service this week

or you are not Orthodox but want a sense of what services are like,

I am really enjoying listening to services I can't make here.

***

I am thinking of making a simple lentil soup in the next while

and also baking Koek, my accidentally vegan spice bread

that is so good and travels really well.

***

May God have mercy on us all and save us!