Good Vegetarian Recipes

VEGETARIAN SINGAPORE NOODLES(can be veganized)

2010-02-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

The "cocktail)of Lyrica, Tramadol, and Flexeril, along with the cortisone shots, seem to be doing a good job of keeping me relatively painfree, depressionfree, as well as giving me a lot more energy. For the most part I'm betternatured at work, and quite a bit more productive, too. We won't talk about home, ok? LOL! Actually, I did such a good job on my week of "30 Minutes," that things are still in good shape as far as laundry and dishes go, and The Routine takes care of the bedroom and the bathroom. So my little home looks company-ready. My biggest problem now is the stacks of books and magazines I have, lol. And the fact that I don't know where to start reading!! And when can I do a alittle craft project I have in mind? Not to mention getting the craft room itself in order, sigh. I have TOO MANY THINGS TO DO, and not enough time to do them in, sigh. I'm going to try to convince my boss to let me work either 5pm-5am or 4pm-4am. three nights a week(36 hours)and be off Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I sincerely think I'd like that, but, don't know if he'll go for it, or even if I'd reallylike it once I got it, lol.

So, instead of worrying about schedules, etc., let's talk about food, shall we? This Noodle recipe just plain sounded good, as well as fairly easy, and I just happened to have all the ingredients needed. I found it on About.com in the vegetarian pages, posted there by the site's blogger, Jolinda Hackett, who found it in the forum from a poster named Siddhi.

................................................VEGETARIAN SINGAPORE NOODLES..........................................

2Tbs. olive oil

1 each diced green pepper, and red or yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

Chili garlic sauce, to taste(I used about a half tablespoonful, and for me, 'twas plenty, lol.

3 Tbs. curry powder

2-3 Tbs. soy sauce

Egg noodles for four people, already cooked(Vegans: Use eggless noodles, or, rice.)

Saute bell pepper, onion, garlic, and chili garlic sauce in olive oil for a few minutes(in a medium sized pan, over medium heat, it takes about five minutes, and the onions will be a sort of translucent yellowish colour. I know I'm not very specific here, but, um, hey: Neither was Ms. Hackett, ok?), add the cooked noodles and mix well. Add the curry powder and the soy sauce and enjoy your Singapore Noodles.

Like I said, this just plain sounds good, as is, right? Well, you know me, I'm not going to leave a recipe the way it is, or at least, not often, and this wasn't one of those "not often" times, lol. When I cooked the onions, peppers, and garlic, I also added about two good handsful of presliced mushrooms, diced, some roasted red peppers from a jar, diced, some shredded carrots(about two good-sized ones), and a couple stalks of celery. All of this I sauteed with the onions, peppers, and garlic. I added 2 heaping tablespoonsful of curry, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and should've added more of each. Even so, this was really good, I enjoyed it, and ate it twice: The first time over Basmati rice cooked with coconut milk(helps take the fire out of the chili paste...stuff is REALLY hot, believe you me, and the second time, over a baked potato. For this meal, I actually preferred the rice, in spite of my love of potatoes. If you try this, let me know if you like it, ok? Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

CORRECTION TO CHOCOLATE SORBET

2010-02-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't give quite the proper directions for the way I made the sorbet, in yesterday's post. So, please ignore it, and use these instead.

This is MY way of making it, not the recipe's way. My way turned out really really really good, and is darned near foolproof for anyone who, like me, does NOT have an ice cream maker. In fact, I don't know if this would work in an ice cream maker or not,lol.

........................................JB's Chocolate Sorbet.....................................................

1 cup granulated white sugar

2 cups boiling water

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder(I use Hershey's, and NOT the Dutch processed kind...I hate that stuff, lol.)

1/4 tsp. salt(I didn't use it)

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the sugar and cocoa together in a medium-sized bowl, until they are well blended. Add the salt if you're using it, and stir it well. Pour the boiling water over all of it, and stir stir stir, until the sugar and cocoa are dissolved. Be sure to stir from the bottom up, as the cocoa tends to lump and sink to the bottom of the bowl. Let this sit on your counter, or, if you prefer, in your 'fridge, until it's cool to the touch, and that's when you stir in the 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze. Stir every 30 minutes or so, until the desired consistency, about 2 hours.

What I use for containers isn't flat, but the sorbet is usually ready to eat in about an hour and a half. My containers originally held 3.5oz. of goat cheese, but they hold about 3/4 of a cup of sorbet.

So, that's the corrected version. I think that if you're pouring it into a flat pan to freeze it, you could probably stir in some chopped nuts(I'd use cashews, youcan use what you want. How about Macadamia nuts? I love those, and can't usually afford them)or maybe some shredded coconut? You can add more sugar and less chocolate, too. Or less sugar and more chocolate. Make the recipe your own.

Until next time, God bless.

CHOCOLATE SORBET(Lowfat and Vegan); SNOW SNOW SNOW

2010-02-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

I am so totally psyched, but not as much as I was yesterday. Yesterday...well, Friday...afternoon, around 1pm or so, it started to SNOW, and I do mean SNOW. It was coming down in blizzard quality, but sadly enough it stopped around 5 or 5:30pm-ish, sigh. I was soooooo disappointed, but, at least we got about three inches or so. Enough that it's still hanging around, lol. My friend Norene picked me up at 2pm, and she and I headed for the used bookstore, the BookHouse. The roads weren't too bad, even tho the trees were already starting to have that "Winter Wonderland" look, and we couldn't see much more than a block or so ahead of us. Beautiful, I tell ya, beautiful!

So, we got to the BookHouse, which is under new ownership and had moved location, and it's just a wonderful place, it truly is. The books are in categories, just like they would be at Barnes and Noble or Borders, and they are alphabetized by author. She has a small sitting area with three HUGE and oh-so-comfortable armchairs, and, as long as you're buying books, the coffee is free(Take that, Borders and Starbucks, lol), and she provides French Vanilla powdered stuff to put in your coffee. Ok, seriously. I think I fell in love, lol. Much to my delight, the sitting area is in the cookbook section, and what is the first book I happen to see? A copy of the first "Vegetarian Epicure," and I just hollered, lol. I've been trying to find that book for a long time, to replace the one I lost, because it was one of my very first veg cookbooks, back when I was in my late 20's. It was in fantastic shape, and it's now sitting by my table, because I want to "read" it before it goes on the bookshelf. I also found Frances Moore Lappe's "Diet for a Small Planet," which was another of my first veg cookbooks. Then I found Molly Katzen's "Still Life with Menu Cookbook," and bought it mainly for her coloured paintings. The last cookbook I bought was a coffee-table sized book, called "Elegant Food," and I seriously bought that one for the food photos in it, which are some of the best cookbook photos I have ever seen. I bought a few other books, too, and I'm just going to let you wonder about those, lol. I had to put several books back, tho, but hopefully I can get back there again, and hopefully again, nobody else but me wants the ones I put back, lol.

The recipe I'm going to share with you today comes from the vegetarian pages of about.com. I followed the recipe, with unbelievably disastrous results, so then tried it again, and "I did it my way.' Turned out pretty good, too. So, with no further talking, here it is. Well, almost...if you do try it the way the recipe calls for, I'd be interested in knowing how it turns out for you, please. You can either email me(scroll down and my email is on the left side of the page, or you can leave me a note at the end of this post.

........................................................CHOCOLATE SORBET...................................................................

1 C granulated sugar

3 C water

3/4 C pure cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat, and don't sir until the sugar begins to melt. Then stir frequently until completely melted and caramelized.

Reduce heat to medium losw, and add water to create a caramel. Stir frequently.

Stir in cocoa and salt until smooth and dissolved.

Remove from heat and let cool. Add vanilla, cover, and chill in 'fridge about 2 hours.

Use in ice cream maker, according to directions.

Without an ice cream maker, pour sorbet into shallow container and freeze. Stir every 30 minutes until desired consistency, about 2 hours.

Makes about 1 quart(4 servings) of low-calorie, almost fat free vegan chocolate sorbet.

I put my sugar on the stove over medium heat, and went to sit down and read for a minute, waiting for supper, as well as for the sugar to do it's thing. Well, it did, ok. Man, I had some of the weirdest stuff in my kitchen for awhile. When that sucker blew up, it made a glorious mess, and turned black...and caked onto my pan like you wouldn't believe, sigh, and I don't know if I'll ever get it clean again.

So I decided to do it my way. The measurements were the same, but I only added 2 cups of water instead of three. The resulting chocolate mixture is very rich, thick, and chocolately. Ok, I added the teaspoonful of vanilla, and poured the mixture into some little "cups" I have, cups that were containers for the only brand of goat cheese I like. Put the cups in the freezer, stirred them after 30 minutes, and then left them alone for a while. I caught them before they froze too solid, and even tho they weren't really frozen enough, they were really great, and I've got some cooling on the counter now to go in the freezer in a minute or so, lol.

So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

Jigzone link

2010-02-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

If you'll scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page on the left hand side, you'll see a jigsaw puzzle there. If you'll click on the puzzle itself, it will take you to www.jigzone.com, a great jigsaw puzzle site. It's one of my favorite ways to waste time.

I'm delighted that I have over 5,000 visitors now. My concern is whether or not my readers have found what they wanted here, or, maybe something new. Also, how many repeat readers do I have? I wish I knew, sigh. It does bother me that I can't post pics of the food I cook, but I don't have the equipment and doubt that I'll have it any time soon.

My new shift starts tomorrow evening, 6pm. I only have to work three hours, but Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday I'll be working anywhere from 8-10 hours. Weird shift. Don't know if I'm going to like it or not, but I'm willing to try. I certainly hope the money is good.

Supper tonight is going to be Pinto Bean Cutlets, instead of Chickpea Cutlets, from the Veganomics cookbook. The recipe for the Chickpea Cutlets is listed under chickpeas and/or cutlets, on the left side of the page. I made some more of the onion/apple sauce, and will also have a boiled potato and some carrots and peas with it. Yum.

Time to go eat. Until next time, Happy Eating.

Tofu with Steak Sauce and Onions(Vegan); Three-Cheese Pasta with Spinach

2010-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Hi, there, it's sure been a while since I last posted, and I didn't realize just how long until I got here. For a while, I just didn't feel much at all like cooking, as I've been pretty depressed, very tired, and probably you can understand, right?

A couple weeks ago, I had my second appointment with my rheumatologist, and he gave me two shots of cortisone in my lower back, on either side of my spine. It took a couple weeks to take effect, but boy howdy, I can sure tell the difference at work now. As to how long they will last, I of course have no idea , but I'm enjoying it for now. The results of the lab work and x-rays showed that my problem is "a touch" of arthritis, some degenerative discs, caused by the arthritis, and from the questions he asked me and the places he poked and prodded, he determined I also have fibromyalgia. No surprise there. Y'know, I think I've already told you this, tho. Anyway.

The flexeril and the lyrica together have helped me sleep...too well, in fact, so I've cut the flexeril in half. My insurance, however, has run out for the BC/BS fiscal year, and this time, it included my prescription plan!!! Some of my meds are extremely high, over $100, so I don't quite know yet what I'm going to do. But, in the meantime, I sure don't hurt as bad as I did. Even tho I'm not going to stop working, I will start receiving the early Social Security retirement checks, starting towards the end of this month, so that will help some, I'm sure.

Ok, let's get to the important stuff, right? The food, lol. This recipe came from about.com's vegetarian pages, and it's really good. I made it last night and loved it, and will make it again.

.......................................Tofu with Steak Sauce and Onions........................................

1pkg.firm or extra firm tofu, well pressed

2Tbs. olive oil

1 onion, sliced

2Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs. steak sauce

1/3C water

1Tbs. flour

Slice tofu into 5 or 6 strips, about 1/2 inch thick.

Saute onions in oil until they turn brown and begin to carmelize, then add tofu and allow to cook until lightly golden brown. Add balsamic vinegar and steak sauce and stir to combine. Add next the water and flour and whisk to combine . Allow to cook until the sauce thickens.

Serve over rice, or hamburger buns.

First of all, I used a vacuum-packed firm tofu, and I think that I should've used a water-packed extra firm, pressed. The flavour most likely wasn't affected, but the tofu simply crumbled, so the strips didn't happen. Actually that was ok with me, as I was able to cut it into cubes. The steak sauce is your own choice, of course. Mine was the Kroger brand knock-off of A-1, which I really like. Instead of rice, I used toasted hamburger buns, and really enjoyed this a lot. My sides were plain boiled potatoes, and green beans with bacos sprinkled over.

This next recipe isn't really a recipe at all, it's just a general idea of the ingredients and sort of guessing at the amounts. You can adjust this to fit your own likes, and what your family likes. Basically, it's failproof, and quite easy. It came about because I needed to use up about three ounces of garlic and herb goat cheese before it went bad.

...............................................Three-Cheese Pasta with Spinach.................................

Set a large pot of water to boil, well salted. While the water heats, melt about three tablespoonsful of butter in a medium-sized skillet, or a sauce pan if you prefer, over fairly low heat. I like my skillet. When the butter melts, stir in a couple tablespoonsful of flour with a whisk, and let it heat for a few minutes, to take out the raw flavour of the flour. Then add about a cup of cold water(use milk or soy milk if you prefer, I just didn't have any milk), stirring constantly with that whisk. Once this is all stirred in, add another cup of water, and turn up the heat to a little less than medium. Stir often. When the sauce starts to simmer, it may thicken up more, so you can add more water or milk if you prefer.
When it reaches the consistency YOU like, start adding your cheeses. I used the three ounces of garlic and herb goat cheese, one slice of smoked provolone, and a few good shakes of Parmesan. Keep stirring, because this has a tendency to scorch, and stirring helps the cheeses to melt. If you want to...and I did...you can season the sauce with black pepper, thyme, and just a dash of nutmeg. Your water should be boiling by now, so turn the heat down on the cheese sauce, and add as much spaghetti as YOU want to the pot. Try not to add too much at a time, as the water should stay boiling, or at least at a simmer, as you add it. Stir the spaghetti around and around until it's all under water, and let it justkeep boiling until it's done as much as YOU want. I like my spaghetti really soft, you may prefer al dente. Your choice. Ok, while the s'getti boils, take some frozen chopped spinach from the freezer, and add a couple good-sized handsful to the cheese sauce, and stir it well, to make sure the spinach isn't in large clumps, and that all of it is coated with cheese. It won't take but about five minutes for it to thaw, get hot, and be tender enough to eat. Drain the s'getti thoroughly, and put it back into the empty pot you cooked it in, pour the sauce over it, mix it all together, and that's it. It's done. Your sides can be whatever YOU want...I don't think I bothered with a side, just ate the pasta. After all, it had spinach in it, so there was my veggie, right? I really thought this stuff was great, and I hope you enjoy it, too.

Ok, I was going to post a couple soup recipes, but I'm tired and hungry, to they'll just have to wait. Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Alfredo Pasta Sauce(non-vegan, but might be able to veganize ot)

2010-01-10T12:20:00.001-08:00

There's a little story behind this recipe, a story that proves that at least one large corporation listens to its customers. I've browsed the Kroger website time and time again, and have never been able to find the vegetarian products on their site that I know darned well they sell. They have recipes and menu plans for other products in the store, but nothing about the vegetarian products. So, in their comment box, I typed them a message telling them that I felt like they were discriminating vegetarians, and that I wished they would post vegetarian recipes on their site. And yes, I was nice about it. Really. Well, I got an email thanking me for my comment, and telling me that someone would be in touch with me concerning it. Yeah, right, was my thought. HA! I got an envelope in the mail from Kroger, and when I opened it, there were three pages of vegetarian recipes using tofu. Plus, someone had clipped a piece of paper to the front page, giving the source of these recipes: www.soybean.org. So, that's the story behind this recipe. I made it for my supper last night, and loved it.

................................................................Alfredo Pasta Sauce.....................................................................

1(12 oz.)package soft tofu, drained

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/4C Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4C Romano cheese, grated

1 Tbs. soybean oil

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 Tbs. dried parsley

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. onion powder

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Blend until creamy and light, about 1 1/2 minutes. Heat sauce in microwave or stove top and serve over hot pasta.

Ok, of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but I came awfully close. The only tofu I had wasn't soft, and it came in the vacuum-pack box, so it made a very thick sauce, which I didn't mind. I also didn't have any Romano cheese, so I used all Parmesan instead. I don't like basil, so I used Italian seasoning blend instead. And, I thought this stuff was wonderful, I really did. It's very easy, and I usually have the necessary stuff to make it...with my substitutions, that is. I think that if you didn't heat it, it might make a good dip or spread for crackers and chips. If you live where you can buy vegan "cheeses," then I think you could make this as a vegan recipe, altho I'm not really sure what's available out there.

Anyway, that's it for today, and until the next time, Happy Eating!!!

Chana Masala(vegan)

2010-01-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

The holiday season finally came to an end, and boy howdy, am I ever glad!!! We were so busy at work, and my schedule was so screwed up, I almost lost my mind, and came close to a meltdown a couple times. Managed to hold up, tho, and now I have three days off in a row!!!! I don't have to go back to work until Saturday morning, and I'm definitely grateful, believe me! The best part is that I have NO plans of any kind, and that means that I don't even have to so much as open the door if I choose not to, lol.

Monday morning I had a bone density test, and then a bunch of x-rays taken, mostly my lower back and hips, but a few of my hands. Tuesday I came home from work, and my rheumatologist's nurse was on my answering machine, telling me that the blood work they did last week was fine, and the bone density test came out fine, too. But. As for the results of the x-rays, the doctor wants to discuss those with me on my next appointment, which is the 18th, so, I'm guessing that he's not happy with those results. More will be revealed, lol.

Sometimes when I'm browsing thru recipes, one will jump out at me, looking so good, sounding so easy, and with ingredients that I just happen to have, that I have to try that recipe right then, and this one is one of those. Chana Masala is from India, and I found it on about.com's vegetarian pages. It's basically a chickpea and spinach curry, and I was very happy that I tried it. About.com didn't say how many servings, but I reheated it four times, and got seven servings for myself from it, so let's round it down to six, just to be on the safe side.

Chana Masala

1 can chickpeas in water(garbanzo beans)or 1 1/2 C precooked and 1/2C water

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

3 Tbs. olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon(about 2 Tbs.)

1/2 tsp. EACH curry powder, coriander powder, cumin, garam masala

1 lg. bunch spinach...or...2 handsful, rinsed

In large skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, 3-5 minutes

Add chickpeas straight from the can, including all the water. "Add spices and lemon juice, cover, and simmer about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more water if needed, until chickpeas are cooked and soft.

Reduce heat, add spinach, and cover. Allow spinach to wild for 2-4 minutes.

Serve immediatelyl

Note: For heartier Chana Masala, toss in some tofu, cubed, with the chick peas, and serve over rice.

Ok, now I'll tell you what I did, lol. You know I never follow a recipe exactly the way it's written. First of all, I didn't have any garam masala(I've tried to find it at Kroger, and haven't had any luck), so I used a whole teaspoonful of curry powder instead of the half spoonful. For spinach, I used frozen, about two handsful. And instead of tofu cubes, I used three small potatoes, peeled and cut into about 1/2 inch cubes, so that meant that I extended the cooking time, to about 20 minutes, I guess, until the potatoes were done.

This stuff is sooooo good, and while it's cooking, the smell is enough to drive ya crazy, it's so nice. Try it, you'll like it!!! Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Crookneck Squash and Onions...vegan

2009-12-31T08:44:00.000-08:00

So far, I haven't been able to fill the Cymbalta prescription, because it, and the Lyric, are both higher priced than most of my other meds. Hopefully I'll get it Saturday, after work. I have the Lyrica and the Flexoril, and while the Lyrica has helped my arms, hands, and shoulders a lot, the Flexoril doesn't seem to do much for me. I admit that I don't seem to hurt as much when I wake up in the mornings now, but I don't seem to be sleeping any better, like the doc told me I would. Oh.well, I'm not sleeping any worse now, and my bed all of a sudden feels softer and more comfortable, lol. So maybe the stuff is working and I just don't realize it?

Susan Albert twittered about the Onion and Apple Sauce that I posted last week, and when I saw it, I was delighted. She told her readers to come over and get the recipe and try it, and she thanked me. Right back to ya, Ms. Albert, I appreciate that you mentioned me.

The Crookneck Squash and Onions is one of those non-recipe recipes, and it's just so simple, and it's just soooooooo good, too. That was my supper last night, along with some mashed potatoes, and no other side dishes at all. I mixed the leftovers together and will try to fry it up as patties for supper tonight, with some green peas with a mint and butter sauce. Sound good? It does to me, lol. Anyway, let me post this non-recipe for you, and I hope you like it.

Crookneck Squash and Onions

4 small crookneck squash, well scrubbed, but with the skin left on

2 small or one medium onion, peeled and cut into half-moon slices. You won't need to seperate the slices, as they'll fall apart while cooking anyway.

1-2Tbs. of olive oil, and 1-2 Tbs. of butter

black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil and butter in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. When the butter is all melted, put the onion slices in. You want them to cook for about five minutes, to soften, and to start turning a little brown, but not too brown.

While the onions are cooking, slice the squash into rounds, about 1/8 inch or so thick, maybe a little thicker if you like...it's not precise, you don't have to aim for perfection here, honest.

Put the squash in with the onions, and add two cups of cold water, cover it, and let it come to a boil. When it boils nicely, turn it down to a good simmer, and let it simmer until the water is gone...unless you want it to be juicy. I don't, so I simmer until it's almost dry, and starting to brown, usually about 45 minutes to an hour. Add black pepper to taste, and that's all there is to it.

You can also do this with zucchini, or you can use 2 crookneck and 2 zucchini together. If you want to, you can add tomatoes to the mix, as well. That's pretty good with spaghetti, along with some parmesan cheese. Experiment. Make it yours.

That's it for now, so until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Steamed Sausages with Apple and Onion Sauce(vegan); my rheumatologist

2009-12-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

My first appointment with the rheumatologist was this past Monday, the 21st. I'm not going into too much detail, but do want to hit the high spots of my visit. First and foremost, I really like this guy: He asked ALL the right questions, and he knew ALL the trigger points to poke and prod, the ones that make me holler, lol. Even tho his lab tech drew about nine tubes of blood, and altho he's sending me for a series of x-rays, he is just about convinced that I don't have rheumatoid arthritis. I do, however, have just exactly what I thought I had: Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia. I KNEW IT!!! So, the new series of drugs is as follows: Flexoril, Cymbalta, and Lyrica. And of course he thinks I should do aerobics, 30 minutes at a time, three times a week, and, he thinks I should lose weight. Sigh. Anyway, hopefully the drugs will kick in within a couple weeks, and I'll start feeling better: Less pain, more energy, better sleep, etc.

Susan Wittig Albert has written a series called "The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter," and the Apple and Onion Sauce recipe comes from one of those books, "The Tale of Applebeck Orchard." The other recipe, the Steamed Sausages, I found on the PPK blog, by Isa Chandra Muskovitz. She attributes the recipe to a lady named Julie, and Isa has placed a video of Julie making these sausages on the blog. They are very good, and not too difficult at all. In fact, it has been my experience that working with the wheat gluten is never too difficult.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe for the sausages...vegan, btw.

STEAMED SAUSAGES

1/2C pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1C cold vegetable broth(I didn't have any, so used plain cold water)

1Tbs. olive oil

2Tbs. soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4C vital wheat gluten

1/4C nutritional yeast(didn't have any, so used about 1/8C veggie Parmesan cheese)

1 1/2 tsp. fennel seed, crushed

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1 tsp. dried oregano

Several dashes black pepper

1. Get the steaming appartatus ready. Have the water at a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together quite quickly.

2. Have ready 6 sheets of tinfoil. In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until there are no whole ones left. Throw the rest of the ingredients in, in the order given, and mix with a fork. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Place one part of the dough onto tinfoil, and roll into a 5-inch log. Wrap in foil, like a Tootsie Roll. Don't worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while steaming.

3. Place in steamer, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

First of all, I used a collapsible vegetable steamer, but a bamboo steamer will work, and in a pinch, a large metal colander works, too. Secondly, in the video, Julie added more spices than are listed in the written recipe: Smoked paprika, which is what I used in place of the sweet paprika, allspice, and if I remember right, some chili powder, too. Julie used both types of paprikas.

I only used half the amount of soy sauce, and only about 1/4 tsp. of the fennel seeds. As I mentioned above, I used plain cold water, and I used the veggie Parmesan cheese.

In spite of my substitutions, these sausages turned out really well. They have a good color, a good flavour, and they actually have a bit of a "snap" when I bite into them, just like a real hotdog or sausage has.

Will I make them again? Absolutely, and the next time, I will use the allspice, too, and hopefully will have the veggie broth, as well.

APPLE AND ONION SAUCE

1/2 onion, chopped fine

clove garlic, crushed

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 pound apples: Granny Smith or another tart apple

2 Tbs. water(I used about 5 in all, I think)

2 Tbs. cider vinegar

Bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 C brown sugar...optional, as it's not in the original recipe

Saute onion and garlic in oil until golden brown. Peel, core, and chop the apples. Add to onion with water, vinegar, bay leaf, and brown sugar if using. Simmer 15-20 minutes, until soft. Remove bay leaf, and puree sauce in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The brown sugar made the sauce into a sweet and sour, and I loved it, and yes, will make it again. The meal consisted of the sausages, mashed potatoes with the sauce, and green beans. Heavenly, no kidding. And, I have enough leftovers for tonight's supper, too, so that makes it double Heavenly, lol.

I think that the sausage mixture could be turned into one or two larger logs, and steamed probably about an hour. Then they could be sliced very thinly and used for luncheon meat. What do you think?

Which reminds me: I splurged and bought a package of Yves "bologna," and was very pleased with it. Along with the veggie smoked provolone cheese I love so much, it made really good sammiches, I thought. There are ten thin slices of "bologna" in the package, which makes five sammiches...for $2.99 a package. I'm not sure, but that seems a bit expensive to me, but, it's been so long since I bought the real bologna, that I don't honestly know how it compares.

Anyway, until next time, Happy Eating!!!

More Frozen Vegetarian Food

2009-12-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

I'm still not doing much cooking, mostly just throwing together soups and omelettes. Seems that I'm quite depressed, and in a lot more pain lately than usual...and you should see my poor apartment! Well, um, no, on second thought, you really shouldn't, lol. It's a wreck, but I really don't have the ooomph to do much at a time. I managed to wash and dry two loads of laundry yesterday, cook a pot of pinto beans, and today I got all the dishes washed, as well as picking up some of the clutter in the living room and kitchen. Baby steps, baby steps. And, I went to the library today, which is always a wonderful thing.

On the 21st, I have an appointment with a rheumatologist, at the insistence of both my other doctors, my primary care man and my kidney man. Hopefully this guy can come up with something that will help control the pain, which just might give me a little more energy, too.

So, frozen foods for vegetarians. Kroger has oodles of them, and I hope to try more of them in the future. Right now, tho, my oven has managed to lock itself, so I can't get it open...and it locked with a baked potato in it, darn it. But, eventually, I'll take my large-size butt down to the resident manager's apartment and report it, and hope that he knows how to get it to unlock.

I tried the Amy's brand "Veggie Steak and Gravy," and fell in love, lol. The steak had a good taste and the texture was good, too. It came with mashed potatoes, which Amy does quite well, and green beans, which are one of my favorite veggies. Again, my only complaint was that there wasn't enough gravy.

Amy also makes a "Southern Dinner," which I tried, and was disappointed in. It has cornbread, beans(pintos, I think), greens, and sweet potatoes. The picture on the box shows mushrooms in the greens, and they're listed in the ingredients, but I sure didn't find any. None of it tasted like it was supposed to taste, altho it was edible. It didn't actually taste bad, mind you, it just wasn't like homemade, not at all, and not compared to the other two dinners I tried.

My last frozen treat was a delight: QUORN!! I was amazed, I really was. This was something that was supposed to go in the oven, but, I did it in a skillet on the stovetop, and it was still good. Theses were "meatless and soy-free garlic and herb chik'n cutlets," and they had a great texture and tasted quite a lot like real chicken, I thought. But, they're just a tad too dear for me: Two cutlets cost $4.49, so they won't be on my grocery list very often, believe me. Still, I'm awfully glad I tried them, and if you haven't, take the chance, you might like 'em as much as I did.

What is Quorn? Well, it's a fungus. Honest. It really is. This is what the back of the box says: "There are believed to be over 600,000 varieties of fungi in the world, many of which are among the mnost sought after foods like varieties of mushrooms, truffles, and morels. The nutritious mycoprotein in all Quorn products is made through fermentation." The mycoprotien is from a fungus, and it's what gives Quorn products their meaty texture and flavour.If you want to know more about Quorn, their website is www.quorn.us

So that's all for now. One of these days I'll have recipes for you again, I'm quite sure. But y'know, it seems that it's taking me an awful long time to become totally adjusted and comfortable here in the new apartment. I've been in it over two months now, and still, a lot of things are up in the air, so to speak, and, quite frankly, I'm still a bit overwhelmed. Ah, well, I suppose I'll get it all sorted out one of these days, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Vegetarian Frozen Dinners

2009-12-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a whole lot of "new" cooking for the past couple months, so I don't have any recipes to post today. What I have discovered, tho, is a whole world of vegetarian TV dinners!!! WOW~!!! That's just so cool for those times I just really do NOT feel like chopping/dicing/slicing/stirring/mincing/simmering/sauteeing/whatevering, lol. Some that I've tried just didn't seem worth a second try, but a couple are so good that I would buy them every time I go grocery shopping if I could afford them. They are relatively expensive, seems to me that I remember most of them running about $4.99 a meal, which for me is just too dear.

The first one I tried was a meal from India. The picture on the package looked really good, and the description of it sounded wonderful: PALAK PANEER...Slow-cooked spinach and home-made style cheese cubes tossed in a savory sauce, with seasoned, long-grain brown rice. Yum, right? No. Nasty, very disappointing, and the whole time I was trying to eat this dinner, I just felt sooooo sorry for little kids in India who grew up trying to eat this. Maybe homemade would be as good as the picture looks on the box, but the boxed version really is awful.

My next experience was much, much better, and is, in fact, one of the best things I've ever eaten. One of the Amy's brand, it is an Asian Noodle Stir-fry, made with organic rice noodles, vegetables, and tofu. Excellent, absolutely excellent, and I wish I knew how to make it here at home, it's that good. My only complaint is that there needs to be just a tad more sauce with it, otherwise, it's perfection in a oven-ready tray!!! If I remember right, this one is vegan.

Amy's also makes some other dinners, one of which turned out to be another favorite for me: the Veggie Loaf with mashed potatoes and vegetables, which in this dinner turned out to be green peas and kernel corn. The loaf has a nice tomato-based gravy on it, but like the sauce for the Asian dinner, there needs to be more. Again, tho, that's my only complaint about this meal. As far as I can see, this one is also vegan.

Ok, that's three for now, and I've got three more to tell you about, but since it's pushing 6pm here in the sunny south, and I'm hungry, I'm going to leave for now and find something for supper. I'm thinking that I'd like to make some kind of soup...I've got mushrooms, onions, barley, green peas, potatoes, carrots...sounds like a soup to me, what do you think? And maybe some little dumplings when it's just about done?!?!?!

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Finally...new computer and DSL

2009-11-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is going to be short, sweet, and to the point: I am all moved in, it took all day on Sept. 28th to do it, I had serious problems with the ATT dsl, resulting in having to buy a new computer...tsk, right? Let me tell you, tho, saving change really adds up, because that's exactly how I bought this gorgous new machine: cashed in a LOT of loose change, and had enough to buy an HP Wal-Mart special on Black Friday...a lovely friend of mine actually did it for me, I never had to deal with the crowds, praise God. Anyway, long story cut short, I've just now managed to get online, and am thrilled, believe me. I'll start bloggin again in a few days. Oh, btw, the new place is ok, and is still not sorted out yet, sigh. It's just tooooo overwhelming for me, it really is. Anyway, until next time, Happy Eating. And a belated Happy Thanksgiving, too.

The Big Move

2009-09-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Haven't been here in almost a month, and it may be a while yet before I come back and post any recipes or anything food-related. I've been working, packing my stuff, getting the utilities transferred, and so far have moved two pickup truckloads, and two car loads, both trunks packed and both backseats packed. Full. And there's at least three more pickup loads and I don't know how many car loads left. Long story cut a little shorter, not much, but a little, tomorrow after work, two, and possibly three of us are going to get in here and finish my packing, and then, God willing, Monday morning, around 10, we hope to get it ALL DONE!!! GIT 'R DONE! This is a teenytiny little house, less than 600 sq. ft., and it's amazing how much stuff there is here to be moved. Wow! The new place is bigger, clutter expands to fill all available space...so, I hope I don't have to move again. Forever. Really. I mean it.

So, that's where things stand right now. I don't know when I'll be back online, but I'm hoping no later than this coming Tuesday, but of course, it might be longer. And until then, Happy Eating!!!!

Pappardelle with Caramelized Onions and Parmesan(non-vegan)

2009-09-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Pappardelle recipe is from Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food," December, 2008. It's one of my favorite food magazines, and I try to get each one that hits the newstands. This recipe was already vegetarian, but even the ones that aren't are usually adaptable to the vegetarian diet.

Pappardelle with Caramelized Onions
and Parmesan Cheese

1Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 package (8.8 ounces)pappardelle pasta OR 8 ounces fettuccine
2Tbs. butter
2 ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and thyme, season with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook, without stirring, until onions have released their liquid, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes more. When bottom of skillet darkens, add a few tablespoons water, and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When onions have about 10 minuts left to cook, add pasta to water in pot, and cook until al dente. Reserfe 1/2 cup pasta water, drain pasta, and return to pot.

3. Add onions and butter to pasta in pot, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Gradually add enough pasta water to creat a thin sauce that coats pasta. Serve pasta topped with Parmesan.

Looks like it would be good, doesn't it? Well, it is, I really liked it a lot, even tho...of course, sigh...I had to make some changes. I didn't have any papperdelle or fettucine, so I used rotini, instead. I also don't have the kind of Parmesan that can be shaved, I just have the kind in the shaker jar, and didn't think that would be good. So, I used a mixture of crumbled goat cheese and a couple slices of the Smoked Provolone, and it was great. I love caramelized onions, so this was a hit all the way round for me, and yes, I'll make it again sometime.

Monday I made a sort of stirfry. When I went to Kroger last week, I found some Chinese-style veggies in the freezer, a combination of mushrooms, green beans, garlic, and onions. The first thing I did was dice a medium onion, and put it in a skillet with hot oil and butter, and let it cook a while, enough to soften it some, and to start it turning golden brown. While the onion cooked, I cubed a package of extra-firm tofu. I put the tofu in a bowl, and poured teriyaki sauce all over it, with some goodly sprinkles of garlic powder and dried ginger. Stirred it all up, to coat the tofu with it, and dumped it into the same skillet as the onions. I also had put the Chinese veggies into some boiling water, just long enough to soften them up somewhat, and once they were soft, I drained them, and put them into the same skillet as the onions and other veggies. Probably this should've been served with rice, but I baked a potato. I really enjoyed this dish, and hope that the veggies will be a regular in the Kroger freezer department.

Last night I made soup: carrot, onion, potato, cauliflower, thyme, garlic powder, tarragon, and black pepper. No recipe here, sorry, just throw it all in a pot and use whatever seasonings you like. Oh, I also used two veggie buillion cubes in the water, and used about 12 cups of water. Once everything was in the pan, I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, until everything was all done and soft. I used my immersion blender, and that's all there is to making that soup. Took me roughly an hour, I think, and there's enough for supper this evening.

So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Butterbean/Carrot Soup(vegan); Coconut/tofu Sauce w/Strawberries and Peaches(vegan)

2009-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Sherrie, over on http://adollopofcream.blogspot.com posted a recipe for a soup made from butterbeans, carrots, and bacon a while back, and I thought it sounded yummy...except for the bacon, that is. Anyway, it's been a while since I read her recipe, but last night I made my own soup...stole it from ya, Sherrie!!...based on hers. Probably hers is a little more complex, but I honestly don't remember, and I didn't go back to check her ingredients. Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Butterbean and Carrot Soup(vegan)
One 15 oz. can of butterbeans, drained and rinsed
One goodsized carrot, cut into thin "coins"
Water or veggie broth to cover the carrot by about an inch
Garlic powder and dried thyme to taste; black pepper
BacoBits!!!!!(Betty Crocker, and near as I can tell, they are vegan! How cool is that, right?)
Put the carrot in a medium saucepan, cover with water to about an inch over the carrots, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down, and let the carrot slices simmer for about 30-45 minutes, so that they are very tender...IF you want to blend them, that is. If you don't, then just cook them until they are as done as you want them.
Once the carrots are at the tenderness you want, add the butterbeans, garlic, thyme, and black pepper, to taste. If you think you'd like a different spice combination, go for it, it's your soup, so season it the way you want. You may want to use salt, too, btw, but I don't use much at all. Anyway...
Let the beans cook along with the carrots until the water has reduced by about half. Now you can either put this in a blender, or use an immersion blender, which is what I did, and puree it. If you use a blender, be very careful, as the soup is extremely hot, and I don't want you to get burned. Remember to hold the lid on the blender container with a kitchen towel, so the soup can't spatter out the top, or the container get too hot for you too hold. If you use the immersion blender, be very careful with it, also. Make sure it is fully immersed before you turn it on, and do NOT pull it out of the hot soup while it's running. I usually set the pan in my sink, so that I screw up and make a mess, at least it's not all over my stove and walls and floor. Just be careful, please.
After you've pureed the beans and carrots, let it heat up again, and this time, add some BacoBits and even a chunk of butter if you want.
This made about two servings, so if you need more, use another can or two of beans, a couple more carrots, and if you want to, you could add diced onion and celery, as well. This is your soup, play with it, make it your own. Sherrie won't mind, honest. And neither will I, because that's what cooking and recipes are all about!

A few weeks ago, I bought a HUGE container of almost too ripe strawberries, so what I couldn't eat immediately, I froze in three batches. Day before yesterday, on the way home from work, I picked up a couple cans of slice peaches. Sitting on my canned goods shelves in my kitchen are some cans of coconut milk. There was also a box of Bisquick(Bisquick is vegan, remember?). So, I wanted to do something to put all this stuff together in one dessert. This is what I came up with:

Coconut Tofu Sauce w/ Strawberries & Peaches(vegan)
About a pint of strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced into a bowl and then macerated with about 1/3 cup of sugar for about an hour, in the 'fridge.
As many peach slices as you want.
13.5 oz. can of coconut milk
12.3 oz. vacuum-packed package of firm tofu
1/2 Tbls. vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
dash of nutmeg and ginger
Put everything except the berries and peaches into a blender, and whirl until smooth. Refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes, to let the flavours marry. Meanwhile, bake a pan of biscuits, according to package directions. I didn't make shortcake biscuits because those call for sugar, and I figured that between the berries and the sauce I had more than enough sugar.
As soon as the biscuits are done, slice them open and put in a bowl. Pour some of the coconut sauce over them, and then spoon on the berries and some of the peach slices. Pour some more sauce over them. I had some flaked unsweetened coconut in the 'fridge, so I sprinkled a good handful of that over the top of the berries, peaches, sauce, etc. Eat. Enjoy. This was sinfully delicious, and I was very, very pleased with myself...again, lol. I'll make it again, believe me...and will probably take care of the leftovers tonight!!!

Until the next time, Happy Eating!

Tofu "Fish Sticks"(vegan); JB's TVP "Fish Cakes"(vegan)

2009-08-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

The other night I decided I wanted to try these tofu "fish sticks." The recipe looks good, I think, it wasn't all that difficult, so, I headed out to the kitchen to make them. Here's the recipe, compliments of www.about.com

TOFU "FISH STICKS"(vegan)

2 blocks firm or extra-firm tofu, pressed
1/4 cup soy milk
2 Tbs. EACH soy sauce; lemon juice; crumbled nori seaweed
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. lemon pepper
Preheat oven go 350º F.
Slice tofu into strips and coat well with flour. In shallow bowl, whisk together soy milk, soy sauce, and lemon juice. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, nori, and lemon pepper. Carefully dip tofu in soy milk mixture, then coat well in bread crumbs.
Bake 40-45 minutes, turning over once, until crispy and golden brown. Or, panfry in a bit of hot oil, until golden on both sides.
Serve with vegan tartar sauce, ketchup, bbq sauce, etc.

Ok, there ya have it. Were they good? I have NO clue, none at all. First of all, I had the crumbs all ready, and I decided to panfry mine, instead of put in the oven. So, I poured some oil in my skillet, and just left it there, no heat under it, while I pulled out my firm tofu, to drain and press. Can you tell when tofu has gone bad? Oh, yes, believe you me, you most certainly can. How? IT STINKS! And it stinks really, really nasty, nauseating, to be exact. Soooooo, what to do? The oil was waiting in the pan, the bread crumbs were ready, and no tofu. I was, uh, angry, to say the least. Ok, here's the end results of that fiasco:

JB's TVP "FISH CAKES"(vegan)

One cup of TVP granules, soaked for about 15 minutes in one cup of almost boiling water.
One cup bread crumbs, and by this time, I had seasoned them with garlic powder and just a dash of cayenne pepper.
About 1/4 cup of crumbled wakame, as I have no nori
juice of half of a large, fresh lemon

I mixed the bread crumbs, the TVP, and the wakame all together in a large bowl, and squeezed the half lemon all over it, mixing that in, also. Then I formed five patties, and panfried them in about 1/4 inch of hot canola oil. That's it. OH!!! Sorry...when I added the boiling water to the TVP granules, I also added a teaspoonful of liquid smoke. Ok, that's it, lol.

Were these good? OMG, yes, they sure were! I ate three of them for supper, and then the next afternoon, I ate the other two right out of the 'fridge, lol. They aren't difficult to make, and I know I will make them again some time. The next time I make them, I think I'll add some minced onion to the mix, and hopefully will have the ingredients to make a tartar sauce. They were good without a sauce, but I think tartar sauce would've set them off to perfection. Live and learn, right? What started out as almost a failure, because of the rotten tofu, turned into a wonderful, wonderful meal!!! I was very pleased with myself, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!

PattyMelt...non-vegan

2009-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yup, my boss changed my schedule, so I'm off today, and will be off Wednesday and Friday, as well. I don't guess I mind too much, but it does seem like he should've talked to me before he did it. Yeah, like that was gonna happen, sigh. Anyway, I'm having a nice day, I like being home. A lot!!

The hummers are back this year, I've seen two this morning, so one of the chores I've done today was to empty, clean, and refill their feeder. My backyard is quite busy this morning: I've seen two bluejays, some redbirds(cardinals, if you're not from the south), a few birds that I can't name, the hummers, and, best of all, for the first time ever, in one of the trees out there, a red-tailed hawk!!! I was absolutely thrilled! I stood at the door and stared at it for about four minutes, and then it flew off, sigh. It would be wonderful if it would come back and decide to live in my backyard, I would just plain love it!!!

Yesterday, after work, I went to Kroger and bought a package of GardenBurger brand "original" veggie burgers. Usually I don't, because they're pretty expensive, but, I had a dollar off coupon, and I really like the burgers, so decided to buy them. While I was thinking about supper, I decided that I wanted a Patty Melt, and that's just what I had.

Patty Melt
one small onion, finely diced
one veggie burger, whatever kind you like best
two slices of cheese: I used the veggie smoked provolone
two slices of bread...wheat is preferable, but I only had white. It worked.
margarine

Heat about a tablespoon each of olive oil and margarine in a skillet, over medium heat, add the onions, and let them cook for about five to ten minutes, until they are fairly tender and starting to turn golden brown. I like to season the onions while they're cooking with black pepper and some garlic powder. After the onions are almost the colour and texture that you want them...and hey, if you want them raw, that's ok, too, y'know...add the veggie burger to the pan. Just push the onions off to one side. While the burger cooks as long as the package directions tell you, butter one side each of two pieces of bread. When the burger and onions are both done to your satisfaction, heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. When a drop of water sizzles, put one slice of bread, butter-side down, on the griddle, put a slice of cheese on it, and load the cheese up with the cooked onions. Put the burger on top of the onions, and the other slice of bread, unbuttered side down, on top of the burger. Let it grill until the bottom slice is golden brown and the cheese is starting to melt, and then turn it over, using a spatula. Let the second side grill until golden brown and the cheese is melted, and take it off the griddle and plate it. Cut it in half, and serve.

That sammich was sooooooo good. It's been ages since I've had a patty melt, so it was a real treat for me. For a side, I had some cold "pork 'n' beans" that I'd made a few nights ago: One can of Great Northern beans drained and rinsed, heated up with some brown sugar, dry mustard(not much, maybe 1/4 tsp., if that much), a good shake of garlic powder, and a good handful of BacoBits. Let it all heat up together until it's bubbling, turn the heat down, and let it heat for about five minutes, enough to get it all hot and let the flavors marry some.

Another good side would've been potato salad, or maybe even mac and cheese. Heck, you're the one eating it, fix whatever YOU like, lol. Anyway, I'm glad that I made it, and yup, I'll sure 'nuff make another one sometime, too!

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Warm Rotini Ssalad w/Balsamic Vinaigrette(Vegan); BacoBits; Coconut Veggie Curry(vegan)

2009-08-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today is the fourth day in a row that I've been out of work. This could become a habit, lol. I so enjoy being home, but, the rent must be paid, one needs to buy groceries, pay the utilities, etc., so one goes back to work tomorrow morning. Sigh. The reason that I took Thursday off, is that I'm in a bit of an arthritic/fibro flare-uup:swollen hands and fingers, back aches, ankles hurt, etc., so being home hasn't been as much fun as I would've liked. Sigh again, lol. But, I found out yesterday that my boss has allegedly changed my schedule...yet again...so that I will be off on M-W-F, which is fine by me, because it means that after a horrendous two days over the weekend, I no longer will have to drag in again on Monday mornings. That's good. That's very good! Anyway, I'll find out for sure when I go to work in the AM.

When I bought groceries this past Tuesday, I found a really inexpensive brand of coconut milk, so I splurged and bought four cans. Last night I came up with a way to use one of them, a vegetable coconut curry. Not the most original thing, I realize, as I've seen recipes for something very similar all over the net, but I did this one without a written recipe, and it turned out wonderfully.

JB's Coconut Vegetable Curry
A couple good handsful of frozen cauliflower
A good handful of frozen green peas
About two medium carrots, sliced into very thin "coins"
1 can coconut milk
2 tsp. curry powder, more or less to YOUR taste(two worked fine for me)
To taste: ginger(about 1/4 tsp.), garlic, nutmeg(about 1/4 tsp.), black pepper, cinnmon and sugar(about a tsp. of a mix for making toast)

Put the carrots in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. When boiling, turn heat down, and allow to simmer for at least 45 minutes, or until carrots are as tender as YOU want them. Oh...the pan should be covered. When the carrots are just about done, add the frozen cauliflower and green peas, bring back to a boil, and simmer a few minutes, or until the cauliflower and peas are tender. When they're as tender as YOU want them, drain most of the water from the pan, and pour in the whole can of coconut milk, along with all the spices. Keep the pan over medium-low heat until everything is heated thru. Serve over rice(I used a baked potato). Enjoy.

I thought this was wonderful, and it could easily become one of my favorite comfort foods. It's rich, mildly spicy, creamy, and just plain good, lol. It made enough for two people for one meal, but for me, it made enough for two meals, so it's going to be my supper again tonight. Will I make it again? Undoubtedly!!!

This pasta salad comes from the "Vegetarian Times: Low-Fat and Fast" cookbook, published in 1997. It's one of the ones I've checked out of the library. The way I happened to make this salad was that I simply closed my eyes, flipped thru the pages a few times, and then just stopped and opened my eyes: there was the salad, so that was supper one night this past week, lol. I was lucky that time, but then I tried to "blind pick" again, from a couple other cookbooks, and didn't fare so well, as I came up with some that had ingredients that I just plain dislike, or that I didn't have. Anyway, I did the best I could with the salad, even tho there were a few things I didn't have, lol.

Warm Rotini Salad w/Balsamic Vinaigrette
8 pz. uncooked rotini

Vinaigrette: 1/3C chopped basil
3 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Salad: Nonstick cooking spray
2C sliced fresh mushrooms
1 med. yellow bell pepper, seeded, and cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2C halved cherry tomatoes
1/4C(1 oz.)cubed mozzeralla(optional)Vegans can omit entirely, or use a vegan "cheese," such as the Tofutti brand(which I think isn't very good, btw.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Prepare rotini according to package directions.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine vinaigrette ingredients. Whisk until well blended. Set aside.
For the salad, spray a medium nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic, stirring, over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cook, stirring constantly, until heated through.
Drain the rotini. In a large bowl, combine rotini and vegetable mixture. Add vinaigrette and chesse, if using; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes six servings.

Well, ok, there's the real recipe, which to me, looks really tasty. But, I had to make some changes: I don't like basil, and I didn't have any mushrooms, yellow bell peppers, or cherry tomatoes. So, uh, what did I have, right? LOL! Ok. Instead of the mushrooms, I diced up half a medium onion and sauteed that with a green bell pepper I just happened to have, as well as...ready for this?...8 frozen Brussels sprouts, and one small carrot, sliced into really thin matchsticks. I had some frozen yellow tomatoes from the bounty that my co-worker had given me earlier this year, so I let two of those thaw. When a frozen tomato thaws, btw, the peels slips off as easily as if you had done the boiling water procedure with it. Anyway. I let the tomatoes sit in a colander while everything else was sauteeing, and then chopped 'em up and put 'em in the pan with the sprouts, onions, carrots, etc. And, when everything was tender enough to suit me, I finished the salad according to the recipe...except that the vinaigrette didn't have basil, it had about 1/6C of dried oregano, and the vinaigrette was wonderful, seriously.

Ok, so I royally changed the recipe, but believe it or not, it was really good. Oh, yeah, I did have some vegan mozzeralla, so I used a couple slices of that, plus I threw in some vegetarian smoked provolone. Goat cheese would've been absolutely fantastic in this, but I didn't have any. The salad fed me for a couple days, but after the second day, I didn't want any more, I got tired of it. I don't know if I'll make it again or not, but I think I will, hopefully with goat cheese and fresh tomatoes. I'm also wondering if a different type of dressing would be as good as the Balsamic vinaigrette was?

Now, about those BacoBits! I just happened to see them at Kroger the other day, didn't have them on my list, and wasn't looking for them. A container of the BettyCrocker brand just jumped off the shelf into my grocery cart, lol, so I had no choice but to buy it and take it home. As near as I can tell, they are vegan, which means that everyone can use them. The only meal I've made with them so far was a "breakfast for dinner" type of thing: Fried 'taters with onions and BacoBits, and then some eggs cracked over the top of the 'taters, a cover put on the skillet, and the eggs allowed to cook and set, sort of a cross between over light, poached, and sunny side up, lol. Good? OHHELLYEAH! Very good, and I ate every single bite of it, too. I think that the Bits would be good in an omelette...in scrambled eggs...in turnip/collard/mustard greens, or even in green beans. I am really pleased that I brought them home and tried them.

One more thing and I'll go quietly away and let you get on with your day. I've added another website to "JB'S Favorites," on the top lefthand of the page. The site is another one that has the recipe ingredient search function, i.e., put in the ingredients, hit search, and it brings up recipes using those ingredients. That's how I happened to make the veggie curry last night: I entered chickpeas and coconut milk, and it brought up a chickpea coconut milk curry. I didn't especially like the looks of that, but thought that coconut and curry would be good, so figured out the rest of it from stuff I had here already. Anyway, the site is www.foodieview.com
Give it a try.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

"SOS(vegan);" Probably some whining, too....

2009-08-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid, my dad introduced me to SOS, which he swore was a Navy-oriented dish of creamed chipped beef on toast. Later on in life, I found out that some folks called SOS a dish of creamed ground beef, or, what my family always called "hamburger gravy." Either/eyether, right? Whatever you choose to call any of it, it involves some type of chopped up meat and a cream sauce, which is served over whatever you want to serve it over: I prefer mashed potatoes, you might like toast, noodles, or rice. Anyway...and btw, I'm not going to tell you exactly what SOS means here, because the last time I said it on a public board, I was soundly trounced for using a "bad" word, lol. SOS is "$&!! on a Shingle," ok? So I've always loved gravies, and last week started craving the SOS type meal, and figured that probably TVP would do the trick. And, much to my delight, yes, it did. There's not a real recipe here, because it's pretty much an "as-you-like-it" type dish, but I'll give you the general idea, and you can run with it, ok?

"SOS" using TVP...vegan

One cup TVP granules
Enough oil/margarine to coat the bottom of a medium skillet
One onion, diced
1/2 tsp. ground sage
One tsp. minced garlic...I use the kind in the jar
One tsp. liquid smoke
About 3C water
About 1 Tbs. cornstarch
Half of a 10-oz. bag of frozen peas and carrots
Salt and black pepper to taste...I like a lot of pepper and not much salt

Cook the diced onion in the oil in the skillet over medium heat until it's transparent and starting to soften. Add the dry TVP granules, sage, and minced garlic, and, stirring, cook for about five minutes, until everything is coated with the oil, the garlic is just starting to brown a little, and everything smells good.

Mix the liquid smoke with the two cups of water, and add to the skillet, add the frozen peas and carrots, and bring it all to the boil, and let it simmer about 15 minutes, to make sure the granules soften nicely. Mix the cornstarch with the last cup of water, and after the granules have simmered the 15 minutes, add the water/cornstarch mixture. Allow this to come to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for a few more minutes, to allow the mixture to thicken up somewhat.

If you want to, while the onion is cooking, you can also add bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, anything you can think of that you think would be good. The more veggies you can put in, the better it's going to be, both in taste and nutrition. I also think that if there's any leftovers, you can, if you want, add some kernel corn, and make a shepherd's pie from this, altho I didn't. I just kept reheating it as gravy, and pouring it over stuff, lol...mashed potatoes, plain bread, biscuits, you get the idea, right? I really liked it, and will make it again, I have no doubt, as it's really easy and doesn't take too awfully long.

Well, I thought I was going to whine, and well, yeah, I guess I will. Nah, not too much after all: I'm just in one of my funks, don't like it, don't know what to do about it, don't feel really well physically and don't know what to do about it. So, waaaaaa, waaaaaaa, waaaaaaa. This, too, shall pass.

Until next time, Happy Eating.

"Loaded Potato Salad,"(non-vegan); Peach Crisp(vegan);Pasta w/Chickpeas and Zucchini(vegan)

2009-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

So far I've swished the toilet, made the bed, washed and am now drying a mixed load of laundry, and that's it. Some time today I've got to wash the dishes, and as long as it doesn't pour down rain again,take out the trash, too...as well as clean out the 'fridge. Exciting day off, yes? That's fine, I'm going to have enough excitement in a month or so to last quite a while: I'm moving out of my teeny tiny little one-bedroom house and into a two-bedroom apartment, just across the street from where I am now. Plus, I gain a small storage shed in my back yard, and a bathroom with a BATHTUB!! Not just a shower, but a real, honest-to-goodness tub, lol. Um...senior moment here: Did I already post about moving?!?!?

This past week I tried to make some oven-dried tomatoes, but I wasn't pleased with the results at all. I don't know if I sliced them too thin, had my little toaster-oven too hot, or what, but they were nasty, sigh. However. Some day I will try again, and possibly next time they'll come out ok. The directions I read said to set the oven at 250ºF, and leave the 'maters in the oven until they were dried, about two-three hours, but by the time mine were dry, they were burned. Nasty. I took them off the baking sheet anyway, put them in a container with some olive oil and garlic, but they were still nasty, and the peels were impossible to chew.Better luck next time, right? Right!

My other failure this past week was the Pasta with Chickpeas and Zucchini, which altho I thought was yucky, I'm still going to post, because I'm assuming somebody likes it, or it wouldn't have been a printed recipe in August, 2009's issue of "Real Simple." Different strokes for different folks, for sure.

Linguine with Chickpeas and Zucchini(vegan)

12 ounces linguine(3/4 of a box)
2Tbs. olive oil
3 small zucchini, cut into thin half-moons
Kosher salt
1 15-0z. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan(2 ounces)

>Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, drain, and return the pasta to the pot.
>Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Zucchini and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, tossing often, until just tender, 4-5 minutes. Add the chickpeas, garlic, and red pepper and cook, until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
>Toss the pasta with the reserved pasta water and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with the zucchini mixture and the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

So, there ya go, and if you try it, let me know how you like it, ok? I was so disappointed with it, but just couldn't make myself take more than a few bites, just didn't like it. Had to throw out the whole pot, sigh. What a waste!!

On the plus side, tho, I made a couple loaves of banana bread that turned out well. The recipe is here in my blog somewhere, but to find it, you'll have to go to the list on the left and click on bananas or bread. But it's there, it's good, it's vegan, and I love it.

The Loaded Potato Salad was an effort to help use up a whole lot of fresh cucumbers that my co-worker brought me from her garden, along with a lot of yellow tomatoes(those are the ones I tried to dry in my toaster-oven, and I don't like them quite as well as red 'maters.). I also had an apple in the 'fridge, so used that, as well. I loved the salad, even without any onion or boiled eggs in it. I left those out deliberately, to help avoid stomach issues.

Loaded Potato Salad(non-vegan)

About three medium potatoes, boiled with jackets on, cooled, and then peeled and cut in dice.

1 medium apple, peeled...or not, your choice, but I can't chew the peels so I take them off...cored and cut in small dice.

2...or more, again, your choice...medium cucumbers, peeled and cut in dice.

Handful of washed and halved cherry tomatoes

Small hunk of goat cheese, crumbled, and a couple pieces of vegetarian smoked Provolone cheese, torn into small pieces. If you leave the cheeses out, and use vegannaise instead of real mayo, then this would be vegan.

Mayo to taste Black pepper Garlic powder and onion powder to taste

Once the 'taters are cooked, cooled, and diced, put everything in a large mixing bowl and mix together. Cover the bowl and let it chill for at least 20 minutes before serving, so all the flavours can marry. This made enough to last me about three meals, and I loved every bite of it. If I'd put onions and boiled eggs in it, I admit it would have been even better, but without them, I didn't have any gastric distress and was able to go to work the next morning without any problems. The goat cheese I used had a rind on it that had been soaked in red wine, and it was wonderful cheese. I hope I can find it again, and, I apologize, but I don't remember the brand name, just that I bought it at Kroger.

The last time I went grocery shopping, I went to Food Depot, specifically because they were selling fresh peaches for 38¢ a pound, and I LOVE fresh peaches. So, I over bought, but even so, didn't lose any of them. Part of them went into a Peach and Strawberry Shortcake, and with plenty of whipped topping, it was fantastic. Several of them were eaten out of hand, leaning over the kitchen sink to catch the juice, lol. And the last six went into this Peach Crisp, which altho I liked it, and ate all of it, wasn't one of the best I've ever had, so I learned something from it: even if a recipe for it calls for vanilla, don't use it. Don't use cinnamon, either. Just peaches and sugar, about 1/3 cup, I guess.

Peach Crisp(vegan)

6 good-sized peaches, peeled and sliced(I just used a sharp knife and peeled away, but, to make it easier, you can drop the whole peaches into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then take them out and put them into a bowl of ice water. The skins should slip right off after that.).

1/3 cup sugar

Place peaches in a lightly greased 9"round pie pan, and stir in the sugar. Set aside while you prepare the "crisp." And preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Mix together 1/3 cup EACH raw oatmeal, flour, and, if you like, shredded coconut. If you don't want to use, or don't have, the coconut, just use equal amounts of the oatmeal and flour to equal one cup...duh, 1/2 cup each, lol.

Cream together 1 stick margarine(light Blue Bonnet, or, Earth Balance)and 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, until light and fairly fluffy. Use a mixer if you wish, but I just used a fork. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Mix the dry ingredients with the margarine mixture, and crumble over the peaches. You'll probably have to use your fingers to get it spread relatively evenly over the peaches, but again, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Put it in the oven and leave it there for about 45 minutes...start checking after 30 minutes. The peaches and the topping should be just about bubbling, and while not exactly set hard, sort of set in an almost jiggly way, and still moist. Now, you can cool this or eat it hot, your choice. If I'd had any, I would have put either whipped topping or vanilla ice cream with this, but I didn't have any, so I didn't. 'Tis ok, it was still good.

I think that's all for this week, so until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Coconut Jasmine Rice(vegan)

2009-07-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was another Kidney Jerk day, so Debra picked me up about 9:45am and off we went. After we left the Jerk's office, we went on to the library, where I had to make myself stop picking out books at 12. Last time we went, I had a very difficult time finding enough to make me happy, and this time, it broke my heart, but I had to stop. But I found a couple books that I've been wanting to read: "The DaVinci Code," by Dan Brown, and another one of the "The .....Tale," by Margaret Frazier. The DaVinci Code is a wonderful book, and much to my delight, at one point in the book, I "solved" one of the riddle clues before the heroes did, lol. The one by Margaret Frazier is one of a series of about 16 books, of which I've read about eight, I think, which is all the library has had, until they stocked this new one, "The Tale of the Reever." These "tales" are all set back in the 1300's, and the detective heroine is a nun. Incredible how she solves murder mysteries without the aid of our modern technology, but, she does! And holds me spellbound thruout the whole book to boot!

The jasmine rice recipe is a spinoff of the coconut rice recipe I posted a while back, but a little more complicated, and a whole lot better tasting. When I made this, I didn't use a recipe, but most likely someone has put it out there on the web somewhere. All I did was check to be sure I wasn't duplicating the earlier one I posted, and I wasn't. I ate the rice with the heated up Moorish Chickpea Stew I posted last week, and much to my delight...and surprise...the stew was MUCH better the second time around, and the rice turned out to be perfect with it, with the sweetness of the rice offsetting the sort of bitter taste of the stew. It was perfect, and I hope to make it again some day.

Coconut Jasmine Rice
1C rice
1(15-oz.)can of coconut milk, plus about half a can of water.
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
a handful of unsweetened shredded, dried coconut, toasted until light brown in a dry skillet over medium heat, about ten minutes.
Salt if you wish, but I didn't, and didn't see any need for it.

Bring the coconut milk to boil, add the rice, stir it into the water, and after you've covered the pot, turn the heat down so the rice simmers very gently for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Check it after about ten minutes or so, to see if you think it's going to need more liquid. Mine did, so I added half the can of water to the rice and milk, recovered it, and let it alone fro the next ten minutes.

When the rice was done, I added the cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as the shredded coconut, and stirred it all together. Took the pot off the heat and stirred in the vanilla, and that was it: Coconut Jasmine Rice. And, yes, I will make it again sometime.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Moorish Style Chickpea and Spinach Stew(vegan); Cucumbers in Sour Cream(vegan)

2009-07-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

This recipe today is another one from the NPR(National Public Radio?)"How Low Can You Go?" contest, and was sent in by Chef Jose Andres. I found it in "The Simple Dollar" newsletter, and thought it looked good enough to try. The author of "The Simple Dollar" made the recipe the way he found it, and then made an adaptation of it, and this is the adaptation. Hope you like it~!

Moorish Style Chickpea & Spinach Stew

2 cans chickpeas
Garlic powder to equal six cloves
1/4C extra virgin olive oil
3/4C bread crumbs
2Tbs. EACH paprika and red wine vinegar
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 pound spinach, washed and cleaned
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse chickpeas thoroughly, then put them in a pan with 1 1/2C water, and bring it to a boil. In another pan, bring the olive oil to a boil, and then remove it from the heat for 2 minutes. While stirring the olive oil, add the paprika, cumin, garlic, red wine vinegar, then slowly add the bread crumbs and set this aside. When the beans are boiling, add the spinach and allow it to boil for five minutes, stirring a bit. Add in the olive oil mixture, stir, and allow to boil another 5 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Well, I was sorely disappointed. The photos of this stew looked really yummy, and the author of the newsletter said his family liked it quite a lot. The recipe itself sounded good, too. I followed the recipe closely, with the exception of cooking my own chickpeas from dried ones, instead of opening a couple cans. And I got a little scared when the olive oil started smoking instead of boiling, so turned the heat off right then. I don't know how much of a difference that would have made, tho, and everything sizzled nicely when I stirred it into the hot oil. There's plenty left, so I'm pretty sure I'll eat it at least once more, because it is edible, even tho I'm not too fond of it. I certainly can't bring myself to toss it out...just yet. Y'know, I think I'd like it a lot better if I made it the next time with cannellini beans.

I didn't have any crusty bread, so I made a few boxed mix biscuits, and I also made a dish of cucumbers in sour creme for a cooling effect...and was glad I did, really.

Cucumbers in Sour Creme
1C diced cucumber, 1 C sour creme, 1Tbs. snipped fresh dill, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
Mix it all together, let it chill for at least 15 minutes, and enjoy. That's all there is to it~!!!!

At least the biscuits and cucumbers were good, lol. I think tonight I'll finish the cucumbers with "beefless gyro" sammich.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

Tomato Pie(non-vegan)

2009-07-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

Good morning, and welcome back. How has your week been going? Mine has been ok, nothing out of the ordinary, which, altho boring, is also nice, because it means I'm not in any kind of a crisis, and THAT is wonderful, lol.

One of my favorites, on the left of the page, is "thesimpledollar.com," and I get a daily newsletter from there. Two times lately, the author has posted recipes from an NPR(National Public Radio?)contest called "How Low Can You Go?" Folks have sent in all kinds of recipes, all supposed to be under $10 to prepare, for a family of, I think, four. Anyway. I followed a couple links from one of the recipes in his newsletter, and one of them took me to the NPR contest site, which is where I found this Tomato Pie recipe, from Kathy Lloyd, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. If you're interested, the link to NPR is www.npr.org, but you'll have to do a search for the contest itself.

Kathy Lloyd's Tomato Pie

Make one biscuit recipe from a boxed biscuit mix. Use it as a pie crust and bake it. Place either ceramic baking beads or another pie plate on top of it to keep it from rising out of control.

Layer in the pie crust sweet onions[such as Vidalias]piled high and sliced thin, generally one big one. Then use fresh tomatoes, not too thinly sliced, about two pounds. Season each layer of tomatoes with salt, fresh cracked pepper, and fresh basil.

Make a top crust with two cups shredded cheddar cheese and one cup mayo. Mix the cheese and mayo with your hands and squish it all over the pie like a top crust. Bake at 350ºF for 45-60 minutes. On the crust, I used half goat cheese, half mayo, but you have to have the mayo to make the crust.

Now, I don't know about you, but to me, those directions are a little confusing in places. "Each layer" of tomatoes? How many layers? And what temperature should the biscuit crust bake at, for how long? Are the directions on the box? I'm sure the end product is good, but I'm NOT sure about how to get there.

So. Here's what I did, instead of Ms. Lloyd's pie: tarts...sort of, lol. A couple years ago, one of my customer's kids was selling stuff for his school, so I ordered a dozen of the silicone muffin cups from him, and have been so glad that I did, many time. These babies are wonderful: you can bake them up to 500ºF, they sit on a baking sheet all by themselves and don't need liners or to be greased, and they wash easily, too. So I used those instead of an actual tart pan, which I odn't have anyway, and instead of regular muffin tins...which I do have, but prefer not to use.

My crust recipe comes off the box of Kroger brand biscuit mix, and is actually for a pizza. I think I've posted it here before, but I'm not going to take the time to hunt for it. Just know that it's a very, very acceptable substitution for a real pizza crust, but no yeast, and very easy.

1 1/2 C biscuit mix
1/4 C HOT water
1 Tbs. oil

Mix all together to form a soft dough, and then mix well for about 20 strokes. Then let the dough rest for about 8 minutes. Then, after the 8 minutes, I put the dough on a floured cutting board, greased my hands well with olive oil and slid them up and down my rolling pin, so it wouldn't stick to the dough, and rolled it out until it was about 1/4 inch thick, close to a six by six inch square. I used a drinking glass to cut six rounds from the dough, and pushed the six rounds down into six of the silicone muffin cups(if you don't have the silicone cups, just grease six regular muffin tins, and after you've got the dough in the muffin tins, weigh it down with the ceramic thingies or even dried beans), and set the other six cups inside these, to keep the crust from rising too high. I had already preheated the oven to 450ºF...and btw, the cups were sitting on a small metal cookie sheet...and so I put the cookie sheet in the oven. Ok, even tho the cups are good to 500ºF, I didn't like the smell coming from the oven, so I turned it down to 450ºF, and that took care of the smell. After about eight minutes I checked on the little crusts, but the were too soft. Ultimately it took about 12 minutes to brown them a little bit, but they didn't get crisp, which was fine with me.

Ok, now. You'll need one large tomato, and about half of a large onion, some oregano, about 3/4 of a cup of mayo, and as much cheese as you like. We're working with a smaller amount than the pie would be, so you won't need the full two cups of cheese, or the full two pounds of tomatoes.

First, I lowered the oven temperature again, down to 350ºF. Then I diced the onion finely, and put about two teaspoonsful into each little pastry cup, and sprinkled them well with oregano. On top of the onion and oregano, I laid a good slice of tomato, sort of folding it if necessary to keep it inside the cup. I sprinkled the tomato slices with black pepper. Now for the fun part, lol. I can't use dairy cheddar, even tho I love it, and I do NOT like the vegetarian cheddar, so I totally used goat cheese, probably about a cup in all. Use whatever cheese you have and like, crumbled up to mix well with the 3/4 cup mayo. After you've mixed them together, spoon the resulting glop(good stuff, tho)on top of each cup, put the whole shebang in the oven, and wait about, oh, 30 minutes, I think. The whole thing should be hot, and the mayo and cheese should be oozing and lightly browned.

Ok, are these good? OH HELL YEAH! LOL! I ate three of them, one right after the other, and I've eaten another one, cold out of the 'fridge, this morning. If you and your family like pizza, you will like these, I assure you. And you can experiment with them until the cows come home, too. Don't like oregano? The original recipe calls for basil...try thyme...try tarragon...add some minced garlic...use different cheeses...whatever you think you'll like. I don't think you can screw these up. And I also think that instead of the biscuit dough crusts, you could use...ohhhhhhh, no, senior moment, sigh...you know, it's the flaky crust on Napoleons, on Baklava, I can't think of it, sigh. And I love it. Anyway, if you figured out what I mean, I think it would be good, too, lol. HAH! Phyllo! Got it, lol. It's rough getting old...you'll find out for yourself one of these days, lol.

Now, will I make these again? I honestly don't know. They were fairly labor intensive, but not all that bad, so yes, I think someday I'll make them again, and I think that I will do it as a pie next time. These would make good appetizers for a party, I think, whereas the pie could be sliced and served at dinner as a side dish.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Another New(to me)Website.

2009-07-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

I came across this website today courtesy of the email newsletter from "The Simple Dollar." The site's url is http://www.supercook.com/ , and I think I've fallen in love, lol. What this site does is hook you up to recipes that utilize things you have in your kitchen. On the left side of the page is a box where you put the ingredient you have, and once you do, the right side of the page pops up with ideas for using that ingredient. For instance, I typed in potatoes, cabbage, and onions, and a bunch of recipes popped up, the first three of which I was informed that I had all that was needed for that one. I don't remember all three recipes, but the one I did like the looks of, and clicked on, was "Vegetarian Bubble and Squeek." Anyway, I hope you check the site out...and if the link in this post doesn't work, it's also on the left of the page here, under "JB's Favorites..." and I hope you enjoy it.

The hash I made from the leftover potatoes and chickpea sausage patties was wonderful. I cut up half a large onion, and let it cook in canola oil and margarine until it was almost, but not quite, caramelized. While the onion was cooking, I diced up the two cooked potatoes, just as finely as I could, and covered them with smoked paprika. When the onions were the way i wanted them, about 15 minutes, I guess, I scraped the 'taters in on top of them, and then put the leftover sausage mixture on top of the 'taters. Stirred it all up, let it get brown and crispy on one side and then turned it over and continued cooking it, until most of it had crisped up nicely. It was really and truly terrific, and is going to be one of my favorite meals, I think.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Chickpea Sausage Patties(vegan)

2009-07-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

This recipe is another one from http://eatair.blogspot.com and is one that I think is really good, and has the potential to be very versatile, as well. In fact, my supper tonight will be the leftover patties fried with leftover, cooked potatoes, sort of a hash. I think the side vegetable will just be canned(with no sodium added)French style green beans, one of my favorites. I didn't really time myself last evening, but seems like it took me about 45 minutes to get this ready to cook, but that included soaking time for the tvp granules, getting everything out, and the fact that I'm just naturally slow in the kitchen...any time I'm not at work, in fact!!! So you'll probably be able to get it ready in about 30 minutes,maybe less, ok?

Chickpea Sausage Patties

1/2 C TVP granules soaked 5-10 minutes in 1/3C boiling water
1 1/2 C cooked chickpeas(I used drained and rinsed canned ones)
2T Bragg's Amino Acid or soy sauce
1Tbs. vegan Worcestershire sauce
2Tbs. canola oil plus more for frying
1tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp EACH dried marjoram, sage, and onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 C EACH dried bread crumbs, and vital wheat gluten

In a large bowl, mash chickpeas with potato masher or a fork until no whole chickpeas are left. Stir in everything except the wheat gluten. Now add the wheat gluten and stir vigorously for a minute or so. Form into 10-12 patties and fry in a little canola oil over medium heat until nice and brown on both sides.

Ok, possibly I did something wrong, altho I followed the recipe to the letter, but my patties fell apart. Badly. That didn't affect the flavour at all, but it didn't look as pretty as patties would have. I also felt like another 1/2 to 1 tsp more of liquid smoke would have been good, and I didn't have any marjoram, so I used tarragon instead. Over all, tho, I was delighted with the results, and can see me doing this again, quite often. I'm thinking that with a fairly thick gravy of some sort it would be a good base for another Shepherd's Pie, and I also think it would make a lovely meatless loaf. And, it's good cold the next day, so it would probably make good sammiches...maybe grilled with some kind of vegetarian cheese, or even real dairy cheese if you prefer. As I said earlier, I'm going to make hash with the leftovers tonight, and am really looking forward to it.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Hot Spinach Salad w/Feta(non-vegan); More about the kidney jerkl

2009-07-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday, the 7th, I was scheduled for my second visit with the kidney guy/jerk. Well! I sat in the waiting room, and I sat,and I sat, and I sat, and finally, his assistant came out, and, long story short: The doctor wasn't even in the building, he was running late, and there were three patients ahead of me. Sooooooo, I called my friend to come and get me, wrote that I would re-schedule on the sign-in sheet, and I left. Period. I was there roughly 45 minutes, the couple ahead of me had been there over an hour, and nobody had bothered to come out and tell the jerk's patients that he was late. Forgive me, but I have serious issues with that situation, and think it was unbelieveably inconsiderate, as well as not even close to being professional. However, I do have to see him again, so I will make another appointment. Sometime. In the meantime, it's been at least a week since I talked to the rheumatoligist's scheduler, and still haven't heard anything from them. I'm just very, very grateful that none of this is life-threatening, because I think that I'd most likely have died by now, from waiting for these "specialists" to decide what to do with me and my life. I'm pissed. Period.

None of that has anything to do with the hot spinach salad, does it? Nope, it doesn't, so I'll right to the point now. The original recipe wasn't for a hot salad, so this is an adaptation of a recipe I found in "Eating Well." When I read the original recipe, I thought, "Oh, yum...and I just actually happen to have a bag of baby spinach in the 'fridge." I had bought it to make something else, but since I don't remember what, I used it for the salad. The reason I decided to go with a hot salad is that I'm still kinda leery about raw bagged "stuff" in general, after the E.Coli scare a few months back. So, here's my recipe.

Hot Spinach Salad with Feta Cheese
One 10-oz. bag baby spinach, thoroughly rinsed and left very wet
Feta cheese...I used Vigo, which is made with sheep's milk. Use any kind you prefer...or leave it out entirely and make the salad vegan.
About two tablespoonsful olive oil
One heaping teaspoonful minced garlic(mine is from a jar, always)
About one teaspoonful Balsamic vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a skillet big enough to hold the spinach, remembering that the spinach will wilt and cook wayyyyy down. Toss the minced garlic in the pan, and let it sit until the oil is hot. Put the very wet spinach in the pan when the oil is hot, cover it, and let it cook down...if you want to, you can salt and pepper it now, but Feta cheese is wicked salty, so be careful. All I used was the black pepper. Once the spinach has wilted, crumble as much of the Feta cheese over it as you like. I guess I used about 3/4 cupful, because I love the stuff. Sprinkle about a teaspoonful of Balsamic vinegar over it all, stir, and let it sort of stew for a few minutes, just enough to let the flavors marry. Oh, yeah, I didn't put this in the ingredient list...obviously I'll never be a cookbook author...but I also peeled and diced up a big, red tomato, and put this in right after the cheese. If you don't have a tomato, I don't see why you couldn't use canned, drained, diced 'maters, do you? Anyway, that's all there is to it. It's one of those recipes that you can add to, or subtract from, or multiply, whatever. Different seasonings if you like, different type of cheese...goat cheese would be nice, too...or no cheese at all, maybe shredded carrots or minced onions, whatever. Play with it, make it yours.

Did I like this? Oh, yeah, very much! I ate all of it, by myself, in two evenings. Will I make it again? Possibly, but basically it falls into that category of "I'd love to have more of this if someone else would cook it," tho. And I don't have the Vigo Feta very often, as Kroger doesn't sell it: All their Fetas are made with cow's milk, and I can't handle the dairy. Since I cooked the spinach anyway, I think if I make it again, I'll just use frozen spinach. All I know for sure is that I really liked it. With it I had boiled potatoes and cubed seitan in onion gravy. Wonderful meal!!!!

Until next time, Happy Eating.

Vegan French Onion Dip; French Onion Biscuits(Vegan, I think.)

2009-07-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Again with two posts in one day...obviously I'm feeling a little better this week. Thankfully, I've managed to find some pain meds that work a little better, and I'm just in a better frame of mind, as well. Plus, my boss and I have finally worked out a new schedule for me that seems to satisfy both of us...at least, for now.

Vegan French Onion Dip
from vegetariantimes.com

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1Tbs. EACH balsamic vinegar and olive oil
1tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 12-oz. container vegan sour cream, such as Tofutti
1/2tsp. low-sodium soy sauce and 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Toss together onion, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper on baking sheet. Bake 18 minutes, or until onions are browned. Transfer onion to bowl, and cool.

2. Coarsely chop onion slices and return to bowl; stir in sour cream, soy sauce, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl, and enjoy with chips, crackers, and veggies.

Ok, it's not bad at all just the way it is, but if I make it again, I think I will use two medium onions, and after they're out of the oven, I will dice them much, much smaller than "coarsely." I also think I should have left them in the oven longer than the 18 minutes, but keeping an eye on them, so that they don't blacken instead of brown. And, this just doesn't have quite enough "ooomph" to suit me, so I'm thinking that maybe a small shot of white wine vinegar or lemon juice, and maybe a shake or two of garlic powder. It's your ball game, play it any way you want to. Like I said, it's not bad just the way the recipe makes it.

This biscuit recipe was sent to me by one of my cyber-sisters, but I have no clue where she got it from. It's the reason I made the French onion dip...and btw, I was delighted to stumble across the recipe for the dip, as I wasn't looking for it. Serendipity, I suppose!

French Onion Biscuits

2 C Bisquick mix
1/4 C milk(I used soy milk...rice milk would be very good, too)
1-8 oz. container of French Onion Dip(so I used one cup of my homemade dip)

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Mix everything together in a bowl, and stir until a soft dough forms. Drop dough into 6 mounds onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until light brown. Serve warm.

To get a soft dough, I had to use just about a whole cup of soy milk. The recipe made eight good-sized mounds, not six, and took about 15 minutes to get as brown as I like them. These are pretty good, but, quite frankly, not worth the trouble I went thru. Now, if I had gone out and bought some real, honest-to-goodness French onion dip, the biscuits might have been a lot better, I really don't know. I don't think it would've been a vegan recipe if I had, but again, I don't really know. There's about another cup of the dip in my fridge, and I sure wish I had some cucumbers...that would be sooooo good, I think. Dice up the cukes, add a little more black pepper, and mix 'em in with the dip. Yum!

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

TVP Sausage Crumbles #2(vegan); Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits

2009-07-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying fooling around with the TVP crumbles, and have found another sausage recipe, one that I like a little better than the first one I posted here. This new one is an adaptation of one that Barbara Kingsolver's daughter, Camille, put into the book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver. The book is excellent, well written and very interesting, about the Kingsolver family's experiment to eat ONLY locally grown, harvested, and butchered foods for one whole year. Camille writes a lot of recipes for us, as well as writing down some of the family's menus for a week. Barbara raises turkeys, and her description of female turkeys in heat, and then being broody, had me roaring. If you've not read this book, I really wish you would.

Anyway, here's the #2 sausage recipe:

1C TVP granules, hydrated per package instructions(1 cup dry granules, 7/8 cup boiling water, mix together and allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Easy. Or I wouldn't bother with it, you know that, right?)
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tsp. minced garlic(I use the kind in a jar. Easy.)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 to3/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. EACH dried oregano and dried thyme
black pepper to taste
pinch cayenne...optional...use more if you like. I didn't use any. I don't like hot.

Mix the seasonings in a bowl. Add the TVP and combine well. Either form the mixture into patties and fry in a little oil until browned, or fry the crumbles as is in oil.

After I had the crumbles browned the way I wanted them, I added two cups of water, and let it come to a boil. Then I added one tbs. of cornstarch, mixed in about a quarter cup of water, stirred that well, and let it come to a boil, and then a simmer for just a few minutes.

It was good the way it was over biscuits, altho I have to admit that I used too much cumin, the 3/4 tsp. was too much for me. The next night I added about 3/4 cup of frozen peas and carrots and about another cup of water, and let that come to a boil, and then a simmer for about ten minutes. That was even better, and I put it over potatoes. And, did the same thing the third night, by which time, it was gone. I'll make it again, but with less cumin. Seems to me that it would be a good base for a Shepherd's Pie: don't use quite as much water, so that it would be thicker, put it in a greased pan, and cover the top with mashed potatoes. Bake it at 350ºF for about 30 minutes, or until it's bubbling and the 'taters are brown.

The "buttermilk" biscuits are from an old cookbook of mine, called "The Metropolitan Cookbook," put out by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, copyright 1953.

"Buttermilk" Biscuits
Preheat oven to 450ºF................................makes about 12 biscuits

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 to3/4 cup buttermilk: one cup soy milk with one tablespoon cider vinegar OR lemon juice, stir, and allow to sit for a few minutes.

Mix dry ingredients together. Blend in shortening with fingertips or pastry blender. Mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal. Add enough milk to make soft dough which can be handled, stirring with fork. Turn out onto slightly floured board. Knead lightly for about 1/2 minute and roll or pat to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch floured cutter or glass. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet from 12-15 minutes. Or, ignore all that, and drop by spoonsfuls onto the cookie sheet, and bake just the same. Easy. Guess which way I do it!?!?!

So, there ya go, gravy recipe and a biscuit recipe. Now scramble some tofu, and have you a good breakfast. Until next time, Happy Eating!

The Kidney Specialist....

2009-06-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

My world is very sunny and hot lately, with heat indices over 100ºF, which is just darned hot for me. I am soooooo ready for winter, I really am. During the winter, I promise you that not once will you hear me say I'm ready for summer, tho. Never.

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted, my apologies, but I haven't felt much like cooking anything new. Or much of anything at all, really. Most of what I have cooked has been using up the stuff in the fridge, so it doesn't spoil. For instance, I used the last of the cabbage, carrots, and sprouting(really. VERY sprouting, lol)potatoes in a sort of boiled dinner, and then I used the leftovers from that the next night to make a vegetable hash: everything diced fine and fried up together, then a little apple cider vinegar poured over it. Very, very good!

But, all in all, I really am not feeling up to doing much lately. The visit to the kidney man went well. I am not dying, and I am not facing dialysis, both of which I am very grateful for. He thinks that the poor functioning of my kidney is reversible, that it is caused from too many ibuprofen for too many years, and has taken me completely off ibuprofen, as well as my pain med, Tramadol, and instead, has put me on Vicoden, and told me that I may use Tylenol. Sigh. It's not working, and I am in awe of how much the "cocktail" of ibuprofen and Tramadol had stopped my pain. I am now hurting in places that I didn't realize that I hurt...and am just about out of the vicoden to boot.

Kidney man has insisted that I go to a rheumatologist, but this isn't proving all that easy. I finally got to speak with her "scheduler" this AM, only to be told that they would have to contact kidney man for my records, have the records faxed to their office, and then they'd contact me about setting up an appointment. Oh, goody. Wonder how long this is going to take?!?!? Mainly all I can tell you is that I am heartily tired of people sticking needles in my arms and telling me to pee in a cup for them!! Next time someone offers to stick a needle in your arm, or asks you to pee in a cup, just tell them, "Not today, thanks.!!!!" LOL!!

I'll be back with more recipes eventually, but in the meantime, please keep me in your prayers, and, Happy Eating!!!!

Coconut Rice Pudding(vegan)

2009-06-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Back again...twice in one day...wow! This pudding came about because of the vanilla tofu I mentioned in the last post. I had leftover jasmine rice in the refrigerator, I had the tofu, I had coconut milk, and I had unsweetened shredded coconut. So, all I needed was someone to tell me how to put them all together into a pudding. My google search took me to http://eatair.blogspot.com
This is a great site, and this recipe is from someone there named Chris. It's a wonderful recipe, and Chris, thank you for posting it.

Coconut Rice Pudding(vegan)

2C each cooked rice, and soy milk
1/4C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 of a 6-oz package of silken tofu
2/3C raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs vegan margarine

In a medium sized saucepan, combine rice, 1 1/2 cup of the soy milk, the sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it starts to get a little thicker, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the silken tofu and the other 1/2 C soy milk in a blender until smooth and creamy. Add to the pan along with raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Cook about 2 minutes longer. Turn off heat and add margarine, stir until margarince is melted.
For coconut variation, replace 1C of the soy milk with coconut milk, omit raisins, and add a drained can of pineapple chunks. Can replace vanilla with coconut extract, but if you don't have any, don't worry about it.

Ok. First, I used only coconut milk, no soy milk at all. My silken tofu was the vanilla flavored, and if you haven't used it yet, you need to know that it is already textured like a pudding. It doesn't have to be drained or pressed, use it straight from the package. Second, I think, for me, anyway, that if I make this again, I will cut the cinnamon to only 1/4 tsp. The nutmeg is fine, but I added 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, instead of the 1/4, and was very pleased...but, I love vanilla. You might not. No raisins. I don't like raisins. No pineapple, either, as I didn't have any, and don't like it one bit! So instead of the pineapple, I added one good handful of the shredded coconut. OMG! This stuff is just soooooooooo good, it really is. I made it last night, and I hate to admit it, but I finished it this morning, lol. It's not something I'm going to make very often, I know, but I sure am glad that I tried it this time!!!

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Crookneck Squash/Zucchini Casserole(can be veganized); Cashew Gravy(vegan)

2009-06-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to my world, very hot, sunny, and humid! Makes me awfully glad I don't have to be outside at all, believe me. There are a couple AT&T trucks across the street, doing whatever it is that phone men do, with the orange vests and the heavy hardhats on, and they truly have my sympathy today. It has to be miserable wearing those things in weather like this.

My first appointment with the kidney specialist is this coming Tuesday, the 23rd, at 11am. My boss is NOT happy about it, but since this doctor really is a specialist, we have to do what HE says, and not what Waffle House says, so I won't be working that day. tsk. gee. darn. breaks my heart...snicker. Anyway, please, again, keep me in your prayers, ok? Thanks.

Kroger is coming up in the world, and has stocked three new vegetarian/vegan products in the health food department, and I am delighted. The first one I noticed was seitan, two different flavors, but I don't remember what the flavors were. Sorry...senior moment, y'know. One of these days it will happen to you, too, I'm quite sure. The second product I noticed was the flavored tofus!!!! YIPPEE!!! They are vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. I bought the vanilla one. And btw, I didn't bother with the seitan, as it is almost $3 for a box that looks like no more than two servings...I could be wrong...and I also have a log of it in my freezer. It's also ridiculously easy to make, and Kroger sells the vital wheat gluten needed for it. Anyway, I've digressed, sorry. The third thing I found was Tofutti "cheese," in two flavors: American, and Mozzarella, so I bought the Mozzarella. If it's a Tofutti product, then it's vegan, correct? I didn't see anything in the list of ingredients that would say otherwise, so I guess it is vegan.

So, on to the recipes: The crookneck squash/zucchini casserole was basically to use one of the fresh green bell peppers my neighbor grew and gave me, and to try the new vegan mozzarella "cheese." The only thing non-vegan about it is the goat cheese crumbles I used, so to veganize it, leave them out. Possibly you could use nutritional yeast, or more of the Tofutti cheeses in its place. Your choice...one of the great things about vegetarian cooking: you can play with a recipe any way you want to, and make it yours. And yes, I know I've said that before, lol.

Crookneck Squash/Zucchini Casserole

2 smallish yellow crookneck squashes, and two small zucchinis
1 bell pepper...mine was green, but I bet red would look really cool
1 medium onion, sliced into thin rings
3/5-oz. package goat cheese crumbles
five slices of Tofutti brand mozzarella "cheese"
About 1/2 tsp. oregano
About 1 tsp. smoked paprika
Black pepper to taste
A few good shakes of Japanese mirin(sweetened rice wine for cooking)

Preheat oven to 375ºF
Butter(ok, I use Blue Bonnet margarine, vegans can use Earth Balance)a 13"X9" baking pan. Slice the squash and the zucchini the long way, in thin "slabs." Core and seed the bell pepper, and dice it. Slice the onion into really thin rings. First layer is the zucchini slices, a good handful of the diced pepper, a good handful of the onion rings, and half the package of goat cheese crumbles. Second layer is the yellow squash, and then repeat the first layer, ending with the goat cheese and a few splashes of the mirin. Sprinkle the oregano and the smoked paprika over the top, and then layer the "cheese" slices across the top. Put all this in the oven and leave it there for 30-45 minutes, until the cheeses are bubbly and the veggies are tender. Take out of the oven, scoop onto a plate, and eat. Makes about four servings, I think.

I was totally impressed with myself, lol. This is wonderful, I love it, and I ate it again the next night, and will eat it again tonight. Before I started, I went to allrecipes.com, to find out what temperature and how long to cook it, and the recipe that I took the temp and time from used tomatoes as one layer, so if you wanted to, that's another option for you. I didn't want to, but if I'd had any fresh ones, I think I would use them. Even tho I used oregano, if you don't want to, or don't have any, try basil, thyme, tarragon, whatever you have or like. I even think that mint might work, too. If you want to make it with just the squash, or jsut the zucchini, that's fine, too. And FYI, while mine was baking, it smelled like a pizza! Sort of tasted like one, too...show me a downside to that, eh?

With the casserole I had a baked potato with cashew gravy. I put the potato in the oven, at the same temp as the casserole, and waited about 30 minutes before I put the casserole in, and that way, they were done at the same time. While they were cooking, I made the cashew gravy...very, very easy and twice as good!!

Cashew Gravy(vegan)
www.about.com

2C water
1/2C cashews
2 Tbs. each cornstarch and onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Place everything in blender and liquify. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat gravy, stirring constantly until thickened. Add more water if gravy becomes too thick. [ And it really will get thick, be aware of that.]

This is the third recipe I've used for cashew gravy, and
all of them have been really, really good. So, I don't think there's such a thing as a bad cashew gravy, lol. If you've never tried one, do so, and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. Um, you do have to like cashews, tho...snicker. Until next time, Happy Eating.

TVP Sausage Crumbles(vegan)

2009-06-11T04:20:00.000-07:00

Y'know, I get really frustrated with this computer sometimes...especially when it's my own fault and I click the wrong button at the wrong time, and post a post before it's ready, lol. I bet you've done that once or twice, also, right? Sure ya have...and if you haven't, I'm sure you will!!!

I don't remember if I posted this last week or not, but Saturday afternoon I went back to my doctor, for refill prescriptions and the results of the CT scan. First of all, whoever has been praying for me, thank you, thank you, thank you! The mass in my kidney was just a cyst, praise God. But. Check this out: I have kidney stones! Huh? Me? Ummm, no, thank you, I do NOT want them, lol. So far they haven't bothered me at all, and I was totally astounded to see that I had them. I also have some hardening of the arteries, which I don't like.

And I don't remember if I posted this or not, but because my old washing machine was dying, slowly and painfully, I put it out of its misery last Friday, and had a "new" one delivered and hooked up. And it works, and it looks good. So I'm pleased.

For whatever reason, I got up at 3:30 this morning. Mainly because I was tired of waking up, going back to sleep, waking up, going back to sleep, ad nauseum, sigh. Now it's about 7:45am, Eastern time, and so far this morning, I have washed two loads of laundry. The white load is folded and put away, and the dark load is hanging up to dry. Changed the linens on the bed. Swished the toilet and swiped the sink, and mopped the bathroom floor. Took the trash out. Washed the dishes. Swept and mopped the kitchen floor. And of course I'm dressed, complete with shoes and...ugh...bra. Even put on a little makeup this morning, but have no idea why. I'm not going anywhere today...at least, I HOPE I'm not going anywhere today, lol. Now I'm hungry, and just about ready to fall asleep right here at the computer, lol. But first, a recipe for you, using TVP, which I've recently discovered, and really and truly enjoy using. I found this recipe on www.vegweb.com
and it was donated by "peppermint stix." The honey and the liquid smoke that I added weren't in the original recipe, but they were suggested by a couple people that had critiqued the recipe. I read about ten, I think, and every one of them really loved this stuff.

TVP is textured vegetable protein, or soy protein, if you prefer, and I have no idea how it's made. It is used as a vegetarian/vegan meat substitute, but don't expect to actually taste any meat when you use it, even tho it does have a pleasant flavor, and I love the texture. I found mine at Kroger, in the natural foods/health foods department, so if you grocery shop at Kroger, or, a big supermarket, chances are good that you'll find it there, rather than having to make a special trip to a health foods store. Which I would LOVE to do...mainly to Sevenanda, in Little Five Points, Atlanta. Anyway.................................

TVP Sausage Crumbles

2 Tbs. soy sauce or Tamari
1 tsp. EACH onion powder and sage
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp EACH fennel seeds and thyme
1/8 tsp EACH cayenne pepper and black pepper
salt to taste
1C boiling water[I also added 1 tsp. liquid smoke and 2 tsp. honey, right in the water, to mix it evenly with the other ingredients.]
1C TVP
2-3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except Tvp, water, and evoo. Pour the boiling water, with the liquid smoke and honey[IF you choose to use them], over everything, and mix it together. Add the cup of TVP, stir well, and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Taste to see if seasonings need adjusting.

Put the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add mixture, and fry until well browned. You may need more oil if the pan becomes too dry.

These are great on pizza, in spaghetti sauce, and with scrambled tofu.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Variation: form into 2 inch balls and flatten slightly into patties, then fry.

Now, I hate to tell you this, but, unlike the glowing reviews this got on vegweb.com, I didn't like it very much at all. There was too much fennel flavor, for one thing, and the two peppers made it too "hot" for me. I made a gravy out of it, with half water and half soy milk, using cornstarch as a thickener, and spooned it over hot, buttered biscuits. Making the gravy helped to lighten the spice taste somewhat, but still not enough. But, even so, I ate it again the next night, and rather than throw it away, I froze what I didn't eat right then. It's a meal, and I really do hate to waste food. Will I make it again? Probably, but I don't think I'll use any cayenne at all, just the black pepper, and either much less fennel seed, or, none at all.

Last Friday I gave you a recipe for Chickpea Cutlets, and when I made them myself, I had two left over. I put those in a baggie, and then in the refrigerator. Last night I hauled them out, diced them fairly small, and made an onion gravy with them. Now, THAT was good. That was VERY good. All I did was to fry a thinly sliced medium onion, then add the small cubes of the cutlets, and let them both brown up some. Then I covered the cutlets with a healthy dollop of Kroger brand "1883" steak sauce, their version of 57 Sauce, and is very good. Once that was all stirred thru the onions and cubes, I dumped about two cups of water into the whole shebang, and then a mixture of cornstarch and water, to thicken it all, which it certainly did. In fact, I had to use more water, as it was pretty thick. I spooned a good bit of it over a hamburger bun, heated some canned corn, and dined like royalty, lol. It was very good, and to my delight, there is some leftover, so guess what supper is tonight?!?!?

Since I'm starving, and I can't think of anything to say, I'm leaving you! Until next time, Happy Eating!!

Chickpea Cutlets(vegan); Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sammiches(vegan)

2009-06-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

No rain today, but I really wish it would, lol. You know I love rainy days. But, it's lovely out there, which is probably the way most folks prefer it. Besides, if it were raining, I might not get my "new" washing machine delivered this afternoon, and I'm really looking forward to having it.

BTW, I just posted another favorite website for you to browse, if you wish, another non-food blog. The name of it is "The Unclutterer," and it's extremely interesting reading, not the usual how-to unclutter and get organized for life type of thing at all. I did get a couple of really good ideas from it, tho, and some links to some other good sites, as well. Check it out when you have time.

I don't know if I've mentioned on here or not that I don't like chickpeas(garbanzos), but for years and years, I did NOT like them. Strangely enough, my taste seems to have changed, because suddenly, I think they're pretty darned good. Go figure, right? Both recipes today...LOL! I hear rain on the skylight, no kidding!!!...use chickpeas, and both recipes are keepers. The Chickpea Cutlets are from "Veganomicon," and the Chickpea-Hijiki recipe is from "Vegan with a Vengeance," and both books, as you probably already know, are by Isa Chandra Muskovitz, and Terry Hope Romero also co-wrote "Veganomicon." So, without further chatter, here are the recipes:

Chickpea Cutlets
Makes four cutlets

1 cup cooked chickpeas
2Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup EACH plain bread crumbs and vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated with a microplane grater
1/2 tsp. EACH lemon zest, dried thyme, and Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp. dried rubbed sage
olive oil for panfrying.

In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas together with the oil until no whole chickpeas are left. Add the remaining ingredients and knead for about 3 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed.

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed nonstick or castiron skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile divide the cutlet dough into four equal pieces. To form the cutlets, knead each piece in your hand for a few moments and then flatten and stretch each one into a roughly 6 X 4-ince rectangular cutlet shape. The easiest way to do this is to first form a rectangular shape in your hands and then place the cutlets on a clean surface to flatten and stretch them.

Add a moderately thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Place the cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minutes. Add more oil, if needed, when you flip the cutlets. They're ready when lightly browned and firm to the touch.

Just in case you were wondering, you can also bake these, too!! Baking these patties gives them a toothsome chewy texture and firm bite. Preheat oven to 375ºF, lightly oil baking sheet. Brush both sides of each patty with olive oil, place on sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip patties and bake another 8-10 minutes until firm and golden-brown.

Well, I just found out why mine were so soft and chewy on the insides, lol: I didn't notice the part that says to turn them over and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Duh. Even so, they were good, and I enjoyed them. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to cut the soy sauce to 1 tbs. instead of 2, as I'm not crazy about soy sauce. I made, of all things, some homemade tartar sauce to dip the cutlets in, and scarfed down two without any problem at all, and yup, will definitely make them again.

I think these would be good with just about any other kind of bean you like, and when I make them again, there's a good chance that I'll use either canellini or pintos, my two favorite beans. I also think that with the addition of some diced onion, and maybe some shredded carrot, the recipe would make great burgers, too.

As I said, I made tartar sauce, but some of the recommendations in the book were mustard sauce, mushroom gravy, and an onion gravy. They all sound good to me, but you can use whatever you like...of course!

Before I start the chickpea and hijiki recipe, for anyone that doesn't already know, hijiki is a type of sea vegetable...in other words, seaweed. I don't have any hijiki, but I do have dried wakame, which is also a sea vegetable, so that's what i used. The salad is wonderful, and is quite apt to become a regular sammich filling for me. This one comes from "Vegan with a Vengeance." Enjoy.

Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sammiches

Makes four sammiches

1 Tbs. dried hijiki
boiling water
1(15-oz.)can chickpeas, drained
3 Tbs. Vegannaise
2 Tbs. EACH apple cider vinegar and minced onion
1/2 C peeled and shredded carrot
salt and black pepper to taste
sammich fixings(lettuce, tomato, and onion0
8 slices whole wheat bread, toasted

Place the hijiki in a small bowl and pour boiling water over it to cover. Cover the bowl with a plate and let the hijiki sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl mash the chickpeas with a potato masher until no whole beans are left. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. when the hijiki is ready, drain and combine it with the chickpea mixture. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes; serve on toasted whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, and onion.

And that's all there is to it. It's awfully good, there's nothing else I can say about it, lol. The only thing I can add is that altho I'm still clueless as to what hijiki tastes like, I like the flavor of the wakame. I grew up in the state of Maine, and spent a fair amount of time around the ocean, so the wakame smell and taste sort of makes me a little homesick. And, my "new" washing machine is here, so I'm thru for today. Until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

2009-06-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

Rainy day, which is fine with me, as long as I don't have to go out in it, and I don't! I don't have to leave the house again, if I don't want to, until Saturday afternoon, around 1:45pm, as I have another doctor's appointment. And, since my boss gave me the option of taking either Saturday or Sunday off this week, and since I chose Saturday, I have three days off in a row this week, sort of a mini-vacation!!!

This week I have a recipe for you that I think is great: Tofu Sloppy Joes. I made it Tuesday for my supper, and loved it, and will most definitely have it again. It came from the Savvy Vegetarian site, and with all due apologies to the owner of that site, I don't have the URL for this. This is one that I copied by hand, when I first started hunting for vegetarian recipes to try, and at that time I didn't stop to think that it would be a good idea to provide the URL and a link. So, again, I'm sorry for this.

Tofu Sloppy Joes

Makes 4-6 buns worth:

1 lb. firm tofu
2 Tbs. oil
1Tbs. chili powder
2 Tbs. EACH minced green pepper, onion, and parsley
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 C water
1/4 C ketchup
2 tsp. EACH cider vinegar and brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mash tofu, and mince onion, green pepper, and parsley.
2. Heat oil in large frying pan, and fry tofu withe chili and veggies for 5 minutes, on high.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 10 minutes.
Serve over buns with fixin's.

Ok, first of all, there's no mention of draining and pressing the tofu, but I did it anyway. You do what's easiest for you. The oil I used was half olive oil and half Earth Balance "butter." My tastebuds say that the dish needs more of both the vinegar and the brown sugar, but again, whatever works for you. My side dishes were mashed potatoes and spinach, so I didn't use the buns. Maybe another time I will, but I really liked it with the potatoes. Bread would be good, too, I think.

Now a little news to share with you, which you may or may not already know. I don't make scratch biscuits, I think you've read that here, and instead of scratch, I've been using a box mix: Pioneer Buttermilk brand, and love it! But, for you vegans, it's not vegan. I read on a vegan site the other day, tho, that Bisquick IS vegan. Yesterday at Kroger, I checked the ingredient list for Bisquick, and yup, it's vegan. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Pioneer brand, tho, so I'm not sure if I'm going to change to Bisquick or not.

The other thing I wanted to share with you is about Blue Bonnet margarine, which as I think you already know, is what I use. It's not vegan, tho, but I do NOT like Earth Balance, so haven't changed margarine brands. But. On the same site that I found the Bisquick information, I also read that Blue Bonnet LITE margarine is vegan. Yesterday at good ol' Kroger I checked the ingredient list on the LITE, and yup, it's vegan. So, if you choose to do so, you vegans can use the Blue Bonnet LITE, which is a WHOLE LOT cheaper than Earth Balance. And, it's good, too!

I can't think of anything else to say, and I'm hungry, so, until next time, Happy Eating!!!

TVP Taco Recipe; Summer Sammich Ideas

2009-05-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

This has been a pretty good week. I found $50 that I thought I had lost, one of my cyber-sisters sent me a Terry Blackwell book in the mail: "True Light," the Imaging Center where I had the ultrasound and the CT scan sent me a cute little "thank you" card, AND a check for $10(evidently I overpaid my c0-pay for the ultrasound!), went to the library yesterday which is always a joy, and best of all, Wednesday afternoon at work, I had the time to sit and snuggle with my nine-week old great-grandson!!! He was trying so hard to tell me about the nasty doctor that had stuck the nasty and painful needles in his little legs, bless his heart. So, I told him I understoon how he felt, and that I don't like needles being stuck in me, either. I'm sure he understood me, too. LOL!!!

I've spent the last five hours browsing three new-to-me websites, which mostly don't have much to do with food or cooking. The three of them have been added to my list of favorite websites, on the left of the page, and as of this moment I haven't checked them to see if the links work, but I will, and if they don't, I'll fix them. One is EasyEarth, and that one does have a section about food, and a few vegetarian, not vegan, recipes. The main reason I went there, tho, was to find some recipes for homemade, and "green," cleaning supplies, which I did find. Another site is TheSimpleDollar, and is one man's blog about being frugal, which another subject near and dear to my heart. The third one is Yes!magazine, and it's, well, it's about all sorts of things. I linked to it from the SimpleDollar, I think, to check out an article called "Sustainable Happiness," lol. And have signed up for the newsletter...as well as the newsletter from TheSimpleDollar, too. EarthEasy has one, but for reasons of my own, I chose not to subscribe to theirs.

About three weeks ago, I went into this little town's only...as far as I know...health food store, and altho I was extremely disappointed in it, I did fine some TVP, and some, um, wakame, I think...maybe it was dulse, but I don't think so. Anyway. So, I've been looking around for recipes using TVP, and while I've found several, this one really seemed like a good one, so I made it last night. Yup, it's a good one, and it comes from about.com, thanks to Jolinda Hackett, the vegetarian pages blogger. She does a fantastic job, and if you've never checked the vegetarian pages out over there, do yourself a favor, and do so. Sometime today. Anyway....

Ten Minute TVP Taco Recipe
2 cups each TVP and water
2 Tbs. each soy sauce and olive oil or vegetable oil
1 package taco seasoning
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup salsa
flour tortillas or hard taco shells

In large skillet, heat water, over medium heat and add the TVP, stirring well. Allow the TVP to reconstitute for 2-3 minutes.

Add oil, soy sauce, peppers, and seasoning, stirring well. Allow to cook another 3-5 minutes.

Serve wrapped in tortillas or hard taco shell. Eat as is, vegan, or add tomatoes, lettuce, refried beans, sour cream, cheese.

I made some refried beans with diced onions in them. Spread a tortilla with a goodly amount of plain chevre goat cheese, plopped on some of the beans, and covered it all with a good bit of the TVP taco mix. Rolled it all up, heated the tortilla until lightly browned on two sides, and ate. I will most definitely do this again. In fact, there's a fully made and rolled up tortilla in the freezer right now, as well as a fair amount of the taco mix still in the refrigerator. I think I'm going to top a couple small baked potatoes with it and some cheese for supper tonight, along with some kind of vegetable. I can also tell you that the taco mix and a couple slices of the vegetarian smoked provolone cheese make on helluva great grilled sammich, too!!!!

Yesterday at the library, I checked out another cookbook: "The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook," by Cathe Olson, and while I no longer have little kids at home, the book is definitely a winner, seriously. One of these days I'm going to try to find it, and add it to my home collection of cookbooks. One section of her book is called "Sandwiches and Quick Lunch Ideas," and some of these sammich ideas sound really, really good. Now, for the most part, you know I won't post a recipe here unless I've tried it and can vouch for it, but this is one of those times I'm going to break my own rule(hey, at my age, that's subject to happen a LOT!!), and give you three or four sammich recipes that I think look like they would be awfully good. It would take me quite a while to get around to trying all of them myself, so, I decided to post them. And, here goes:

Spinach-Hummus Wrap...vegan

1 large whole grain tortilla or slice flatbread(lavash)
1/4 to 1/3 cup Hummus
1/2 cup chopped spinach
2 to 3 Tbs. each diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and/or shredded carrots(all optional)

Liberally spread tortilla or flatbread with hummus. Layer vegetables over hummus and roll up. Wrap tightly with wax paper, foil, or plastic wrap until ready to eat. It will keep for couple of days wrapped and refrigerated. Makes 1 serving.

Veggie-Apple Melt...can be made vegan

2 slices whole grain bread.
2 tsp. EACH Dijon mustard and mayonnaise(regular OR vegan)
4 apple slices
2 Tbs. shredded carrots
2 to 4 cucumber rounds
2 Tbs. alfalfa sprouts
2 thin slices cheddar cheese(dairy OR non-dairy)

Preheat toaster or conventional oven to 375ºF. Spread one slice of bread with mustard, the other with mayonnaise. On mustard side, place apple slices and carrots. On mayo slice, place cucumber slices and sprouts. Cover each with a slice of cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

My apologies, because that's only two sammiches instead of three or four. I had forgotten that it was necessary to go to other pages in her book for more recipes for a couple of those sammiches, such as Beanballs for the Beanball Sub I was going to post, sigh. I'm just too darned lazy to look it up, so, again, my apologies. If you do try either of these sammiches, tho, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me a comment. Until next time, Happy Eating!

Vegetarian Reuben Sammich...non-vegan

2009-05-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon...really rough day at work, holiday(Memorial Day), and we were very busy, very. I'm exhausted, and everything hurts, so I'm not going to take a lot of time here today.

First of all, this past Thursday, I had a CT scan for my kidney, but of course don't know the results yet. My doctor should get the results either tomorrow or Wednesday, and then he'll decide which specialist to send me to. I don't care. I just want to find out what's wrong, and how serious it is or isn't, and what can be done about it. Again, please keep me in your prayers. Thanks.

Once again, I don't really have a recipe for this veggie version of a Reuben sammich, but I odn't think it really matters. Sammiches are so much our own individual likes, that you can use as much or as little of the ingredients as you like, or you can add something, leave something out, whatever. This is just one more case of taking a "recipe" and making it your own.

Vegetarian Reuben Sammich
Peel, core, and thinly slice an apple. I chose a Red Delicious for this, but you can use any apple you like.

Peel an onion, cut it in half, and then thinly slice into half moon shapes.

Put the apple and onion in a skillet with some margarine or olive oil, and saute until the apple is soft and the onion has browned somewhat.

Throw in some sauerkraut, I guess I used about half of a 15-oz. can, and stir it all together until the sauerkraut is good and hot.

Spread some brown mustard on two slices of bread...I used sourdough...and put as much cheese as you want on one slice. I used the soy-based vegetarian Swiss-style cheese I found last week, but you can use any kind you want, or leave it out entirely. Up to you!

Spoon a goodly amount of the hot apple/onion/sauerkraut mixture onto the cheese, so that the cheese will soften and almost melt, put the other slice of bread on top, and there ya have it. How easy was that, eh? And if you feel energetic, you can butter the outsides of the bread and grill the whole thing, altho I didn't bother.

Next time, I've got a couple more for you, and may even have more of that, but don't know yet. Until next time, Happy Eating.

Angel Hair w/Zucchini and Bread Crumbs(Vegan); Homemade Coleslaw(can be vegan)

2009-05-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

My Dad left to fly back to Maine Monday the 11th, and Sunday, which was Mother's Day, he wanted to find a bookstore so he could pick up a book to read on the flight home. So, after I got off work, he and I went to Borders. He found a couple paperback westerns, and I bought myself a copy of the magazine, "Vegetarian News," and one of Nava Atlas's cookbooks, "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook." This book is terrific. I'm only about halfway thru it, but have already found lots of good-sounding recipes I want to try(y'know, I don't think there's going to be enough time to try all the recipes I've found so far, as well as the ones I keep finding, almost daily, lol!). Ms. Atlas raised two sons on vegetarian meals, so I figured that if the kids would eat it, then the recipes in the book had to be pretty good, lol. The one I tried last night proved my point!

..............................Angel Hair w/Zucchini and Bread Crumbs...................................

4 slices whole-grain bread
10-12oz. angel hair pasta(cappellini)
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 small zucchini, sliced, or 2 medium zucchini, quarterd lengthwise and sliced(about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1/4 C dry white wine, vegetable stock, or waater
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Place the bread in a food processor and whirl until it becomes fine crumbs.

2. Cook the pasta in plenty of rapidly boiling water until al dente, then drain.

3. Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a wide skillet. Add the bread crumbs and cook over medium-high heat until they turn toasty brown and crisp. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Heat the remaining oil in the same skillet. Add the garlic and saute over los heat for 1-2 minutes, until golden. Stir in the zucchini and wine. Raise the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. When done, remove the garlic cloves.

5. Combine the pasta and zucchini in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and serve, topping each serving with some of the bread crumbs.

Ok, I didn't have any wine of any kind, so I used a couple splashes of white wine vinegar, and another 1/4-1/2 cup of water. I turned the heat up high under the zucchini and vinegar, so that it simmered away. The vinegar did the trick, it gave the dish a little added push that I liked, and didn't taste vinegary at all. I also added vegetarian Parmesan cheese to the crumbs, and then some more once I had it plated. Did I like this? Yes, very much, very much indeed. Will I make it again? Probably. It's somewhat labor intensive, but the end result is well worth it. It would make a good dish for a company dinner, I think.

The sidedish I chose was coleslaw, so I made some, first time in years, too. It turned out pretty good. Once again, no real recipe here. Recipes, as a general rule, aren't really needed for a lot of things. I'll find a recipe I think I'll like, and almost always do something to it to make it mine. That's one of the things I enjoy so much about vegetarian cooking, the fact that so many times I can look at a recipe and think of how to change it around just a little bit, but yet enough to make it mine. And, I'm digressing..."Going 'round Robin Hood's barn" is what my dear grandmother used to call it, lol. On to the coleslaw:

I used about a quarter of a medium head of cabbage, and one large carrot. Grated both of them into a mixing bowl, and added black pepper and mayonnaise. Well, that just seemed to be a tad too bland, so I added some apple cider vinegar(just a splash or two), a couple teaspoonsful of sugar, some garlic salt, and a splash of soy milk, mixed it all together, and that did it. It was excellent, and I loved it. It went nicely with the angelhair and zucchini, too.

One last thing I'd like to tell you before I go, is that I tried another of the vegetarian soy-based "cheeses" this week: Swiss flavor. It is surprisingly good, and tastes very much like the real thing. I'm glad I took the chance, and if it makes as good a grilled sammich as the smoked provolone flavor does, I'm gonna be doing the happy dance, lol. Until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

Two-Bean Vegetable Soup(Vegan); "Beefless" Stew w/Dumplings(probably vegan)

2009-05-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Good morning, beautiful, sunny day here in the metro Atlanta area, and I'm hoping it's a good day where you are, as well. About 30 minutes ago, I called my doctor, and kinda wish I hadn't, sigh. I think I mentioned a while back that I had to have a renal ultrasound, because my creatinine levels are too high, which means my kidneys aren't working right. So, I had the ultrasound, and this morning, Doctor told me that it shows a mass in my right kidney. I am NOT pleased. This is NOT what i wanted to hear, not today, not yesterday, not any day at all, ok? Doctor is going to call my insurance company for me today, and get the referral for either a CT scan or an MRI, and I'll see him tomorrow, as I need my pain med 'script rewritten. Needless to say, I'm scared. Maybe it's just a cyst. Whatever. Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks.

Yesterday was a really good day, one of the best in a long time, as far as feeling good physically goes. It's probably a combination of the thyroid med starting to kick in, and still being quit from smoking. Whatever it is, I'm not hurting as much as I was, and I had quite a bit of energy and accomplished, for me, quite a lot. Swished and swiped the toilet and sink, stripped the bed and washed the linens, washed and dried and put away two loads of laundry, remade the bed, washed the dishes, took out the trash, and vacuumed the living room and bedroom. Had time to read quite a bit, play on the computer, and cooked supper, too. Today all I plan on doing...all that's really needed, in fact...is washing dishes again, and watering my plants.

I love beans and lentils, and I love soups, so I make quite a few bean and lentil soups/stews, even in warm weather. In one of my last few posts I said that I was going to make a bean/barley/vegetable soup, but I didn't, not exactly. It was basically the same as the recipe I've posted for the bean/barley/vegetable soup, but just a couple variations. No real recipe needed here, just as you like it/to taste.

...................................Two-Bean Soup................................................................
One can each pinto beans and cannelini beans
Onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme...all to taste
Potatoes, celery, carrots...as many or as few as YOU like.

Drain and rinse the beans, set aside. In a large pot, saute the diced onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for about five minutes, or until the onion starts to get tender and is translucent. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, the two types of beans, and about 6-8 cups of water w/veggie buillion cubes or veggie broth or plain water. Season with dried thyme and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil, and allow to simmer until the veggies are tender enough to suit you, probably about 30 minutes or so. I like mine really smooshy, so I let it simmer for closer to an hour. Your choice...I won't know, and it's fine with me. The soup can be left the way it is, or, if you like, and I do, use a potato masher or fork to mash up some of the veggies, which will thicken the soup somewhat. Serve this with a pan of hot, buttered, biscuits. Or cornbread. Or grilled cheese sammiches. Or just saltines or bread and butter. Your choice.

...........................JB's World Famous "Beefless" Stew, this time with dumplings....

Ok, ok, so it's not really world famous, and altho I never once looked at a recipe to come up with this lentil stew, I have no doubt that there are several thousand recipes just like this, or very close to it. There are probably enough variations of lentil soup to make a different one every day for at least three years out there, seriously. The important thing, tho, is that it's good, and even confirmed meat-lovers will ask for seconds, no kidding. Again, no real recipe needed, it's to taste/as you like it, ok?

Enough dried lentils for your family. Lentils don't need to be soaked, btw. You can just use them right out of the bag. And I don't recommend using canned ones, if there even is such a thing. I don't think I've ever seen canned lentils, just canned lentil soup, and that was just plain nasty. Anyway, I digress........

Put the lentils in a colander, pick them over and take out any little rocks or bad lentils, and rinse them really well. Set aside.

In a large pot, saute onions, carrots, celery if you like(I don't), and garlic. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and dice some potatoes, and then add them to the rest of the veggies. Add the lentils, a bay leaf, and enough water to cover all of it by about three inches or so. If you want to, you can use veggie broth or add veggie buillion cubes to the water. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 30-45 minutes. Lentils will cook that quickly, in case you've never used them before, which is just one of the reasons I like them so well.

Now for the dumplings, and I'll give you a REAL recipe for them, right off the box of biscuit mix. So, this is where it stops being vegan, because the biscuit mix has small amounts of casein and buttermilk listed in its ingredients. Dumplings can be veganized, but you'll have to use your own biscuit recipe for them, as I don't have one. I suppose self-rising flour, shortening, and soy milk would do it, tho, right? Anyway...

2 cups biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 qt. broth
Mix first three ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls into boiling broth. Cover and simmer 5-8 minutes. Yield: 16 servings.

I used much smaller portions for myself, and didn't use the poultry seasoning, I just left them plain. And instead of broth, I dropped them, using an infants feeding spoon, on top of the lentil stew.

This was a really good meal. The dumplings were small and good, and just set the stew off to perfection. In fact, when I heat up the leftover two-bean soup, I'm going to make dumplings again, instead of biscuits.

Until next time, Happy Eating.

Homemade Vegetarian Pizza(non-vegan)

2009-05-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Lovely day, as well as being a serendipitous day, also! I'm supposed to work on Tuesdays, but yesterday, one of my co-workers asked me if I'd let her work, as she needed to make some extra cash. After thinking about it for, oh, maybe ten seconds, I told her it was fine by me, lol. I love my Dad dearly, I enjoyed his visit, but I figured it would be nice to be home alone and get some things done that I've been neglecting. And, that's just what I've done. Swept and mopped the kitchen floor, washed, dried, and put away a load of sheets and part of the shabbily chic secondhand store fabrics I use to cover the love seat, and then a load of towels, plus put away a bunch of clean laundry that's been resting in "The Chair" in the bedroom. Hey, don't roll your eyes at me, Iknow darned well you've got "The Chair," or something like it, in your bedroom, too. So there! And the dishes are done, and the counters thoroughly cleaned. Wanted to vacuum, but just can't do it, sigh. Maybe later this week?!?!?

Last night I decided I'd better figure out a way to use the lone zucchini in the 'fridge, so decided to make a pizza. This is going to be one of those "to taste...as you like it..." recipes, except for the crust, which is totally different from a real pizza crust. I got the recipe from a box of biscuit mix, I kid you not, and while it doesn't taste like real pizza dough, it's quick, easy, and will do in a pinch.

.................................................Biscuit Mix Pizza Dough.............................................

1 1/2 cups baking mix
1/4 cup hot water
1 tbs. vegetable oil{I used olive oil, use whatever you like best}

Heat oven to 400ºF. In mixing bowl, mix the baking mix, hot water, and the oil until a soft dough forms. Beat dough about 20 strokes, and let dough stand for about 8-10 minutes. {I chose to knead the dough about 20 times instead of beating it, and kneaded it right on the baking sheet.}

Grease baking sheet, or a pizza pan. Using hands dipped in baking mix, press dough into a 13-inch circle on the baking sheet, pinching up edges 1/2 inches, or press the dough into the pizza pan.

Ok, now the fun begins, as you can put anything you want to on this dough. I thawed and then wrung out in a dry kitchen towel a 10-oz. package of spinach, which I spread right on the dough. I scattered about half a cup of diced raw onions over that. While the dough was resting, I had washed and sliced the zucchini, put it in a mixing bowl, sprinkled it with about a teaspoonful of dried thyme, and then some olive oil. Then I mixed it all with my hands, so that every slice had a little thyme and some oil on it. The slices went on top of the onions, and on top of the zucchini, I crumbled/spread chevre goat cheese, the kind that comes seasoned with basil and sun-dried tomato. Then I sprinkled vegetarian Parmesan over the whole thing, and put it in the oven for, oh, I guess about 20 minutes, or until the crust is nice and brown. That's it, that's all there is to it.

I ate half of it for supper last night, and I ate the other half, cold, this afternoon. It's good cold, too.

Tonight I'm going to make some kind of soup, and some more biscuits. LOVE my hot buttered biscuits!!! Until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

Veggin' at the Steakhouse

2009-05-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, my omnivore Dad took me, my granddaughter, and my new great-grandson to the Longhorn Steakhouse this past Friday, the 8th, for an early Mother's Day dinner. The g'daughter and Dad both had sirloins, the great-g'son just dozed in his chair for the most part, but, gee, what's a vegetarian like me going to eat at a Steakhouse, right?

Well! Let me tell you! They had a Strawberry Pecan salad on the menu, and after reading the ingredients in it, that's what I chose. This salad was a mix of baby greens, with strawberries, pecans, red seedless grapes, red onion, mandarin oranges, feta cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette. To die for! I asked that the oranges be left off, but otherwise, I ate everything else, but it was so big that I took over half of it home. With it I had a baked potato and all I had to drink was a glass of ice water...it was too late for coffee.

My dessert was huge. It was so big that Dad, the g'daughter, and I couldn't finish it, and I took over half of it home, too. Along with two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream(and remember, I can't eat dairy foods, sigh), there were two mile-high slices of chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate mousse, covered with a, well, maybe it was a ganache. I've never had ganache before, or at least if I have, I didn't realize it, but this might have been. It wasn't a hard layer of chocolate, and it wasn't really a frosting, so...choose a name for it, and that's what I'll call it, lol. Sooooo, over half of that went home with me, too. The next day, Dad and I each had some more of it, and both of us thought that it was better the second day, altho we couldn't figure out why, lol. I finished the last of it Sunday afternoon, after work.

Saturday evening, Dad and I went with my best friend and her fella to an all-you-can-eat buffet, called Green Tomato. I had sliced cucumbers, a tiny bit of cottage cheese, some cole slaw, potato salad, and a combo of watermelon and cantaloupe chunks with slice bananas. Then I had a soft dinner roll, some green beans, and then, dessert! Banana pudding, and the banana pudding there is out of this world...and I'm not crazy about banana pudding any other time. But we had gone out there last year, when Dad was here, and I remembered how good that pudding was. And it still is!!!

Dad was here for a week, and we ate out every night except one, the night I cooked the cheese omelettes. He flew home Monday afternoon, and that evening, he and his lady, two of my sisters and the older one's husband were going to have dinner at Applebee's. Near as I can tell, even when he's home with non-vegetarians, he eats out most of the time. It's nice once in a while, but I think it gets old, and most of the time I'd rather eat at JB's Kitchen, lol. Like this evening: I'm going to make another bean/barley/vegetable soup, and some hot biscuits, and will eat like royalty!!!!

So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Dinner for the Omnivore Dadster!!!

2009-05-08T10:35:00.001-07:00

This week there isn't going to be a new recipe, as I really haven't cooked all that much, and nothing new anyway. It's been a rather hectic week for me, work was busy, so I've been tired and eating mostly sammiches or cereal, and last night just pulled something from the freezer and baked a potato to go with it. My dad arrived Tuesday, the 5th, so I've been talking to him, and we went out to eat Tuesday evening, at the Waffle House where I work. Wheeeeeee! LOL! I had a waffle, hashbrowns, and a couple overlight eggs, and it was adequate.

Around five this evening, Dad's taking me and my granddaughter, the mother of my gorgous little great-grandson, out to an early dinner for Mother's Day. He wanted to do it...logically enough...on Mother's Day, but I flat refuse to go out on Sundays, much less a day like Mother's Day. The crowds and the lines are going to be stupendous, I have no doubt. Even the WH is busy...and btw, if you ever want to take me out on Mother's Day, do NOT insult me by taking me to any Waffle House, anywhere! Got it? Good! Anyway, he's taking us to the Longhorn Steak House. I think this is hilarious...what do you suppose he thinks I'M going to eat, eh? IF he even gave it a thought, which he probably didn't, lol.

So, when we were talking on the phone about his coming down to visit, I told him I was a vegetarian, and he very quickly informed me he wasn't going to be eating vegetarian food. Ok. So, we went to the grocery store after he got here, and he picked up eggs, a can of Dinty Moore, and a can of tuna. So far he's had half the can of Dinty Moore. The night I offered to cook, I wish you could've seen his eyes light up when I told him what I was planning: Cheese omelettes, fried potatoes with onions, biscuits, and sliced tomatoes and cukes. While he was eating, he kept saying how good it was, and of course I had to tease him a little, reminding him that he was eating vegetarian food. "Well," he said, "this is REAL food!" So, um, Dad? What did ya think I ate?!?!

So, until next time...and btw, I'll post again tomorrow to let you know what I had to eat at the steakhouse...Happy Eating!

Dinner for Omnivore Dadster

2009-05-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Lentil Shepherd's Pie(Vegan); Creamy Nut Sauce w/ Spaghetti or Noodles(vegan)

2009-05-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Before I go any further here at all, I need to tell you that I forgot something in my last post. The Two Cheese Potato Casserole was sent to my email by a very dear cyber-friend of mine, but she neglected to tell me where she got it from, other than it was also sent to her. The recipe is NOT one of my own creations, so if the creator of said recipe is reading this, be aware that I think it's a great recipe, and I am NOT taking credit for it. There! Got that off my shoulders, lol. I couldn't stand for anyone to think I had deliberately tried to steal a recipe of theirs to pass of as one of my own, because, that just ain't my style.

Something else...Lap, and Joycie, I know y'all are reading here on occasion, so please, tell the folks on the forum that I've tried...again...to post there, and can't. I even logged out and then logged back in again, to no avail. This is soooooo upsetting, I miss y'all so much. WAAAAAAAAAA! Anyway, tell everyone hello, please...and thank you.

There, I've had a little breakfast, put the dishes in soak, and in a little while will go hang up the last load of laundry. Other than that, all I've done, and all I intend to do, has been to swish the toilet and make the bed. Hopefully, once the med for the thyroid gets into my system, in a couple to three weeks, I'll have a little more energy, and will actually dig in and get this poor little house cleaned. Reckon I'll find out, right

Ok, on to the next two recipes...wow, four in one week, lol, and three of them total winners, in my opinion. The first two are on the post just before this one, just in case you hadn't realized that. The recipe here, for a Lentil Shepherd's Pie, is a combination of two different recipes from about.com, plus an addition of my own, and I was very, very pleased with the results. Definitely a keeper!

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

1 cup lentils, cooked and drained
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp. each dried sage and oregano
1 tsp. salt, dash cayenne pepper
4 large potatoes, peeled and boiled until tender
1/2 to 1 cup hot soy milk, or, 1/2 C each soymilk and "sour cream," or "soygurt"
1 C frozen mixed peas and carrots, canned if that's all you have, or fresh if you like.
1/4 C Parmesan cheese(optional), the vegetarian kind

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

When the potatoes have been peeled, rinsed, and cubed, place them in a saucepan and cover with salted cold water by about 1/2 inch. Place over high heat, covered, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to where the water will be simmering, and let cook about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender enough to mash.

When potatoes are done, drain them, and mash them with the soy milk or the mix of soy milk/sour cream or soygurt, however you prefer, along with as much margarine as you like...or Earth Balance for vegans. If you're using the Parmesan cheese, mix it in with the potatoes now. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the lentils, onion, peas and carrots, seasonings, 2Tbs. margarine, and 1 cup water. While this heats, mix 1/4 flour with 2/3 C soymilk with a fork, until smooth. Stir this into the saucepan with the veggies, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer until it begins to thicken. Once it thickens, check for seasonings, and if needed, add more salt and pepper.

Spread the lentil/veggie mixture in a large baking pan[I used a metal 11in.X7in. pan]. On top of this, I put several slices of the smoked provolone cheese I love so well, but to keep this vegan, you don't have to use it, and, in fact, neither of the recipes I read used it. On top of the cheese, spread the mashed potatoes, and sprinkle with a little more Parmesan if desired[I didn't]. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes are slightly golden, and the sauce mixture is bubbling. Let sit for about three minutes before serving. This looks to me like it would be four hefty servings, or six not-so-hefty, but adequate, servings. Depends on whether or not you serve some side dishes with it.

Like I said, I was very pleased with this, and as it's not too much work, I'll make it again, believe me. It's one of those dishes you could probably serve to your omnivore friends and they'd enjoy it.

This next, and last, recipe for today, is from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman, and again, this one is a keeper. I loved it.

Creamy Nut Sauce

1 cup unsalted nuts, preferable cashews, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts[Mr. Bittman says, however, that any nut OR seed will work, so choose your own favorite one].
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or 4Tbs.(1/4 stick)butter...Earth Balance for vegans
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg(optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cream[soy milk works very well], plus more for thinning if desired.
Milk or veggie stock for thinning, if desired.

1. Use a food processor or blender to grind the nuts to the consistency of coarse meal.
2. Put the oil or butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, add the ground nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes fragrant, about a minute. Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring until the mixture darkens and forms a sort of passte...this is the roux. Sprinkle with nutmeg if you like, salt, and pepper.
3. Pour in the cream and stir or whisk to blend with the roux. Gently cook the sauce without boiling, stirring frequently, until it thickens, 5-7 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning if needed, thin if desired, and serve. Makes about 2 cups.

I poured this over hot spaghetti, served some green peas on the side, and ate like a queen that evening. This stuff is wonderful, I love it, and will absolutely make it again...and again...and again.

It's time to hang up my laundry so my uniforms will be clean for tomorrow, time to do the dishes so i can eat supper tonight, so, until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

Falafel Plate(can be veganized); TwoCheese Potato Casserole(non-vegan)

2009-05-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Good morning, welcome back. How was your week, did it go well for you? Mine was good, I actually had FOUR good days in a row at work, paid the rent and all the utilities in full, bought groceries, and paid the full 20% co-pay for a medical procedure yesterday, so I seem to be doing well.

Today is 43 days, 1274 cigarettes NOT smoked, $243.81 and 9 days, 7hours of my life saved. Not bad, eh? I love the way the quitnet.com calculator can do that, lol. I sure couldn't figure it out, even if I sat down for a couple hours with my own calculator!!!

The medical procedure yesterday was a renal ultrasound. As soon as my pc doctor gets the results, he'll call me, and then he'll refer me to a kidney specialist. I'm not to pleased about this, believe my. It's a weird sensation knowing that my kidneys may be shutting down, but hopefully my doctor has caught it in time that the specialist can do something to keep it from getting worse, and to keep me from having to have dialysis. My other medical problem is treatable with medication, and I started taking yet another drug this past Tuesday...this makes five prescriptions I'm on now. "The road to better living thru chemicals." I guess I should be grateful for the chemicals, they are probably keeping me alive, eh? Two are for high b/p, one is a pain pill, one is Zoloft(antidepressant), and the new one is for an underactive thyroid. Probably the specialist will prescribe another one, too, sigh. But, I don't know that for sure, so I'm just gonna keep it in the now. And ask you to keep me in your prayers, please. Thanks.

Ok, I've got some real recipes for you this week, well, sort of: one of them comes from a box mix, lol. The other one is real, tho, and very good, too. The first one is for a falafel plate, and it came from the May 5th, 2009, issue of Woman's Day.

Falafel Plate

1 box(6oz.)falafel mix[they used Near East, I used Fantastic Foods]
1 cup plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and shredded
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. each pepper, salt, and sugar
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, 1 cup green lettuce, 2 plum tomatoes, sliced thin
4 pita breads

1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Prepare falafel according to package directions for baking
2. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, cucumber, vinegar garlic, pepper, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
3. Place onion in a glass bowl with water to cover. Microwave for 1 minute or ujntil onion softens. Drain.
4. Arrange falafel on a platter with cucumber sauce, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and pitas. Serves four.

Ok, the Fantastic Foods box didn't give baking directions. The mix made seven flat patties, which I put in the oven for about ten minutes. They seemed to be done enough, and not too done, so I guess I judged the time ok.

I don't use dairy products, so instead of yogurt, I used the Tofutti brand of "sour cream" for the sauce, and quite frankly, the sauce turned out to be the best part of the whole thing!!! The next day, I diced up a tomato in the leftover sauce and ate it with some buttered sourdough bread, and it was great, absolutely great. Much better than the falalels, which I didn't really care for, and no, won't be making them again. I WILL made that sauce again, tho, and use it as a sort of side dish or even a sandwich spread. It's that good!!!! Oh, btw, using the Tofutti brand sour cream was what veganized it.

Two Cheese Potato Casserole[could possibly be veganized, by using vegan cheeses]
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 oz. cream-style cottage cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 green onion, chopped, or more to taste
1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish.
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes, and drain well.
In large bowl, combine next 6 ingredients, and mix well. Stir in the potatoes, and spoon all into the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the cheddar and paprika over the top, and bake 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

This was to die for, no kidding, even tho I had to make some substitutions along the way. First of all, I didn't have any cottage cheese, so I had to fake it: 8 ounces of firm silken tofu, crumbled up, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of cider vinegar, and let it sit a couple minutes, to sour it a little. It was a pretty good substitute. The sour cream, of course, was the Tofutti brand. Now, here's where I went off on my own, lol: I mixed in maybe two tablespoonsful of chevre goat cheese, flavored with dried tomatoes and basil, just to give the "dairy" base a little boost of flavor, as it was really pretty bland. I baked it in a ten inch glass pie plate, turning the oven 25º lower than the recipe called for. When it was time to sprinkle it with the cheddar, I just laid four slices of my beloved smoked provolone vegetarian cheese over the top, and put it back in the oven for about ten minutes, I guess. Totally forgot the paprika!!! Loved it, I really loved it, but don't imagine I'll make it often at all. It's one of those things that's just a "tad" too much work, lol. We all know I'm lazy, right?

I've discovered another good "meat" product, too, and ate it with the Cheese and Potato Casserole last night: Gardenburger brand "BBQ Riblets." Very, very good, and when I can afford them, I'll buy them again. The flavor is a wonderfully deep and rich smoky bbq sauce flavor, and the ribs are a very meaty texture, and actually taste sort of meaty, too. Wish I could figure out how to do that here at home. If you know how to do it, please email me and tell me, would you? My email is on the left side of the page, quite a ways down, btw.

This has made me hungry, so I'm going to go find something for breakfast. Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Broccoli and Tofu in Garlic Sauce, vegan

2009-04-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, again. Another gorgous day here in the Sunny South, and so was yesterday: sunny, light breeze, and the temps went up into the 90's, which is really just too high for me. Today promises to be about the same. Last night we had some wicked storming going on, hail, lightening, thunder, heavy, heavy rain, wind, and the warning sirens going off all around me. Fortunately, my little house and I came thru just fine, and so did my neighbors. I admit to being a little scared, tho, because that hail really pounded on the roof and on the skylights. Believe me, I did some serious praying...and my prayers were answered.

Today is 36 days, 1069 cigarettes NOT smoked, and $204.12 and 8 days, 3 hours of my life saved. I'm impressed. The best part is that the urge to smoke hits me less and less the longer I stay quit. It still feels very weird, tho. I smoked for around 47 years, and now, well, it's certainly different, lol. Right this moment, I guess I like it...ask me again in an hour or so, tho, ok?

The recipe today comes from www.about.com, in the vegetarian section. If you've never checked out the veg section over there, I think it's worth your time to do so. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Broccoli and Tofu in Garlic Sauce...vegan
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3Tbs. olive oil
2C broccoli, chopped
1lb. firm or extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 1/2tsp. ginger powder
1/4tsp. cayenne pepper
3TBS corn starch
1/4C soy sauce
1C water

Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes.
In large skillet, saute onions and garlic in oliver oil until onions turn clear, about 3-5 minutes.
Add tofu, broccoli, ginger, and cayenne to pan, and cook until broccoli is done, about 6-8 minutes.
In separate bowl, mix together the corn starch, soy sauce, and water, and add this mixture to the tofu and broccoli. Cook until sauce thickens, then remove from heat. Serve over rice or grains.

This is wonderful, it really is, and yes, I will most definitely be making it again some time. It makes quite a lot, and altho about.com didn't give serving amounts, I think probably four would be about right. The 1/4 tsp. of cayenne looked a little much to me, so I cut it down to 1/8tsp, but even that gave a little too much heat for me...not enough to ruin my enjoyment of this dish, but my mouth felt pretty much like it was on fire, lol. If you like it hot, fine, go with the full amount or maybe even more, it's your call. The night I made it, I put it over couscous, and the next night, I had green beans and biscuits with it. And there's enough for one more meal, lol.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Eating.

Seitan and Onion Gravy...vegan

2009-04-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning. Beautiful day in the metro Atlanta area, pushing the 70's, sunny, breezy, and I have a front lawn full of buttercups, so cheerful and happy looking, lol. All that is outside, tho. It's not all that cheerful and happy in here...again...altho yesterday I had a really good day. But, since I have to go back to work tomorrow, I expected today to be a depressed one, sigh. It's just getting harder and harder to go to work now, and to enjoy it once I'm there. Waffle House has changed so much over the years, and every change they make seems to make life harder for the wait staff, and generally seems to hurt our tips, as well. So, I just don't like the job anywhere near as much as I used to!!!

Anyway, yesterday was good, like I said. I went to the library and took out my usual 10-14 books, two of which are cookbooks. One is vegetarian, by Linda McCartney, wife of Paul of Beatle fame, and the other isn't vegetarian, but it's sort of a "story" cookbook, from Amish country. Then I went to Kroger and bought two pints of my beloved Tofutti "ice cream," along with a few other groceries, including tortillas and picante sauce for burritos for my supper last night. I used the Tofu Taco Filling that I've posted here, along with re-fried beans and "cheese," and the leftovers, I think, will go into some vegetarian chili for supper tonight. Maybe. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in by then.

Today is day 29, 858 cigarettes not smoked, $164.43 and 6 days, 13 hours of my life saved! Not bad, eh? Do I want to smoke? Oh, yeah, I can't candycoat this in any way at all, because I do want a cigarette. I'm just not going to give in, that's all. Fortunately, the cravings are coming slower now, so hopefully they'll all but disappear before too much longer.

Ok, I admit it: I'm having a love affair with seitan, believe it or not. My latest way to use it is to dice it up and make a gravy with it, sort of like beef tips only beefless. And yes, it's very, very good. I've made it a couple times, and each time ate leftovers for a couple days afterwards, enjoying them as much as the original dish. There's still some in the freezer, but yesterday I bought another bag of the vital wheat gluten, and will be trying yet one more seitan recipe before too long, I think. Each time I make it, I learn a little more about it, and eventually, I think I will have my own recipe for seitan, from combining a little from this recipe, a little from that recipe, etc.

So, again, no actual recipe, just "as you like it" amounts for the most part, ok? About two cups of diced seitan, and one medium onion diced. Saute them both in a hot skillet with about two tablespoonsful of olive oil, Earth Balance, Blue Bonnet, whatever you prefer. When the seitan is browning and crisping, and the onions are starting to also brown a little, add about one tablespoonful of steak sauce(I use the Kroger version of 57 Sauce, which is called 1883 Sauce)and stir until it's incorporated thruout all the onions and the seitan, letting it sort of "scorch" onto the bottom of the pan. Just before you stir in the steak sauce, sprinkle a teaspoonful of minced garlic over the onions and seitan, and stir it in well. Then go ahead with the steak sauce. This should all take between 10-15 minutes, btw. While things are browning, stir one tablespoonful of corn starch into one cup of cold water until it's dissolved. Add one cup of cold water to the skillet, stirring to get the "scorched" off the bottom of the pan, and then add the cornstarch/water mixture, stirring until it comes to a boil. If it looks too thick, add more water. Otherwise, turn the heat down to very low, and just let it simmer for about ten minutes, add salt and pepper if you wish. And that's it, that's all there is to it. Easy, eh? It's really good over any kind of potato, altho my two choices are mashed potatoes and baked potatoes, and usually baked, because it's so much easier, lol: Just stick it in the oven(well, ok, you have to scrub it first, and then I always stick a knife thru it in a couple places, to keep it from exploding in the oven)at 400ºF and go back and take it out in about an hour!!! So, potatoes and gravy, and whatever vegetable you'd like to go with it...green peas go really well with it, I think.

I can't think of anything else to say, so, until next time, Happy Eating.

Seitan "Philly Cheesesteak," non-vegan; Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie, non-vegan

2009-04-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

No real recipes this week, as I haven't tried any new ones, just played around with some of the leftovers in my 'fridge and freezer. Turned out pretty good, too, I'm pleased to say, especially the Seitan "Philly Cheesesteak." The Shepherd's Pie was truly wonderful, and the fact that it's a "non-recipe" will make it easy for anyone to make one, honest, it really will.

Before I get to the non-recipes, tho, allow me to babble for a little bit, please...or hey, just scroll on down to get to the food stuff. I won't know, and, quite frankly, won't care, either, lol. Anyway, today makes 22 smokefree days for me. Seems like yesterday, #21, was one of the worst. I'm tired, I'm not sleeping well, I of course have cravings for a cigarette, and yesterday and today, for no reason that I can figure out, I am mega-depressed, to the point that I can't do The Next Right Thing, nor have I been able to function enough to even do The Routine. Sigh. BIG sigh.

Something wonderful did happen yesterday, tho, so even in the Black Hole, there shines a little light at times. Have I told you that I'm a greatgrandmother...and yup, I remember telling you. Anyway, I spent an hour with my two week old greatgrandson yesterday evening, while his mom and other greatgrands went grocery shopping. So I was able to snuggle with him in the rocking chair for a while, before I put him on the loveseat with pillows around him...just in case. He's so tiny, and gives off so much heat...and talks in his sleep, lol. It was nice, I enjoyed it, but sure don't envy my granddaughter for having a new baby!!!

So, about the food. First, the Seitan "Philly Cheesecake." My last attempt at making seitan, as I've told you, wasn't all that good, but I managed anyway to salvage most of it. Some of it is in the freezer, and some of it I had left in the refrigerator, for about a month?...maybe only three weeks. Anyway, it was fine, it kept very well...good to know for future reference. So, it was driving me nuts, trying to figure out what to do with it. Last Wednesday, while shopping at Kroger, I picked up a marked down package of hoagie rolls, which turned into the inspiration for the "cheesesteak." So, I cut the seitan into strips, and sauteed them in a mix of margarine, olive oil, and soy sauce, and after they'd browned a little bit, threw some steak sauce in there, too. While it sat there and cooked, I sliced a goodsized onion and let it caramelize. Then I dragged out the vegetarian smoked provolone cheese, as well as some chevre goat cheese, and put the chevre across the bottom of the bun, and then layered the provolone on top of that. Then the seitan and some of the juices, and then the onion. Wonderful. I was delighted with my "cheesesteak" sammich, I really was, and plan on making it again sometime. Everything was "to your taste," which is why there isn't a real recipe for it. Just make it up as you go along, ok? Little bit of irony here: I never ever liked the real Philly Cheesesteak, not at all, but I loved my vegetarian cheesesteak!!!

Ok, now for the Shepherd's Pie. Remember the post from last week, with the stew of sweet potatoes, beans, corn, and tomatoes? The one I didn't use the corn in ? Anyway. I sure had a LOT of that leftover, so one of the things I did with it was to make the Shepherd's Pie. I've also done that with a Lentil Stew, too, so you can make this with any kind of leftover, thick soup/stew you want to, or, if you prefer, of course you can start from scratch. I prefer not to do that, it's way too much work, lol. Anyway. I boiled four smallish potatoes, and I'm going to tell you right now, that wasn't enough, I should've boiled more. While they were boiling, I sliced a big onion and let it caramelize, in quite a bit of olive oil and Earth Balance, a vegan margarine substitute that I decided to try, and don't especially care for...I'm still a Blue Bonnet person...and quite a lot of smoked paprika and black pepper for seasonings. I scooped about four ladlesful of the stew into an oiled 9"X5" loaf pan, and laid three slices of the provolone cheese on top, along with two slices of so-called "cheddar" cheese...the cheddar isn't very good, but I hate to see it go to waste in the fridge, y'know. Then I smoothed the potatoes over all of that, and then the onions on top of everything. Put it in the pre-heated oven, 350ºF, and left it there for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes were browning a little bit around the edges, the cheeses had melted, and the onions were nice and crispy. This stuff is wonderful, too. I was sooooo pleased with it, and am pretty sure that it's what I'm going to re-heat this evening for supper. I'm not totally sure how to re-heat it, but I think I'll just put it in a skillet with a little water, cover it, and let it sit there for a few minutes...however long it takes it to heat thru. 15 minutes, maybe? I honestly don't know.

Maybe next week I'll have some "real" recipes for you. Until next time, Happy Eating.

Slow Cooker Stew s/Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Corn(Vegan)

2009-04-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning, for the second day in a row, lol. Rather unusual, but I made a new soup last night, and wanted to post it for you. But first, I have to go "shift" my washing machine into its next cycle, sigh. The poor thing is dying, but I really can't complain too much, as it was second-hand when I bought it for $125, ten years ago. So, I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it!! BRB! Ok, I'm back, and you didn't even miss me, admit it!!!

I think I mentioned yesterday that I was supposed to work today, for four hours, which meant that I wouldn't have another day off until next Wednesday, but, miracles do happen, and lo and behold, I have today off, thank goodness. It's chilly(59ºF)and cloudy outside, but since I don't have to go anywhere today, I really don't care, and, quite frankly, I hope it rains again. I've been up since about 5:50AM, and so far have gotten dressed, swished and swiped the bathroom, done the meds/vitamins, prayer/Bible/devotions, made the bed, and started the load of towels, and I think that's probably all I'm going to do today, even tho my teeny tiny little house is a mess, and needs cleaning, sigh. Tsk.

So, about the new soup. I found it on www.veggiemealplans.com and thought the recipe sounded good. Last night I decided to try it.

Slow Cooker Stew w/Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Corn

1-28oz. can of unsalted whole tomatoes, including the juice.
3C sweet potato chunks.
2C EACH cooked cannelini and lima beans, and frozen corn kernels.
1 lg. onion, diced, 2 lg. cloves garlic, minced.
3C vegetable broth.
1Tbs. EACH paprika and dried basil, 1 tsp. dried thyme.

Dump tomatoes into slow cooker and crush with your hands or back of a wooden spoon. Mix in everything else, cover, and slow-cook, until tender, either one hour on high or about seven on low. Your heat settings and cooking times may need to be adjusted to your slow-cooker or for your own preferences.

Makes enough for 8 servings or more.

And I have no idea why I lost the color, sigh. Doesn't really matter, tho, I reckon.

This made a huge potful of stew. I used canned everything, as that was all I had available to work with, except corn, which I don't eat, because it hates me. I didn't use a slow-cooker, either, altho I do have one. It's in a hard to get to storage spot, plus it's been sitting there so long that it's covered with dust and grease and I wasn't in the mood to dig it out and clean it up. Maybe I should, tho...just in case, right? I also didn't have any garlic, because I smelled my jar of minced garlic, and it didn't smell right at all, so I just put the lid back on and tossed it. Lesson learned: do NOT buy the big jar of minced garlic from now on, JB. Use the smaller jars, ok? 'K. Anyway, I grabbed a jar of garlic powder from the cupboard, shooke in what looked like enough, and as I put the jar back in the cupboard, I realized that it didn't say "powder," it said "garlic SALT!" Uh-oh! Thankfully, it didn't cause the stew to be over salty.

Ok, it wasn't the best stew in the world, but it wasn't the worst, it was edible, and it's worth saving and freezing for later. Will I make it again? I really don't think so, but if I do, I think I'll cook my own beans, and use fresh sweet potatoes. And since I've discovered that I can eat a lot of things that I didn't used to be able to when I ate meat, I just might buy some corn and try it in the soup, just to see what happens. I love corn. Now that I'm not cooking with meat, I've found out that I can eat chili, very spicy chili, with a LOT of beans, and it does...not...bother...my...system...at...all!!!!! Sooooo, maybe I can sneak some corn back into my diet. I plan to try, anyway.

One idea that this stew gave me was to make another one, but different: home-cooked and seasoned pinto beans, onions, garlic, thyme, and the sweet potatoes, either canned or fresh, but NO tomatoes. Sounds good to me...oh, yeah, simmer the pintos with a bay leaf, too.

Guess that's it for today, got to go shift the blasted washer again, sigh. So, until next time, Happy Eating.

Tofu Taco Filling(vegan); JB's Burritos(non-vegan)

2009-04-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day in Georgia, and again, I'm delighted and hope it will rain some more tonight and/or tomorrow. It never bothers me when it rains on my days off, because, and I'm pretty sure I've said this before, I love rainy days, and always have.

Ok, I have to make a public confession and apology here, altho it's not about anything too awfully serious. Last week I said that my number of cigarettes not smoked was 900+, but I was wayyyyyyy wrong, lol. The number for that day last week was only 222, which really sounds more logical, right? The figures for this week, as of yesterday evening, are: not smoked, 386; lifetime saved, 2 days, 22 hours; money saved, $73.71. By 9:30 this evening, I will be smoke-free for a full two weeks. Yesterday at work, I came awfully close to relapsing, but didn't, managed to white-knuckle it thru the whole day, but it was really hard. Never realized how much anger could influence the urge to smoke, but it does. I honestly don't remember ever being that angry for that long, at work, ever before, because of my boss and a female co-worker. It's too long a story to go into here, even tho I'd really love to vent...again...but if I did, I'd just get angry all over again, so, guess I'll just talk about cooking, lol. About making my homemade burritos...not the tortillas, please understand, but the filling and rolling and heating. The Tofu Taco Filling recipe is from someone named Wendy O, who sent it in to recipezaar.com. Recipezaar has a pretty good vegetarian section, if you didn't already know, and is worth checking out sometime for new recipes.

TOFU TACO FILLING

16oz. firm tofu, frozen and then thawed.
1Tbs. EACH soy sauce and Mrs. Dash Original Blend
2Tbs chili powder
1tsp. oregano, 1/2tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp black pepper
1C canned corn
2C salsa

Directions:
1. Wring out and crumble the thawed tofu.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the tofu[Either she didn't give the amount of oil to use or I didn't copy it down, take your pick, but I used about 1Tbs. olive oil and 1Tbs. of margarine with good results. Vegans just use the oil.]
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook to heat thru and combine flavors.

That's it, easy peasy, and pretty darned good, too. Now, I only used one tablespoonful of chili powder, and it was plenty for me, almost too much, in fact. So, use your own discretion here, ok? I didn't have any of the Mrs. Dash, and have never used it at all, so I don't know how that would affect the recipe. And on top of that, I literally forgot the soy sauce, lol. Even without those two ingredients, tho, it was good. So, what did I do for the rest of the burrito fillings?

First thing I did was rinse and drain a can of pinto beans. While they were draining, I diced up a small onion, and started sauteing(did I spell that right?)it in my usual combination of olive oil and margarine, about two tablespoonsful. When the beans were drained enough to suit me, I dumped them right in on top of the onions...I had let the onions saute for about five minutes, I guess...and started mashing them with my potato masher. After it was mostly mashed, I let it brown a little on the bottom before turning it and letting the other side brown a little bit, too. While the beans were browing, I spread a tortilla with some chevre goat cheese, and put some of the tofu filling on top of the cheese. Then I put two slices of smoked provolone vegetarian "cheese" on top of the tofu, and spooned some of the now-refried beans on top of that. A few pieces of diced tomato, and I rolled it all up, and put it on a hot griddle to heat, took about four minutes to get it warm and slightly brown all over. Oh, man, it was super, it really was. I ate it with some Tofutti "Sour Supreme" sour cream, which just set it off to perfection, lol.

There was enough of the beans and the tofu filling for me to have two burritos, and enough tofu leftover to freeze about a good cupful, I think. My plans for it are to let it thaw, see if I can't refry it and crisp it up some, and then add it to homemade vegetarian chili...I'm getting the urge for chili again.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Seitan "Pork Cutlets;"...vegan. Spaghetti Sauce w/Seitan

2009-03-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day, about the third in a row for GA, I think, altho mostly it's been an off and on sort of rain. This morning, tho, it's been coming down very nicely for about four or five hours now, and I'm delighted, of course. I absolutely LOVE rainy days, especially on my days off(perfect day for making soup!), and we still need the rain, as we're still in a drought situation.

Got a few things to mention before I get to the recipes this week. First and most importantly, I'm very proud to announce that as of Wednesday, 3/25/09, 5:15PM, I became a great-grandmother!! And I'm ONLY 61, which I think is fairly young to be a great. The baby was 6lbs., 6oz., and 19inches long. His name is Rayden Elijah Lee, and those are his first names. I won't mention his last name here. The Rayden caught me totally by surprise, as my dgd hadn't mentioned that name to me, just the Elijah Lee. Her custodial grandfather came by yesterday evening to tell me...if I'd been offline Wednesday, I'd have known as soon as the baby was born, lol...and showed my Rayden's picture. He's actually pretty good-looking, for a newborn!!! I'm looking forward to seeing and holding him.

Secondly, as of Thursday, 3/26/09, 9:30PM, I have been a non-smoker for one whole week, which means, according to www.quitnet.com, that I have made it thru "Hell Week." According to their calculator on the site, I've saved a little over $49, added 1 day and 17 hours to my life, and not smoked over 900 cigarettes...I can't remember the exact number. I'm impressed, lol.

So, this week's recipe is another seitan recipe, Seitan "Pork Cutlets," but I didn't taste any pork flavor in them at all. I also didn't like this seitan recipe as well as I ended up liking the one for the vegetarian lunchmeat seitan, but I'm still going to post it, as it gives you another option for making seitan. And, like the first one, itmakes a whole heckuva lot, so be prepared to freeze some for a later use. The recipe is from httoL..www.vegan-food.net/recipe/225/Seitan-Pork-Cutlets/

...............................SEITAN "PORK CUTLETS".................................

2C vital wheat gluten
2Tbs. nutritional yeast flakes
1tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1C cold water, 1/2C hot water mixed w/2tsp. vegemite or other yeast extract
2Tbs. EACH ketchup and soy sauce
2tsp. Kitchen Bouquet or other gravy browner, optional

COOKING BROTH:
4 1/2C water and 2-4 vegetable stock cubes
1C chopped onions
1/4????ground dried Chinese mushrooms[I'm guessing 1/4 cup]
2Tbs. ketchup, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp. EACH white pepper and paprika, 1 tsp. dried sage.

METHOD:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk liquid ingredients together. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix will, until it forms a ball.
To make cutlets, divide the uncooked gluten into 12 pieces and flatten them with your hands and/or a rolling pin as thinly as you can(they will expand). For stew chunks, cut into small pieces.

Place in a casserole dish and cover with the cooking broth. Cover and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, then at 300ºF for another 30 minutes[SEE NOTE*]. Cool and store in cooking broth. You can also just simmer(do not boil, as this makes it spongy)on top of stove for an hour.

*NOTE: Comment from a reader who is a professional seitan maker: "It takes AT LEAST 2 hours to bake it. If it is too soft, it doesn't have enough water...just add and add and add and after the time has elapsed you will see the toughness emerge. Baked seitan gets SOFTER before it gets harder. Keep baking, keep adding water...add seasoned water, heavily salted water will help prevent too much diffusion of your flavors out into the cooking broth...be sure there is some OIL in the water, too! Like 1/2C for a large pan...."

First of all, when I added the water to my dry ingredients, somehow I added two cups of the cold water, instead of just one, as called for. So, then I had to dump in more vital gluten, and add more spices, and hope for the best. Considering my screw-up, I guess the seitan wasn't as bad as it could be, but it sure could've been better, I think. I baked half of it and simmered half of it on the stove, and both methods made the seitan very WET, so I'm guessing I did something else wrong, but don't know what it is.

I also need to tell you that I have no clue as to what vegemite is, so didn't use that or any other yeast extract, and don't know if it made much of a difference or not. Instead of the nutritional yeast flakes, I used 2Tbs. of vegetarian Parmesan cheese, and since "nooch" is used in place of cheeses, don't believe the Parmesan made too much difference.

What I did with the baked portion was to put it back into the oven, no more broth, and left it there for about another hour, at 300ºF, which dried it out considerably. The batch that was simmered is still in the fridge, still wet, and hopefully it hasn't gone bad yet, and I can salvage it, too.

With the baked and then re-baked portion, I did two things: I made a pan-fried seitan with gravy which was pretty darned good, and then I made a spaghetti sauce with chunks of fried seitan, which was excellent.

To make the gravy, I chunked up as much seitan as I thought I'd eat, and then tossed it into a hot skillet with olive oil and butter, and let it get nice and brown and crispy. Then I used the broth from the baking, about two cups I think, to make the gravy: poured it over the seitan in the frying pan and let it come to a simmer. When it was hot, I ladled out about 1/2 cup into a bowl, and put about 2Tbs. cornstarch into the hot liquid, and whisked it smooth with a fork. Then poured it back into the frying pan, and let it come to a boil and get to the thickness I wanted. It was very, very good, and I have the leftovers in the freezer.

The spaghetti sauce was easy, too. One 15oz. can each diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, onions, bay leaf, garlic, and Italian seasoning, and then the seitan chunks, let it all simmer for about 15 minutes or so. The first time, I put it over tri-coloured rotini. With the leftovers, I buttered and grilled one side each of two slices of sourdough bread, laying slices of vegetarian Smoked Provolone "cheese" on the unbuttered side. When the bread had browned and the "cheese" started melting, I transferred them to a plate and poured the heated sauce and seitan over it. Wow! It was wonderful, it truly was! I will definitely do it again some day.

That's all I have for this week, so, until next time, Happy Eating!!

Navy Bean and Greens Soup...Vegan

2009-03-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Happy First Day of Spring to you!!!! I love spring, it's my favorite time of year, seems to be filled with promises of rebirth, renewal of life, and all sorts of new vegetation growing, as well. So, with this being a time of renewal, I am now a non-smoker!!! I smoked my last Salem at 9:30 yesterday evening, Friday the 19th of March, 2009. So this morning was my first morning to wake up and not light a cigarette before heading into the bathroom. It was my first morning that I didn't smoke a cigarette with my coffee. How do I feel about this? Believe it or not, I'm excited, I really am. For about two to three weeks now, I've been psyching myself up to doing this, knowing that when I finished the last of the carton of Salems on my desk I was quitting, so when I smoked the last cigarette last night, that was it. This makes this springtime, this time of renewal, a time of renewal for me, as well, as I'm starting a whole new life here, a life in which my house will smell better, my clothes will smell better, my hair will smell better, I will breathe better, I won't cough as much(altho I honestly don't cough much now), I will feel better, and I will have a LOT more money in my pocket, because I won't be spending close to $200 a month any more, and watching my money literally go up in smoke. I've cleaned and put away two ashtrays, and thrown two others in the trash, so there aren't any ashtrays visible in my home now. I refuse to be enslaved any more, and I'm bustin' out, lol. So, even tho I'm excited about doing this, I do ask that you keep me in your thoughts, sending me good wishes, hopes, and prayers, ok? Thanks, I appreciate you.

I don't have a "real" recipe to post this week, as I didn't do a whole lot of cooking this past week. We were very, very busy at work, I worked six days instead of four or five, and I was just too tired to come home and cook. Either I ate the leftover "Beef" with Guinness Stew, or just sandwiches or toast or cereal. Which reminds me: I didn't tell you that when I made the stew, I did NOT use Guinness, for two reasons. First being that I just didn't want to go to the liquor store and pay for it, and the second being that I knew darned well that if I did get some, I'd drink it, thus ruining my 20+ years of sobriety, and none of it would end up in the stew, lol. So, I used seven cups of water with two veggie buillion cubes, and one cup of Japanese white rice cooking wine. It worked. It was just sooooo good. My wine is gone, I used the last of it last night, so I've got to get some more and make this stew again, it's that good.

Last night's supper was a soup of sorts: Navy Beans and Turnip Greens. I didn't use a recipe, altho there's more than likely one out there. Y'know, tho, once you've made a few soups, you pretty much get the general idea of what to do, and don't always need a recipe to make a soup. There are soups out there that I'd need a recipe for, some of the Thai soups, and of course the different peanut soups, that even tho I can't eat peanuts, I'm going to try one day, but using cashews. Anyway. In the morning, I put about a cup to a cup and a half of navy beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by an inch, brought 'em to a boil, and after boiling for a couple minutes, turned it off and let the beans sit there for about two hours. Then I drained them and rinsed them off. I wiped out the large pot, put it over medium heat with about one tablespoonful of olive oil, and added a small onion, diced, one stalk celery, diced, and one carrot(fairly large), diced, and let them fry in the oil for about five minutes. Then I put the beans on top of the veggies, added one large bay leaf, and poured eight cups of water over all of it, along with two veggie buillion cubes, and about a teaspoonful of tarragon leaves. Brought it all to a boil over high heat, added the last of the wine(about 1/4C, I think), and let it simmer over low heat for hours. And hours, sigh. The beans never really did soften up, altho after about four hours they were just soft enough to chew, sigh. OH! I almost forgot: before I brought it to a boil, before I put the wine in, I added half of a 16oz. bag of turnip greens w/turnips, then to the boil, the wine, etc.

Ok, here's my thoughts on this soup. I used too much tarragon. Either none at all or only about 1/2tsp. would be better. The beans needed to be a whole lot softer. I want my beans to be so soft they're about melting into the soup, lol. Possibly the salt in the buillion cubes had something to do with it, or, the beans may have just been very old, which means it will take more cooking to soften them up...which is what I'm doing right now. I also added some leftover spinach that was in the 'fridge, and it's all sitting on the stove simmering now, for either lunch or supper this evening. Tastewise, it was pretty good, even with too much tarragon, good enough that I'm willing to eat it again, and what I don't eat, I'll freeze. I'd like to try this with spinach, I think...or maybe even broccoli. Seems to me that white beans and broccoli would make a good soup, don't you think?

So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

More St. Patrick's Day: Colcannon; Pease Porridge...Vegan

2009-03-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

When I posted two days ago, I clicked the wrong thing at the wrong time, and published the post before I was ready to. Duh, right? So this evening, I'm going to post two more recipes, both of which are from the same site: http://vegparidise.com/cookingwith83.html.

Before I do, tho, I want to tell you that I made the Vegetarian "Beef" and Guinness Stew last night, and that I loved it. It was really good, and I'm going to have it for supper again tonight. What really amazed me about it was the seitan, it was sooooo good prepared the way the recipe says to do, and I fully intend to do cook seitan that way again. It was fantastic, and after all the unkind things I'd said about seitan before, it shocked me, lol. Anyway...here's the first recipe.

Two-Tone Colcannon

2lbs. boiling potatoes(Yukon Gold, white, or red rose)
4C finely shredded purple cabbage
3C finely shredded green cabbage
1/4C water
2tsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4-1/C soymilk
1-1 1/2Tbs. nutritional yeast flakes(optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 green onions, sliced

1. Scrub potatoes, don't peel, and cut into quarters or eighths if they are very large. Put in 4-qt. saucepan, and cover with water by 1 inch. Cover pan and bring to boil over high heat. Lower to medium-high, and boil gently for about 8-10 minutes, or until fork tender.

2. Meanwhile, put 3 cups purple cabbage and all of the green cabbage and the waater into a large, deep skillet, cover, and steam over high heat about 5-7 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

3. Remove cover, add olive oil, and cook and stir 1-2 minutes, or until cabbage is thoroughly softened. Set aside.

4. Transfer cooked and drained potatoes to large bowl and mash with enought soymilk to creat a smooth, creamy texture. Season with the yeast flakes if using, along with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes to the cabbage along with half the green onions and mix together.

5. Transfer the colcannon to an attractive serving bowl or platter and garnish with the remaining green onions. Finish by garnishing the perimeter of bowl or platter with the remaining purple cabbage. Makes five to six servings.

Pease Porridge
2C water, and 1C green split peas[I would prefer yellow, but can't find them around here...or at least not in Kroger)
2tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4-3/4tsp. low sodium soy sauce
1/4tsp. pepper

Combine water and peas in 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to medium-low, partially cover pan, and cook for 45 minutes, or until peas are soft enought to mash and the water is absorbed. Check the water content occasionally during the cooking and add more if needed. The mixture will be very thick.

Transfer peas to processor and add the olive oil, soy sauce, and pepper. Process until very smooth and fullypureed. Transfer peas to an attractive serving bowl, or spoon onto a serving platter and shape into a shamrock. Makes four servings.

Ok, that's it for now, it's time to turn on my oven so I can bake some biscuits to go with my "beef" stew this evening. It's raining and chilly and damp and the perfect night for a good, hot soup...and buttered biscuits!!!

Until next time, Happy Eating!

St. Patrick's Day Vegetarian Recipes

2009-03-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

The post before last, I told you I would find and post some St. Patrick's Day recipes, so, here they are. The first one comes from www.about.com from the vegetarian pages there. If you've never been there, I highly recommend you check them out. Hopefully my link works, but if not, copy and paste into your address bar, and then after going to about.com, type "vegetarian recipes" into their search bar. Should work just fine.

First of all, since the first recipe calls for seitan, I'm going to post the definition of seitan from about.com, for anyone that doesn't know what seitan is.

Definition of Seitan: "Altho it is made from wheat, seitan has little in common with flour or bread. Also called 'wheat meat,' 'wheat gluten,' or simply 'gluten,' seitan becomes surprisingly similiar to the look and feel of meat when cooked, making it a popular meat substitute. Seitan is also high in protein, making it a popular protein source for vegetarians....Seitan also is the base for several commercially available products such as Tofurkey deli slices.

Seitan can be prepared by hand using either wheat flour or vital wheat gluten, and is made by rinsing away the starch in the wheat, leaving high-protein gluten behind. Prepared seitan can be found in the refrigerated section of most health food stores."

I don't think that's a really good definition, but it'll have to do.

Vegetarian "Beef" and Guiness Stew

Prep time: 10 minutes Cooktime: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
Approx. 14oz.seitan, cut in thin strips
2Tbs. each soy sauce and olive oil
1Tbs. steak sauce
3Tbs. butter or margarine(vegans can use Earth Balance)
1 onion, diced, 3 ribs celery, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 2 med. potatoes, diced;
3cloves garlic, minced.
2-12oz. bottles of Guiness stout, OR 1 bottle and 1 1/2C veggie broth
2Tbs. flour/ 1Tbs. chopped fresh thyme(1/2Tbs.dried); 1tsp. sugar, optional.

Preparation:
Saute seitan in olive oil and soy sauce until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat, add steak sauce and stir until seitan is lightly coated. Remover from heat and set aside.

In large pot, saute veggies and garlic in butter or margerine 3-5 minutes, or until onions are slightly soft. Reduce heat and slowly add Guinness, gently stirring to combine. Add flour, thyme, salt and pepper and stir well[I guess this is where you would add the optional sugar.]. Add seitan and allow stew to simmer until stout reduces and stew thickens, about 40-5- minutes.

Reader Review:
"WARNING:...Guinness is not a vegetarian beverage. It contains isinglass...a byproduct of the fishing trade used to settle/clarify the stout....There are...stouts out there that don't use isinglass, so by all means, try this recipe."

And btw, I haven't tried any of these Irish recipes yet, so I can't give my opinion of any of them. But, they all looked good to me, and eventually, I do plan on cooking them. I was going to make this stew tonight, because I have some seitan in the 'fridge, but I'm not going to have time. And I don't have any steak sauce...I don't eat steak, so why would I have it, right? Anyway, maybe I can get by with a mix of ketchup, mustard, garlic, and Balsamic vinegar?

Ok, all of these next recipes come from a wonderful blogsite called "Vegetarians in Paradise." I found a whole bunch of Easter/Passover recipes there today, but, I'm not going to post them, because there are so many that I jsut do NOT want to copy them all down and then come here and post them, lol. Lazy. So here's the URL for the St. Patrick's Day recipes, and once you're there, click on "holidays" and look for Easter...or whatever holiday you choose. http://www.vegparidise.com/cookingwith83.html
Hope that works, sigh...if not, use the copy and paste, and the address bar. You knew that, tho, right?

Irish Soda Bread(Vegan)
1 1/2C plus 2Tbs. unsweetened soymilk and 1Tbs. plus 1 1/2tsp. vinegar
4Cwhole wheat pastry flour[according to "Vegan with a Vengeance," by Isa Muskowitz, you can use all-purpose flour if you prefer, or if you don't have any wheat flour.]
1tsp. each baking soda and salt.

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine woymilk and vinegar, and set aside.

3. Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Form a well in center, and add soured soymilk, stirring with a large spoon until mixture forms a dough firm enough to shape into a ball.

4. Place dough on parchment paper and form into a circle 8in. in diameter and about 1 1/2 in. thick. Using a sharp knife, make 3 vertical slits about 1/2in. deep, and 2in. apart. Then, crisscross with 3 horizontal cuts about 2in.apart(plus signs: +++). These will make it easier to slice the baked bread into portions.

5. Bake the bread 40-45 minutes or until bread forms a golden brown firm top and bottom crust[it should sound hollow when tapped on the top]. Serve immediately or warm gently to serve later.

This is not the same recipe I used for the soda bread I posted about in an earlier post, without the recipe. This one is less complicated, a few less ingredients, and I'm anxious to try it, but I don't have any flour, and forgot to buy any yesterday. Sheesh.

Tofu Veggie Burgers

2009-03-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

My only day off until next Wednesday and Thursday, darnit! Tomorrow, Friday, I don't have to go in until 10am, instead of 7am, but still, that's not the same as a full day off, now is it? My schedule has changed, because one of our first shift associates has left, after working a two week notice, and I'm moving into his schedule at the manager's request. Fine by me, as it gives me Fridays now, which are usually busier than M-T-W, which is what I've been working.

Got up late this morning, around 8, which was ok, because I had actually slept for about nine hours without waking up one single time...that I can remember, anyway. I did that Wednesday night, too, I think. Highly unusual, but I'd like to do it more often. Anyway, I got started late, and then had company: Old Man, who had to move out in January of '08 because of a major stroke, came by. He drove to Florida and back about a month ago(and has recovered really well from that stroke, thank God, or he wouldn't have been able to drive, by himself, all that way!)and had brought me back some rusty stuff. I LOVE RUSTY STUFF! Don't know why, but I do. He brought me an old cowbell, which is already hanging on my front door, and an old, old meat grinder. It's not like the meat grinder my grandmother used, but I'm not even going to try to describe it, lol. I also have an old plowshare he brought back a few years ago, and I need to try and figure out a way to display them together, and where.

The other day, I cashed my income tax refund check, and bought(and have sent)the money orders for ALL my utilities, the old bills that have been hanging over my head for months, and subscriptions for six of my favorite magazines: "Martha Stewart's Living," "Family Circle," "Woman's Day," "House Beautiful," "Real Simple," and "Vegetarian Times." All this came to...ready for this?!?!?...$835.81~!~!! That included the $16 for the money order fees and ten postage stamps. I'm delighted to have been able to do this, believe me, and am sooooo looking forward to having the magazines delivered to me instead of having to buy them every month!!

I've managed to swish and swipe the bathroom, make the bed, get most of the dishes washed, water my plants, and do laundry, in spite of my late start. The white load is in the dryer now, and the dark load is about to finish washing, and I will probably hang the dark load here in the house to dry. I don't like to hang them outside any more, because there are too many flying things that have settled in them while they're drying, there's too much traffic in front of my house, and in the spring, they turn green from all the pollen around here. Yuck!

Yesterday after work, my friend Pam and I went to Kroger, and I bought a few groceries, but first, we went to a man's house so she could buy a couple bar stools she'd seen on craigslist.com. The man sells all kinds of neat stuff out of his basement, and of course I made the mistake of getting out of the car and going in to look around. Sigh. Wouldn't you think I'd have known better, eh? LOL! Anyway, I did really well for $6! I now have a beautiful, large, glass, burgundy coloured Pyrex Dutch oven and lid...$3.00!!!...a tall glass canister w/a canning jar type lid to store my spaghetti in, a bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap(wonderful stuff, and for only $1.75), and a four-tier stacking clear plastic tray w/attachable bowl for dip and crackers, etc. I'm going to use that for all the little things I pick up and save for doing craft/altered art type stuff. Anyway, I feel like I did really well with my six bucks. And none of this has anything to do with cooking, I know, lol.

This recipe comes from about.com, http://vegetarian.about.com/od/tofurecipes/
and I have no idea if that link will work or not. If not, copy and paste into your address bar. There's a whole really wonderful section at about.com for vegetarian cooking, as well as videos and a forum to post on. Really great website, all in all.

TOFU VEGGIE BURGERS

1/2lb. firm tofu, drained an mashed
1 onion, diced
2Tbs. each wheat germ and flour
2Tbs. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Mix all except the oil in a bowl. Form into patties. Fry in oil over medium high heat until patties are brown and crisp.

Ok, here's my take on these. First of all, the only change I made was that I didn't use soy sauce, because I don't care for the taste of it except in fried rice or in other Chinese foods. So, I used a tablespoon each of Teriyaki sauce and water. Other than that I didn't change a thing. This made four medium sized patties, and I ate two of them, and shamefully, didn't keep the other two, as I didn't think they'd be very good cold. Anyway, I liked these quite a bit, they were easy and fairly quick to make, and I'll make them again. The next time, tho, I think I'll try to season them, like maybe some oregano, thyme, tarragon, and maybe either red wine vinegar or Balsamic vinegar. And instead of putting the onions in the patties themselves, make some caramelized onions, which I love, and make pattymelts with non-dairy smoked provolone cheese, the onions, and sourdough bread. That just sounds really, really good.

So until next time, Happy Eating.

Vegan Soups: Cauli-Potato; "New England Boiled Dinner"

2009-03-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, day off, looks nice out there, and according to my neighbor's thermometer on the carport, it's headed for the 60's, not bad at all. Last Sunday, the 1st, we had rain(and also on Saturday, the 28th), and quite a bit of it, too. Then in the early afternoon, we had SNOW! Yep, right here in Georgia, we had beautiful, gorgous, fluffy white stuff, and it came down good, too. Sadly, it only lasted a few hours, but it gave us almost two inches, I guess, and the backyard at the Waffle House looked like a fairyland: the trees were just covered in white, and it was lovely. There's a church sort of catty-cornered across the street from my teeny tiny little house, and the kids played out in the yard all afternoon, laughing, screaming, just having a ball. When I went to work the next morning, I saw that they had built a HUGE snowman, and a smaller one beside it! Don't you know those little kids had a great day?!?!

I went to my doctor this past Wednesday, the 4th, and wish I hadn't gone. The good news is that, finally, my b/p is just about normal: 125/85, and my pap smear was fine, along with my cholesterol and sugar. But. Sigh. Sad news: my urinalysis showed a borderline high for creatin(creatine? creatinine? Not sure...), so Doc has taken me off the diuretic and replaced it with something else, told me to cut way back on my pain meds(I can't. I can't work without them. I can't even stand up straight without them.), and back off the protein. Now, that's just plain ironic, because I'd been afraid I wasn't getting enough! My thyroid level is borderline low, which may have something to do with the fact that I'm so tired most of the time, and also with the fact that I'm overweight. Sure. That's it. My weight has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I eat, and that I eat a LOT, lol. Anyway, I'm to go back in six weeks, and have the thyroid and urinalyisis re-done, so if you're a praying person, please include me in your prayers, ok? If the creatin level isn't normal, it means that my kidneys may be failing, and that's, well, that's kinda scary, y'know. Anyway...this is a food blog, so let's talk about soups, ok?

Both of these soups were cooked without using anybody else's recipe, altho I'm sure there are recipes for cauliflower soup all over the place. In fact, I know for sure that there's one in "Laurel's Kitchen." As for the "New England Boiled Dinner Soup," I don't think I've ever seen a recipe like it before. It came about because I realized that the cabbage in my 'fridge was going to turn bad, so why didn't I fix a New England Boiled Dinner, minus the meat, for dinner? Somewhere along the line I realized I could probably make a wonderful soup with the ingredients, so I did. And here's the "recipe," altho it's mostly one of those "to taste" sort of things.

New England Boiled Dinner Soup

Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and chunked into about 1/2" piece
Roughly a quarter of a medium-sized head of cabbage, diced.
Two or three good-sized carrots, diced very small.
About ten cups of water, with two vegetable buillion cubes and one big bay leaf.
1/2 large onion or 1 small one, diced very small.
As much garlic as you like.
One or two stalks of celery, diced very small.
Good dashes of dried thyme and tarragon, depending on how well you like them.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
Olive oil and margarine(vegans can use Earth Balance, I use Blue Bonnet)

Put about a tablespoon each of the oil and margarine in a large pot. When it has melted, add the diced onion, celery, stir and allow to soften, about five minutes or so. Add the carrots, garlic, and potato, stir to coat with the oil/margarine, and then add the water, buillion cubes, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, and salt and pepper. Bring to a full rolling boil, turn heat to low, or whatever will keep the soup simmering gently, cover, and walk away. Cook this as long as you want to. For me, about 45 minutes to an hour is good, because I want the carrots to be extremely soft, and the potatoes to sort of "melt" into the liquid. I've read that if the potatoes aren't allowed to cook long enough to be extremely soft, that they have a tendency to make the soup a little "gluey." I don't know, I always cook my 'taters to death. Anyway, once everything is as tender as you want it, you can ladle it out just like it is, you can blend it in a blender...be very careful, don't put it all in the blender at once, and make sure to use a towel to hold the cover of the blender on tightly. You sure don't want to get burned. You can also use an immersion blender, or, like I did, just mash the whole mess with a potato masher. This thickened it up some, but still left some texture. And don't forget to take the bay leaf out and throw it away.

This made enough to feed me for about three days, if I remember correctly. All I had with it was some biscuits...yup, the box mix, lol. The soup was wonderful, and I'll make it again sometime.

By the way, for those of you who aren't from the New England area, and may not know what the Boiled Dinner is, this is for you: The New England Boiled Dinner has either ham or corned beef in it, along with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Some cooks add beets to it, too, but I'm not a beet person. All of this is boiled(duh, right?)in one pot, making it one of the easiest meals to fix. The first day, it's served seperately, each person taking as much of each veggie and the meat as they like. The next day, the meat is simply served cold and sliced, but, oh, the veggies!!! The veggies are all turned into what's known as "Red Flannel Hash," which sounds dreadful, I know, but trust me, it's fantastic. I actually like the hash better than the actual first meal from this. Melt some grease in a large skillet(the thrifty New England housewife would no doubt use bacon grease that she had saved), and put all the leftover veggies in the skillet. As they heat up, start cutting them...my grandmother had a small juice can with both ends taken out that she used strictly for this hash...until they are smooshed up together. Let them fry until one side is brown, turn it over, and let the other side brown. Serve it with butter and, believe it or not, cider vinegar. The beets turn the whole thing reddish, hence the name of Red Flannel. Wonderful stuff, and it can be made without the meat, just boil the veggies together, and then hash them up the next day.

Cauli/Potato Soup
One head of cauliflower, washed, and broken into florets(I cheated and used a 1lb.package of frozen cauliflower, so you can, too, if you want to).
Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and diced.
1/2 large onion, or 1 small, diced.
One or two stalks of celery, diced.
One large bay leaf, or two smaller ones.
Thyme and tarragon to taste.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
About 8-10 cups water, and two vegetable buillion cubes.

You probably don't even need directions for this, right? So, I'll try to make this short and sweet.

Put some oil and margarine(vegans use Earth Balance or all oil, your choice)in your soup pot, get it hot, toss in the onions and celery, let them soften, add the cauliflower and potatoes, and then the water and buillion cubes. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer until everything is as tender as you want it. For me, that's about 45-60 minutes. Take the bay leaf out and throw it away, and then do what you want with the soup: blender, immersion blender, leave it the way it is, or mash with a potato masher, which is what I did with this soup, just like the last one. And that's all there is to that!!!

Good soup, and I know I'll make it again, because I've made it before...it's one of my favorites.

I've been doing some hunting for vegan/vegetarian St. Patrick's Day recipes, and hope to have some for you before the 17th, St. Patrick's Day. What I've found so far is Irish Soda Bread, which I made last night. It didn't turn out too well, so I'm going to have to try it again...whenever I get around to buying more flour. I also found a vegetarian recipe for "Beef and Guiness Stew," which is a challange for me, as I'm a teetotaller, which means I'd have to substitute something for the Guiness. Apple cider? Vegetable broth? Don't know yet. To go with it, of course I found Colcannon(cabbage and 'tatties together), which I actually cook for myself sometimes, and a Pease Porridge, which is green split peas. I'd prefer the yellow ones, but can't find any around here. And of course, Irish Coffee, which I won't make, and some kind of dessert, but I've forgotten what it was, lol.

Oh, well, right? So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Italian-Style Tofu(Vegan); Coconut Rice(vegan)

2009-02-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

It has rained just about all day, thank goodness, because we still need it desperately. I love the sound of the rain on the skylights here in my little house, but it made me sleep late again this morning, lol. Woke up around 5:30, heard the rain, and rolled over and slept until just about 8, sigh, and didn't want to get up then, really. The ol' back and hips made that decision for me, tho, so I crawled out. And that's just about how my day has been today: Just crawling along, lol. Finished a book, finished the laundry, but couldn't use the computer too much this afternoon because it started thundering. But, life went on anyway!

The two recipes I'm going to post are both from "Vegan with a Vengeance," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Both of them are easy, and they both turned out good, much to my delight.

Marinated Italian-Style Tofu

1 lb. firm extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/2C white cooking wine
2Tbs. EACH olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari, fresh lemon juice.
2 cloves garlic, smashed
A big pinch each dried basil, marjoram, and thyme

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Cut the tofu widthwise into eight equal pieces. Marinate for an hour, flipping after 30 minutes.
Place tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip over and bake another 10 minutes. Place in the broiler for about 3 more minutes for extra chewiness.

I have to tell you that I made a mistake when I got the tofu ready to marinate: I only cut it four ways, and don't know how I misread "eight." The recipe still came out ok in my opinion, tho. Another change I made was to use oregano, as I don't like basil, and I used mint, because I don't have any marjoram. The thyme I had and used. All in all I thought it was good, I'll make it again, and since I have two pieces left, that's what I'm going to have for dinner tonight.

Isa makes one suggestion about the marinade: "Don't throw it out. Reserve the marinade and get creative. Mix in a little water and arrowroot or cornstarch, then heat it up, and you've got yourself a gravy. Or, use it to stir-fry broccoli or asparagus for a nice, fast side dish: heat up some vegetable oil over high heat, then add your chopped vegetables, pouring on splashes of the marinade as you cook."

Since I'm going to bake a potato to go with the tofu, I'm going to try to use cornstarch and water to make the gravy, and see if I like it on the potato. I dunno, it's pretty intense. Possibly the 1/2C of white wine was a bit much, especially since I don't drink, and, um, have to admit, that wine has been in my cupboard a long time, lol. Oh, well, live and learn, right?

This next one just plain sounded good, so I bought some jasmine rice and decided to give it a shot. My version is much, much simpler than this one, tho.

Coconut Rice with Toasted Coconut

2C jasmine rice, washed
1(13.5 oz)can coconut milk
1C water
1 cinnamon stick
1/4tsp. salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
12C unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine the rice, coconut milk, water, cinnamon stick, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer 20 minutes. Add the lime zest and stir with a fork. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the shredded coconut:
Heat a skillet over low-medium heat. Add the coconut and toast, turning frequently, for about 3 minutes, or until the coconut is browned and toasty.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the rice and serve, sprinkling the toasted coconute over each serving. Garnish with lime wedges if you so desire.

Like I said, mine was much simpler. For one thing, altho I had fully intended to buy cinammon sticks, the price was just more than I could deal with. Outrageous, in fact...or at least, for my wallet. Maybe not for yours, I dunno. Plus I forgot the shredded coconut, lol. Duh, right? So, I used the coconut milk, water, and a little margarine, and that's all. Long story short, it was pretty good, and I enjoyed it. There's some leftover in the 'fridge, and one of these days I'll heat it up and eat it.

Now it's time to heat the oven for my baked potato, and see if I can make a decent gravy out of that marinade. Until next time, Happy Eating, and God bless.

LowerFat Banana Bread(Vegan); Bulgur/Tomato/Feta Salad

2009-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yup, still the same day, lol, but I almost forgot I have two more good recipes I want to post. Probably I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating: Almost none of the recipes I post here are original, as I'm not all that creative when it comes to making up recipes; wherever possible I give full credit to the author/source where I found the recipe, and if I can't, I still tell you it's NOT my own recipe; I have tried every one of the recipes I've posted, and will never post one I haven't tried...I don't think, lol...and I will never take credit for a recipe that's not mine.

The banana bread recipe is from "Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, and is very, very good. I made it because my next-door neighbor had bought too many bananas, and I very kindly offered to help her use them up before they rotted, lol. So, what do you do with overly ripe bananas, right? You make banana bread. And I did!

Lower-Fat Banana Bread

2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas 1/4C applesauce 1/4C canola oil
1/2C sugar 2Tbs. molasses 2C all-purpose flour 3/4tsp. baking powder
1tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4tsp ground nutmeg, or grated fresh 1/2tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 9X5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really, really well. Add the sugar, applesauce, oil, and molasses, and whisk biskly to incorporate. *See note at bottom.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Us a wodden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and invert onto a cooling rack. Flip the bread right side up and let cool.

*Note: "Never use a hand mixer for banana bread because it makes it gummy; treat it like a muffin batter and mix with a wooden spoon just until the wet and dry ingredients are combined. In fact, if you would like to turn these into muffins, pour the battter into a greased muffin tin and bake for eighteen minutes."

In the directions for the bread, they mention using chocolate chips if you want to. There's no mention of the chips in the ingredient list, so use your own discretion as to how many to use if you so choose. I didn't.

This bread is wonderful, I loved it, and actually followed the recipe to a tee!!! How often does that happen, eh?

This next recipe is a salad recipe, which I don't usually mess with. I'm not a really big salad eater for the most part. Years ago, when I was much, much younger, if you had opened my 'fridge, you would've thought that you'd come upon a salad bar. Many times, a big salad, with all sorts of stuff in it, was my dinner, with whichever salad dressing my hand had grabbed from the 'fridge. Nowadays, tho, you won't find anything pertaining to lettuce salads in my 'fridge, because for some reason, lettuce hurts my stomach. I've tried other greens, but didn't really care for them, so now, any salad I try has no greens in it. Usually. There may be an exception to that here and there.

Anyway. This salad comes from "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman, which is a huge book, just jam-packed with information: techniques, variations on a recipe, how to store things, and lots and lots and lots of recipes, many of which are vegan or can be easily veganized. I don't think this one can be, tho, which is a shame, because it's an awfully good salad.

Bulgur/Tomato/Feta Salad

1C fine-grind(#1) or medium-grind(#2)bulgur
3C chopped tomato or quartered cherry tomatoes
1 small onion, diced 2-oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2Tbs red wine vinegar, or more to taste
1/4C extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
2Tbs chopped fresh oregano leaves or 2tsp. dried
1tsp. hot red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly groung black pepper

Soak the bulgur in hot water to cover until tender, 15-30 minutes. Put the tomato, onion, feta, vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and redpepper if you like in a large salad bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Sprinkle with a little salt)remember the feta can be salty) and lots of pepper.

When the bulgur is tender but not mushy, drain it in a strainer, pressing down to squeeze out any excess liquid. Put it in the bowl while it's still warm and fluff with a large fork to stir in the other ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more oil or vinegar as needed. Serve the salad at room temperatue or cool it down and refrigerate it for a couple hours or so.

Variations: can use two cups cooked rice or cracked wheat instead of the bulgur. Can add two cups canned or cooked chickpeas to the salad bowl before adding the bulgur. You will probably want to add a little more vinegar and oil, too.

Ok, here's my take on it. First of all, will I make this again? Definitely. It's a keeper...and it doesn't even have any garlic in it, lol. Secondly, it took over two cups of very hot water, and almost 45 minutes to get the bulgur to the tenderness that I wanted, and it was still somewhat crunchy. Thirdly, I didn't have any red pepper flakes, so I used about 1/4 tsp. of cayenne, but couldn't feel any heat. And, I used drained, diced, canned tomatoes, which worked fine, and the dried oregano. Changes I couldn't help, not because I wanted to play around with the recipe...NO! I didn't use canned tomatoes...duh! I forgot: I actually bought a really big tomato, just for this recipe. I'm willing to bet that the canned and diced ones would work in a pinch, tho, and I'm thinking that the next time I make this, I might try balsamic vinegar instead of the red wine. Maybe goat cheese crumbles instead of the sheep's milk feta, too.

Until next time...and I'm really thru this time...Happy Eating.

Cinnamuffins(Vegan); Vanilla Pudding(Easily Veganized)

2009-02-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

Wonderous, glorious, much-needed day off, thank God! Today and tomorrow both are my days of freedom, the two days a week that I live for, honestly. Work hasn't been all that bad this past week, but still, I dearly love my time at home, locked securely into my little cave, with nowhere to go and nobody...hopefully...to see! Talk about reclusive, eh? I wonder how I'll be when I go into partial retirement this coming fall? Will I still be this reclusive, or will I get cabin fever, no matter what time of year? Time will tell....

For right now, tho, spring is on the way. I've seen a couple robins in the past few days, and the little tiny yellow jonquils in my front yard are blooming. Such brave and pretty little flowers, that even tho yellow isn't one of my favorite colours, I love those little things. Hmmmm, I think I might just pick a few and bring them in the house...they would look lovely in a cobalt blue vase, I think. And it's time to start changing my tchotkes(did I spell that right?)around, too, to bring out the more springlike ones. And time to start sitting out in the sun for a few minutes a day, too...to combat my depressive tendencies as well as get my daily dose of vitamin D.

This is my favorite time of year, albeit the hardest, for me. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of my 40-day observance of the season by fasting from chocolate and desserts. Groan. It's going to take a lot of prayer, but I'll make it. Only one year did I give up: after 23 days, I just couldn't take it any more!!!

These two recipes come from one of my first, and favorite, vegetarian cookbooks: "The New Laurel's Kitchen," by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal. Actually, the original "Laurel's Kitchen" was my first love, but I've since lost it, and this new one is a wonderful substitute. I'm not sure if it's even in print any more: It was copyrighted in 1976.

The muffin recipe is already vegan, and it's very easy to veganize the pudding recipe: Substitute soy milk for the whole milk. That was an experiment for me, as a friend of mine had told me that soy milk won't thicken like whole milk, but it did just fine with this recipe. So, here we go....

CINNAMUFFINS

1/4C oil 1/2C dark molasses 1C applesauce

1 1/2C whole wheat flour[I used all-purpose white flour] 1/2tsp. baking soda
1 1/2tsp. baking powder 3/4tsp. cinnamon pinch cloves
1/2tsp. salt 1/2C raisins

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin...use the smallish-sized cups with this recipe.

Mix oil, molasses and applesauce. Sit together the flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Stir together the wet and dry ingredients and raisins. Drop into muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes.

These are really good, and I will make them again sometime when I feel like baking. I didn't add the raisins as I didn't have any. Wonder how chopped nuts, or chocolate chips, or maybe blueberries would work in this? I also didn't use a muffin pan, because I have a set of 12 silicone cups, which I love. They just sit on a cookie sheet, don't have to be greased, and the muffins don't stick to them like they do to the paper cups or even, sometimes, the muffinpan cups.

VANILLA PUDDING

2C fresh milk 1/4C brown sugar 1/8tsp.salt 2Tbs. cornstarch or arrowroot
1tsp. vanilla

Gently heat 1/1/2 cups of the milk in a heavy pan. Stir in the sugar and salt.

Combine the cornstarch or arrowroot with the reserved milk. Add to the milk when it is very hot; cook and stir over low heat until thick. If you are using cornstarch, cook and stir over very low heat for a few minutes more. (If you want a richer pudding, you can stir a beaten egg into 1/2 cup of the pudding, then beat that into the whole pudding while it is still very hot.) Cool somewhat and then add the vanilla.

Makes about 2 cups to serve 4-in theory. Sometimes it actually serves two. Good warm or cold.

This pudding only served one, lol, but I manage to make it last for two days. Altho the recipe doesn't say to do this, when I put it in the 'fridge, I put plastic wrap over the surface of the pudding, as most pudding recipes say to do this to keep from forming a skin. This stuff was excellent, I couldn't believe how good it was...and no, I didn't add the eggs. I think it's rich enough without them, and of course, vegans won't use them anyway. It did take quite a long time to thicken up, about 20 minutes, but it was worth it. It would make a great filling for a cake of some kind...sort of like a Boston Cream Pie, with that wonderful chocolate glaze on the top...............

Now, some more about my homemade seitan. I have to sort of apologize for my first very critical and mostly negative review of it. After sitting overnight in the 'fridge, it was much, much better than when I first made it. I still haven't tried to make a sammich with it, even tho it's supposed to be "lunch meat." What I did, tho, was to dice it up into bite-sized pieces, and stir it into the leftover Fettucine with Vegetarian "Ham," to take the place of the ham. Reheated, it was very good that way. There's still some of the first roll of seitan in the 'fridge, wrapped tightly in foil, so possibly it's still good. I have no idea how long it's suppsed to keep. Oh, I almost forgot: The rolls...logs, if you prefer...have a very tough skin on them, almost like sausage, which my dentures couldn't handle, lol, so I peeled it, just like I used to have to peel kielbasa or smoked sausage, back in the day. You may not have a problem with it, but I did.

Until next time, Happy Eating.

Seitan "meat,"vegan;VeganAlfredo Sauce w/Vegetarian "Ham"

2009-02-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

It has been just about two weeks since I've posted. Work has just been overwhelmingly busy, very hard on my poor old legs and hips, so I've been coming home and not doing much at all in the evenings. On my days off, tho, I've still managed to do some "real" cooking, some of which has been wonderful, but with at least one new recipe that I didn't like at all.

Mostly I've just been trying to keep up with my email, posting on Beliefnet.com on the Depression forum, and reading...reading a lot, too. I just finished a book called "Art in America," by Larry McLarty, and if you like to read, and haven't read this one, I highly recommend it, it's a wonderful warm, funny book. Few books can make me literally laugh out loud, but this did, quite a few times. Other than those few things, tho, I haven't had the energy to do anything else, not even my house chores...thank goodness I live alone, so I don't have to do anything I don't want to, lol.

Ok, on to the recipes. I'd been meaning to try my hand at homemade seitan for a long time, and yesterday I finally made some. The recipe is called "Veggie Lunch Meat," and I received it in my email, in a newsletter from Nava Atlas, whose cookbook, "Vegan Express" is one that eventually I want to own. I've seen another recipe for homemade seitan in Isa Chandra and Terry Romero's book, "Veganomicon" that I will try another time.

Veggie Lunch Meat
This makes a lot, so freeze some for later.

1C white beans 2Cwater 1/4C oil
2tsp. EACH salt, paprika, onion powder
1tsp. EACH garlic powder, ground fennel, sage, pepper, soy sauce
1/4tsp. turmeric
2 3/4C vital wheat gluten

Get the water steaming in a steamer.
Place everything except the wheat gluten in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour into large bowl, and add wheat gluten, working it into a dough.
Shape into a log, as thick as possible, wrap in aluminum foil like a Tootise roll.
Steam for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350ºF during the last 15 minutes of steaming. Remove seitan from steamer and bake 45-60 minutes. Seitan should swell and press against foil.

Not a very difficult recipe at all, much easier than I had thought it would be. I decided not to use my usual steamer, and placed a large, metal colandar in my big pot, put the cover over the logs of seitan, and it worked just fine. The white beans I used were canned cannellinis, which I drained but didn't rinse. The only change I made to this recipe was one I couldn't help: I omitted the fennel and the onion powder because I didn't have any. Everything else I followed to at T, unlike most other recipes I try. And, just for the sake of a little information here, I found the bag of vital wheat gluten at Kroger, in their health food department. So far, they've carried everything I've needed with the exception of nutritional yeast and quinoa. Possibly I could suggest to a manager there to stock them, eh? Anyway.

Did I like this? No. Why? It's bread. Pure and simple, this is a boiled and then baked wheat bread loaf, spiced more than most bread is. The texture isn't all that "breadish," but the taste and color are. The taste isn't bad, please understand that, it's just that it's, well, it's bread, lol. It looks sorta like a roll of liverwurst, and the texture, well, it's hard to describe it, but it's sorta chewy, sorta soft, and somewhat moist. And, I'm not sure how to use it, now that I've made it, because I don't think it will actually make good sammichs, which is what lunchmeat is for. Oh, me! Oh, btw, the one teaspoonful of black pepper was too much for me, gave it a very "hot" feeling, which I don't care for too much.

Can I chunk it up and make a gravy with it? Possibly. I'll try, anyway. Can I slice it into cutlets, and serve with some kind of sauce on it? Probably. I'll try, anyway. Heck, I'm even going to try to make a sammich with it, a grilled cheese and seitan sammich on sourdough bread. And one of these days, I'm still going to try the seitan recipe in "Veganomicon." It's not as spicy as this one is.

This next recipe is a most definate winner. I loved it, in fact, I liked it better than the Alfredo with coconut milk, which I also liked a lot. Both of them are keepers!

Creamy Alfredo Sauce w/ Vegetarian "Ham"

2C soy milk 1/2C "cream cheese"(I used Tofutti brand)
1/2C "sour cream"(again, Tofutti brand) 2T Nayonnaise
1tsp. onion salt 1 tsp. dried parsley 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
5-6 slices "veggie ham," in bite-sized pieces salt and pepper

In medium saucepan, add 1st four ingredients. Heat on low, stirring constantly, until "cream cheese" melts and mix is smooth and creamy. Add next 4 ingredients, and season. Simmer about 10 minutes, add garlic, stir well, and pour over pasta.

I have no idea what "veggie ham" is like, didn't have any, so didn't use it. I also used real mayo, not Nayonnaise. Towards the end of the cooking time, I added some vegetarian Parmesan, and about four tablespoons of Blue Bonnet margarine, just for a little more richness. The recipe the way it is, tho, is vegan, but I'm not vegan, so changed it up just a tad. It's wonderful, it really is, and will be a do-again for me. The pasta I used was a tri-color rotini, because I'd never tried the tri-color pastas before. Couldn't tell a whole lot of difference in taste, but it did make for a pretty dish. Definitely a keeper.

And y'know what? I think I'm going to go chunk up some of the "lunchmeat," toss it into the Alfredo and pasta, and heat it up for lunch, just to see how it is!

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Scrambled Tofu Burrito; Four-Cheese Pasta Bake

2009-02-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

Thursday evening, in an attempt to stop wasting food, I came up with a way to use the leftover scrambled tofu, and I was delighted with the results. I made burritos...or wraps, if you prefer. There is no actual recipe here, it's the sort of thing you can do "to taste," any way you like it. I used a couple good handsful of frozen spinach to mix in with the tofu, and heated that up until it thawed, and everything was hot. In the meantime, while the tofu and spinach were heating, I put a piece of vegetarian smoked provolone "cheese," broken into three strips, down the middle of a tortilla. On top of that I poured some salsa, and on top of that, I spread some goat cheese crumbles. I did this on two tortillas. When the tofu/spinach mixture was good and hot, I spooned some over all the other stuff on each tortilla, rolled them up, and put them in a dry skillet over medium heat, just long enough to get the wraps lightly browned all over. Then I put some Tofutti brand "sour cream" in a bowl, and beside it I poured some more salsa, and then, I chowed down, lol. They were wonderful, and while I ate them I felt very smug, because I hadn't wasted the tofu leftovers!!

Friday night I decided I wanted some macaroni and cheese, and again, no actual recipe, just "to taste," again. I put some water on to boil for the pasta, which happened to be rigatoni, and while I waited for it to boil I made a plain white sauce: about 2 good tablespoonsful margarine, about the same amount of flour, and let it brown just a tiny bit, to get the raw flour taste out. Then I added soy milk, ended up using two cupsful, I think. When it started getting thick, I put the cheeses in: 4oz log of herbed chevre, a couple handsful of goat cheese crumbles, and several good shakes of the "Parmesan" cheese, too. The water was boiling, so I put two handsful of rigatoni into it, some salt, and let it boil until the pasta was pretty much done. When the pasta was done, I put it into a buttered casserole dish, and mixed the cheese sauce in with it. Then on top, I broke three slices of the "provolone" cheese into three strips, and layered those on the top. Put the whole thing in the oven, 350ºF, for about 15-20 minutes, or until the provolone browned, and the pasta and sauce was bubbling. My side veggie was a frozen mix of broccoli/carrots/cauliflower. It was a really good meal, very nice on a chilly night, and something that I'll do again sometime, I know.

Tonight? Well, I think I'll add some water to the leftover tempeh/white bean gravy, as it's just way too thick, and have that with a baked potato, and some kind of veggie. Easy. And uses up the last of the gravy, so, here again, no wasted food!!! Ahhhhhh, I just feel sooooo virtuous!!!...snicker.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Escarole w/ Capers & White Beans; Scrambled Tofu

2009-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

My day off, and it's a beautiful sunny but cold day, too cold for me to bother going outside. I learned that this morning when I took out the trash and mailed off the money orders for my utility bills. According to weatherunderground.com, at roughly 9:30 this morning, right after I came back in, it was a nippy 17ºF out there. Thankfully I don't have to go anywhere until 6:30AM Saturday, when I go back to work. My to-do list for my two days off this week had umpteen zillion items on it, most of which I've managed to get done. It's a good feeling to be productive, and since I got up around 4:15AM, I had no excuse not to do most of the list, lol. Work was a bit of a pain in the tush this week, but money-wise, it turned out ok, so I'm content with that. And let's face it, the money is the only reason I'm there, I'm not there to get close to my co-workers, especially the ones that have royally pissed me off. Fortunately, most of the time I can bite my tongue and just go on about my business, catching up the work that they can't be bothered to do. And then I come home and cook, lol.

This recipe is from "Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Moskovits and Terry Hope Romero. Even tho I'd gone thru the book from cover to cover when I took it out of the library, now that I own it, I'm going thru it again, and this time very slowly, reading just about every word in it. So, I came across this Escarole recipe, and decided I'd like to try it, which I did, and really liked it. So here it it:

Escarole with Capers and White Beans

1 head escarole
1Tbs. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 red pepper flakes
1/3C capers with some brine
Salt
1C cooked small white beans(navy or great northern are ok)
Lemon wedges for serving

Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Saute the garlic in the olive oil for about 3 minutes, until just starting to brown. Add the red pepper flakes and cook just long enough to soften(a few seconds). Add the escarole and salt to taste, and use tongs to toss until it begins to wilt and release moisture. Add the capers and beans, and cook just until heated through, about 3 more minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Serves 4 as a side, or 2 as a main course.

That's the recipe the way Isa and Terry wrote it. Me being me, tho, of course I didn't do it exactly that way, one reason being that I didn't have any escarole. But! I did have quite a bit of frozen spinach, so after rinsing it off to get rid of any freezer burn, that's what I used. Instead of red pepper flakes, which I also didn't have, I used maybe an 8th of a teaspoon of ground red pepper, and probably could've used a quarter teaspoonful, as there was absolutely no bite at all once it was done. I had to also leave out the capers, and instead of lemon wedges, I used lemon juice, quite few shakes out of the bottle. This was good. This was very, very good, and yes, I plan on cooking it again. And again. And again. It goes very well with a baked potato, and some tofu marinated with teriyaki sauce, crumbled, and then fried with a little margarine. I was able to get three meals from this, so it goes a pretty long ways.

This next recipe, Scrambled Tofu, is another of Isa's recipes, and comes from "Vegan with a Vengeance." Totally unlike me, this morning I wanted breakfast, and I don't mean just a bowl of cereal or toast and a banana, either. I wanted real food, and lots of it...like biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs. It just so happened that I remembered that I had the leftover Tempeh Sausage and White Bean Gravy in the freezer, so I dragged that out and set it to heat in the top of my version of a double boiler: a smaller pot inside a larger pot that had simmering water in it. Works just as well as the fancy-schmancy ones in the big stores, too, I'll have you know. Dragged out my trusty box of biscuit mix, and made a pan of biscuits, but didn't put them in the oven just then. I still needed scrambled eggs. Major problem here: didn't have nary an egg, not one. So, I went to Vegan with a Vengeance, found her recipe, and made the Scrambled Tofu.

Scrambled Tofu

1Tbs. olive oil
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
2C thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4C nutritional yeast
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 carrot, peeled(optional, I grate it in at the end, mostly for colour)

FOR SPICE BLEND:
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 tsp. ground paprika
1/2tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. salt

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onions for 3 minutes, until softened; add the mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes; add the garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add the spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4C water to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.

Crumble in the tofu and mix well. Don't crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. You want it to remain chunky. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that the tofu is sticking. Add the lemon juice. Add the nutritional yeast and mix it up. If the mixture is sticking to the pan, add splashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.

Grate the carrot into the tofu mixture and fold. Serve with guacamole and salso and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon.

Well, I didn't have it with guacamole and salsa and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon, lol, but with the tempeh/bean gravy and hot buttered biscuits. The biscuits got put into the oven right at the point where the recipe says to let the tofu cook for 15 minutes, btw. Letting them sit and dry for a few minutes made them rise a little better, and a little softer than usual, very good.

I actually followed this recipe quite well for a change. One thing I changed, tho, was the nutritional yeast. I can't buy it at Kroger, and can't seem to get to a health food store. Now, to my way of thinking, since a lot of times it's used as a kind of cheese substitute, why can't I use vegetarian parmesan cheese instead? So, I tried it, and sure did like it. Don't know if it would work in other recipes calling for "nooch," but it's worth a try another time, I think. Also, I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms I had, but I think they were just plain old white button mushrooms, so that's what I used. They worked just fine. Did I like this? Yes, I did, very much. Will I make it again? Probably not, simply because I'm lazy, and there's more prep work and measuring than I care to do for breakfast, lol. I've scrambled tofu before, with just garlic, black pepper, a little soy sauce, in margarine, and enjoyed that, too. So most likely I'll just take the easy way out in the future.

One comment that Isa made is that,"If you don't have any nutritional yeast on hand, you can still make this, but don't add the water while it's cooking." I never had a problem with the mixture sticking to the pan, so didn't have to add the water anyway.

There's a lot leftover of the tofu, and I'm thinking it might make a good sandwich, or even a wrap with some salsa and vegetarian smoked provolone "cheese." There's still some of the gravy left, and I'm thinking that possibly I can add a few seasoned bread crumbs, and make "sausage patties" from it. Maybe.

Until next time, Happy Eating.

Tempeh Sausage and White Bean Gravy; Rich Chocolate Vegan Brownies

2009-01-29T12:52:00.000-08:00

Today is my day off, so of course I've done some cooking. Most of this past week has just been cereal or maybe a grilled sammich. Just haven't been in the mood for cooking. Work has been getting on my one last nerve, so I've been sorta stressed, and that wears me out. Retirement is looking better and better, and I've only got to wait another seven months before I semi-retire. That's good enough for me, the social security will pay the rent, and I can cut back to four, or possibly even just three, days a week. Ahhhhhhhh...really looking forward to it, too, I am, I am.

The tempeh recipe is from "Vegan With A Vengeance," by Isa Chandra Moskovitz, one of my favorite cookbooks. I tried the recipe because it sounds good, and as I've said elsewhere on this blog, I'm on a quest for recipes that will let me like tempeh. This one came pretty close, but still not quite there yet. But, it's the first one that I've basically enjoyed, and I actually ate two helpings of it. Ok, so I guess I like it, lol. Anyway, it takes two recipes to make this, so let's get down to business here, ok?

Tempeh Sausage Crumbles and White Bean Gravy

Tempeh Sausage Crumbles

1(8-ounce)package tempeh
1Tb. fennel seed
1tsp.dried basil
1tsp.dried marjoram or oregano
1/2tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2tsp.dried sage
2 cloves garlic, minced
2Tbs.tamari or soy sauce
1Tbs.olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon

In a small pan, crumble the tempeh and add enough water to almost cover it. Over medium-high heat, simmer the tempeh until most of the water is absorbed, about 12-15 minutes. Drain the remaining water and add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy
Tempeh Sausage Crumbles...recipe above
2C cooked white beans or one 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
2Tbs. olive oil or margarine, softened
1/4C vegetable broth or water
1/2 tsp. salt
A few dashes fresh black pepper
10-12 leaves fresh sage, chopped

Prepare the Tempeh Sausage Crumbles and keep them warm in the pan.
Puree the white beans with the olive oil and vegetable broth in a blender or food processor until relatively smooth. Add to the tempeh crumbles along with the salt and pepper. Heat through for a few minutes. If you want to make the gravy thinner, add a little more vegetable broth. Mix in the sage and cook for another 2 minutes. This makes enough to cover 12-14 biscuits.

So, I had to make a couple changes, because I don't use basil nor do I use fennel, so obviously I left those out. I also used only 1Tbs. of soy sauce, as I don't like a strong soy sauce taste...unless it's in my fried rice, that is. When I added the bean mixture to the gravy, it wasn't even close to thin enough, and altho I didn't really measure, I think I added at least another cup of water. It was still thick, but only like a gravy, not paste, so that was ok. I put it on buttered biscuits, and like I said, ate two helpings of it. Will I make it again? I'm not sure, maybe, maybe not. There's a lot leftover, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the leftovers, either...probably freeze them, and then the next time I want biscuits and gravy, all I have to do is thaw and re-heat and make biscuits. I can live with that!!

In case you're new to vegetarianism, here's a quick rundown of what tempeh is. It's made from soybeans, and somehow, they've been inoculated with a mold to cause them to ferment, and then formed into a elongated patty, usually about 1/2 inch thick. It is very high in protein, and because of the soy, it's also high in fiber, as well as B vitamins and some other nutrients. That's not the most exact description of tempeh(pronounced tem-PAY,btw)ever written, but hey, I'm no scientist or food expert. If you want to more specifics about it, I imagine you can google it.

Now for the brownies. I found the recipe on the Care2Green website...and being the chocoholic that I am, I decided that today would be just the perfect day to try it. All in all it's very moist, chewy, very chocolatey, and I'm enjoying it right now, lol.

Rich Vegan Chocolate Brownies

1Cflour(you can use half whole wheat flour if you wish)
3/4C cocoa powder
1 1/2C sugar(or Sucanat)
1/8tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4C chocolate chips
1/4C walnuts(optional)
1/3C soy milk
1/3C extra light olive oil
1/4C silken tofu
1Tbs.vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350ºF
In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients, walnuts, and chocolate chips.
In blender, blend soy milk, oil, tofu, and vanilla.
Add blended mixture to flour mixture in bowl, stir just until combined. Batter will be thick(she ain't jokin', either!)
Spread batter evenly in 8 inch square oiled baking pan.
Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the mmiddle comes out clean.

Ok, these turned out very tasty, they really did. The batter is as thick as bread dough or cookie dough, and it took me a long time to incorporate all the ingredients together. I don't have an chocolate chips, no way to get to Kroger to buy them, so baked without them. My oven may not be calibrated correctly, and I have no oven thermometer, so I'm not sure, but by the time 35 minutes was up, the crust around the edge of the pan was rock-hard, while the middle was still kinda gooey. There's no eggs to worry about, so the gooeyness shouldn't be a health problem, and as it sits, the stiffer it becomes, sorta like a really fudgy fudge...I hope that made sense to you, 'cause it did to me, lol. Anyway, I like them, and will bake them again...oh, I think 1 Tbs vanilla is too much, btw, as I can taste it a little bit, so the next time, I'll try only one tsp.

And that's it for now, so, until next time, Happy Eating!

Correction For Apple & Peach Cake; Tofu in honey bbq sauce(non-vegan)

2009-01-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

Not so much a correction, as an addition for the Apple & Peach cake, because I forgot something in the directions. I didn't tell you how to put the fruit in the cake, and that's what the cake is all about: The apple and peaches, lol. Duh, right? Anyway, the way I did it was to scatter the fruit over the top of the batter once it was in the 13X9 pan, and then, with very clean fingers, I poked the pieces down into the batter, leaving just a little bit of each chunk showing. The reason for this was that I figured that if I just stirred them into the batter, they'd all sink to the bottom of the cake, and I didn't want that. This way, they still sunk some, but not as badly, and were distributed nicely throughout the cake. So, that's my correction/addition, whatever you want to call it.

Point of pride: One of my dearest friends, a soul-sister, if you wish, came to visit for a little while yesterday evening. She's an omnivore, tofu or tempeh is NOT in her menu plans, lol. Even so, I cut her a slice of the cake and brought it to her. She really, really liked it, so then I told her she'd just eaten tofu, lol. Since her computer isn't working right now, I was letting her use mine to email her daughter, and she said to the daughter, "Guess what? I like tofu...especially in apple and peach spice cake!" Score ten for the tofu, and five for the omnivore, lol!

The tofu in honey bbq sauce isn't a recipe at all. After draining and pressing half a block of tofu, I crumbled it up into a skillet with melted butter in it, and just let it sog around over medium heat until it started tanning a little bit. Then I doused it good with smoked paprika, enough to turn all the crumbles red, and let that sog around for a few minutes, too. Then I grabbed a bottle of Kroger store brand honey bbq sauce, and poured it over the tofu until it looke like enough(being really precise here, aren't I?), and stirred it around until it got good and hot. I spooned some of it onto a plate, along with some green peas and a baked potato, and that's all there is to it. And it was awfully good, with enough leftovers for the same meal a couple nights later.

If you don't already know how, draining and pressing tofu is an easy task, it just takes some time. Open the package of tofu and dump it into a strainer lined with cheesecloth(I use coffee filters), place cheesecloth on top of it, and on top of that, set a can of beans or some other canned goods. And I almost forgot: before you dump the tofu into the strainer, place the strainer over a bowl or a saucepan, just something to keep the water from going all over the place...don't ask me how I learned that one, ok? Another "duh" moment, lol! Anyway, let it sit for at least 20 minutes, more if you want to. That's all there is to it.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Bean and Barley Soup(Vegan); Apple Peach Spice Cake(Vegan)

2009-01-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

I found the Bean and Barley Soup recipe on about.com, and since I realized I had all the ingredients, decided to make some. Believe me, I'm very glad I did, too, as it's an excellent soup, thick, chunky, and filling: A perfect cold night type of soup, comfort food as its best. The recipe makes a lot, so I had two containers of it in the 'fridge, and I also have two more in the freezer. With the leftover soup in the 'fridge, I figured out two more ways to make a meal with it, both of which were really good. So, here's the soup recipe, and then I'll tell you the other ways I used the leftovers.

Bean and Barley Soup
1/2 onion, diced 2 ribs celery, diced 2 carrots, diced
Any other vegetables desired, 1/2C each(I chose potatoes, leftover turnip greens, and mushrooms)
2Tbs. oil or margarine 8C water or broth(I used 8C water and 4 veggie buillion cubes)
1C barley, uncooked 1C pinto or white beans, presoaked if dry(I used a 15oz can of cannellini beans)
1/3C tomato paste or crushed tomatoes 1/4tsp.salt 1/2tsp. black pepper
1/4tsp. celery salt(optional)
1/2tsp. each basil, oregano or Italian seasoning, and thyme
1tsp. onion powder(optional) 2 large bay leaves

Saute the onions, celery, carrots, and other veggies in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the liquid, the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for at least an hour, strring occasionally, until barley is soft and somewhat fluffy. Add more spices to taste. Enjoy.

When I sauted the onions, celery, etc., I also added two teaspoonsful of minced garlic, and did not use the optional ingredients. Instead of basil, I chose to use oregano, Italian seasoning, and the thyme. I don't think I made any other changes, tho. While the soup simmered, I made a pan of biscuits to have with it, and let me tell ya, it was one heck of a fantastic meal.

The next night, I heated up one of the containers of leftover soup in the 'fridge, and this time, I made a grilled "cheese" sammich to go with it. The night after that, I put what was left from that into the other container of soup, made some mashed potatoes with sour cream(tofutti brand)and garlic, and made a Shepherd's Pie. That was wonderful, as well. There was about half the pie leftover, so the next day, for lunch, I dried a couple of slices of wheat bread in my little toaster oven, and made bread crumbs. I mixed those in with about half of the remaining pie, and made a huge "burger" out of it. While it was browning in the skillet, I buttered bread and got out some "cheese," and added the burger to the cheese and bread, and turned it into a grilled sammich. Yup, it was good, too. There was still some of the pie left, but by then I'd had all I could handle, and even tho I hate to admit it, I tossed the rest of it into the garbage.

Ok, now, about the cake. I needed to use an apple that was going soft, a can of peaches, and a can of coconut milk, and this is what I came up with: Apple and Peach Spice Cake. It's a very heavy, dense, moist cake, and awfully good. I had planned on frosting it with a buttercream frosting, but with the sweetness of the apple and the peaches, decided that frosting would be overkill.

Apple and Peach Spice Cake
3C flour, sifted 1 1/2tsp. baking powder 1tsp. baking soda
1C brown sugar, packed 1/2tsp. each ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon
1/2tsp salt
1/2C silken tofu, whizzed in the blender until very smooth
3/4C applesauce and 1Tbs oil
1 can coconut milk plus one can water plus 1/4C soy milk(I add to keep adding liquid to get the right consistency for cake batter, but finally gave up and crossed my fingers, lol. I probably should've used two cans of coconut milk and some soymilk)
2tsp.vanilla 1Ceach diced peaches(I used canned)and apple

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, except the brown sugar.
Place the whizzed tofu, applesauce, brown sugar, vanilla and the oil in another bowl, and use a mixer to blend them for a few minutes, until smooth. Pour this into the bowl with the dry ingredients, add the coconut milk,water, and soymilk, and using the mixer on low, mix until all is blended nicely. Then turn the mixer up to high, and beat until very, very smooth, about three minutes or so. Pour this into a greased 13X9 pan lined with greased wax paper, and put into a pre-heated 300ºF oven for 45-60 minutes, more if needed. The cake is done when it springs back from being poked with a finger, a sharp knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, and, if you listen to the cake, it will "sing." Cool, in the pan, on a rack, until room temperature, and then turn out onto a plate. Peel off the wax paper, and enjoy your cake. You can frost it if you want to, but I chose not to.

Did I like it? Yes, very much. Would I make it again? Mmmm, maybe...it's more work than I like doing for something sweet, and I don't usually ahve apples lying around. But, if somebody else ate it, I'd sure be willing to helpthem eat it, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Pumpkin "Cheesecake;" Mushroom/Pumpkin/Leftovers Soup

2009-01-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

My day off is almost over, back to work in the morning, which means I have to set my alarm when I go to bed tonight. I'll be up at 4:45AM, but these last two days I have slept until a little past seven. Sure was nice!!

I made the Pumpkin "Cheesecake" I mentioned earlier, and am very pleased, very. The recipe came from a vegetarian starter kit I ordered, free, from ChooseVeg.com, I think. It was free...um, sorry, I already said that...and had recipes in it, which is why I sent for it. So, here's the cheesecake recipe:

Pumpkin Patch "Cheesecake"

12-oz. firm silken tofu, pureed
8-oz. nondairy cream cheese(try Tofutti brand)
1C canned pumpkin
1C granulated sugar
3Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2tsp. cinnamon
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. baking soda
1 prepared graham cracker crust

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Puree all the ingredients(except the crust...duh, right?)in food processor. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or the top of the pie container and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before eating.

Now, did I wait 6 hours?!?!? Hell, no, I didn't, I started munching as soon as it came out of the oven, of course. And don't tell me that you wouldn't have, ok? I actually followed this recipe exactly, except for one minor detail: I forgot to buy a pie crust this week, so I made my own graham cracker crust. No big deal, and it was good. Will I make this again? Probably. Most likely, in fact, it's really good.

The best part of it was that there was quite a lot of the batter left in the blender top, so I ate a lot of that, right out of the blender, lol. Yum! When there was about a quarter cup left, I did something strange, an experiment, if you will, that fortunately turned out good.

In the 'fridge, I had a little bit of Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup, a little bit of the Mushroom and Buttermilk Stroganoff from the other night, about a tablespoonful of the mushroom mixture from last night's burrito, and about four little Brussels sprouts. Figured out where I'm going with this? Are you saying, "Eeeeuuuuuw, yuck," yet? LOL! Yup, I did, I really did...all those little bits of leftovers went right into the blender with the pumpkin mixture. Not only that, but there was half a can of the pumpkin left, so I threw that in there, too, and pureed away! Poured all that into a saucepan, stirred in some soy milk, and heated it in the top of a homemade double boiler, because it was so thick I was afraid I'd scorch it. It was excellent, so good that I've frozen the leftover soup for another time. With it I had saltines with margarine and/or chevre goat cheese. The earthy, tart flavor of the chevre was wonderful with the sweetish soup, too. Would I make it again? Well, I would if I should ever happen to have those exact leftovers in the 'fridge, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Vegetarian Homemade Burrito(non-vegan)

2009-01-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

It's a lot colder here than it was yesterday: 14.3ºF, and I don't care where you're from, that's downright chilly!! My homestate, Maine, is even colder, tho: -3ºF!! While I certainly sympathize with my Dad, and all the rest of my family way up there, I'm sure grateful to be here, lol. And, according to weatherunderground.com, we must might get some snow either Saturday or Sunday, which just tickles the fire out of me. I won't hold my breath waiting, tho, and as long as I don't get stuck at work, I hope it comes a blizzard!!!!

In spite of all the new recipes I'd like to try, last night I made a new old favorite, lol: homemade burritos. It's amazing how many different things I can eat now that I'm not putting meat in them. Evidently it was mostly the meats that were upsetting my stomach and giving me so much gastric distress. Even my chili doesn't bother me any more, whereas chili con carne(chili with meat in it)always hurt me, and quite badly, too. Pinto beans and other beans don't bother me like they used to, either. All of this just delights me, as you can well imagine. So the fact that I can eat a burrito, complete with sour cream(tofutti brand, of course)and a mild salsa, is just a wonderful, wonderful thing, believe me.

The last time I made a burrito, I made re-fried beans to put in it, but last night, I didn't use any beans at all, just some veggies, some fake cheese, and some goat cheese crumbles. 'Twas delicious, and I'll make it again sometime. There isn't really a recipe for it, but I can give you the general idea, and you, of course, can change it around any way you like. 'Twon't bother me at all, at all!

What I used for veggies were onions, mushrooms, celery, and roasted red peppers. I sauted these in olive oil, along with a heaping teaspoonful of minced garlic, until they were all nice and soft. While they were cooking, I cut two pieces of the fake smoked provolone cheese into strips. I poured a goodly amount of salsa on the middle of a tortilla, laid the cheese strips on top of that, spooned the veggie mixture on top of the cheese, and then spread the goat cheese crumbles over it all. Rolled the tortilla, but didn't fold in the sides this time, and heated the whole shebang in an ungreased skillet, just enough for the tortilla to warm up, not even long enough for it to brown at all. While that was warming, I poured some more salsa across my plate, and then laid the heated tortilla on top of it. It was so full and gooey from the cheese that I decided I should eat it with a fork and knife, lol. Get a forkful of tortilla, load it up with the soy sour cream, and chow down!!! Excellent, I tell ya, absolutely excellent! Dessert was a bowl of Kroger brand granola, without raisins. It was on sale, 2/$4, so I decided to buy it instead of buying all the stuff to make my own. I do have a lazy streak, y'know.

My intentions today are to make a Pumpkin "Cheesecake," but, my intentions don't always come to be. You may be sure that if I do make it, I will post the recipe here...even if I don't like it.

Until next time, Happy Eating...and stay warm, hear?

Mushrooms in Buttermilk Stroganoff Sauce

2009-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

It is quite cold here this morning: According to weatherunderground.com a few minutes ago, it's 31.3ºF. Now, for those of you in the Frozen North, that may seem like a spring breeze, but for us here in the Sunny South, it's frigid, I assure you. So, it's cold enough to snow, and I sure wish it would!

Last night, I had about eleventyzillion choices for dinner, all of which were new recipes I want to try. What I finally settled on was Mushrooms in Buttermilk Stroganoff Sauce over hot, buttered biscuits(which I freely admit come from a boxed mix, as my homemade biscuits aren't fit to eat, sigh.), and frozen Brussels sprouts in a butter sauce. If I had put the biscuits in the oven earlier than I did, the meal would've taken me only 30 minutes...I kid you not...to prepare, and that included the chopping and dicing. As it was, it took 45 minutes, which wasn't "all" that bad, and the meal was very good. I will cook it again one of these days.

The recipe comes from "The New Laurel's Kitchen," one of my favorite cookbooks, written by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal. The original "Laurel's Kitchen" was one of my first vegetarian cookbooks, way back when I was in my late 20's, and of course, I have lost it. Fortunately, the new one is very, very close to the old one, and I love it. Anyway, here's the recipe, which she simply calls "Stroganoff Sauce:"

1C buttermilk
1Tbs. cornstarch

1 small onion, chopped
(1 clove garlic)
1Tbs. butter
1/2-1 1/2C mushrooms, sliced

1/4tsp salt, or 1Tbs shoyu
black pepper

Combine buttermilk and cornstarch and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in butter until soft. Crush the garlic with a fork. Stir in mushrooms and cook just until tender. Remove mushrooms and juices from the pan and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir and cook until thickened, then return mushrooms and their juices to the pan. Season with salt or shoyu and pepper. This really tastes like a sour cream sauce, even with only a few mushrooms.

First of all, notice that she doesn't list servings. I'm a hearty eater, and ate almost all of this by myself. It would probably serve two light eaters, or maybe more if you added more milk to the sauce, as well as more mushrooms and onions.

Now, in the "labels for this post" section, I said vegan recipe, and the way I made it last night, it was vegan. No, I'm lying, because I use margarine, but to totally veganize it, you could use a mild vegetable oil. I didn't have any buttermilk, so I put a tablespoonful of white wine vinegar into a one-cup measure, and filled the cup with soy milk, and let it sit for a few minutes. Turned out beautifully, too. I also used minced garlic from a jar, instead of a fresh clove. Those were the only things I did differently, so basically, I actually followed a recipe for a change. The sauce, cooked from Laurel's directions, is very, very thick, which is why I think adding more milk would stretch it to more servings without any loss of goodness. Oh, btw, I used sliced portobello mushrooms that I had found at Kroger, already clean and sliced, and I diced them fairly small. You can use any kind of mushrooms you like, of course. Anyway, like I've already said, I really liked this, it's easy, and I will make it again in the future.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Seriously Easy/Quick Dinner Ideas; My new cookbooks!!!

2009-01-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to pieces, because as of yesterday, I have three of the four cookbooks I wanted the most: "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittnam; "Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Muskowitz and Terry Hope Romero; and "The NEW Vegetarian Epicure," by Anna Thomas. The only one I'm still missing is on backorder at Barnes & Noble's online site, "Vegan With A Vengeance," by Isa Chandra Muskowitz. So now, of course, I can't wait to go grocery shopping this week, as I've already found some recipes I want to try.

The ideas I'm posting here came from a Woman's Day magazine. I've only tried one of them, the garlic couscous one, but the others sound pretty darned good, easy, and quick. One of the hardest things about being a vegetarian is that it's not usually a quick process to fix something to eat...or at least, it's not for me. Some of the cookbooks I've read have had a section for what they call "fast food," but the time involved is usually about 45 minutes. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't call 45 minutes all that fast. As far as I'm concerned, fast means 30 minutes or less. That's just my opinion, yours may differ, it's fine by me!

None of these are actual recipes, they are literally ideas, and you'll have to figure out the seasoning amounts for yourself and your family. Basically everything will be "to taste." So, here we go:

Prepare garlic couscous as the box directs. Saute in olive oil onion, red bell pepper, shredded carrot, raisins, and cumin until onion is soft. Mix and fluff w/couscous. I used 1/2tsp. of cumin, and added 1/2tsp. of cinnamon and a whole TBS. of powdered ginger. It was fantastic...and yes, actually fast. Seems like it took less than 20 minutes to get it all together, including dicing the onion and shredding the carrot.

Next one: Mix tofu w/hoisin sauce, scallions, and ground ginger. Heat in a skillet. Can add minced garlic, red bell pepper, and shredded carrots. Haven't tried this one yet, but it does sound good.

Another one: Simmer diced zucchini, chopped onions and canned diced tomatoes w/herbs until zucchini is tender. Serve over hot rice, with goat cheese crumbled on top. Sounds good to me, haven't tried it yet.

One more: Saute sliced apples and onions in oil until tender. Stir in sauerkraut until hot. Pour over grilled tofu slices, seasoned w/sage, salt, and pepper. Spread brown mustard on bread, and make sammiches. Sorta kinda like a Rueben, and I think I'd like it if I ever actually tried it...which I will, some day.

Last one: Saute sliced bell peppers and onions in oil until tender, stir in unsweetened coconut milk, frozen peas, curry powder or paste, and salt. Boil, then simmer until slightly thickened. Serve over rice, noodles, or potatoes.

So, there ya have it, and until next time, Happy Eating.

Chocolate Pie w/Graham Cracker Crust; Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup

2009-01-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

My last day off was Monday, the 5th...and, incidentally, the day that the two cookbooks I ordered online were allegedly shipped, so of course, I'm hoping that one, and preferably both, of them will show up today. Fingers crossed....Anyway, I did some cooking that day, the chocolate pie and the veggie noodle soup. Both of them turned out very well, and I was pleased.

The pie is vegan, except that I used regular margarine in the graham cracker crust, so you can use either oil or Earth Balance to veganize it, if you wish. I used the chocolate pudding recipe I posted back in December, but added more cocoa, more vanilla, and three tablespoons of corn starch, to thicken it.

The crust recipe is one I found in my old "Joy of Cooking" cookbook, and is very easy. 1 1/2C of crushed graham crackers, 1/4C packed brown sugar, and 6Tbs. of melted butter...yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: It's Blue Bonnet margarine, lol. Whatever! Anyway, mix all this together until all the crumbs are coated with the butter, and pat it into a 9-inch pie pan, bake for about ten minutes at 300º.

The pie recipe is as follows, with my changes in it:

Combine in blender:
1 pkg. silken tofu
2/3C sugar
3/4C unsweetened cocoa
2Tbs. vanilla extract
3Tbs. corn starch
Blend until creamy and thick, pour into pie crust, and bake at 325ºF for about 30 minutes. It will still be a little shaky when you take it out, but don't overcook it. The crust should be nice and crispy, and the pie, after cooling, should hold together enough to cut and scoop onto a plate. It's awesome, trust me...especially if you're a coolwhip freak like I am, lol. After you put the coolwhip on it, if you can see the pie, it's not enough coolwhip...got that from Paula Deen, lol.

Monday was a good day for soup, so I made Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup, that I'd found on VegWeb.com. I only changed it a little bit, honest. You know I never, or almost never, follow a recipe exactly. So, here's the soup:

Zondra's Veggie Noodle Soup
10-11C water
2med. potatoes, cubed small
2-3 carrots, in small discs
2-3 celery stalks, small dice
1/2C onion, chopped
vegetable bouillion for amount of water used
2-3Tbs soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 1/2C rotine pasta
salt and pepper to taste
1tsp garlic salt.

Bring water to boil, cook potatoes and carrots until just tender, about 10minutes.
Add remaining veggies and bouillion, add soy sauce and garlic salt. Cook on med-hihg heat 5-10 minutes, covered.
Add pasta, cook 10 minutes or until pasta and veggies are done. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Easy enough, right? So of course, I made it more complicated, lol. First, I sauteed the onion, celery, and one teaspoon of minced garlic in about 2Tbs. of olive oil and margarine. Then I added the potatoes and carrots, and let them saute just a couple minutes, and then added the water. I let all this come to a boil, and then simmer for about 20 minutes, when I added the pasta. My pasta was maybe two handsful of penne, a large, round pasta, as I didn't have any rotini. After everything was cooked the way I like it, very, very soft, I added about three good tablespoons full of the miso paste I bought last week, and let it simmer, very gently, for about ten more minutes, until the miso paste was dissolved into the soup. It turned out really good, I liked it very much, and have some of it frozen in the freezer for one of those times I odn't want to cook. One thing I will do differently the next time I make it, tho, is to add quite a bit more miso to it. I could just barely taste the miso, and since I love miso soup, it's just gotta have more in it. So, there ya have it!

Last night was one of those nights I didn't want to cook, so, I took some of the frozen vegan chili out of the freezer, and heated that up. With it, I made a cheese and salsa quesadilla, and honey, please, that was some good meal, let me tell ya! I ate like the proverbial pig, lol.

Tonight? Well, I'm not sure yet, but I "think" I'm going to finish up the pintos I cooked last Friday, before they go bad. It's come to my attention lately that I waste an incredible amount of food, and I'm trying to do something about it, it bothers me that I do. One problem is that sometimes I just don't like what I've cooked, like that bbq tempeh I posted in my first(I think)post. Altho I tried to save it, make it taste better, ultimately I ended up throwing most of it away. Another problem is that some recipes make wayyyyy too much for one person, and the stuff isn't always freezeable, so I end up losing part of it, too. Or, even worse, I forget about the leftovers in the 'fridge until they start growing grey fuzz, sigh, so those get thrown out, too. Anyway, I'm seriously trying to better about the waste, so, yeah, I guess it's the pinto beans, boiled 'taters...or maybe just baked...and the leftover french-style green beans from, um, whenever. They're still good. And a pint of chocolate cookie crunch tofutti for dessert!

One last thing, and I'm thru babbling for today. I think. I made another batch of granola today, and am out of oatmeal, coconut, and almost out of honey. There's about a cupful or so of cashews and walnuts together, so I'm going to mix the two together and make a nut butter with them. Should taste ok, I think, and that way, I'm not wasting the rest of the nuts.

Until next time, Happy Eating.

Bean Burritos and Stuffed Acorn Squash...sort of!

2009-01-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

It took me a while to do it, but I finally baked the acorn squash that I bought last Wednesday. Did it, um, Saturday evening, I think. I also made my grandmother's Yankee-style stuffing to go with it, a white bread stuffing that most folks here in the South don't like: Southerners seem to prefer a cornbread stuffing, which I generally don't like at all. I reckon it's all what you were brought up with, tho.

Anyway, I scrubbed the outside of the squash, cut it in half, and put it in a baking pan with about 1/4 inch of water, with the cut sides down. Then I put it in a preheated oven, 350ºF, and let it bake for 30 minutes. While it was baking, I made the stuffing, which in this case was actually a dressing, as I didn't actually stuff the squash, but spooned the stuffing around the squash halves in the pan.

I diced up about seven or eight slices of white bread, very small dice, put it in a bowl and added about 1/4C each of diced onion and celery. While I was doing the dicing, I melted, oh, about three tbs. of margarine, and then poured it over the bread, to which I had added the onion and celery. I gave all this a good shake of poultry seasoning, maybe a tsp., I'm not sure, and stirred it all in. After the margarine had been stirred in as much as possible, I added some hot water to it...maybe a quarter of a cup, again, I'm not sure. Stirred all this together and decided that the mixture was exactly the moisture I wanted: not sloppy wet, and not dry, but moist enough to be soft, and to hold everything together. So, I took the pan out of the oven, carefully turned over the squash, and spooned the stuffing all around the bottom of the squash, and returned the pan to the oven for another 30 minutes. The stuffing had browned, the squash was nice and soft, and that was my dinner. It was, in my opinion, awfully good, and hopefully I'll find another squash and do it again before too long.

Last Wednesday, at the grocery store, I bought a jar of mild salsa and a bag of soft flour tortillas. Friday I cooked a pot of pinto beans, to use for refried beans to make bean burritos. Last night I did just exactly that. The recipe for the refried beans comes from "1000 Vegetarian Recipes," by Carole Gelles.

Refried Beans
2Tbs. vegetable oil
3 Tbs. minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2C cooked beans

1. In a medium skilet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic/cook, stirring, until onion is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cumin until absorbed.
2. Add the beans and mash with a fork. Cook until dry.

Variation: for a spicier version, add 1/8tsp. ground red pepper when you add the cumin.

I didn't add the ground red pepper, but I do think I would've liked more cumin, so next time I think I'll add 1/2tsp. instead of just 1/4tsp. When I added the garlic to the onions, I also added about 2Tbs. of diced, roasted red peppers. After the beans were dry, I made the burrito. I laid two torn-in-half slices of soy smoked provolone cheese in the center of the burrito, and then poured some salsa over it, enough to thinly cover the cheese. Than I added enough beans to cover the cheese and the salsa, and some goat cheese crumbles on top of it all. Rolled it up, and set it in a dry skillet to heat. When it had turned golden brown, I took it out and proceeded to chow down, with some soy-based sour creme to go with it. I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was, and yes, I will most definitely do it again. The only thing I would change is to buy a thicker salsa. The one I bought was awfully thin, and I'd like it thicker. Other than that, no changes at all.

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Noodles w/Sour Cream and Applesauce

2009-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over, and I'm totally relieved. We have been wicked busy at work all week, and I'm just plain exhausted. Today is my one day off, and I'm back in there at 7am in the morning, sigh. I just hope the tips will be as good this weekend as they were the past few days, lol.

The Noodles and Sour Cream, etc., is from "1000 Vegetarian Recipes," by Carol Gelles. I'd been thinking about making it for quite a while, and this afternoon, I did. It's excellent, rich, creamy, sweet but not too sweet. So here it is:

Noodles with Sour Cream and Applesauce

8-oz. broad noodles
One 8-oz. container sour cream(3/4 C.)....I used the soy-based Tofutti brand
3/4 C. chunky applesauce....I bought the smooth kind but it works fine
2Tbs. sugar
1/2C golden or dark raisins
1/2tsp. salt, or to taste

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.
2. Return noodles to pot and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cook, stirring, until heated thru.

Variation: Stir in 1/2tsp. ground cinnamon....I didn't use the cinnamon.

Like I said, this stuff is wonderful, and I will definitely make it again sometime. And next time I'll remember to buy the chunky applesauce, lol.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping, and bought some salsa and tortillas. Today I cooked a pot of pinto beans, and plan on making refried beans from them, and then making a bean burrito, using my soy sour cream, and some goat cheese crumbles I found yesterday. And one of these days, I might even make myself a breakfast burrito, who knows? When I make either of these, I'll let you know how they turn out.

My other fantastic find at the store was a tub of miso paste. I honestly don't know if Kroger has carried this all along and I never looked in the right spot for it(it was in the refrigerated section of the health food department), or if they've just started carrying it. Either way, I'm delighted to have found it, and can see miso soups in my future. Again, I'll post about those when I finally get around to making one of them.

Basically I haven't cooked much lately, I've just been too tired. I made some cashew butter, so have had a few cb&j sammiches...the other night I fried some vegetarian hotdogs, heated up some green beans, and baked a potato...and, last week, I used the frozen leftover squash/beans/red pepper mixture to make a soup, like Sherrie suggested. First I sauteed some onion and garlic, then added water and a veggie buillion cube, the squash mix, and about two small potatoes, peeled and diced. When the 'taters were good and soft and falling apart, I used the immersion blender to puree it. Turned out great, and hopefully I'll be able to make it again sometime. I love soups.

Until next time, happy eating.

Squash and Beans w/Roasted Red Peppers

2008-12-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

The squash and beans turned out really well, and assuming I ever manage to find the frozen squash again, yes, I'll make it again, and probably with no changes...imagine that, eh? Sherrie, I saw your comment, and I had thought about doing a soup, but decided not to. But! There is a ziploc bag of this stuff in the freezer, so, who knows? It might turn into a soup yet, lol.

So this is how I did it. Um, first of all, you need to know what kind of squash I used, right? Too bad, because all the package said was "squash." Period. Now, because of the thick, creamy texture, and the bright orange-yellow color, I'm guessing it might very well be from a Hubbard squash, because it tastes just like the Hubbards my granddad used to grow. It's not zucchini or yellow crookneck, but that's about all I can really tell you. Sorry...sometimes it be that way, lol.

I used a can of navy beans, and since most canned beans aren't usually tender enough to suit me(I like things squooshy, I think I've mentioned that before, right?), I added some water to the pan I put the beans in, and let it simmer for almost an hour. By this time the squash had thawed somewhat, and I mixed in 1/8th tsp. each of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. While the beans were simmering, I diced about half of a medium yellow onion, and let it soften in a skillet with some olive oil, and then diced up some roasted red peppers(from a jar, btw), and let those get hot...it looked about a quarter cup each of onion and peppers. Then I added the beans and liquid, which by now wasn't much at all, and the squash, let it all sit there and marry nicely and get good and hot, I guess for about 20 minutes, stirring every once in a while so it wouldn't scorch, as it was very thick by now.

That's all there is to it. Very, very good, and not too awfully complicated. That and a baked potato made a lovely meal that night.

Yesterday, all I could think of all day at work was getting home and making a big ol' pot of veggie chili...actually vegan, except for the margarine I used. To be totally vegan, just use oil. I made the chili just like my other two times, except that this time, I crumbled up 80z. of tempeh, and let it get all nice and golden brown and crispy, and because the tempeh has a bitter taste...I think, anyway...I drizzled about, oh, I guess two tsp. of honey over it. Then I stirred the tempeh into the pot of chili, and let the whole thing simmer for close to an hour. Dynamite!!!! It was fantastic, I have to tell ya, it really was. With it, I made sourdough toast, buttered, and also spread with chevre(goat cheese, very earthy in flavor, spreads like a dream). Another lovely meal.

I didn't check my mail Saturday, so I did yesterday, and lo and behold, I had a gift from a friend, of $40 cash and a $25 gift card for Barnes and Noble!!!! I can buy Veganomicon," and have enough left over for maybe a couple more books besides. Praise the Lord!!!! God bless that woman, it's like she's been reading my mind, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!