CHOCOLATE SORBET(Lowfat and Vegan); SNOW SNOW SNOW

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

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.

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

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)

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!!

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

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)

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)

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)

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!!!!

TVP Sausage Crumbles(vegan)

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)

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!!!!

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

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!

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

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)

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

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.

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

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.

Navy Bean and Greens Soup...Vegan

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!!!!

Tofu Veggie Burgers

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"

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!!!