Hella Granola

Chocolate Espresso Bars

2010-12-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

This recipe came from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, and you're going to love it. Chocolate Espresso Bars! They are rich and strong, but not too sweet. Don't think "brownie", think ESPRESSO!

I'm going to forward you to their website for the recipe but I want to make a few notes. Instant Espresso powder is hard to find but don't substitute it with espresso grounds (like a reviewer on their website did). Instead, try instant coffee. I used Trader Joe's Instant Coffee. I doubled the amount they asked for to give it a stronger flavor.

I added 1/2 cup of sugar (like a reviewer suggested)

And... I didn't have heavy cream for the glaze. I melted 1/4 cup of coffee icecream and added the 4 oz of chocolate. Ohh man it was good.

And, here is the recipe you've been waiting for:
williams-sonoma.com

Missy's Candied Walnut Gorgonzola Salad

2010-05-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that salads could be this good, or this fancy! And oh so easy to make.

Here is the original recipe, with loads of five star reviews.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup sugar
3 or 4 raspberries (frozen or fresh)
2 tablespoons white basalmic vinegar ($2.29 a bottle at Trader Joe's)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup gorgonzola (crumbled) ($3.00 for a good sized wedge at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 cups mixed greens (about half a bag)

Put the walnuts and sugar in a frying pan and turn on the medium heat. Stir everything around until the sugar melts (yes, it melts) and coats the nuts and turns all caramelly and good. Spread the candied nuts onto parchment paper and LET THEM COOL. They don't look it, but they are molten hot and will sizzle on your tongue if you try to eat one. Trust me. LEAVE THE NUTS ALONE.

Squish the raspberries and mix with the vinegar and olive oil.

Now, mix everything together.

That's it! Super fancy, and super good (even if you have a blister on your tongue). Enjoy!

Fiesta Quinoa

2010-05-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was craving mexican food, but we were out of rice! In fact, we were out of a lot of things. Somehow, we ended up with a delicious and healthy meal that was easy to make.

Fiesta Quinoa
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa, but it doesn't matter)
2 cups water
1 can black beans - drained, rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup of your favorite salsa
diced tomatoes
cubed avocado

Combine the quinoa and water in a pot, cover, and simmer until the water is absorbed. Add the corn, beans, and salsa. Stir until everything is hot. Top with tomatoes and avocado. Tastes great alone or with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Todd's Beet Salad and a Hummus Sandwich

2010-05-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

I brought in the beet harvest from my garden! I had planted a beautiful heirloom variety of beets called Chioggia. See? Beautiful! And super easy to cook!

Todd's Beet Salad
Ingredients:
beets
water

Cut off the beet where the tuber meets the greens. Use a carrot peeler to remove the skin and cut the root tip off. Either slice or quarter the beet. Add just enough water to cover the beets. Simmer the beets for about 10-15 minutes. While waiting, stack the beet tops and slice them cross-wise into 1" strips. Then add all that to the beet bottoms and cook only until the greens are done, about another five minutes. Serve hot or cold. Enjoy!

Hummus Sandwich
I know it doesn't look very appetizing, in fact, it looks down right diseased in the picture, but it tastes really really really good!

Ingredients:
Bread (any type)
Hummus
and any combination of the following:
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Sprouts (any type)
Lettuce
Spinach
Avocado

Put a big scoop of hummus on the bread, and top with remaining ingredients. If you are feeling extra ambitious, you can grill it like a grilled cheese. Yum.

Roasted Eggplant and Hummus Pizza

2010-03-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

This recipe came from Kimberly Alexandra over at Poor Girl Eats Well. And, ohhh man is it good. This is the second recipe I've tried from her site, and they were both full of win.

I took a few liberties and used whole wheat pizza dough instead of tortillas, and I added cherry tomatoes. I believe it would be good either way!

Roasted Eggplant and Hummus Pizza (Originally from Poor Girl Eats Well, but with a few modifications)
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
2-3 Tablespoons hummus
1/4 onion
1 Tablespoon butter or veggie oil
1 pinch brown sugar
1/2 of an eggplant, thinly sliced and cut into wedges
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
Olive Oil

Roll out the pizza dough and bake until golden brown. Meanwhile, caramelize the onions in a frying pan with a little veggie oil or butter. During the last minute of cooking, add the brown sugar.

Top the pizza crust with hummus, eggplant, mushrooms, caramelized onion, feta cheese, and cherry tomatoes. Place in the broiler until toppings begin to char (or your crust starts to get too dark, whichever happens first). Drizzle with olive oil, and enjoy!

Felt Strawberries and Carrots

2009-10-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

I've been in a crafty mood lately! I made Bean some felt vegetables. He loves "feeding" the carrots to his rocking horse.

I used tiny glass beads for the seeds on the strawberries. Bean had fun picking them up and handing them to me while I stitched them in place. It was a great dexterity builder. However, a few went into his mouth. I was actually looking forward to changing his diaper; I was hoping for a bead studded poop... but alas. I guess he didn't actually swallow any. ;)

I was surprised at how easy these were to make. Here is the tutorial for the strawberries: http://mrmonkeysuit.typepad.com and here is the tutorial for the carrots: http://mojoandco.blogspot.com

Tutorial: Cheap and Easy Photo Board Book!

2009-10-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

I made a photo book for Bean!

Bean has loved looking at family photos lately. I wanted a simple and cheap way to organize them so that he could look at them without destroying them. You can order blank board books, but I didn't want to pay for shipping.

Instead, I decided to recycle one that he already has. The board book that I used was originally $1.00. You can find them in the dollar section at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Seriously cheap. You will also need a glue stick and some photos.

Materials Needed:
1 board book
Photos
Glue Stick

Step 1: Apply glue to the back of a photo

Step 2: Glue it in place.
Step 3: Repeat for all of the pages, including the front and back of the cover.

The original pages make a nifty frame around the photos!

Success! He Loves it!

PS: His Great Grandmother made the froggie quilt that he is sitting on.

PSS: A special "Thank You!" to Dev for a little photo editing help. A combination of our blue walls and the blue sky made one of the photos a little too blue.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas

2009-10-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

This recipe came from Facebook of all places. It was posted by Baby Boot Camp. It is very yummy in a different sort of way. I'm not sure about the longevity of Facebook Notes, so I'm reposting the recipe (along with the minor tweaks I made).

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas

2 large sweet potatoes (peel and dice)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup red onion (diced)
1 large garlic clove (mince)
1 15oz. can black beans (drain and rinse)
1 24oz. can diced tomatoes (drain)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
Salt & Pepper
2 cups salsa
8 large flour tortillas

Optional: 1 fresh hot chili or 4 oz. can of diced green chiles, diced avacado

Roast the sweet potatoes at 400F for 20 minutes, or until tender.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and optional chili. Cook until onion is tender. Add the beans, tomatoes, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the sweet potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Spread a thin layer of salsa over the bottom of a lightly oiled 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

Place a tortilla on a flat work surface, spoon a portion of the sweet potato mixture down the center of the tortilla and roll it up. Place the filled tortilla in the baking dish, seam side done, and repeat. Top with remaining salsa.

Bake covered for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Fall Garden - 2009

2009-09-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I posted about my garden. This summer it was filled with 7 different types of cherry tomatoes. Although it was a rough year for tomatoes, there was a wonderful variety!

In June I picked up some corn seeds at Native Seed Search. I got a variety of sweet corn called Guarijo, which sounds beautiful: "produces cobs with yellow or burnt-orange kernels." I planted it a few weeks late (d'oh) it should have been planted at the beginning of the monsoon season, but we didn't get a monsoon season this year. I also picked up a variety of onion called I'ito's Onion.

You can see the corn in this picture, as well as some Mammoth Sunflower seeds I planted on the right (just for fun).

The green onions are in the front center. The right hand side is reserved for winter plants (I'm planning on beets, carrots, and lettuce). The pots are filled with the struggling tomato plants, and a pepper plant. The plastic owl watches over everything.

We got to amend the soil with our own compost for the first time. I half expected that nothing would grow, or it would be shriveled and malformed. It is exciting to see everything thrive!

Easy Crockpot Rice

2009-09-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is a great way to get part of dinner taken care of, especially if you know you have a busy day ahead of you or if the rest of the meal is going to take a lot of prep work. I'm in love with basmati rice, especially the type that comes in hip burlap sacks.

Crockpot Rice
3 cups rice
6 cups water

Add ingredients to the crockpot and cover. Cook on High for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, or cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours. What makes this recipe even better is that the rice will stay warm for a few hours after you turn the crockpot off.

Emily's Potatoes with Broccoli and Cheese

2009-09-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

My sister taught me how to make this. It is so good!

Emily's Potatoes with Broccoli and Cheese

Ingredients:
6 - 8 potatoes (this made enough for 3 people)
water
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
salt to taste

4 cups broccoli (diced)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup margarine or butter
4 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese (shred)

Boil the potatoes until tender. When they are tender place them on a baking sheet. Cut a shallow x into each one and smash them slightly. Add butter and salt, and bake at 400*F until the edges are starting to crisp.

Steam the broccoli, or put it in a pot with roughly 1/2 cup of water and simmer it. If you do it the second way, just make sure it doesn't dry out. You can leave the remaining water in the pot and continue with the recipe.

In another pot mix the flour and butter together over medium heat. Add the milk and stir until it begins to thicken. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Add the now tender broccoli.

Pour the broccoli and cheese sauce on top of the potatoes, and enjoy!

Vegetarian Toddler

2009-08-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

Getting my toddler to eat anything green is always a struggle. However, Bean will eat several Spinach Ice Pops a day if I let him. I wish I could remember where I originally found this recipe.

Spinach Ice Pops

1/2 fresh pineapple
1 banana
1 cup fresh or frozen spinach

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until all of the green specks are gone. Pour into ice pop molds (Target has miniature ones, and they happen to be BPA free!) and freeze.

Spinach is a good source of vitamins A and C, calcium, phosphorus, and protein. Pineapple contains calcium, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C, and manganese. Pineapple also contains a protein digesting enzyme mixture called bromelain. Bananas contain potassium, fiber, and B6.

Other Toddler Friendly Ideas

Quinoa - make it with milk instead of water, and add brown sugar, peanut butter, and diced bananas and strawberries. Quinoa is a complete protein!

Freeze Dried Fruit - Trader Joes has wonderful freeze dried mangoes - Bean usually refuses to eat fresh fruit (no matter how much we beg, plead, bribe, or threaten) but he loves anything freeze dried.

Melon

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Eggs - scrambled, hard boiled, whatever - he loves them

Cheese - slice it into french fry shapes

Yogurt

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce - you can smuggle pureed carrots into the sauce

Brown Rice with Beans

Tofu - Bean loves Crispy Baked Tofu

Peanut Butter or Almond Butter - serve on bread, freeze dried fruit, or with a spoon. Mix jam into it for a special treat.

Hummus - Very easy to make. The beans are a good source of protein, and you can blend a roasted red bell pepper into it

Re-fried Beans

Bean loves to dip things into other things. The yogurt, hummus, peanut butter, and refried beans all work perfectly. I sometimes serve a little blob of each along with a piece of toast sliced into fingers, or a few corn chips.

Chia seed - This might be hard to find, but it is a wonderful source of Omega-3, calcium, and iron. It is also easier to digest than flax (no need to grind it). I sprinkle it into his yogurt and breakfast cereal. Chia can also be mixed into fruit smoothies.

Crispy Baked Tofu

2009-08-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Chow Vegan (awesome website, check it out if you haven't seen it).

The tofu is delicious and very versatile. Each time I've made it, I've gone with a sort of "fish and chips" theme and served it with fried potato wedges and tartar sauce. I keep meaning to try it in a sandwich.

Here is the recipe. I made a few substitutions to compensate for the things we were out of, but the original version can be found on Chowvegan.com

Crispy Baked Tofu

1 pound extra firm tofu (drain, cut into 1/4" thick slices)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 eggs worth of Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 tablespoon Soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 400F

Combine the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, and garlic salt. In another bowl combine the Ener-G Egg Replacer and soy sauce. Dip the slices of tofu into the "egg" mixture, then into the breadcrumbs. Place the breaded tofu on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

Tartar Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise (The Smart Balance one is awesome)
5 sweet pickles, diced
1/4 onion, minced
1 lemon (juice)

Mix everything together, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Pasta with Chickpeas

2009-08-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook. We have made it a couple of times now. It is very tasty. There is no milk or cream (not counting the feta cheese topping), but it has a very creamy texture. It contains a good amount of protein.

Pasta with Chickpeas

1 1/2 cups onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
28 ounce can of tomatoes
2 cans chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
salt and pepper
16 ounces pasta (anything chunky, I used mini penne)
feta cheese or diced tomatoes

Start some water boiling for the pasta.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, combine the onion, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil and saute on low heat for 10 minuets. Add the tomatoes and half of the chickpeas. Cook for another 10 minutes. While the chickpeas and tomatoes are cooking, get the pasta started. Just follow the directions on the box.

When the 10 minutes are up remove the chickpeas and tomatoes from the heat, pour into a blender, and puree the mixture until smooth. Be careful not to have a molten mass of sauce erupt from the blender! It can happen, I speak from experience! Return the sauce to the skillet and add the remaining chickpeas, salt, and pepper.

When the pasta is al dente drain it and add it to the sauce. Mix everything together, and serve with feta cheese or diced tomatoes.

Bagels

2009-02-16T15:19:00.001-08:00

I've been making bagels for a few months now. We usually bake them on Sunday morning, and sometimes there are enough left on Monday for breakfast. They generally get gobbled up pretty fast!

They are surprisingly easy to make, and don't use very many ingredients. John D. Lee has a wonderful tutorial over at hubpages.com that I highly recommend you look at. Normally I would post the recipe, but he does such a wonderful job explaining it that I'm not going to bother (okay okay, so I'm just feeling lazy).

Here's a picture of the ones we made yesterday:

Vegan Poptarts!

2009-02-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Zach was craving pop tarts tonight, so of course we were out. I started to wonder if it was possible to make my own. They are supposed to be a pastry, right? So I thought about it a little and realized that the dough I make pie crusts from would probably work. We have a jar of apricot jam in the fridge, so why not try to make apricot poptarts?

Before I started I did a quick google search. Sure enough, I haven't been the only person with this idea! chezpin.com lists a very detailed description on how to make them. asweetfantasy.blogspot.com has some very pretty ones if you don't mind artificial coloring.

Here are mine:

You can use any piecrust recipe, just add a teaspoon or so of sugar to it.

Here's the recipe I used:

Poptarts
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup Crisco
3 tbsp. cold water

1/4 cup jam (your favorite)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons water

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and shortening together until the mixture is "sandy". Gradually add the water and stir, until a pliable dough forms. Don't be afraid to use your hands!

I then rolled the dough out, and cut it into rectangles. I thought of each rectangle as an open book. I added about 2 teaspoons of jam to each rectangle, and folded it in half (as if you are closing the book). Then I used a fork to press the edges together. I used the same fork to add puncture holes to the poptarts, so they don't turn into poptart bubbles in the oven.

I baked them for 12 minutes at 450F. While they cooled I mixed together the powdered sugar with a little water. Add the water slowly, a little goes a long way. When the mixture was of icing-consistency, I used it to frost the poptarts.

I got 7 small ones out of the recipe. Zach ate 5 of them in one sitting. I hope you enjoy them as much as he did!

*I'm aware that some vegans don't consider sugar to be vegan-friendly. I think it just depends on where you want to draw the line. I'm almost positive that you can replace the small amount of sugar with maple syrup or agave nectar. I'm out of both right now, but I will try it when I get more and update this with the results.

Pecan Pie

2008-11-27T23:11:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from Recipezaar. It is very unique in that it is one of the few pecan pie recipes that doesn't use corn syrup. I think the brown sugar gives it a wonderful flavor.

Pecan Pie (x 2)
2 cups margarine
4 cups brown sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups pecans (whole, chopped, whatever! In my opinion, halved looks the best)

Preheat the oven to 350*F.

Melt the margarine in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar, and stir to dissolve. Remove from the heat, and allow it to cool slightly. You don't want it too hot or you will cook the eggs as you add them! Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and salt. Mix mix mix!

Pour the mixture into 2 pie crusts (unbaked, recipe below). Now, gently add the pecans on top of the pies. They will sink slightly, but most will "float".

Carefully (without jarring them around too much) transfer the pies to the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

I suggest you serve this with whipped cream, or, better yet, vanilla ice cream.

Pie Crust
Pie crust is easy to make, and is one of those things that are somehow satisfying and fun to make. It can be a bit tricky to get the dough over the pie pan, but once you learn it is a piece of cake. I mean, pie.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Crisco shortening
5-7 tablespoons of water

Mix the flour and salt together. Add the Crisco, and mix it into the flour. The easiest way to do this is with your hands. Squish it into the flour, mush it around. Eventually the flour and crisco will make sandy little pebbles. Once you get to this stage, add the water. Knead the dough just enough to make it doughy and stretchy. You don't want to over-knead pie crust.

Divide the dough into two balls and roll them out on a lightly floured surface until they are 1/4 inch thick. If you are having trouble rolling it out, and it seems like the dough is breaking a lot, then you need to add a little more water.

Sprinkle a tad more flour on top of the crust, and, starting with the edge closest to you, wrap it around the rolling pin. You want the rolling pin to be surrounded in the sheet of dough you made. Now, unwind it from the rolling pin and onto a pie pan. This seems to be the easiest method.

I'm not sure how to explain how to crimp the pie crust, so, if you want a fancy pants pie crust, I recommend this video: Recipetips.com

Tada! This makes enough for two un-covered pies (like pecan and pumpkin pies) or one covered pie (like an apple pie).

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:10:00.001-08:00

This was our very first vegetarian Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful to be able to spend it with a vegetarian-friendly family. We spent it with Zach's aunt and uncle, Pete and Beth. Zach's brother and cousin stopped in later for dessert. It couldn't have been a better environment for River's first Thanksgiving!

The only dishes that contained meat were the turkey itself, and the turkey gravy.

There were two types of vegetarian stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, homemade garlic and herb butter, whole wheat buns, pumpkin polenta, butternut squash, green bean casserole, an unturkey seitan roast, and vegetarian gravy. For dessert there was cherry, pecan, and pumpkin pies, and hot coffee. It was quite the feast!

I don't have the recipe that Beth used for her vegetarian stuffing, but ours came from Vegweb.com. We skipped the rosemary, raisins, and nuts. It was good, but a little dry. I should have added a little extra vegetable broth but I was worried it would be soggy. Beth's stuffing was much tastier, I'll have to ask her for the recipe.

Our Unturkey Seitan Roast came from The Vegan Chef. I followed the recipe to a T. Unfortunately, something went wrong. Somewhere, I made a mistake. I suspect that when I was supposed to add half the liquid to the Vital Wheat Gluten, that I mis-measured and added less. My Unturkey came out dry and rubbery. The flavor was wonderful though, and it sliced up like turkey.

The vegetarian gravy was kind of an experiement. Beth makes really good gravy, but had never made a vegetarian version. She created a recipe using vegetable broth. It was good, but I think the broth and spices wound up tasting a bit too salty... I'm not sure what was off, actually. She suggested that we add a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup to the mix. Somehow, this worked! It wasn't the best gravy, but it was creamy and good.

I think that I left my camera at Beth's house (or possibly in the car) so I'll have to wait to post pictures.

Potato Soup

2008-11-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

Again, I have been too busy to post! I promised it wouldn't happen, but then I got busy. Zach and I decided to get married. Because we both have no patience, it meant that I planned the wedding and we pulled it off in a week. Amazingly enough, it all went according to plan!

We also built a new veggie garden. We already have snowpea sprouts! We also planted brussels sprouts, pak choi (chinese cabbage), spinach, and lettuce. Hopefully those will sprout soon, too.

Now, on to the latest recipe! Zach made some delicious potato soup a few days ago. He modified it from a recipe that contained *gasp* bacon and other icky things. I don't have a picture yet, but I promise that there will be one soon!

Potato Soup
1 small onion (diced)
2 celery stalks (diced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
9 potatoes (slice or roughly chop, doesn't matter)
2 quarts veggie broth (enough to cover the potatoes, you might not use all of this)
1/4 cup margarine (Earth Balance is vegan!)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk (soymilk works, too)
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper

In a large pot, saute the onion, celery, and garlic until the onion is starting to turn tender and transparent. Add the potatoes, and saute for another 5 minutes. Add enough vegetable broth to cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until the potatoes are very tender. This will depend on how well you diced your potatoes - smaller pieces cook faster. Ours took 40 minutes to reach the point of ultimate softness.

In a separate pan you are going to combine the margarine, flour, and milk to create a roux. If you haven't done this before, read on! Otherwise, skip to the next paragraph. A roux (pronounced roo, like kangaroo) is one of the mother sauces used in French cooking to create gravies, sauces, or act as a thickening agent. Don't let this scare you away, it is easy to make. First, melt the margarine in a frying pan over medium heat. Next, add the flour. Stir and mix and mush it together, it is going to be thick. Smush it around over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Failure to complete this step will leave things tasting a little flour-ey. Add the milk, and mix it with a whisk until the sauce comes to a boil. When it has thickened to a gravy-like consistency, you are done making the roux! Congrats on creating a mother sauce, it is a basis used in a LOT of other recipes!

Add the tarragon, salt, and pepper (to taste) to the roux, and set it aside for a moment. In the meantime, mash away at your pot of potatos with a potato masher. We like ours chunky, so we didn't do this for very long. But, by all means, go all out and smash smash smash away if you want a smooth soup.

Mix the roux and potato mush together.

Add a little more milk (or soymilk) if it seems too thick, and add more salt and pepper if it needs it. Garnish with cilantro.

This tastes really good with either breadrolls or (strangely enough) cheese quesidillas.

Enjoy!

Freezer Canned Tomatoes

2008-10-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

I've been taking quite the hiatus!

Remember the Roasted Tomato Soup that we made back in August? Well, tomatoes were on sale for 48 cents a pound this weekend! I told Zach that we were going to buy $20 worth of tomatoes. We filled up 3 big plastic produce bags with tomatoes, and I was certain that we had tons and tons. It turned out we only had 12 pounds of tomatoes. 12 pounds of tomatoes that cost only $6!

I cut each one in half, drizzled them with olive oil, and roasted them at 400F for about 30 minutes. Then I ran them through the blender, and poured them into my quart sized mason jars. I felled each jar 3/4 of the way full, and put them in the freezer. We ended up with 6 quarts of frozen tomatoes!

I meant to go back to the store and buy more tomatoes, but never got around to it. Oh well, 6 jars of frozen tomatoes will end up making 24 bowls of tomato soup this winter!

Update!

2008-09-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

It is far time for an update!

Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe to post at the moment. I am out of batteries. No pictures, no recipes! In the meantime, here are some pictures I took around the house and garden this summer. I think the larger versions look better (especially of the spider). Just click them, you'll see what I mean.

Zucchini Pasta

2008-08-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten all two of my loyal readers!

I joined a onesies swap over at Crafster so I've been a busy bee. It is time for a break from appliqué and screen printing, and time for an update!

This is some really great pasta, I've made it a few times now. Beth gave us the amazing cheese. We were so hungry that we only took one blurry picture.

A blurry picture indeed.

Zucchini Pasta
1/2 box of pasta (linguine or bowtie work well - cook according to directions)
2-3 zucchini (grated)
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic (minced)
3/4 cup pecorino romano cheese (thanks Beth!)
Salt and pepper

Get the pasta cooking, and get to grating the zucchini. Add the olive oil and garlic to a frying pan and cook until the garlic is soft. Add the zucchini and sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the cheese and stir to combine. Toss with the noodles. Eat up!

Vegan Zucchini Bread

2008-08-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

This bread is so friggen amazing that it had 420 great reviews on Allrecipes.

Zucchini Bread
1 cup veggie oil
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs worth of Ener-G Egg replacer
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini (grated)
1 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oatmeal (uncooked)
3 tablespoons margarine (melted)
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Mix the veggie oil, sugar, and fake eggs. Stir in everything except the walnuts. Divide the nuts between two greased bread pans, and pour the batter on top. I know that sounds weird, I had initially done it to make the nuts easy to pick out (picky eaters around these parts). It created a kind of crust which was so well liked that I decided to include it in the recipe. Now mix the topping ingredients together and smush little clumps of it into marble sized crumbs. If it doesn't stick right add a few tablespoons of water. Add the crumbs on top of the batter. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes. Slice it up, spread margarine on top, and enjoy!

Vegan Ginger Chai Latte

2008-08-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

This came from mangopowergirl.com. I tweaked the recipe just a little bit. I love this drink, but I love ginger. It was a little too spicy (in the way that ginger is spicy) for Zach.

Ginger Chai Latte
1 cup of water
2 inch piece of ginger root (peel and chop)
2 cups of soy milk
1 - 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1-2 teaspoons loose leaf black tea (we had oolong)

Bring the water and ginger to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, you want it to reduce by about half. Add the soy milk, and, if you are using them, the vanilla and cinnamon. Bring back to a boil, remove from heat, and add the tea leaves and maple syrup. Wait 3-4 minutes to give the tea a chance to steep. Strain into 2 mugs, and enjoy!

Artichoke Lasagna with Feta Cheese

2008-08-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is Zach's specialty. He prepared this start to finish, and even took the picture! Looks good, doesn't it? He found the recipe on recipezaar, #38607.

Artichoke Lasagna with Feta Cheese
9 lasagna noodles (cook according to directions)
1/2 onion (diced)
4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tablespoon veggie oil
2 cups veggie broth
4 sprigs fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 can artichoke hearts (chopped)
10oz frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1 jar pasta sauce (we like Trader Joe's Tomato Basil)
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese*
4oz feta cheese* (crumbled)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
*Not all cheese is truly vegetarian, as many brands are made with rennet which is derived from the stomach of slaughtered calves (often labeled as "enzymes"). The links go to brands which are vegetarian friendly.

Mix the onions, garlic, and oil together in a pot. Cook over medium heat until the onions are tender. Add the veggie broth, rosemary, artichoke hearts, and spinach. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the sauce.

Now for the messy part! Oil up a 9x13" pan. Add a thin layer of the sauce mixture, followed by three noodles. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and add another layer of the sauce mixture. Top it with three more noodles. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and add another layer of the sauce. Top it with three more noodles. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and add another layer of the sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella and feta cheese.

Cover with foil, and bake for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it stand for as long as you can resist it (10 minutes, if you have the willpower), and enjoy!

Apparently this can be frozen (before cooking) and baked for 1 1/2 hours.

Garden (update)

2008-08-01T23:09:00.001-07:00

The harvest so far:
13 cucumbers
2 large zucchini

I made some of the cucumbers into pickles. They are very very very vinegary pickles.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes With Mushroom Gravy

2008-08-01T19:51:00.001-07:00

Zach's wisdom teeth were extracted yesterday, so it is mushy food week here. He's been living off of a lot of milkshakes and smoothies, but I thought a twist on an old classic would be good. And Ooooh man is it good. It looks god awful, but it is gooood.

Mushroom Gravy
1/4 onion (diced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water
6oz portobello mushrooms (about 6 babies) (diced)
1 1/2 cups veggie broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 sprig rosemary
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauté the onion and olive oil until the onions begin to caramelize. Add the water, and allow to simmer until it is reduced by half. Add the remaining ingredients, and simmer until it reaches an ideal thickness. Optional: Blend half (or all) in the blender.

Mashed Potatoes
5 red russet potatoes (peeled)
water (for boiling)
1/2 - 1 cup veggie broth
2 teaspoons garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon rosemary (diced)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Boil the potatoes until they are tender enough to mash. Mash them up, add enough veggie broth to make them smooth and creamy, add the garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Easy peasy.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2008-08-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

We made this soup last year. It is a perfect cold-weather soup, but, unfortunately, tomatoes aren't on sale when it is cold out. Now that tomatoes are $1 a pound, I think I'll try to jar some of it. Adapted from Recipezaar #74046.

Roasted Tomato Soup
8-9 tomatoes (cut in half)
1 head of garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 onion (diced)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons margarine
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup milk

Equipment
Blender

Arrange the tomato halves cut-side-up in a large, shallow baking pan.

Peel off the very outer "paper" layer of the garlic head, then cut off the top 1/2 inch. Here is a nice tutorial, since it is hard to explain without pictures (if you use the tutorial just follow the first 2 steps). Add the garlic head to the pan with the tomatoes. Drizzle everything with the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Bake (roast?) at 350 for about an hour. Let everything cool down a little.

Let's back up a little. While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the margarine and onions together in a large pot until tender. Now comes the fun part. Squish the garlic head, kind of like a tube of garlicy toothpaste. Discard the papery part of the garlic. Add the garlic paste, tomatoes, and the remaining ingredients (except for the milk) to the pot with the onions. Cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Blend the soup in the blender (be careful and avoid molten hot soup explosions!). Add the milk. Bring back to a simmer, serve, and enjoy!

Frozen Yogurt

2008-07-27T21:36:00.001-07:00

This was very good, fairly healthy, and easy to make! It is the perfect treat for a hot day.

Frozen Yogurt
2 cups plain yogurt
2 mangoes
16oz container of strawberries
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup hot water

Equipment
Blender

Dice the mangoes and strawberries (separately) and freeze. Parchment paper comes in handy to keep them from freezing to the dish, but you can always chisel them off later.
Here's an easy way to dice a mango.
Add the frozen strawberry chunks and 1 cup of yogurt to the blender, and blend until smooth. I had to re-freeze the mixture for half an hour and re-blend it because it wasn't thick enough the first time through. If your fruit isn't sweet enough you can dissolve the sugar into the water and add it to the mixture. Set the strawberry yogurt aside, and repeat the blending process with the mangoes. After adding the strawberry yogurt to the bowl, I tilted it to the side before adding the mango. This created a nice half-and-half effect. Enjoy!

I want to try this again, but with watermelon and maybe pineapple!

Say Cheese... or, not.

2008-07-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

I just found out today that most cheese is not vegetarian! Zach was reading the label on our package of cheese ravioli, and said "What is rennet? It says 'animal based'"
Within a minute I had googled it, and told him that it is in most types of cheese. It comes from the stomach (fourth stomach, to be exact) of calves. It is often listed simply as "enzymes".
Our vegetarian friends eat cheese, so it had never occurred to us that cheese wasn't vegetarian. It obviously isn't vegan, but beyond that, we hadn't given it a thought.
There are a handful of brands that use bacteria-based-rennet. Here's a handy dandy list . Notice that Kraft didn't even make the list! At least Tilamook and Horizon Organics did... those are the only brands I recognize. I'm not much of a cheese person, but that still frustrates me. Being a vegetarian is turning into a pain in the butt! As Zach pointed out, what are we supposed to do when we go out to eat? We already pester waiters with questions about the tortillas or refried beans (do they contain lard?). What is going to be next?

Edit: I poked around on the internet trying to find other hidden animal based ingredients that appear in otherwise vegetarian seeming foods. Instead I found some insight on the topic:

"Vegans and vegan wannabes, I believe that when you're eating out, you also shouldn't be too concerned about ingredients that make up less than 2 percent of your meal. You'll obviously want to avoid dishes served with meat, cheese or eggs, but it doesn't really matter if there's a modicum of butter or whey or other animal product in the bun that your veggie burger is served on. You won't stop animal suffering by avoiding such minuscule amounts of animal ingredients. But you may give your nonvegan friends -- not to mention the restaurant wait staff -- the idea that vegans are difficult to please. The goal is to show others how easy it is to eat in an animal-friendly manner and that restaurants can satisfy vegan customers without having to do cartwheels." - One Bite at a Time

I think she makes a very good point. Picky people can be irritating. I don't want to be that irritating person that makes other people dislike vegetarians as a whole. That makes me worry less about the restaurant factor. At the same time, I would like to avoid buying meat-based products when I'm the one who is preparing the food. I guess we are going to have to keep learning as we go along, and keep in mind that every bit helps.

Lo Mein

2008-07-16T22:42:00.001-07:00

This is my go-to dish when we don't know what else to make. It is an easy way to use the quickly-expiring-miscellaneous vegetables from the fridge. I haven't found a combination of ingredients that I didn't like.

Lo Mein
1/4 box of noodes (any type - linguine, spaghetti, ramen if you get rid of the MSG filled seasoning packet, etc.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Miscellaneous vegetables diced or cut appropriately (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas, onion, zucchini, mushrooms, bean sprouts) - optional
1/4 cup of peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon garlic (minced) - optional
1 teaspoon chili oil - optional
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional

Cook the noodles according to the directions. While the noodles are cooking, add the vegetable oil and vegetables to a frying pan and cook them until they are somewhat softer. Add the peanut butter, soysauce, and sesame oil. Stir it together for a minute or two to melt the peanut butter. I rarely measure these ingredients, and they can be adjusted to taste depending on the amount and types of vegetables you included. Sometimes I add chili oil or red pepper flakes and/or a teaspoon of minced garlic. Add the cooked noodles, mix to coat, and eat up!

Note: I've been using a vegetable peeler to make my carrots into strips. I like how they resemble the noodles.

Garden

2008-07-15T22:18:00.001-07:00

We've been house sitting / living at my grandmother's house while she is on a roadtrip (I'm jealous, Grandma is living it up in Canada). Right after she left, I added some new plants to her flower garden. I introduced vegetables! Most are summer squash (zucchini, cucumber, eggplant). Here it is:

The big plant on the left is a cucumber, next to it is a bird of paradise (it was already there), and beside that is a zucchini. I'm particularly proud of the zucchini plants, since they came from seed. Of course, this means I planted the whole packet of seeds thinking that only a few would make it. There are now three dozen zucchini plants.

Close up of a cucumber flower:

Kusherie

2008-07-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is an Egyptian rice and lentil recipe. I've adapted it from Recipezaar (#134402). It sounds really weird, but tasted really good. It was fun to have something different, and for once, it was something other than soup. Apparently it is pretty close to an actual Egyptian dish, except they sometimes include macaroni pasta in the pot along with the lentils and rice. Sometimes garbanzo beans are included, too!

Kusherie (there are three parts to this recipe, but it doesn't take long)

Lentils and Rice:
1 1/4 cups of lentils
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups of boiling water (I just used hot tap water)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups of rice
1 more cup of boiling water

Put the lentils and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir them around every once in awhile, but be careful! Super-hot lentil beans sometimes shoot out of the pot at you! After about 5 minutes of this nonsense, add the 3 cups of hot water to the pot and let things boil for 10 minutes. Add the salt, rice, and the rest of the hot water. Put a lid on it and let it simmer for 25- 30 minutes. While that is happening, make the sauce:

Sauce:
1 tiny can of tomato paste
2 cans of diced tomatoes (blend in the blender)
1/2 cup of celery leaves (chopped - I didn't know these had a use!)
1 tablespoon of suger
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Mix all of these things together in another pot. I know... it means another dirty dish. This recipe creates three dirty pots! I usually try to avoid that, but, alas. As I was saying, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a pot. Put a lid on it, and let it simmer while you wait for the lentils and rice to cook. Meanwhile...

Onion Topping
1 onion (diced)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves (minced)

Put these 3 things into a pan, stir them around a bit, eventually the onions will brown. Perfect!

When everything is ready, put a pile of the lentil/rice mixture on a plate. Top it with the sauce, and some of the onion topping. Enjoy!

Say it, say chowdah!

2008-07-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

We've been making nothing but soup lately.

I wanted to make vegan corn chowder, but we were out of some of the ingredients. Instead, this is Zach's favorite corn chowder. Apparently it is a recipe from a book published in 1940 called "The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia of Cooking and Homemaking". I don't have a cookbook nearly that cool, but I do have the internet (this was #32142 on Recipezaar).

It isn't vegan, but it is vegetarian, and it is delicious!

Corn Chowdah (adapted from Recipezaar.com, #32142)
1 1/2 cup water
2 large potatoes (diced)
1 small onion (diced - mine ended up in the blender, I hate onion chunks)
2 cups frozen corn
1 tablespoon margarine
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon water
salt & pepper (to taste)

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, then add everything except for the last three ingredients (milk, flour, tablespoon of water). Boil until the veggies are tender. Mix the flour and water together until there are no lumps, and add it to the soup. Add the milk. We added a little kale, too. Bring back to a boil, and cook it for 10 more minutes. Serve, and enjoy!

2008-07-07T21:11:00.001-07:00

Hrmm... I'm importing from wordpress. I'm not sure which I like better, but I hate how limited the wordpress layouts are. I actually really like the layout I have there, except, I wish I could change the background a little, and I wish I could add the description under the title.

Zach’s Black Bean Soup

2008-07-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

We’ve made this soup a few times now, and while it may not look like much, it tastes amazing!

Zach’s Black Bean Soup
1 onion (diced)
3 carrots (sliced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 - 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 stocks celery (sliced)
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3 cans black beans (1 1/2 cans go into the blender)
2 cups frozen corn
1 large can of stewed tomatoes (goes into the blender with half of the beans)
Fresh cilantro (optional)

Blend half of the black beans and the stewed tomatoes in a blender. They don’t have to be perfectly smooth, but get them somewhat blended.

Sauté the onions, garlic, and carrots in the oil until they are tender (5-10 minutes). You should probably do this in a large pot. Add the chili powder and cumin, and cook for another minuet. Add everything except for the blended bean mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the blended bean mixture, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro (I use obscene amounts of it, but we were out of it when I was taking photos).

Note: If the mixture doesn’t seem thick enough, you can mix 1/2 cup of the soup with 2 tablespoons of corn starch, then mix it back into the soup. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

2008-07-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

This was my first time cooking quinoa, which was surprisingly easy and tasty. Quinoa is very high in protein, and considered a complete protein due to the presence of all eight essential amino acids. The recipe came from Lolo at Veganyumyum, who I completely idolize. I haven’t tried one recipe from her that I didn’t love. I’m almost hesitant to post the recipe here, since she created it… I don’t really know the ethics involved here… hrmm.

Hrmmm! I feel weird enough about re-posting the recipe here, that I’ll just link to it: Veganyumyum

When I made it, I skipped the mint. Yuck. I also skipped the lime zest, anything optional, used chili powder instead of flakes, and baby spinach instead of collard greens.

I was feeling creative and decided to play Top Chef. I put down a bed of spinach, then used a measuring cup to make my little quinoa sand-castle. I arranged the tofu around it, and garnished with extra lime. My fiancé almost cackled with glee when he realized he would get to “destroy” it. He reminded me of this kid:

No Knead Bread

2008-07-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Mmmm… I made the best homemade bread, ever. I think the only type that tops it was the type my mom made when I was a kid. Mom, why did you stop baking?? I got the recipe at SteamyKitchen. I’m almost ashamed to post my own pictures, since Jaden’s are so great!

Like I said, "almost".

Let's make a meal out of it!

What could be more simple, yet still so tasty?

No Knead Bread (adapted from Steamykitchen)
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

The night before: Mix everything together. Don’t bother to make it uniform, just get it somewhat mixed. Set your floury/doughy blob into a bowl and cover it with saran wrap. Let it sit overnight, and through most of the next day.

The next day: Lay a dishcloth (not terry-cloth) on the counter, and coat it with about 1/2 cup of flour. Dump your now-gooey-blob-of-dough onto the dishcloth, and kind of roll it about to get it coated in flour and somewhat ball-shaped. Position it seam-side-down, and wrap it in the towel. (Side note: My fiance ended up in the hospital, so mine sat out until 11pm, and then was put in the refrigerator for three days. When he got home I pulled it out and let it warm up for an hour, and continued with the recipe. It still tasted great!)

1 1/2 hours later: Preheat the oven to 450*F, and put a large oven-proof pot into the oven, with the lid on.

1/2 hour later: Take the pot out of the oven, dump the ball of dough into the pot (doesn’t have to be perfect), cover, and let it bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow it to rest for as long as you can resist it, and enjoy!

“Meaty” Vegetarian Spaghetti:
Nothing fancy here, as I was too tired to make my own sauce.

1 Jar of pasta sauce (I like Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil)
1/4 bag of fake meat crumbles (I used Morningstar)
box of pasta (I used Linguine, I like the fat noodles).

Add the fake-meat to the pasta sauce, heat it up, and cook the pasta according to directions. Mix them together. This doesn’t really need a recipe…

Moroccan Lentil Soup

2008-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

My fiancé found this recipe, and did most of the actual cooking. I diced the veggies and directed, backseat driver style. He’s a good cook! As a side note, check out the dishes that he surprised me with! After seeing the pictures of the other meals he decided that we needed some that weren’t so My Mom’s (aka charming). I’ll have to start including silverware in the pictures. Mmm.. new silverware.

Moroccan Lentil Soup
1 cup lentils
6 cups water
2 tablespoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 cup yellow onion (diced)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 cup carrots (diced)
1 cup celery (diced)
1 cup red bell pepper (diced)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground corriander
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup diced tomatoes (we used canned)
chopped cilantro (to taste)

Rinse the lentils and put them in a large pot. Pick out any lentils that aren’t up to par (we didn’t find any). Let them simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the EVOO (I’ve watched too much Rachael Ray) to a frying pan along with the diced onion. Stir the onions around over medium heat until they are tender (Zach forgot to keep an eye on ours, and ended up with some very browned onions. They still tasted great in the end! This recipe is pretty fool fiancé-proof.)

Add everything (veggies, spices), except the tomatoes and cilantro, to the frying pan that the onions are busily burning in. Stir them around for about 5 minutes.

Add the onion/veggie mixture into the big pot that the lentils are boiling away in. Add the tomatoes.

Put a lid on it, and let everything simmer for about 30 minutes.

Put half of the mixture into a blender, and VERY CAREFULLY, without causing an eruption of molten hot soup, blend it until it is somewhat smoother. I put a dishcloth over the blender (even though it had a lid on it), turned it on for half a second, turned it off, turned it on for half a second… etc. Explosive eruptions of soup aren’t fun.

Add the somewhat-smoother soup from the blender back into the pot of still-chunky soup, and give it a good stir.

Dish it up, garnish with cilantro, and enjoy!

Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy

2008-05-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

This doesn’t look very pretty, but it tasted great! My sister didn’t realize that it wasn’t made with meat.The biscuit recipe is #3857 on RecipeZaar, and the gravy is a modified version ofAlton Brown’s Sawmill Gravy.

Biscuits:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup margarine (I use Smart Balance, soften in microwave)
2/3 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the margarine. Stir until there are small clumps, and add the milk. Mix until it just starts to look like dough. If you overdo it, the biscuits will be tough.

Now, you can roll the dough out until it is 1/2 inch thick and use a biscuit cutter to make perfectly round biscuits, or, you can do what I do and pick up golf-ball sized pieces of dough and squash them into rough circular shapes (what can I say, I’m lazy).

Bake 10-12 minuets at 450F

Gravy:
1 package of “fake” sausage (I use either Morningstar or Eating Right)
3 tablespoons margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
salt
pepper

Put the sausage in a frying pan with enough water to cover it 1/4 of the way. Let it simmer on medium-high heat until the water is gone. Use the spatula to chop the sausage into small pieces. Push the pieces to one side of the pan. Use the other side of the pan to mix the flour and margarine together for a few minutes, they will turn into “paste”. Add the milk and stir everything together. Stir occasionally, until it comes to a simmer and begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the biscuits in half, top with gravy.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms with Asparagus

2008-05-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

This recipe is absolutely amazing. It makes me think that only cooking vegetarian meals won’t be at all bad! The Stuffed Mushroom recipe originally came from RecipeZaar (recipe #162961) but I modified it to match my tastes and what I had on hand.

Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms
6 medium sized portobella mushrooms
2 tablespoons smartbalance margarine
1 can artichoke hearts (drained and diced)
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon lemonjuice
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons fresh basil (ripped into small pieces)
1 green onion (diced)
1 large tomato (thinly sliced)
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 300F. Place the margarine into a shallow pan, and set it in the oven for a few minutes to melt (this saves you from washing an extra dish). Cut the stems off of the mushrooms, and place them upside down in the pan. Move them about to get the margarine onto the sides of the ’shrooms.
Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl, EXCEPT for the tomato slices.
Put a large scoop of the mixture on top of each mushroom, where the stem used to be. Top each one with a tomato slice. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Top with salt and pepper, and extra basil leaves if you want a garnish.

Asparagus
about a dozen asparagus spears
1 talespoon margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt

Break the ends off the asparagus spears. Put them into a pan with the margarine, and sprinkle them with salt. Put them in the oven next to the stuffed mushrooms for 10-15 minutes. If you time it right, everything will be done at the same time!

Yum!

Crafts

2008-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

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