I’ve been really pleased with the way my summer cooking has been going. My biggest coup by far has been my mastering of the making and use of potato refrigerator dough. This versatile foodstuff is just the best. I’ve used it to make burger buns, hot dog buns and dinner rolls. I even drizzled leftover dinner rolls with margarine and cinnamon sugar to make a yummy addition to a birthday breakfast.
My recipe is basically this one with the changes Ruthie mentioned plus one change of my own, I used all whole wheat bread flour. That's the key for me. Store bought whole wheat buns are so expensive. That may be the best reason of all to give this recipe a try. It's so easy to shape a few buns when the dough is already mixed and waiting.
As Ruthie mentioned, I didn’t need to punch it down daily. I also found it needed a longer rising time than the original recipe called for. I feel such shame confessing this but I used mahed potato flakes. There, I said it. Stone me if you must. I’m a huge fan of everything from scratch but baking potatoes in the absence of a microwave in the summer is not my idea of a good time. Plus they carry the mashed potato flakes at the local discount grocery store.
The meals themselves have largely been the ones from the meal plan I put together a few months back. I still can’t believe how much time and mental energy having a meal plan saves. I like the way a meal plan gives me ideas but invites variation. For example, I made baked seitan but instead of making jerk seitan with it, I made BBQ seitan. Simple? Yes, but very effective and tasty too. Now go, look in your fridge, cabinet or garden and make a substitution. Start small, substitute some collards for spinach (in cooked recipes only or you'll be sorry. It's a memorable mistake that you'd only make once!)
I’ve been very adept at combining several days of leftover bean dishes and making veggie burgers. The leftovers have included Cajun black eyed peas, Cuban Black Beans, Brilliant Baked Beans (From How It All Vegan) and BBQ Chickpeas. My only mistake in combing them was pureeing them too much and making the texture a little too gooey. A potato masher would have done a better job. (Is it odd that a potato masher should come up right after I confess to not using one a mere paragraph ago?)
I’ve discovered a real PMS snack pleaser, try combining dried unsweetened cherries with dark chocolate chips. No cooking, just toss them together in a bowl. You can try conning yourself into thinking it’s healthy just because you’re eating fruit. Then again, if you’re PMSing, you probably don’t give a hoot if it’s healthy.
In the fruit and veggie department, the CSA and farmers market have been our primary source. I just discovered a woman in walking distance who has a farm stand set up in her front yard. I'm planning to head her way toward the end of the week when my fridge begins to look empty in anticipation of the next pickup.
Showing posts with label main dishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label main dishes. Show all posts
Monday, July 07, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tote Bags & Meatos Recipe
I finished up my bag for the swap. Anytime I try a new pattern, whether knitting or sewing, there is a learning curve involved. I usually find myself in the slow learner category. I stare at the words trying to decipher their meaning. I often wonder, is this written in a secret code? Many times, on a second go round with the same pattern, I am wiser and more immune to slack jawed "huh?" of my first attempts. I'm sure this pattern will be no exception.
I do have one thought on the pattern that others might find helpful. The pattern makes a very strechy bag with a fairly narrow opening. This is great for preventing things from rolling out of your bag when you put it down but it might be bothersome if you're trying to pack quickly as the cashier scans your groceries. I suspect if you use larger double pointed needles, a wider opening would result.
Also, I need to practice kitchener stitch when no one else is around. I get distracted way too easily. Overall, I love the pattern. It's easy to follow and the bag really looks nice. (I'm not bragging, I'm just so surprised that it actually came out looking like a bag!)
So here's what the bag looks like empty:
Here's what it looks like full (we used balls of yarn to simulate groceries):
Some people were having trouble opening up the link to the Meatos recipe so I've cut and pasted it below. This recipe comes from Judy in the Vegetarian Group
Meato's
1 cup Peanut Butter
2 16 oz. cans Petite Diced tomatoes with Green Chilies or Jalopeno's
1 tsp. Sage
1 c. Onion, diced
1 tsp. Salt
3/4 c. flour(more or less)
Mix all the ingredients, adding the flour until it is thick like cake batter
mixture. Put into a sprayed casserole dish. Bake @ 350 for about 1 hr.
Check middle for being done.
I've used salsa in place of the tomatoes with green chilies. I've used plain diced tomatoes and added a teaspoon of chili powder too. I usually use 1/2 the amount of salt or skip it entirely. Everyone in our house loves this recipe.
I do have one thought on the pattern that others might find helpful. The pattern makes a very strechy bag with a fairly narrow opening. This is great for preventing things from rolling out of your bag when you put it down but it might be bothersome if you're trying to pack quickly as the cashier scans your groceries. I suspect if you use larger double pointed needles, a wider opening would result.
Also, I need to practice kitchener stitch when no one else is around. I get distracted way too easily. Overall, I love the pattern. It's easy to follow and the bag really looks nice. (I'm not bragging, I'm just so surprised that it actually came out looking like a bag!)
So here's what the bag looks like empty:
Here's what it looks like full (we used balls of yarn to simulate groceries):
Some people were having trouble opening up the link to the Meatos recipe so I've cut and pasted it below. This recipe comes from Judy in the Vegetarian Group
Meato's
1 cup Peanut Butter
2 16 oz. cans Petite Diced tomatoes with Green Chilies or Jalopeno's
1 tsp. Sage
1 c. Onion, diced
1 tsp. Salt
3/4 c. flour(more or less)
Mix all the ingredients, adding the flour until it is thick like cake batter
mixture. Put into a sprayed casserole dish. Bake @ 350 for about 1 hr.
Check middle for being done.
I've used salsa in place of the tomatoes with green chilies. I've used plain diced tomatoes and added a teaspoon of chili powder too. I usually use 1/2 the amount of salt or skip it entirely. Everyone in our house loves this recipe.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Pizza & Food on the Road Rundown
Pizza night was a smashing success. The extra dough is packed away in the freezer awaiting this Friday's version, which promised to be a bit more elaborate since the kids are off from school.
I made two pizzas using large cookie sheets for pans. This is enough to feed the whole crew. Round pans never work when making pizza for large families like ours. We went cheese free this time, topping one pizza with Spicy Vegetarian Sausage that I simmered in sauce for a bit and tomato chunks and the other with beans and sauce. I should have followed the recipe for the bean topping as planned but I fatigued out after a long day. I promise to follow the recipe this week so I can give a better review. We served the pizza with French onion soup per Kyle's request. This Friday we'll also make a vegan cheese to top one of the pizzas.
We brought some of the leftover sausage and sauce to the swim meet for Saturday's dinner. Lunch was a simple pb & j. The hit of the weekend was the banana muffins from Veganomicon that I made for breakfast and snacks. I added some hemp seeds to them for a little extra holding power. They were really yummy and the recipe was super simple. They weren't crumbly and they traveled well, what more could you ask for? Between the whole family we must have eaten three dozen of these over the weekend!
Sunday found us a little burnt out as we had to once again drive out to Long Island. (Why would anyone want to live there, the traffic is perpetually awful!) We packed only sandwiches and muffins this time since this was to be a shorter day. Also, they were selling fruit cups at the concession stand and, although they were pricey, we wanted to show our support so we bought two of them to fill things in. It made me crave warmer weather and the bounty of fresh fruit it brings!
I guess I should also mention that we brought our own coffee and water but I think at this point, its probably understood. We didn't have a huge amount of variety but I think we did ok considering how little time we had to get things ready.
BTW, I've continued to make yogurt several times a week with awesome results. I can't believe how easy this is or how well it works. I've been using what's left on the side of the container from my last batch to start the next batch and so far no problems. We're totally hooked on this. Its so good topped with granola and currants!
I made two pizzas using large cookie sheets for pans. This is enough to feed the whole crew. Round pans never work when making pizza for large families like ours. We went cheese free this time, topping one pizza with Spicy Vegetarian Sausage that I simmered in sauce for a bit and tomato chunks and the other with beans and sauce. I should have followed the recipe for the bean topping as planned but I fatigued out after a long day. I promise to follow the recipe this week so I can give a better review. We served the pizza with French onion soup per Kyle's request. This Friday we'll also make a vegan cheese to top one of the pizzas.
We brought some of the leftover sausage and sauce to the swim meet for Saturday's dinner. Lunch was a simple pb & j. The hit of the weekend was the banana muffins from Veganomicon that I made for breakfast and snacks. I added some hemp seeds to them for a little extra holding power. They were really yummy and the recipe was super simple. They weren't crumbly and they traveled well, what more could you ask for? Between the whole family we must have eaten three dozen of these over the weekend!
Sunday found us a little burnt out as we had to once again drive out to Long Island. (Why would anyone want to live there, the traffic is perpetually awful!) We packed only sandwiches and muffins this time since this was to be a shorter day. Also, they were selling fruit cups at the concession stand and, although they were pricey, we wanted to show our support so we bought two of them to fill things in. It made me crave warmer weather and the bounty of fresh fruit it brings!
I guess I should also mention that we brought our own coffee and water but I think at this point, its probably understood. We didn't have a huge amount of variety but I think we did ok considering how little time we had to get things ready.
BTW, I've continued to make yogurt several times a week with awesome results. I can't believe how easy this is or how well it works. I've been using what's left on the side of the container from my last batch to start the next batch and so far no problems. We're totally hooked on this. Its so good topped with granola and currants!
Monday, January 14, 2008
What Is That?
In the warm months of summer and early fall, I often freeze excess produce from our CSA pickups to help get us through the winter. Sometimes my labeling of this produce is less than adequate. This weekend, I came upon two containers of something that might have been Chinese cabbage or might have been lettuce (there was a lot more than we could use some weeks). Its hard to plan how to use something when you're not sure what it is. I was tempted to toss it back into the freezer.
Instead I decided to use it in a recipe that either cooked cabbage or cooked lettuce could work in, simple vegan fried rice. My version of this is largely inspired by Stephanie Scarborough's one in her zine, The Complete Cheap Vegan.
I started by cooking some bulgur since I seem to be out of brown rice. I a seperate pot I began to defrost the mystery veggie mentioned above. Once it was partially defrosted I cut it into very thin shreds and set it aside. Next, I tossed in some frozen veggies we had gotten from our Winter Sun Farm pickup this weekend. While the veggies defrosted, in yet another pan, I crumbled and heated up some leftover veggie burgers that I'd made.
Once everything was heated through, I tossed everything into the largest pot and added some ginger (I used crystallized ginger crumbled up very small), tamari and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. The toasted sesame oil is what really gives it a great flavor. Having eaten the mystery veggie, I'm still not sure what it was but it worked very well in the recipe. Everyone devoured the tiny bit of leftovers yesterday at lunchtime.
Last night, Jim, the boys and I did the food prep for dinner together. We are embarking on a major cleaning in the boys' room and wanted to have dinner cooking while we got the process underway. We put together the Seitan Cutlets from Veganomicon, a quick tomato vegetable soup and (finally) the corn crackers from Simple Foods from the Pack. I felt like a crazed traffic cop directing everyone around the kitchen (ie. vital wheat gluten is in the cabinet to the left of the stove on the top shelf, right hand side - why do I know that??)
We served the seitan with mustard over couscous. The taste/texture reminded me and Jim of veggie hot dogs. I prefer the baked setian texture but I'm intrigued at the thought of creating my own veggie hot dogs.
The corn crackers went very well with the tomato soup which, by the way, wasn't the most complicated recipe in the world. It was inspired by the tomato soup recipe in The Complete Tightwad Gazette but, in the true spirit of tightwaddery, it was altered to use what I had onhand.
Tomato Vegetable Soup
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes plus whatever water it takes to get the residue of tomato out of the cans
2 tsp celery seed (this might be overpowering so consider starting with 1 tsp and adding the 2nd if you want more flavor)
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
vegetables (I used kale and chopped peppers)
Let the soup simmer until everything is heated through. Serve as is or add some plain soymilk to make cream of tomato soup. If you are going to add some soymilk, let the soup cool a bit first to avoid curdling.
Instead I decided to use it in a recipe that either cooked cabbage or cooked lettuce could work in, simple vegan fried rice. My version of this is largely inspired by Stephanie Scarborough's one in her zine, The Complete Cheap Vegan.
I started by cooking some bulgur since I seem to be out of brown rice. I a seperate pot I began to defrost the mystery veggie mentioned above. Once it was partially defrosted I cut it into very thin shreds and set it aside. Next, I tossed in some frozen veggies we had gotten from our Winter Sun Farm pickup this weekend. While the veggies defrosted, in yet another pan, I crumbled and heated up some leftover veggie burgers that I'd made.
Once everything was heated through, I tossed everything into the largest pot and added some ginger (I used crystallized ginger crumbled up very small), tamari and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. The toasted sesame oil is what really gives it a great flavor. Having eaten the mystery veggie, I'm still not sure what it was but it worked very well in the recipe. Everyone devoured the tiny bit of leftovers yesterday at lunchtime.
Last night, Jim, the boys and I did the food prep for dinner together. We are embarking on a major cleaning in the boys' room and wanted to have dinner cooking while we got the process underway. We put together the Seitan Cutlets from Veganomicon, a quick tomato vegetable soup and (finally) the corn crackers from Simple Foods from the Pack. I felt like a crazed traffic cop directing everyone around the kitchen (ie. vital wheat gluten is in the cabinet to the left of the stove on the top shelf, right hand side - why do I know that??)
We served the seitan with mustard over couscous. The taste/texture reminded me and Jim of veggie hot dogs. I prefer the baked setian texture but I'm intrigued at the thought of creating my own veggie hot dogs.
The corn crackers went very well with the tomato soup which, by the way, wasn't the most complicated recipe in the world. It was inspired by the tomato soup recipe in The Complete Tightwad Gazette but, in the true spirit of tightwaddery, it was altered to use what I had onhand.
Tomato Vegetable Soup
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes plus whatever water it takes to get the residue of tomato out of the cans
2 tsp celery seed (this might be overpowering so consider starting with 1 tsp and adding the 2nd if you want more flavor)
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
vegetables (I used kale and chopped peppers)
Let the soup simmer until everything is heated through. Serve as is or add some plain soymilk to make cream of tomato soup. If you are going to add some soymilk, let the soup cool a bit first to avoid curdling.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
You Say Potato
After years of dial up connections to the internet, we've finally upgraded to fios. This means I can finally check out things that my slow dial up connection made impossible.
My first stop was the Post Punk Kitchen. I wanted a peek at the shows that grew into Vegan with a Vengeance! I watched the first two shows last night. I still don't like sushi, vegan or otherwise. I can't get past the fishy taste of the nori (sorry all you sushi lovers!) but it was great to see a cooking show that resembled cooking in my own kitchen, makeshift double boiler and all. Although, I drop a lot more stuff on the floor. (The dogs stay near my feet to catch shooting carrot coins as I drop them.)
Speaking of Isa and VwaV, I made her knishes this weekend. I made all three kinds, potato and onion, potato onion and spinach (although I used bok choy because I was out of spinach) and sweet potato. The potato ones were demolished quickly and I presume them to be a big hit. The sweet potato ones were ok but had a more desserty taste than I expected. I'll definitely make the two white potato recipes again. Now if only I could remember to call them knishes and not pierogies!
My first stop was the Post Punk Kitchen. I wanted a peek at the shows that grew into Vegan with a Vengeance! I watched the first two shows last night. I still don't like sushi, vegan or otherwise. I can't get past the fishy taste of the nori (sorry all you sushi lovers!) but it was great to see a cooking show that resembled cooking in my own kitchen, makeshift double boiler and all. Although, I drop a lot more stuff on the floor. (The dogs stay near my feet to catch shooting carrot coins as I drop them.)
Speaking of Isa and VwaV, I made her knishes this weekend. I made all three kinds, potato and onion, potato onion and spinach (although I used bok choy because I was out of spinach) and sweet potato. The potato ones were demolished quickly and I presume them to be a big hit. The sweet potato ones were ok but had a more desserty taste than I expected. I'll definitely make the two white potato recipes again. Now if only I could remember to call them knishes and not pierogies!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
An Odd Dinner Inspiration
A while back (in 2005 to be precise) I posted about discovering discount grocery stores. Darrylvkjust just let me know about a directory of discount and salvage stores. It doesn't include stores like Aldis, Price Rite or Save-a-Lot.
Speaking of food, our dinner time has been in a state of flux since school started mainly due to 5:15 - 6:00 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Rob. This past week he got moved up to the next level which means 6:00 - 7:30 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Saturday practice from 1:00 - 2:30. This is good news for us. If dinner is ready at 5:00, we'll have time to eat before we head to practice. It also gives Jim the opportunity to exercise while Rob swims rather than going to the Y at 5:30am. I just have to get into a rhythm of having dinner ready by 5:00.
On Tuesday evening, due to more veggies than my fridge could hold, I put a huge bunch of chopped celery, a pound of chopped tomatoes and 3 eggplants (I salted and rinsed these first) into the slow cooker on low. The cover wouldn't close all the way so I added a bit of water and told Jim, with a lot of false confidence, that it all would cook down and fit easily. Imagine my surprise and delightwhen I woke up in the morning and it actually had!
I added some red lentils to the mix, along with some nutritional yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of seasoned salt, some onion and garlic powder. To serve, I made some pasta and toasted a handful of chopped walnuts in a cast iron pan. I mixed the walnuts into the eggplant mixture and served it like a sauce over the pasta. It wasn't bad for a meal built totally out of a lack of storage space!
Speaking of food, our dinner time has been in a state of flux since school started mainly due to 5:15 - 6:00 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Rob. This past week he got moved up to the next level which means 6:00 - 7:30 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Saturday practice from 1:00 - 2:30. This is good news for us. If dinner is ready at 5:00, we'll have time to eat before we head to practice. It also gives Jim the opportunity to exercise while Rob swims rather than going to the Y at 5:30am. I just have to get into a rhythm of having dinner ready by 5:00.
On Tuesday evening, due to more veggies than my fridge could hold, I put a huge bunch of chopped celery, a pound of chopped tomatoes and 3 eggplants (I salted and rinsed these first) into the slow cooker on low. The cover wouldn't close all the way so I added a bit of water and told Jim, with a lot of false confidence, that it all would cook down and fit easily. Imagine my surprise and delightwhen I woke up in the morning and it actually had!
I added some red lentils to the mix, along with some nutritional yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of seasoned salt, some onion and garlic powder. To serve, I made some pasta and toasted a handful of chopped walnuts in a cast iron pan. I mixed the walnuts into the eggplant mixture and served it like a sauce over the pasta. It wasn't bad for a meal built totally out of a lack of storage space!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Friday Freebies & the Promised Menu
As promised here's the menu for last night's early Mother's Day dinner. We had:
I was able to get a ton of laundry done and all of it hung on the line to dry. I filled another bag of outgrown clothes to bring to my friend and another two to go to the donation bins. I even cleared out a drawer to store my fabric scraps in, although I never actually put the fabric scraps into it but later today I will!
Here's a link to Nutrition, on the Cheap which was part of this weeks Meatless Monday. I like the spirit of the post although last time I checked being your own butcher and eating fish and poultry weren't vegetarian.
Another interesting article is Eat To Live: Junk Food Linked to Cancer. Both studies in this article aren't conclusive but making positive dietary changes couldn't hurt.
Whole wheat pasta with Garlic and Basil Tomato Sauce
Bakes Seitan in Tomato Sauce (think Italian sausage)
Tosses salad with homemade Catalina French Dressing
Homemade Breadsticks
Pineapple Walnut Bread
Watermelon
Tortilla Chips & Pretzels
Bakes Seitan in Tomato Sauce (think Italian sausage)
Tosses salad with homemade Catalina French Dressing
Homemade Breadsticks
Pineapple Walnut Bread
Watermelon
Tortilla Chips & Pretzels
I was able to get a ton of laundry done and all of it hung on the line to dry. I filled another bag of outgrown clothes to bring to my friend and another two to go to the donation bins. I even cleared out a drawer to store my fabric scraps in, although I never actually put the fabric scraps into it but later today I will!
Here's a link to Nutrition, on the Cheap which was part of this weeks Meatless Monday. I like the spirit of the post although last time I checked being your own butcher and eating fish and poultry weren't vegetarian.
Another interesting article is Eat To Live: Junk Food Linked to Cancer. Both studies in this article aren't conclusive but making positive dietary changes couldn't hurt.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Breads & Books
I shared Barbara's bread recipe with a coworker who was very impressed after tasting a bite of it. She couldn't believe the taste, texture and, above all else, the softness of it.
When I made my batch this week, I shaped one recipe's worth into rolls and rolled them in sesame seeds. I did this after the first rising. Then, I let them rise along with the regular loaves of bread. I baked them for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. The results were quite good, although I think 20 minutes might have been a bit too long. I'll experiment more and share what I discover.
The main thing is, I finally had whole wheat rolls to put my veggie burgers on without mortgaging the house! Speaking of veggie burgers, my most common veggie burger recipe is leftovers plus a binder to hold them together but if you are ever looking for a truly great veggie burger recipe, check out the one in Vegan with a Vengeance.
Here's what I'm reading after a trip to the library this weekend:
Frozen Assets Lite & Easy by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Healthy at 100 by John Robbins
Enough is Enough, Exploding the Myth of Having It All by Carol Orsborn
When I made my batch this week, I shaped one recipe's worth into rolls and rolled them in sesame seeds. I did this after the first rising. Then, I let them rise along with the regular loaves of bread. I baked them for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. The results were quite good, although I think 20 minutes might have been a bit too long. I'll experiment more and share what I discover.
The main thing is, I finally had whole wheat rolls to put my veggie burgers on without mortgaging the house! Speaking of veggie burgers, my most common veggie burger recipe is leftovers plus a binder to hold them together but if you are ever looking for a truly great veggie burger recipe, check out the one in Vegan with a Vengeance.
Here's what I'm reading after a trip to the library this weekend:
Frozen Assets Lite & Easy by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Healthy at 100 by John Robbins
Enough is Enough, Exploding the Myth of Having It All by Carol Orsborn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)