Mormons Going Veggie

Roast Vegetables in Pita

2011-08-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

School started, and looking for a little convenience, I bought a tray of those pre-cut roasting vegetables in the produce department for the first time.

What's cool: when you toss them in a little olive oil, they completely loose that exposed-to-air look. I tossed in some fresh thyme and basil I had leftover, and salt and pepper. Into the oven for 30 minutes at 450F, more than enough time to have them well cooked.

Serve with pita bread, and a little whole milk yogurt for those who want some creaminess and more sense of the Greek. I offered cubed meat leftovers to add for the insistently non-vegetarian.

Okay, and what was in the tray of pre-cut vegetables? Carrots, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, onion, yam. I thought I would be sad I didn't have mushrooms, but really, I didn't miss them.

Vegetarian Enchilada Pie

2011-08-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is my riff on a Utah standby Chicken Enchilada Pie, that my dear friend Nicole taught me how to make back in Ohio in 1995. The Chicken version layered tortillas with sour cream, cream of chicken soup, sauteed onions, cheese, and cooked chicken. My new version, adapted to vegetarian tastes and my progress at Weight Watchers (25 pounds down, yay!) is a different kind of yummy, and it has that quality I love about a good casserole: leftovers that last in the fridge, handy for lunching or snacks for me and other adults in the house for the days that follow.

I hear Nicole's in China now. She's lived around the world since our days in Ohio. She's such an excellent cook (and seamstress and business manager) I wonder what great things she's done since our daughters were small.

1.5 to 2 TB oil
1 medium summer squash
1 medium-small zucchini
1 red bell pepper
red or other onion, half a large
8-10 oz mushrooms
half a pound frozen corn kernels
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese
5-7 corn tortillas, which tend to be small.
28-ounce can of enchilada sauce, I like the green kind.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F, because that's how to cook any casserole.

2. dice up small the vegetables, medium-high heat the oil in the pan, then add the vegetables and saute. Here you can see the proportions.

Oh, I forgot to add the mushrooms and corn. I buy the pre-sliced mushrooms, and then chop them further from there. The corn really ought to be microwave cooked first, but I just threw it in the pan, slowing down and reducing the quality of the vegetables cooking. Oh well.

Now it's all mixed together. I really love the colors--this is why one of my Christmas side dishes for years was zucchini-bell.pepper-corn.

Now that's cooked; it's time to layer. Cover the bottom of the pan with 1/4 of the sauce, layer two tortillas, half of the vegetables, and another dose of sauce, and some (1/3 of) cheese.

Let's peek ahead with this layers diagram for the finished casserole. The fraction is how much of that item to put in that layer.

cheese (1/3)

sauce (1/4)

tortillas (1/3)

cheese (1/3)

sauce (1/4)

vegetables (1/2)

tortillas (1/3)

cheese (1/3)

sauce (1/4)

vegetables (1/2)

tortillas (1/3)

sauce (1/4)

\________pan________/

Here I'm in process covering those first tortillas with my first layer of veggies.

Sauce on the second layer, and repeat as before.

Cheese going on just before another layer of tortilla. If I'm going to use cheese, I use real cheese, not reduced-fat stuff. It doesn't take much (relative to what I used to do, perhaps) to give it that cheese-in-mix taste. I would have loved a Jack cheese here, but was happy to use the sharp cheddar that was in the house. I think it really adds to the nourishing deliciousness of the meal to use what I have.

And on that front, I wasn't stopped by the fact I only had five corn tortillas in the house. I tore the last one into pieces and spread it around for the top layer thus.

Last layer of sauce and cheese.

Cover and bake the standard 350F for 30 minutes. This pretty dish (from IKEA years ago) didn't have a lid, so I used foil.

And it's done! I suppose you could remove the foil at the end, if you want the cheese browned as well as bubbly, but for me this is good. Too often I burn the cheese at the end trying to do that. Feel free to send me an acetylene torch.

Was delish, and delish as leftovers for a couple days. Loved and appreciated by everyone over the age of 16--probably could have won the heart of the younger teen if it didn't fall into the inaccurately-named category "Mexican Food." Apparently my love of all things bean, cheese, and tortilla more than met her quota five years ago.

But never mine.

Laziest Vegetarian Posole

2011-05-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sometime I want to try this a real recipe for vegetarian posole like this one.

But today, I did the simplest thing. I put hominy in a vegetarian broth, and topped it with those yummy things I like to put on top of posole: radish, watercress, salsa, cilantro. Cheese is good too, if you take dairy.

Mother's Day Feast

2011-05-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Which I didn't prepare. My vegetarian daughter, now in high school, prepared an full dinner from scratch for us in fulfillment of her Foods class requirements.

Veggie Daughter has been a vegetarian for seven years now, and is the reason I resurrected my college vegetarian meal planning skills. Daughter reintroduced fish back into her diet two years ago; this is a fish menu we had tonight.

Gazpacho
Trout
Spinach-Strawberry Salad
Homemade rolls

Asparagus Dudes

2011-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight's quick dinner was penne pasta with asparagus and cherry tomatoes in an alfredo-type sauce. We had honeydew as a side. It was my riff on the Bertollini frozen pasta dinner.

First, I boiled penne pasta in a separate pot.

I melted butter in a saute pan, added asparagus cut in 2 inch pieces, threw in some shredded parmesan, added cream. When it was getting warm and melty, I added the pasta and the cherry tomatoes and mixed that in.

For some reason, I have it in my head that asparagus must always been steamed. But this saute method worked well, the asparagus came out great.

I cut the cherry tomatoes in half. I don't like my food to explode when I bite into it.

Anyway was delicious--why not with all that cream. My son was bored though, and put the asparagus pieces into the penne pasta to make Asparagus Dudes.

This could be a split-meal for part-vegetarian families by serving slices of cooked chicken breast separately, for the meat-eaters to mix in on their plates. My husband had to be away from us for dinner tonight, so only the youngest child wanted any meat.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup in Crockpot--Bad Idea

2011-02-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

Today I made Vegetarian French Soup in the Crockpot, which I've been wanting to do for some time.

And now I know, it is a bad idea. Don't do it.

I sliced four large onions, and put them in a crockpot on high with a melted half a stick of butter, to carmelize.

About three hours later, I added two cups of vegetable stock, and turned it down to low.

Probably, I should not have added the stock, since the onions had no all carmelized. If it is possible for them to carmelize in a crockpot.

About five more hours later, I broiled swiss cheese onto sliced french bread in the broiler. I put the cheese toasts into bowls, and ladled soup over them.

But the soup was short of liquid. The bread absorbed most of what little liquid there was, giving me soggy cheese toasts with cooked onion sitting on top.

Which wouldn't have mattered if it were delicious. But I'm sorry, Knorr vegetarian broth was not enough to stand up to the beef stock flavor I expect in french onion soup, and cooking onions in it all day did not enrichen it enough.

Everyone hated it.

I've heard it would work better if I cooked it on the stove, carmelizing the onions thoroughly first, and then simmered on the stove all day. I hear it would have worked better if I added some miso soup for broth, to give it the umami flavor.

But frankly, I'm not going to try again. I don't want to get anywhere near this disaster again.

Onigiri

2011-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

Cute like sugar cookies, without actually being a dessert.
We like it as an afternoon snack or in a packed lunch.

Leftover rice, about 2 cups
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

I spread the rice out on a plate.
I mix the vinegar, salt, and sugar to make a dressing.
I sprinkle the dressing on the rice.

I pack the rice into molds to make shapes, using my rice paddle to push the rice into the mold and level it. I've got a little onigiri mold with three little shapes, which I bought in a japanese market a few years back. Before that I used to just mold with a 1/4 cup measure.

Real onigiri would have something hidden in the middle, like pickled plum. I've never met a pickled plum. We usually just make them plain--haven't come up with a filling that interests any of us.

Do you make onigiri? Is your vinegar-salt-sugar dressing different? Do you put a little filling in the middle?

Applesauce Cake

2011-01-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Captain Awesome!

I use my KitchenAid mixer for this one, because I believe in overkill.

Two sticks of butter with 1 1/2 cups brown sugar until creamy.
Mix in 2 eggs.

3 cups flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon, unless it's in the applesauce already
1 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon or less salt
2 cups applesauce.

Mix it all again.
add 2 cups of raisins and stir them in by hand, unless you forgot this year again.

Put in that pretty big cakepan that looks like it would hold legal paper. I think it takes an hour to bake.

Frosting (the last argument of kings)
melt another stick of butter with another cup of brown sugar. Add a pinch of salt and 2/3 cup of cream.
Rinse the cake batter out of the mixer bowl, and put this hot concoction in. Add four cups of powdered sugar (from my interminable food storage. Apparently we'll be eating cake during the apocalypse) and a teaspoon of vanilla.

When the cake is out and cooled off, spread this on top. (The cake stays in the pan, because that's what I did the first year we were married) If you were disorganized (again) spread the frosting (still warm) on the hot cake (oh well) because if something's worth doing, it's worth doing before the birthday man arrives home.

Understand that he's going to put his slice in a mug and pour milk over it.

Add the bouillon at the table

2011-01-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

My own copy

The kids are in finals, so of course half the kids, and me, are coming down with a cold. An excellent occasion to try at least the idea of Mark Bittman's Clean-Out-the-Fridge Vegetable Soup. My soup was comparatively limited by what I had in the fridge to clean out, and I wasn't about to go out in the rain in my mildly sick and tired state to pretend I ever had on hand as wide a range of vegetables as Bittman.

Wannabe Mirepoix: leeks, carrots, mushroom.

Mine was a leek-carrot-mushroom-tomato-potato-spinach soup. No pistou. But served with cheese sandwich or hamburgers to take the pressure off.

I added my bouillon paste right into my soup bowl!

I serve a vegetarian soup at more than half our dinners in the winter, but tonight I was impatient with the thought of another vegetable bouillon broth. So I did a crazy thing--I cooked the vegetables in water, and served a choice of vegetable or turkey Better than Bouillon soup base paste at the table. I know this doesn't allow the vegetables to season in the broth while cooking, but it was worth it to me to serve vegetables in turkey broth to those who wanted it, without having to divide the soup into two pots so the vegetarian version would be available to those who require it.

Muffins using leftover Raisin Bran cereal

2011-01-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

These muffins are delicious, and a good way for us to use up the second half of the box of Raisin Bran.

After School Muffins

Pasta, Kale, and the Kids Liked It.

2011-01-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

Two tricks to Kale:
1. Slice it into thin strips, disguising it as an herb.
2. Serve it so there's more carb than Kale.

I cooked mine in the pot after the pasta was drained, in olive oil and then a little water to wilt it, then I threw it on top of the pasta in the strainer and mixed it in. If you want pasta, you'll be eating kale.

At the table to assemble themselves:

Pasta with Kale (The pasta is Campanelle instead of Penne, and it was just right.)
Cannellini Beans (I substituted white navy beans, and warmed them in the microwave)
Parmesan Cheese and That Fancy Olive Oil with Herbs we were given for Christmas.
(then leftover ham for the meat eaters, deliberately sweet to counteract the kale, since meat eaters are wimps.)

sides:

bread
crudites
milk.

What next? Thinking aloud about menus.

2011-01-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

The kids are back in school today, and I'm still trying to go from standstill to speed.

I *bought* dinner on the way home. So pathetic. At least my son talked me out of Jack in the Box and across the street to Wahoo Fish Tacos.

What I have are leeks and potatoes, cabbage (several kinds), kale that we've had more than enough of. One bunch of carrots, two tired-looking tomatoes. Lettuce, pears that may finally have ripened now the holidays are over. A couple apples and oranges. A bag of lemons (great Christmas present). Half a pan of cornbread to snack on.

Soupe Pistou and Salade Nicoise require green beans.
Hamburger-less cabbage-vegetable soup is really only loved by me.
The potatoes are beautiful fingerlings. I'm wondering about trying the Crash Potatoes from the sidebar.
I'm stuck.

Mormon Wassail

2010-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

I think these days most wassail is without alcohol anyway, right? Or it that just the circles I run in? This wassail is culturally Mormon because it's the wassail I make, it's made in a crockpot, and it is frugal in how it uses relatively inexpensive ingredients to make something fancier. You can usually get a deal on the oranges this time of year.

One gallon ordinary apple juice
1 cup of good applesauce, to cloud up the juice.
Zest of one orange (zest! not grated peel! No pith! No chunks!)
Tablespoon of cinnamon, or more to taste. Stir to get that cinnamon powder to get wet and stop floating.

Put that in a crock pot on high, at least an hour before you're serving this.

Decorate the bottom of two or three oranges or tangerines by sticking ~20 cloves in each. I like to do circles. Slice the bottom of the fruit off, float it into the punch, peel side up.

Make the same number of pretty slices of the oranges or tangerines, float those as well.

Serve in crock pot, with cinnamon sticks on the side for stirrers.

December Food Plans

2010-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

What are your Christmas season food ambitions?

I did make Latkes during Hanukah week. Kinder, Gentler Latkes from Food.com had good detailed instructions. And, they were delicious as leftovers too. Yes, I made that many. I also made the Un-Fried Potato Latkes, but they weren't as successful.

So during the holiday my ambitions are:

Uh-Sides
--make wassail tomorrow so my daughter can take it to her church activity.
--I want a bunch of pomegranates in a bowl to admire and also to eat.

--more delicious salads like lettuce/pears/fresh cranberries/cheese/dressing, like this NYTimes salad winner. The directions on the NYT site are better than on the original blog.

Meals
--I'd like to get a fondue set for Christmas and try fondues of cheese, of spicy peanut butter, or of chocolate.
--individual homemade pizzas? I've discovered I like pizza without cheese.
--my daughter had some kind of delicious baked eggs in New York City. Must try to imitate.
--what easy stuff dinners can we have, so we can eat but also run around shopping and having Christmas outings?

Desserts
--I want to make an orange cake again, with chocolate frosting.
--those frosted cookies my mom always made and we always decorated.

And not:
--the feast of the seven fishes. I have NO impulse to do it; so much for my vaunted ambition.

(pescatarian) Eel for Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T17:52:00.000-08:00

My vegetarian daughter loves Thanksgiving, and has put down my vague guilty suggestions that I should make some main dish for her, alternate to the Turkey. She loves the vegetable sides, and declares herself more than delighted just to have all those vegetarian versions of the carb ones (mushroom gravy, stuffing that baked in the oven with vegetable broth, mashed potatoes without broth, etc.)

This year, early in the November, I heard a radio spot about the eel industry, how it is mostly processed, cooked, and vaccum-wrapped in China, even if you buy it in a restaurant here. And, I heard one of the inevitable "what our Pilgrim ancestors really ate," which mentioned the importance of eel.

Eel. My daughter loves unagi, and now I'd learned that I wouldn't be expected to prepare it, just warm it up from frozen. All it took was a quick trip to my local Ranch 99 Asian market to get the prepared frozen eel. It became the "dare" food on the Thanksgiving table, and lots of people, including the kids gave it a try.

One-Bowl Easy Apple Slices Cake

2010-10-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

Like most desserts, only ovo-lacto vegetarian, and not remotely vegan.

Box cakes are great--except that I have a hard time remembering to keep the mix on hand for when the impulse to make cake strikes. I like this recipe because it uses vegetable oil, so it's as easy as a box cake: no separating eggs, no creaming the butter into the sugar. And, my version takes advantage of my apple peeler-corer.

I suppose though it is based on a basic one-bowl cake from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the way we're making it would put it in the genre of Breakfast Cake or Snack Cake or Coffee Cake. Does anyone say Coffee Cake anymore?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 8x11 glass baking dish

Throw in the mixing bowl:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 TB baking powder
1/2 teas salt
2 teas vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, not necessarily packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Mix it like pancakes or muffins--just enough to get it barely mixed, like less than ten strokes.

Then slice/core 2 or 3 apples, depending on size. Quarter the slices, fold them in.

Bake an hour. The basic recipe is supposed to take 30 minutes, but it always takes an hour at my house.

And no, I don't frost it. Happy FHE.

Family Salad Nicoise

2010-10-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'd only had Salad Nicoise at a restaurant, so it never occurred to me to make a family version. Instead of composing each plate, you just compose one platter or casserole dish for everyone. In our family, this works because it lets one person take more potato, while the next person skips the spuds, another person skips tomatoes, and I require everyone to take certain number of green beans.

I like the sensible Nicoise Salad recipe directions at Simply Recipes, which tell me what to do while the potatoes are boiling so the salad comes together quickly, and how to lay out salad for a group beautifully.

In general terms, Nicoise Salad is:
Lettuce
warm boiled small potatoes
warm cooked green beans
hard boiled egg
tomato
thin small slices red onion (but I use the scallions I have on hand.)
capers (sometimes we forget)
oil-cured olives (but we substitute familiar canned ones)
tuna (canned is fine--we skip the tuna sometimes and up the eggs.)
And all dressed with vinaigrette.

It's really fun with french bread and Orangina. Viva la Faux France.

Quesadillas and a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

2010-06-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

I made an incredibly simple meal I adapted from the Eating Well July 2010 issue and a recipe from EW's online recipes. Bean and cheese quesadillas with a simple green salad with cilantro-lime vinaigretteSurprisingly, my carnivorous husband and sons pronounced this the "Best Meatless Monday meal, ever. Can we make it again?" They made second helpings and drizzled the salad dressing over the quesadillas as well. Lesson learned: simple and familiar is much better received than complex and "weird". Next time I think I will use dried beans and stash extra in the fridge. The mix would be easy to keep on hand for quick lunches and suppers.

I think these quesadillas would be great on the grill. Also, the vinaigrette (which will have permanent status in my fridge since it is so easy to make) would be very good drizzled over fish.

Pinto Bean Quesadillas
Serves 4
1 14-oz can pinto beans, rinsed, and smashed with a potato masher. Don't completely obliviate them. You want the texture.
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 Cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 Cup prepared fresh salsa, divided
4 8-inch whole wheat tortillas
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 ripe avocado diced

Combine beans, cheese, and 1/4 Cup of salsa in a bowl. Spread 1/2 cup of bean mix over healf of each tortilla. Fold tortilla over mixture and press a bit to flatten.

Heat on teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over med-hi heat. Add 2 quesadillas and cook on each side for 2-4 minutes or until heated through. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.

Serve topped with avocado and remaining salsa.

Cilantro-Lime Dressing
makes 1 1/4 Cups total

1 Cup packed cilantro (I just use one bunch)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 Cup orange juice
zest from one orange
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 small clove of garlic, minced or pressed

Puree everything in a blender until smooth.

Quinoa and Black Beans - All Recipes

2010-05-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

I recently bought several pounds of quinoa at a local store that sells damaged and close-to-date items. So, I've been looking around for yummy recipes to use it up. Here's one we tried last week and everyone loved it! I served it with tortilla chips to make it more kid-friendly and had salsa, sour cream and guac on the side.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-and-Black-Beans/Detail.aspx

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Lemon Spaghetti with Cauliflower, Asparagus, and Good Stuff

2010-05-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Posted a new recipe on my blog. Find it here.

Skillet gnocchi with Chard & White Beans

2010-04-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

This has been the favorite recipe on the www.eatingwell.com site for weeks. We tried it this past week and gave it two thumbs up. My notes: be sure to use petite diced tomatoes (I used regular and added my own spices) and cut the chard into small pieces. This would easily be adapted to different flavors such as chickpeas, spinach, oregano and feta, or white beans with havarti and dill. I'm keeping the shelf-stable gnocchi stocked in my pantry from now on.

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans
from Eating Well Magazine Jan/Feb 2009

Eating well suggests serving it with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 16-oz pkg shelf-stable gnocchi
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup water
6 cups chopped chard leaves
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings
1 15-oz can white beans, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 Cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to a bowl.

Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and onion to the pan and cook, stirring over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and water. Cover and cook, until onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chard and cook, stirring, until starting to wilt 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and peppers and bring to a simmer. Stir int he gnocchi and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about three minutes.

325 Cal; 7 g fat; 2 g Sat; 3 g mono; 8 mg chol; 55 g Carb; 14 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 616 mg Sodium; 360 mg Potassium

Just a post I thought I'd share

2010-04-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

http://mormonmatters.org/2010/04/11/mormon-vegetarianism/

Johnna, why don't you go over there and make a smart comment? I'm intimidated by those folk.

Asian Crunch Salad

2010-03-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

I made this awhile back, and a co-worker really liked it. She wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it here, too.
I'm sure the recipe belongs to Nakano Rice Vinegar but I know I got the recipe from a magazine. I did a brief internet search but couldn't find it.
I've made a few adjustments to the recipe (such as adding ginger and peanut or sesame oil).

3 oz uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
1/3 Cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 TBS sugar
3 TBS low sodium soy sauce
1 TBS olive oil (or 2tsp olive plus 1 tsp peanut oil/sesame oil if you want)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup minced green onion
1 cup coleslaw mix (the cabbage/carrot mix) or 1/2 cup baby peas
1/4 cup red bell pepper strips
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 (12 oz) package broccoli slaw
1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Cook the noodles, and drain, and set aside. Combine the sauce items in a large bowl. Add pasta and remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. I prefer to add the peanuts now, but the recipe says to add at serving time. Cover and chill a couple hours. This is one of those recipes that is great in the summer because there is very little heat generated in the process.

The Secret Society of the Pressure Cooker Sisters

2010-03-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

My frequent convenience food is canned beans. My favorite real food is homemade refried black beans, as in beans I soaked and cooked myself, then refried in olive oil like Wendy Sherman taught me to make when she got back from Guatamala. Just before she told me to stop dating boys and find a real man. I was married three months later. To a real man. Real men are dangerous that way.

Recently my real man took me to lunch and then to Sur La Table to buy himself a milk steamer implement I still don't understand. I confessed I really wanted a pressure cooker and then it was mine.

Because, duh, pressure cooker means (presoaked) beans cook in 8-12 minutes. Still makes my head spin.

Except, I really don't know how to use one.

In college, before Wendy's cooking lesson, my housemate had a pressure cooker. It was like playing with dynamite, I think they were illegal at the time. I used to make that potato soup I was living on in hers. I didn't really know what I was doing.

Somehow, not really knowing what I was doing, I pressure cooked the beans. They might have been a little overcooked, yet still were delish. I rinsed and wiped the pressure cooker, but I don't really understand it or know how to clean it. The instructions are useless to me. I need to find someone to mentor me in this one.

Do you pressure cook? For canning? For what else?

One day my kids will thank me (Right? Right?!!!)

2010-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

Last night I made a lovely Tunisian Vegetable Stew (from Moosewood's fast and easy recipes book). I love that stuff. I top it with goat cheese and pistachios rather than almonds and feta.

Trying to please all the people all the time is just impossible. I was looking through my recipe books and found notes about certain dishes I'd written to myself:

"Omit figs next time"
"Girls and I loved; DH gagged"
"Girl 1 and I liked; DH said pretty good; Girl 2 cried"

I don't have the mental capacity to cook one meatless meal, and one not. The whole point is to cook less meat throughout the week (we average about 3-4 nights meatless--the others are never red meat-usually chicken and turkey and I'm trying to get my kids to like fish).

I am always and forever trying new things. But I think I should just give up, and turn into my mother--cook the same 5-7 things that everyone likes, for the next 20 years.
On some nights that sounds like absolute heaven--the nights in which someone is crying because they can't stand Chakchouka. On other days, it sounds like my personal version of hell.
I'm not a mean mom. I do try to cook a few things every week that everyone likes. But, on the nights it's something new, or particularly funky, why am I surprised when my six year old has tears running down her face? Am I asking too much of small children?
Advice?

They've been vegetarian longer than me

2010-02-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I discovered an email list of Vegetarian Mormons. It's not high traffic, but friendly with lots of ideas. For example, right now there's some emails being exchanged on vegan food storage. I wasn't on the list a week when I learned that Protein Combining (eating a vegetable with a whole grain, frex, at each meal to get a "complete protein") is unnecessary. Which everyone else figured out in 1988.

MormonVeg is a discussion forum for Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) who wish to understand the reasons to reduce the consumption of meat and other animal products or get help in doing so. Participants do NOT have to be vegetarian, vegan, or even LDS to subscribe or participate actively. A genuine interest is all that's necessary. (emphasis mine)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MormonVeg/
I won't be reposting any of their emails here or elsewhere, of course. That would not be cool.

A week of everyday dinners

2010-02-03T19:29:00.001-08:00

(This is what I actually prepared and we ate. As opposed to, y'know, those grand plans which I make, but then redistribute the ingredients into simpler, easier foods)
You can browse more weekly menus here.

Monday, split meal
Burrito Bar
--Vegetarian refried beans (from a can) with taco sauce
--Leftover Roasted Butternut Squash
--Lettuce
--Warmed tortillas
--seasoned hamburger for the meat-eaters
side: sliced apples

I don't think the tomatoes are worth eating this time of year. But roasted butternut squash is quite nice in a burrito.

dessert: blackberry cobbler

Tuesday
Tomato Curry with Pulao Rice
Green Salad
Velvet Cake for dessert

Wednesday
Mushroom Ravioli
Marinara Sauce
Caesar salad

Thursday, split meal
Homemade cream-of-broccoli soup

3 cups cooked broccoli, 3/4 cup vegetarian broth. Warm and puree. Add 1 cup of milk. Garnish with parmesan.

yam fries
(chicken for the meat-eaters)
--and/or--
whatever is leftover. There's leftover ravioli (most unusual) due to eating our Wednesday afternoon purchases at the kids' school bake sale for Haiti, proceeds went thru UNICEF.

Friday
Pizza, always pizza. I think this week I need dinner AND the movie to get away from the kids' pizza.

Umami Mommy

2010-02-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

We're a part vegetarian family, but I will admit to looking for ways to sell the meat-eaters on more vegetarian dishes. It's not that I really care who's eating what, having no strong philosophical underpinning to my personal vegetarianism. It's just that I find it tedious making double dinners many meals a week.

So, here's what helps sell a vegetarian dish to a meat-eating family. Umami. (oo-ma-me). Many of us have heard of bitter, sour, sweet, and salty as tastes our tongues can detect, but a fifth taste vector has been proposed, coyly named umami. I've heard the umami flavor described as a meaty or savory flavor. It's an aspect of the taste of meat, but it's also an aspect of the taste of mushrooms, soy sauce, miso soup, parmesan cheese, and nori. Even in (ugh) MSG. I've read that it's in the taste of tomato too, and even in potatoes, carrots, and asparagus. Ketchup, vegemite, and worcestershire sauce are said to have that umami kick.

I'm convinced that umami is the reason I can serve mushroom ravioli and everyone in the family will be pleased.

Do your family's favorite vegetarian dishes coincidentally feature that umami taste?

more on umami: SF Gate article on Umami from year 2000; umami skepticism on page 2 of 4.

Those Mormons and their no-tea tea

2010-01-29T06:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the lovely tea I had at a cafe, which came in a pyramid-shaped tea bag. Of course, there's no tea in this tea: it's things like camomile and lemon zest ready to steep in hot water. Sometimes there is awkwardness placing the order--no one seems to know the old terms "tisane" or "infusion" so I end up asking if they have an herbal tea with no tea in it.

Ah, "tea" is lovely, good for food storage, and calorie-free. (I copied Elizabeth-W today and installed the "Lose It!" ap on my iPhone. Of course, I went on to eat a thousand calories or more over today's recommended guideline. But every journey begins with a single ap.)

Drinking herbal tea isn't essentially vegetarian, but avoiding real tea is very Mormon. Also, I was drinking this tea while on a date with my husband; I think the weekly still-married date is very Mormon too.

Food Pairing from Belgium

2010-01-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

Harvest is but a memory in the slough of winter, but what goes with zucchini? I would have said tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and/or cheese. Also soy sauce--I had a friend who used to marinade long slices of zucchini in soy sauce, but frankly I would say the marinade never penetrated; she was kidding herself.

Now an outfit called "Sense for Taste" out of Belgium has an online food pairing calculator. Just the thing when I'm looking at the end-of-the-week ingredients that somehow didn't make it into any dinners. I'm intrigued but sometimes skeptical of the food pairing suggestions for zucchini, a food which can be a bountiful summer challenge.

http://www.foodpairing.be/FoodPairable.aspx?f=Zucchini

We'll be skipping the tea and Chardonnay, I add, wiping my hands on my apron.

Whether or not this internet toy leads you to your next culinary invention, or causes your frozen food conglomerate to hire them, Food Pairing is fun to play with. There is a long list of set foods, by category, on the right-hand column (you may have to click an arrow triangle to see them). The search box doesn't work for me and my machine--I don't know if that's because their coding is broken or because an ASPX database only interacts with Microsoft products.

Zucchini with ginger? maybe. Zucchini with apricot? Two Utah-ish ingredients I'd never have thought to combine.

Potato Soup with Kale Garnish

2010-01-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

<--The mere idea of kale on the plate.
<--Yum for me; tears for her.

It's been cold and rainy. Last week I planned two dinners that didn't happen: one a mildly yellow potato soup with green salad, another garlicky greens on ziti pasta with cannellini. I still have the ingredients for both, so I decided to make the potato soup with a side of sauteed greens. It was not a hit.

Menu:
Double potato soup (sweet potatoes and regular potatoes with half-and-half)
Kale sauteed in olive oil and garlic, steamed in vegetable broth.
Toasted Wheat hamburger bun as roll.
Milk or Cranberry Juice to drink

As a family dinner, this was a fail.
I forgot about the tendency of Kale to be bitter. I love it in a creamy soup, but obviously none of the children do, not even the vegetarian with the sophisticated palate. Also, the younger half of the family hate potatoes and most soups, though I refuse to acknowledge this.

Nevertheless, I assure you it was delicious. I love that greens / starchy soup / cranberry juice triad. However, I'm not sure I'm going to love it for three lunches in a row.

Potato through an Apple Peeler-Slicer-Corer

2010-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's a (sweet) potato in an apple peeler/slicer/corer. I'm making "Double Potato Soup" from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner and I couldn't find a vegetable peeler in my kitchen to save my life. Then I noticed that potatoes--aka pommes de terre--are as solid and thin-skinned as apples. And I've easily peeled and sliced some 15 pounds of apples for Thanksgiving pies, using a handcranked apple peeler-slicer-corer. I was going to pull back the slicer/corer blade and only peel tonight's potatos, when I realized I needed the potatoes cut for soup anyway.

I had to cut the potato in half--the ones I bought were too large to fit the hand-crank machine otherwise. I'm loving this shortcut. The potatoes were all peeled and cut miraculously fast.

Leaving me with plenty of energy to enforce dishwashing upon children this evening, making sure this time all my cooking tools go back into proper place.

Tortellini, Greens, and Bean Soup

2010-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here's another soup I love from Soup Makes The Meal by Ken Haedrich.

2 TBS olive oil or unsalted butter
1 large chopped onion
1 rib celery, finely chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
salt to taste
6 cups stock
1 tsp dried basil
9 0z package fresh tortellini
2-3 C stemmed and chopped spinach (or Swiss chard--I use spinach)
Pepper to taste
1 can garbanzos, rinsed and drained
1 TBS tomato paste
Parmesan cheese for garnish

I know you know the steps.....
Heat the oil over mod low heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic. Salt light and sweat under tight lid for about 10 min.
Add stock and basil and bring to a boil. Add greens and tortellini. Return the soup to a boil. Boil for about a minute, and then lower the heat to mod low and simmer, partially covered about 5 minutes. Taste the broth, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Add the chickpeas and the tomato paste. Simmer another 5 minutes. Serve piping hot and pass the Parmesan at the table.

Tomato-Vegetable Lentil Soup

2010-01-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

I love soup and am glad to live in a place where we still have several months of serious soup weather. Lentils are way faster to cook than beans which have to be pre-soaked.

2 TBS olive oil
1 large chopped onion
2 ribs celery, diced
green bell pepper, seeded/diced
5 cups stock (vegetable, chicken, beef--wherever you are in the process)
3/4 cup lentils, rinsed/sorted for rocks, etc.
2 carrots, peeled/diced
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pepper to taste
1 large potato, peeled and diced relatively small
28 oz crushed tomatoes

Heat oil and add onion, celery and pepper. Cover and sweat over med low heat, about 8-10 minutes.
Add stock, lentils, carrot, bay leaf, and herbs. Bring to a boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to med low. Simmer about 15 min. Stir in the potato and a bit of salt. Simmer another 10 min.
Add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, another 10-15 min. Add seasonings to taste.

This makes about 5 servings, and is adapted from Soup Makes the Meal, by Ken Haedrich.

Because Family does not live by Mac 'N Cheese alone.

2010-01-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Heather of omnivore blog What's for Dinner commented the other day that she was looking for more family-friendly vegan dishes in 2010, because it is easy to let cheese become a substitute for meat. And let's face it, a diet of cheese, though possibly delicious, is problematic.

To support all of us who are negotiating the cheese situation, I've added a couple new labels (like tags, but on blogger) to our blog.

Here are some of our entries featuring no-cheese dishes: no cheese

And, here are some of our entries featuring dishes which happen to be vegan: vegan

Some of these don't have the presence or nutritional roundedness of main dishes, but we all make light meals sometimes, maybe with a whole wheat roll or toast to round things out.

Our complete list of labels is there to browse in our new right side column, right below Recent Comments. There's even a label for when you're looking for cheese.

Yup, that's my cheese stash pictured above: Cotija, Goat Cheese, Swiss, American, Cheddar.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Do you have resolutions for the New Year? Mine is to eat more beautifully! But maybe without the doily.

(inspiring salad I ate in Vienna)

What's on your Christmas menu?

2009-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

For the last four years, our holiday dinner is pasta with three sauce choices, and we have that Christmas Eve night. Christmas morning I'll make cinnamon rolls, but I'm so out of practice they won't be ready until it's almost afternoon. My husband bought some boxes of sugar cereal (usually forbidden in this house), and we'll end up snacking on tangerines and Christmas candy, and probably even serving the egg dish while the rolls are still baking.

I know. It would be more exciting if I were making a meal around homemade vegetarian tamales. Or serving parboiled broccoli, cubed cottage potatoes, and torn bread to dip in spicy peanut butter fondue. Or bringing out a platter of roasted Sliced Acorn Squash rings (because they look like stars) stuffed with apples or mushrooms and rice and nuts. Or, if I hadn't been making it every thursday for last six weeks, Spatzle with mushroom gravy, with lingonberry jam for a side of Christmas color.

Instead, all I need to make it a holiday is one green salad with pomegranate seeds sprinkled in it, and my really large and perfect Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas.

And your holiday secrets, menu or otherwise, do tell.

Heather cooking vegetarian from scratch

2009-12-22T22:31:00.001-08:00

I was just visiting commenter's blogs and wanted to point you to two vegetarian recipes that Heather of What's for Dinner recently posted on her site.

Kid-pleasing Chili Mac

Lynette's Vegetarian Chili that can be made in a crock-pot. I keep saying I'm going to wean myself off canned Hormel's Chili vegetarian.

Spätzle with mushroom cream sauce

2009-12-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

Fifteen years ago, my neighbor, who was a great cook, invited me over for dinner. She had made homemade spätzle with a spätzle maker she'd found in a yard sale during a visit to her home state. The maker looked like a cheese grater with a shuttle across the top of it. I was delighted when she demonstrated it: the dough drops through the holes as the shuttle scrapes over them, dropping drippings of spatzle dough right into the boiling water. How clever; how sensible!

Spätzle fascinates me. I classify it as a homemade pasta or egg noodle, and I love that there's no running the dough through a pasta maker several times to make it smooth, and no figuring out where to hang the pasta to dry. But there's still enough effort involved that it feels like a homemade food project, a bit of an adventure, a bit celebratory.

I've been wanting to make spätzle for years since, so on my recent trip to Austria I purchased a spätzle maker of my own. It has a curved surface with holes, and a rubber scraper for pushing the dough over them. It's wide enough to rest over any of my boiling water pots. I understand you can substitute a large-holed colander for a spatzle maker, but I've never tried.

The recipe I used: 500 g flour, 6 eggs, 150ml water, teaspoon of salt. I let my stand mixer do the work.

I brought a potful of water to boil, adding salt and oil.

I put a big scoop of dough on the spätzle maker. I could tell the consistency was right because it drooped through the holes but didn't fall or run out. I scraped back and forth which forced the dough out. The spätzle that floated was done; I pulled it out with my mesh kitchen sieve.

Now, what to serve with it? Spätzle is a German food I associate with chunks of meat and gravy. Yet like egg noodles, it's good with butter and a little salt. I made a simple mushroom cream sauce by sautéing chopped onion and finely diced mushroom (used food processor to chop) and then adding some cream and cooking it a bit more. Add a side salad, and we had a delicious dinner tonight.

How was your Veggie Thanksgiving?

2009-12-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at our friends' place this year. They were really cool about making alternates of a couple side dishes to expand the vegetarian menu. And I learned how they make gluten-free pie for their family!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I must really love my friends or I would never have enjoyed giving up my role as host and menu czar. I was thinking next year I might serve salmon along with the turkey, since my vegetarian daughter added fish to her diet.

Tell us about your menu this year! And like me, are you already plotting for the next?

Salmon and Potato Cakes

2009-11-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

For those of you who include fish into your vegetarian diet. These were easy to make and the kids liked it. We topped them with sour cream and just a drizzle of ketchup mixed with Worcestershire sauce. Double the recipe: leftovers are great.

Serves 4

2 Cups red skinned potatoes, boiled and smashed (smash with skins on. I think this took about 4-5 large red potatoes. )
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1-7 oz can salmon, skin and bones removed
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tablespoon dried dill or thyme (double if using fresh)
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Cup croutons, crushed to make 1/4 Cup crumbs (any flavor, I used Caesar)
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
oil (canola or olive)

saute onion and garlic in 1 teaspoon of oil. Remove from heat.

Combine onion and garlic, potatoes, salmon, eggs, spices, mustard and croutons in a bowl and mix. Shape into patties. Salt and pepper each side. Fry in just a little bit of oil until golden brown on each side and heated through. Serve with sour cream.

Stay tuned for later this week. I'm trying out a recipe for Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and a Carrot Cilantro salad.

Go Meatless On Monday

2009-09-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Whenever I am asked how to go flexitarian without your family declaring mutiny, I answer the same thing:

Go Meatless on Monday

Your family could use a meatless meal after that traditional Sunday roast. Besides, if they are not thrilled with dinner that day, you can still look forward to Family Night treat. If things go well then make 2 nights meat-free at your house.

Eating Well Magazine apparently agrees with the Meatless Monday. They ran a list of vegetarian recipes under the title Go Meatless on Monday. You can find them here.

Another great spot to check for recipes is Meatless Mondays.com. Find them here.

Tonight I made a batch of Italian Vegetable Soup from a recipe I found on the Better Homes & Garden's website. I doubled the recipe and added a can each of chickpeas and corn. You can find the original recipe here.

Last of all, another great source for recipes that I love is on the blog 101 Cookbooks. 231 vegetarian recipe and counting. Just click on the title to go there and scan the recipe link for the vegetarian section.

Ward Chili Cook-off

2009-09-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Do I dare take a vegetarian chili? I live where people are definitely meat eaters.
I was thinking of calling it "Word of Wisdom Chili", including in it lentils and bulghur.
Or is it an exercise in futility, with people only thinking ever more weird things about me?

That Cheesy Potato Pie Thing

2009-09-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

I have a new recipe posted over at my blog for Two Potato Gratin aka That Cheese Potato Pie Thing. It's a recipe adapted from Moosewood Simple Suppers. Click here.

A few new recipes

2009-08-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't alter these at all, I shall just post the titles. Each recipe got great reviews from the family. Click on them and they will take you to the link for the recipe:

Apple Slaw - a fabulous slaw using broccoli slaw, apples, dried cherries, and sunflower seeds.

Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes - use those tomatoes in your garden. Add a great tossed salad and dinner is ready.

Also, FYI, the October 2009 issue of Eating Well has a great section on bean recipesThat I will be trying in the next few weeks.

Summer Soups: Gazpacho

2009-08-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

We bought a house this year and I am loving the produce of my small kitchen garden. Last week twice I made Gazpacho using my neighbor's fabulous recipe. This one needs a food processor.

Into the food processor:
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp parsley
2 tsp chives
2 stalks celery (cut into chunks)
1 red bell pepper (seeded and cut)
1 cucumber (peel, seed, chunked)
2 tomatoes (peeled and seeded)

pulse after each addition, or if you're me, just do it all at the end. Don't let it get too fine.

Transfer to a large bowl and add:
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 tsp sriracha, which I prefer to tabasco
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB lemon juice
4 cups vegetabel juice (V-8)

Serve. Gazpacho is a dish best served cold, or at room temp.

Yeah, I know it's a soup that's half V-8, but I love it, though I don't love V-8.

Only problem, this is obviously not a complete vegetarian meal. What do you serve with it? We had cheese on wheat rolls, (yum goat cheese) but couldn't there be a better match?

---

I'm kind of on a soup kick. On other days I made gypsy soup (with leftover slices of roast pork on the side for the nonveges), and on another day I made vegetable soup with pistou (little hamburgers on the side for the nonveges). Looks like a jump on Fall menus, but using my garden produce and not turning on the oven was just right.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes

2009-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

My notes: The original recipe called for Yukon potatoes and much less spice amounts. I doubled most spices (salt I barely increased). I left the jalapeno amounts as is as I’m feeding 4 kids. I love adding chickpeas to the recipe. Sometimes I will also add spinach. Leftovers make great lunches heated or at room temp.

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 1/2 pounds sweet potato, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Teaspoons jalapeno, minced very fine
1 1/2 Tablespoons ginger, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 Cup water
14 ounces chickpeas, canned, rinsed and drained

1. Shake cauliflower, sweet potato, cumin seeds and salt in a gallon size ziplock. Put on roasting pan lined with foil and roast at 475 for 15-20 minutes, stirring every five minutes, until veggies are crisp-tender.

2. Meanwhile, saute onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno 1 Tablespoon oil until onion is translucent (about 10 minutes). Add spices, chickpeas and water. Stir and scrape all the good bits off the bottom of the pan.

3. Add roasted veggies to the saute pan and cook and stir for 5 minutes until flavors are fully blended.

4. Serve over basmati rice, a side of fresh melon, and mango lassi.

Ca1: 341, Fat: 9g, Fiber 10g, Protein: 8g

Spicy Sesame Noodles

2009-07-22T16:02:00.001-07:00

Summer has hit with a vengeance. While June was mostly 70s, we are running the A/C all the time now. Here's what's for dinner tonight.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

Prep time--10 minutes
Cook time--10 minutes
Yield--4-6 servings

12 oz angel hair pasta
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup water
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS seasoned rice vinegar
1 TBS vegetable oil (I use less)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
pinch (or two or three) cayenne pepper
3 green onions
carrot (I use about one cup of baby carrots--they're going to get processed)
handful cilantro
1 large cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced

Cook pasta (you know what to do). While water is heating and noodles are cooking, mix together in a large bowl the peanut butter through the cayenne.
Place green onion, carrots, and cilantro in food processor until carrots are finely diced.
When pasta is done/drained, add it to the peanut butter sauce, along with the veggies. Toss to coat. If you have them, you can also add toasted sesame seeds.

This can be served warm or cold. I like to make it earlier in the day before my house starts to get warm. No, it isn't low fat. But it is quick and cool.

Dressed up Salmon Cakes over Field Greens

2009-06-01T10:19:00.001-07:00

If your idea of vegetarian includes fish, click here for a great recipe. Stay tuned for tomorrow. I'm trying a summer Chilean Bean Stew with a Jicama-Orange Salad and Maple Cornbread.

A Word about Wheat.....

2009-05-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Bags of wheat! Buckets of wheat! Barrels of wheat! Bushels of wheat! Stored in the forgotten corners of your basement or garage!

Yes, you all know what I'm talking about.

Your food storage.

So....what do you do with it? Years ago my mother set out to answer that exact question, in an attempt to both use our food storage and create an inexpensive alternative to the whole grain bread we buy. It began with a manual hand grinder and about a million and a half bread-making experiments. Now we have two grinders, manual and electric, and we make our own whole wheat, preservative-free bread, bagels, cookies, cinnamon rolls, etc.

First a word about the type of wheat. There are different types of wheat, the most common being red, closely followed by white. We have found that white wheat works best as a replacement for white flour and can work in pastries and desserts without much change in texture and flavor (just make sure it's ground very fine). Red wheat tends to make baked goods heavier, but can be remedied by adding an extra egg in place of some of the liquid in a recipe.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes to get you started.

Never-fail Whole Wheat Bread

1 egg at room temp. plus enough 80 degree water to equal 1 cup and 2 tablespoons
2 1/2 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably white wheat)

Use bread machine or mix eggs & water, oil, honey, yeast, and water in one bowl, and flour and salt in another bowl. Let yeast sit for 5 minutes. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix together. Knead and then let rest 1 hr. Knead a 2nd time and let rise 1/2 hr. Punch down and let rise 15 min. Punch down and let rise 45 min. Preheat oven to 350. Put loaf in oven and turn oven off for the first 20 minutes. Turn oven back on for the last 15 minutes to let brown.

Our Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Combine:

1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup warm water
2 Tblsp. yeast

Let stand. Scald:

1 cup milk
2 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. butter

Mix above ingredients into 3 cups of flour. Add:

3 beaten eggs
1 cup sugar
6 Tblsp. shortening

Directions:

Add 5-6 cups whole wheat flour until you have soft dough. Let rise ‘til double. Roll out on floured board; spread w/melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Roll up and cut into 2” slices. Place into pan and let rise until double. Bake at 325 degrees. Check at 30 minutes--keep checking until center rolls are done.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tblsp. margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 to 2 Tblsp. water

Honey-Whole Wheat Bagels

1 cup water (75 to 85 degrees)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. honey
1-1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups bread flour
1-1/2 tsp yeast

For bread machine: (makes 6 bagels) place ingredients in bread pan in following order: water, honey, bread flour, wheat flour salt. Make small indentation in flour and add yeast to indentation, making sure yeast does not come in contact with liquid. Start bread machine--set on “bagel” or “dough” program.

By hand: double recipe if desired. Measure water into a bowl. Add yeast and dissolve. Add honey to water mixture and stir. In a separate container mix flour and salt, and then add to water mixture, saving 1 cup to flour board and knead with. Stir flour into water and then turn out onto floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover with a cloth and let rise until double.

to finish: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Divide dough into equal pieces (6 for 1 recipe, 12 for double recipe) Roll into a ball and poke a hole in the middle. Roll and shape into a bagel shape. Place on baking sheet. Let rise 20 min. Fill a large pan 3’’ deep with water, add 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Gently lift bagel from baking sheet and gently submerge in water, cooking 30 seconds on each side. Remove bagel to paper towels and let drain, then place on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 min until bagels are lightly browned and surface is shiny; remove from baking sheet to wire rack to cool. Serve with Honey-Walnut spread.

Honey-Walnut Spread

Mix one 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (reg. or light), softened, with 1 1/2 Tbsp honey. Add 3 Tbsp. walnuts. Chill

Happy Baking!

2009-04-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Creamy Chopped Cauliflower Salad
from Eating Well Magazine
Makes 6 servings, about 1 cup each

Scarehaircare's Notes: One of my favorites. It's easy to keep the ingredients on hand and goes together quickly. I love the caraway in this dish but you could certainly leave it out if you are not a fan.

5 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 small shallot, finely chopped
½ teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 cups chopped cauliflower florets (about ½ large head)
2 cups chopped heart of romaine
1 tart-sweet red apple, chopped

Whisk mayonnaise, vinegar, shallot, caraway seeds (if using) and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Add cauliflower, romaine and apple; toss to coat.

Avocado Smoothies

2009-04-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

The weather here is starting to have hints of warmness, so I've been celebrating by making fruit smoothies.

Avocado Smoothie
1 avocado
2 scoops vanilla ice cream (or yogurt)
enough milk so it will blend
~2-3 T sugar (to taste)

Blend until smooth. Serves 2.

strawberry banana variation:
Add 1/2 a banana and 2 handfuls of strawberries.

Sunday Dinner at E-Dub's

2009-03-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is what we ate tonight:
I love this stew (Moroccan lentil), and I'm feeling a bit sad about the loss of winter because I will miss all the hearty soups/stews we tend to eat this time of year. Instead of using the spices as outlined, I used Ras el Hanou t, and this is a recipe for making your own. There are lots of versions on the web. I do cook several Moroccan dishes and finally decided to make a mixture of spices rather than measuring them out as recipes call for them.

The other thing I made was a pumpkin custard. I don't really like pie because I don't like crust--not just my crust, but anyone's crust. Custard is much better than pie. I made a recipe which came from Moosewood Low Fat Favorites.

Pumpkin Custard
2 cups cooked pumpkin (16-ounce can)
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (12-ounce can)
2 eggs
3 egg whites
3/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350F.
Prepare eight 6-ounce baking custard cups or ramekins, with a light coating of cooking spray. Arrange the cups in a shallow, flat-bottomed baking pan.
Whril all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour the custard into the baking cups. Pour boiling water into the baking pan to about a 2-inch depth. Bake for about 45 to 60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cups from the hot water and cool at room temperature, then refrigerate.
Serve chilled, garnished with fresh apple slices if desired.

The only thing I did differerently was I baked it all in one large corningware casserole dish, and put that in a 9x13 pan. I cooked it for 55 minutes and it was fine.
I topped it with (don't retch) fat-free cool whip.
Everyone really liked it. Any meal in which no people are fussing about ingredients, spiciness, lack of flesh, etc. is a resounding success.

Liz's Tomato Soup Recipe

2009-03-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

... can be found here on her blog. It sounds really good.

Falafel

2009-01-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

There was a recipe for falafel in this month's Cooking Light. I made it tonight, and it wasn't that fabulous. Now, part of the problem was that instead of adding 3 tbs of olive oil to the pan for the frying, I misread, and added it to the falafel mix. Even still, I don't think they would have turned out.

You'd think I'd have learned by now to carefully read all the instructions when starting out on a new recipe.

Awhile back I happened to catch Bobby Flay doing one of his cook-offs with someone making falafel. I just checked the website and the recipe is there. It only got 3 stars on average, but it's really because some people rated it one star because the site didn't list his competitor's recipe. So, I'm thinking of trying his.
Or, what's so bad about using a falafel mix, really?

Warm Tortellini Salad

2009-01-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted here. But I thought this recipe was so good-and not just because my daughter made it (and I didn't), but just yummy. So I am sharing.

Warm Tortellini & Cherry Tomato Salad
2 (9oz) packages fresh cheese tortellini
1 ½ cups sliced asparagus (about 1 lb.)
3 Tbls red wine vinegar
1 Tbls balsamic vinegar
1 Tbls olive oil
¼ tsp black pepper
4 cups trimmed arugula (I used baby)
1 ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes
¾ cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1 (14oz) can artichoke heart s drained/quartered

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add asparagus during last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain

While pasta cooks, combine vinegars, oil, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pasta mixture, arugula, and remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Serves 6

Comfort food: Roasted Veggies and Polenta

2009-01-19T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite "chameleon" recipes. You can vary the veggies (beets, mushrooms, carrots, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, etc.) spices (thyme, basil, marjoram etc.), even the cheese you stir into the polenta (machengo, extra sharp cheddar, Gruyere). Add beans or fish or tofu (you might have to cook them separately to make sure they finish properly). I always keep polenta stone ground cornmeal) on hand so this becomes a pantry meal. Leftovers make good lunches. Pour your polenta into a pan, wrap in plastic, and store in the fridge. Cut into slices and pack. This also tastes good at room temp.

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Cheesy Polenta
from Eating Well Magazine
Makes 4 servings

4 cups cauliflower florets
4 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
¾ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
⅔ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Preheat oven to 500°F. 2. Toss cauliflower, squash and onion in a large bowl with oil, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and salt. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once, until tender and browned in spots, 25 to 30 minutes.3. Meanwhile, combine broth and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in cornmeal, rosemary and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until very thick and creamy, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in cheese; remove the polenta from the heat. Serve the vegetables over the polenta.

A Better Tuna Sandwich

2009-01-19T15:25:00.001-08:00

Some people on a vegetarian diet still eat fish, and some don't. I thought I would include this recipe for those that still eat fish.
A while back we were visiting my parents and my Dad had me try some tuna he had made. It was great! Fast forward to today. There is no school so all the kids were home for lunch. They asked what kind of sandwich they could have and I said "Tuna". My eight year old got really excited and said, "Can we have tuna with carrots in it?!" So we did...here is how to make it.

Finely chop
1 medium sized carrot
1 stalk of celery
Some pickles-my Dad used sweet, but I prefer dill

When my Dad makes this he chops everything in a food processor. I have a hand crank food chopper that I use.
Put your chopped ingredients in a bowl. Add two 5 to 6 oz drained cans of Tuna and mayo or salad dressing enough to moisten everything. Serve on bread, or this also makes a good dip for tortilla chips and such.
Adding the veggies makes the tuna go farther, but it also adds a nice crunch. Chopped small enough the flavors blend together well, and you don't get an overpowering taste from any of them. You could also add onion or bell peppers if that floats your boat, although the flavors of those would come through stronger.
I was surprised that my kids had liked it so much when my Dad made it, but I am happy to give them a tuna sandwich that has less tuna in it and more veggies...

Tacos Sans the Meat

2009-01-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

My cousin gave me this idea. I love it.

You substitute the meat for black beans mixed with Taco Seasoning.

You will still have your shells or tortillas, cheese tomatoes, olives, lettuce, etc.

I add broccoli sprouts. They are delicious and taste great, better than lettuce.

Simple, tasty, and much easier to store than meat (both the bag and the can).

Give it a try and let me us know what you think.

Migas

2009-01-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

The Pioneer Woman had this recipe on her blog. It looks amazing for breakfast or dinner (It will be breakfast tomorrow morning for me). I plan on lightening this by using less oil, fat free half-n-half, and replacing some of the eggs with egg whites. Loads of veggies, so its good for me, right? I'll also serve a citrus salad with pomegranate along side.

Pioneer Woman’s Migas

4 corn tortillas
Canola oil, to fry tortillas
10 to 12 large eggs
1/4 cup half & half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 to 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, depending on your taste
1 cup grated Monterey Jack or Cotija cheese

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and half & half. Salt and pepper eggs, then set aside.
In a small skillet over medium heat, heat oil and fry each corn tortilla just until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Chop tortillas and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the olive oil with the butter. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until starting to turn brown/black, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add in diced jalapenos and stir to combine. Add tomatoes to the skillet and stir around, then add tortilla pieces, stirring gently to combine.

Reduce heat to low.

When the heat has decreased, pour egg mixture into skillet. Stir gently to cook with the peppers, folding mixture very gently as it cooks. Add in grated cheese and chopped cilantro, and stir to combine. Serve with black beans.

The Secret Ingredient to Mac'n'cheese

2009-01-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

So, my usual method for making home-made mac'n'cheese is to not measure anything (just like my grandma taught me). After the noodles are cooked I just add in butter, flour, milk, cheese, and sometimes *gasp* green vegetables (tonight it was spinach, I totally did not go for anything vegetable wise in my mac'n'cheese until my sophomore year of college), and stir until all the cheese is melted. At any rate, it usually turns out pretty good.

My Handsome was making the mac'n'cheese tonight and wanted more exact measurements. So I got out the cookbook, but the two recipes were for baked mac'n'cheese (people make baked mac'n'cheese for stuff other than potlucks?). But, both recipes had nutmeg in them. So I ended up teaching Handsome how to make mac'n'cheese my way and just added a couple of dashes of nutmeg at the end. It was delicious! It added just a hint of sweetness to the cheese sauce, and made the flavor more interesting and complex. Definitely doing it again.

By the way, the type of cheese we used tonight was a colby and monterrey jack blend, although the recipes in the cookbook used cheddar and parmesan.

Cooking after the holidays

2009-01-07T16:55:00.001-08:00

We went visiting friends across country for their best New Year's Eve party ever. Great company, and great food. They were making assemble-your-won pizzas for a crowd, at least half of whom were vegetarian.

I arrived home lazy, unused to making dinner.

--I made that Indian tomato curry with Pulao Rice the day I got back, since it's a pantry meal.
--Then sloppy egg joes: fried eggs on a whole wheat buns, with sloppy joe sauce.
--then vegetarian enchilada casserole: zucchini, mushrooms and corn, layered between tortillas with jack cheese and canned green enchilada sauce.
--The swedish meatballs, meatballs optional. I should have come up with some kind of vegetarian meatless ball, but I have never solved that problem. Nevertheless everyone loves egg noodles with swedish cream sauce, and lingonberry jam. The sauce was from a packet from IKEA.
--running out of ideas, I made pasta wheels with marinara sauce. Tried to get the sometimes meat eaters to finish off yesterday's meatballs that no one loved.

I've got to come up with dinner for tonight and tomorrow. It all feels like pulling a full sled up a mountain. And since I've not come up with something, now tonight's shop, prep and serve is down to the hour between picking up little kid from her class, and taking the big kids to Young Women and scouts.

What are you making? And what's your go-to when you've got to come up with the no-idea dinner quick?

Midnight Cravings

2008-12-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

I crave flavors. Usually Japanese, Middle Eastern, and good ol' Southern USA (although I don't rule out any ethnic cuisine). Tonight (at nearly midnight) I'm really craving Lebanese.

I found a recipe on Epicurious.com for Lebanese Lentil-and-Rice Pilaf with Blackened Onions.

Not exactly holiday food.

Which is why I am making it for lunch tomorrow. With plenty of leftovers for the next few days. I'm already sick of rich holiday fare and I want something healthy. Comforting. Fragrant.

What flavors do you crave?

Make Latkes!

2008-12-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

Latkes are a treat at any time, but I especially love to have them when my neighbors are celebrating Chanukah. It's my own downmarket version of holy envy.

I was intimidated about making latkes for years. It helped when I figured out they're not much different than hash browns.

I grate a potato or two per person having dinner. I put the gratings in a bowl of water as I work, to keep them from discoloring. I like to put a little vinegar in the water, but then I think vinegar is the universal seasoning.

Then I put the grated potato in a clean tea towel and squeeze all the water out. (This does produce some good quality potato starch water, which I always intend to use in baking or something, but so far I never have.)

I put the drained and mostly-dry gratings in a bowl. I add one beaten egg per 3 or 4 potatoes.

(Ages ago, before I was always making these for kids, I put chopped onion in as well.)

I heat oil in a frying pan--enough oil to cover the whole bottom of the pan. Olive Oil is always delicious, but I tend to use a more ordinary, less delicate, vegetable oil. Except this year I ran out of ordinary oil (how ironic!) and had to go with the virgin olive oil.

I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop potatoes into the pan, pushing them down in the middle so the middle's not the thickest part.

I flip them when the down-side is starting to color golden.

I stack them finished ones on papertowels on an oven-safe plate, and keep them in the oven (on the lowest temperature, or "warm") until I've made all the latkes. I like to have two pans going, so I can get them all finished more quickly.

Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Thinking about your Vegetarian Christmas Menu?

2008-12-10T20:39:00.001-08:00

Tiny Tim had his Goose, but I don't want one. What's on your Vegetarian Christmas Menu?

Mine's kind of high-carb. And oddly simple, though it is known I love to cook an elaborate party for other days. Christmas is a quiet immediate-family day for us, so I don't do any big multi-plate feasts, and I don't do anything kids wouldn't appreciate.

A couple years ago, I settled on Spaghetti as a main dish for Christmas Eve, and soon the kids decided it was a tradition. It's easy and everyone likes it. I offer three sauces: a marinara, a pesto, and a clam sauce. Obviously, the colors work. I add an artisan bread and a green salad.

Christmas morning, I make cinnamon rolls. Not as practical as other people's egg casserole, but my mom did it, so so do I. I also make omelets. But I always want the sausage with them.

One thing I miss from having meat, is the easiness of sandwiches of Christmas Eve leftovers for the mid-afternoon feast meal Christmas Day. My thought is instead to try doing a fondue--though none of us have done it before, dipping things in cheese looking reliably festive. I think last year I made grilled cheese and tomato soup, believe it or not.

Certain produce really says Christmas season to me. Red Pears. Clementine oranges. Pomegranates. Red Leaf Lettuce.

Meanwhile, I'm browsing at The Vegetarian Society's Christmas menus page.
and three vegetarian Christmas menus at the BBC
Swedish Christmas, vegetarian version.

A lazy week of split-meals

2008-12-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

Not that I recommend living on tacos, burgers, and pizza, which is what we ate this week.

Monday:
Taco Bar (shells, beans, cheese, lettuce, taco-seasoned meat, taco sauce),
homemade applesauce,
butternut squash soup.
Tuesday:
reheated pizza from the weekend (in the frying pan on the stove),
leftover butternut squash soup,
caesar salad from bag.
Wednesday:
Thai vegetarian coconut curry containing baked potato and blue lake green beans,
pineapple,
"asian" bagged salad with dried cherries, shredded carrot, cabbage, lettuce, won-ton strips, and ginger-sesame dressing,
baked chicken thighs on the side deboned and chopped for those who'd like to add it as condiment to curry,
peanuts on the side, for those who'd like to add it to curry.
Thursday:
choice of Sloppy Joe, or Portabella Garden Burger. Orders taken 30 minutes before dinner.
Watermelon,
carrot sticks and olives,
salt-and-pepper chips,
store-bought egg-potato salad.
Friday: Pizza as per contract with 9-year-old.

When Chicken Soup is Off the Menu

2008-12-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

My kid has a cold, severe enough to warrant missing a day or more of high school, severe enough to warrant a visit to the doctor, and severe enough that we filled a prescription for antibiotics. And I'm super conservative about antibiotics. Apparently I believe I can stop global drug-resistant TB by my reluctance to treat ear infections.

Of course, being a Mom, I want to supplement all that medical stuff with highly nutritious comfort food. The home version of the RS compassionate service dinner. Chicken Soup would be my impulse, but of course with this kid, Chicken Soup does not apply. This kid is a vegetarian. In fact, she's THE vegetarian who got us all back into this.

She likes thai yellow curry vegetarian, so this afternoon I fetched that for her.
She likes Campbell's Tomato Soup, reconstituted with milk, so I made that for her.
Tomorrow for lunch I'm making Indian Tomato Curry at her request.
Tomorrow for dinner I'm making more Thanksgiving yams. Possibly trying that other bloggernacle yam recipe I can't find now, mashed with roasted banana and maple syrup.
I thought of cream-of-butternut squash soup, and a vegetable pie with carrots.
But—I seem to be overplaying the beta-carotene. The poor kid will end up healthy but a strange shade of yellow at this rate.

Also, I'm off the rails for translating my emotions into food prep without the chicken soup. I've been offering her hot chocolate or orange soda in between her herbal tea—not exactly healthy. I made biscuits from scratch that, though light and fluffy, were not liquid enough for a sore throat. So I ate half the biscuits myself, with butter and jam, and was not comforted.

How do you do Mother with Sick Vegetarian Child?

Steuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

2008-11-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

My favorite Thanksgiving recipe can be found at Cooking Light. It has been a tradition at my house since 2002.

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

Its also tasty with a side salad and buscuits for a simple supper. I sub fat free half-n-half in place of regular half-n-half. Other than that the recipe is perfect like it is.

Delicious Potatoes

2008-11-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

The folks over at BCC have posted a few delicious looking recipes in the pre-Thanksgiving excitement:

The Devil's Mashed Potatoes
Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Carmelized Apples

I made a variation of The Devil's Mashed Potatoes the other night and they were AMAZING!

Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole

2008-11-23T12:36:00.001-08:00

I got this recipe from a friend who says it's one of her favorites!

2 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
8 ounces bread crumbs
1 large eggplant, diced
2 large zucchini, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups shredded Colby cheese
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
________________________________________
In a microwavable bowl, mix water and butter (cut into pieces). Stir in bread crumbs and cover with a microwavable lid. Cook on HIGH for 8 to 10 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Place eggplant, zucchini, tomato, onion into a large skillet. Season with thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

Layer vegetables, cheese, and bread crumbs in the dish until all ingredients have been used, ending with cheese.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Savory Squash

2008-11-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

I’m not a vegetarian, but I love the beautiful variety of fresh fruits and veggies available at just about any grocery store. I am an adventurous cook and like to learn to use produce that I’ve never bought before. So parsnips and rhubarb are commonly found in our refrigerator, bok choy and fresh ginger will be on the grocery list again, and I sure wish that those greenish/yellow plums we enjoyed this summer were still in season. In all this adventuring the only thing I have disliked is turnips (so if you love turnips, you should post your favorite way to eat them and maybe I’ll try them again).

It’s coming in to winter and that means an abundance of apples, a plethora of pears, sumptuous citrus, and savory squash. Squash is one of those vegetables that have lots of varieties to appreciate, or at least say you tasted. So far, my favorite types are delicata and gold nugget, but this recipe works just fine with more commonly found varieties like acorn and butternut.

1 small (2-4 servings) winter squash
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-4 saltine crackers, crumbled
1T butter or margarine
1t brown sugar
1/8t curry powder
salt and pepper to taste (but don't leave them out altogether, they help bring out the natural sweetness of the squash!)

Cook the squash until it is mostly soft, but not all the way done (until it needs about 5 more minutes of microwaving). To cook squash in the microwave: cut it in half and scoop out the seeds and slime. Microwave it for 7-20 minutes depending on the size of the squash. Or you can follow any cooking directions on the label of the squash.

Meanwhile mix the onion, crackers, butter, brown sugar, curry, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. When the squash is almost done, spoon the mixture into the hollow part of the squash and continue cooking until all of the squash is soft and easily pierced with a fork. Serve in the shell, or scoop it out and mash it up.

Being Vegetarian in the Family--The Ward Family, that is.

2008-11-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

When you bring another family dinner, because you found out about their situation in Relief Society and signed up to bring a meal, do you bring a vegetarian meal?

When you go to the Ward Potluck, do you bring a vegetarian dish?

The Potluck is easier than the "compassionate service." You can entirely sidestep the issue by bringing dessert or rolls. Usually several people bring carbohydrate-based eats that are vegetarian by chance.

I think it's cool to bring a full-meal vegetarian green salad, maybe with little squares of firm tofu tossed in with the dark greens, chopped vegetables, and balsamic vinaigrette. Or, at least I hope someone else brought one. Yum.

Bringing a meal to a particular family is a little trickier. My purpose is to serve, not to educate, and certainly not to browbeat. When I was a full-time vegetarian in a full-time vegetarian family, I often brought meatless lasagna with green salad and bread, and chocolate cake. I wanted to bring something familiar, and something the kids would eat. Sometimes I would just make them a meat lasagna while I made my meatless ones.

Two meals that were brought to me in my life, perhaps I wouldn't have dared to bring to someone else. The week I had my first baby, a friend brought me a curry-cauliflower-carrot soup that I still dream about. Ditto to the zuchini-tomato-rice with cheese casserole in another state after my son was born.

I don't have the recipe for either one.

I did used to gleefully make the missionaries my weirdest vegetarian creations, like good gypsy soup. I figured they weren't getting enough vegetables. With a side of sausages, just from frozen and cooked in the microwave. Since I didn't know how to cook meat. And some wheat rolls, in case they were homesick.

What do you like to bring?

What do you hope they'll bring you?

Guess what I am making for Thanksgiving...

2008-10-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

The November issue of Sunset Magazine has a recipe for Pearl Couscous with Fall Vegetables and Caramelized Onions. The lone reader review rating it has received was not complementary. I will have to disagree and try it anyway. How on earth can a dish with cinnamon, jalapeno, saffron, cumin, cilantro, and all those lovely fall vegetables be considered bland?

This recipe is Sunset's answer to vegetarian Thanksgiving' main dish. I think I'll make it long before T-day just to be sure. Mmmmmm.

What's that, Lassie?

2008-10-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

You say Timmy's stuck in a well and he's got a hankerin' for pumpkin cake and you'd throw him a piece but you think it'll fall apart on the way down? Have I got a recipe for you.

War muffins and Tomato Lentil Soup

2008-10-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had pumpkin pancakes (the recipe is in the sidebar) and scrambled eggs (they were delightful). By Sunday I was out of eggs, so I looked online for a recipe for eggless muffins to go with some Tomato Lentil soup I was going to make for dinner.

I found this recipe and tried it out. It was really pretty good, given there's no eggs, no butter. It's definitely a vegan recipe. This seems like a good food storage type recipe, ya know?

And here's the Tomato-Vegetable Lentil Soup (adapted from Ken Haedrich's Soup Makes the Meal).
4 TBS olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, diced fine
1 green bell pepper, diced
salt to taste
10 cups broth---veg, chicken, beef--you decide ;)
1 1/2 cups dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 large carrots, diced fine
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
black pepper to taste
28 oz can crushed tomatoes (or petite-diced), undrained
2 potatoes, peeled and diced

Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper. Lightly salt. Cover tightly and sweat over med. low heat until veggies are soft, about 9 minutes.

Add the stock, lentils, carrot, bay leaves and other herbs and season with pepper. Bring to a boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the potato and simmer 10-15 minutes more. Add the tomatoes; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, another 10 minutes. Correct seasonings as needed. This makes 10-12 servings.

For the pathetic people who think they need flesh, I gave them a few bacon bits. I tell them when they eat those things they smell like doggy treats, but they don't care. They just feel the love that I even allowed anything piggy in my house.

Some ideas

2008-10-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Things are going well at our house. I'm successfully having meatless dinners about 4 or 5 times a week. DH has noticed, but I don't think the kids have. And, as an unexpected bonus, I've lost about 3 pounds in the last two weeks. Not sure if it's the meatless meals or the bronchitis that I've been battling, but in any case I'll take it. ;o)

Here are some things we've eaten lately, in case you are in need of some ideas.

Salad and veggie soup

Black Bean soup (mine was similar to this, but without the rice) and cornbread muffins

Burritos/tacos with refried beans

Black bean quesadillas served with chips and salsa and sour cream

Broccolli Gratin (recipe here)

Brie sandwiches on baguette with lots of veggies (tomatoes, spinach, cukes, sprouts)

Tortellini soup

Spinach Quiche

Families are Forever, but beans are not.

2008-10-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Another reason I got interested in vegetarian cooking is its relation to food storage. You can't dry-pack meat. And I found, once I was baking with whole grains, that I was halfway completing a protein vegetarian-style anyway.

The other half would be a vegetable, or beans. Beans were what I had in storage. There was a time during my husband starting his business, that I was cooking from my food storage more than adding to it.

And that's when I found out beans aren't forever. I had bought black beans--my favorite--at the grocery store, in those one-pound packages, before we'd moved to that house. But in my years of extravagant living in that house, I'd been using pre-cooked beans from a can. The dried beans I'd had at least two years, but certainly less than five. I soaked them overnight, cooked them the next day, and those dried beans didn't soften a bit. I think I ended up raiding my limited supply of canned soup for dinner that night. Don't like the kids to go hungry, you know.

Next I experimented. Soaked for 24 hours. Started cooking them early in the morning. They simmered until I went to bed, still hard as rocks. Marbles. Diamonds. I gave up.

It's not like I didn't know how to cook beans. I didn't put salt in the water or anything like that. Before children when I had been actually vegetarian, I had been soaking and cooking a pot of beans successfully every week.

I threw the rest out and got new dried beans. The new beans cooked fine.

Rotate your beans, people. They're great in food storage, eat them a couple times a month. Make bean-bags, toy dolls, or art projects out of the old beans if you can't throw them out. If you have a lot of old beans, I suppose they might make good ground cover for a garden path.

Just don't try and eat them.

Can I get a witness? Miss Vickie agrees with me.

Habits to break

2008-10-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

"I am SO tempted to eat one of those sausages. If I ever quit being a vegetarian, that is the first thing I'm going to eat." and she has said that about something before--but was it about Kielbasa? Honestly, I don't have much brain space for keeping track of what anyone's theoretically likes anymore. I'm just glad dinner will finally start, once my son finishes washing his hands.

"Have some if you like," I say. "You could eat meat again, or if you just have some today. Doesn't matter."

We eat in the kitchen, and my son is washing his hands at the sink, so everyone hears this. He's close enough to done that we're waiting for him before we start eating. He loves to give this vegetarian sister a hard time. Every other week he'll try and sneak meat onto her plate, or wave his meat-laden fork in her face, or tell her how delicious it is. I suspect mostly he's dumbfounded by her, since he would eat only meat and bread if I'd let him. Heck, he may think she's the reason vegetables are served, the way I have a side of something in every meal for him.

They smell SO good... and then she pops one of those sausages into her mouth.

Immediately, the other children begin crying foul. "Not enough sausages to go around," they claim. "Don't waste the sausage on the vegetarian. She has her own food!" Though when I produce the heart-shaped poached eggs, the first grade princess immediately asks for one. Then I start counting out the kielbasa slices among the family members.

"Do you want more?" I ask my vegetarian daughter.

"Nah. I just wanted the one."

And so we settle as usual to dinner. A little what-did-you-do-today, a little hey-she-poked-me, and all that good family stuff.

I believe this is the first time the vegetarian has eaten meat in four years, and I am curious about the coming months. Not so much if the vegetarian will eat meat again, but if her break has broken her brother's hang-up with her diet.

Because family dinner is an ongoing dynamic, no matter what you eat.

This week in Split Meals

2008-10-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Monday:
Stuffing (actually, I guess it's called dressing when it's cooked in a dish?)
(apples, onion, celery, raisins, torn bread, vegetarian boullion from Knorr cube. This is my one make-an-effort dish this week.)
--thanks kits54 for suggesting the Knorr.
Top with Poached egg for vegetarian tonight; with Kielbasa, top or to the side, if you're not.
Green Salad

Strange Dessert: Twinkie-Hot Dog, as seen in Weird Al's UHF movie.
Twinkie without hotdog for the vegetarian and the sane.

Tuesday:
Refried Beans, Queso Fresca
Spanish Rice
Green-sauce corn tortilla Enchilada, (some with cooked ground turkey, some without.)
Green Salad

Wednesday:
Sloppy Joe, or
fried egg sandwich on bun, topped with sloppy joe sauce.
fruit

Thursday:
something with yams and leftovers.

Friday:
Pizza. It's always Pizza on Friday.
usually with apples or green salad or both.

My Addiction

2008-10-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

I've already announced that I am not a full-time vegetarian (and I wasn't kicked out of the sandbox!) Time for another confession: I'm an addict.

I'm addicted to cookbooks. All kinds. I love the Cooking Light series and have ever year's edition from 1998 to the present. Joy of Cooking. America's Kitchen Best New Recipes. I have ward cookbooks. A family cookbook made by my recently deceased grandma. Everywhere we travel, my kids pick up tshirts for their souvenirs....and I grab a local cookbook (my faves are a New England cookbook I picked up while in Boston, a Shaker cookbook from Cleveland, and a Hawaiian cookbook that has the recipe for Leonard's Bakery malasadas and recipes from locals. Mmmm.)

Then there is my collection of vegetarian cookbooks. The only ones I pick up again and again are the Moosewood Restaurant series. The ones I have are Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites, Moosewood Simple Suppers, Moosewood Daily Special (soups/stews, salads, and breads), and Sundays at Moosewood ( a collection of ethnic dishes that the restaurant serves only on Sundays).

I have so many cookbooks that I am looking for a bookcase big enough to display them all in my kitchen. Mr. Wonderful suggested that I don't buy any more books. Especially since my time for cooking has fallen drastically since I went back to University. (Psst...don't tell him that one is on its way from Barnes & Noble.)

I was given a GC from B&N for my birthday last week, so technically I did not spend any money. I diligently tried to find something I wanted. I have no time to read novels. None of the music or movies interested me. However, there was a cookbook I've wanted for a while - Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. I can't wait for this one to come. The best part about Moosewood recipes is that they family friendly. I've discovered that my Firstborn and Secondborn do not complain nearly as much if I make a veggie recipe from one of my MW collection.

Google Moosewood Restaurant and check out their website, particularly their restaurant menu which changes daily. That is one of my best sources of inspiration when I am wondering what to make for dinner that night. They also have a recipe section. Or head to your local library and see what cookbooks they have on their shelves.

What cookbooks are on your book shelves?

Cornmeal and Rye Waffles

2008-10-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Cornmeal and Rye Waffles
Adapted from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking
Kid Friendly, Freezer Friendly Servings: 16

My notes: You can sub regular milk with a tablespoon of vinegar if you do not have buttermilk. Sub any canola, vegetable or olive oil if you do not have butter. Freeze leftovers to pop in the toaster for quick breakfasts. For Dinner waffles: Cut the sugar by half, leave out the vanilla and maple, and add 1 teaspoon of cumin or chili powder. Top waffle with vegetarian chili, fresh tomatoes, cilantro and cheese for a fun dinner.

3 Cups buttermilk
2 whole eggs
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Cups yellow cornmeal
1 Cup rye flour
1/4 Cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract

1. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Then quickly and gently combine the wet and dry ingredients. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes to soften the cornmeal. The batter will be thicker when you are ready to use it.

2. Preheat your waffle iron (spray with cooking spray before preheating). Drop batter onto iron by 1/3 cupfuls and bake 3-5 minutes. These waffles are best with a crispy brown exterior.

We like to serve these with butter, bananas and honey for breakfast.

What is brown and sticky?

2008-10-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

A brown stick.

Hey Y'all. I'm kind of late to this here party, but I've been thinking on this whole veggie way of life for some time now and now I'm ready to ~~bore~~ delight you with my opinion.

I have been considering this lifestyle change for a long time. I have 3 kids. I'm 33, and I feel like I am reaping many of the benefits of my parent's healthy choices when I was a child. I have a lot of friends my age, which is pretty young, if I say so myself---who are struggling with a lot of health problems already. Who's to say what is causing them, but I can't help but think the Standard American Fare is a large contributor. My parents were about 98% vegetarian. Kind of how we plan to be. I am not going to decline meat if served it when I'm a guest. We plan to use fish regularly, and if I/We ever get an intense craving, we've decided we'll go for it. I'm hoping to use the W of W more as a guide than say...uh....Peta. This mostly Vegetarian is in complete accordance with my standard approach to life. Half-arsed.

So, here are a few things that have factored into my decision.
1. The above comment about reaping the benefits of my parent's healthy lifestyle. I want to give my children that same gift. McD's ≠ Gift of Life.

2. My young, 46 year old brother, who's youngest child is 7, was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. After removing part of his colon, more was found in his lymph nodes. My mother and great aunt both had colon cancer. Clearly, this problem is hereditary. I feel quite strongly that it is very important that I do my part, inasmuch as possible, to not give cancer a welcoming place to stay in my colon. Or my children's.

3. The W of W says NOTHING about caffeine, specifically. And yet, there are Mo's who will not touch the vile devil juice, or come within a yard of it. However, the W o W very specifically states the importance of eating meat sparingly. And yet---our culture has managed to make meat the center of every meal of the day. Those darn little mini weenies soaked in bbq sauce are so irresistible. Believe me, I get it. I find it ironic that most of us (myself not excluded) have conveniently disregarded this part of the wise counsel we've received, while others have kind of made up a part, that even nonmo people think is fact.

4. At the risk of sounding like a molly....the other night, I was driving home and heard a commercial for "a preventative medicine for cancer". I thought it was for that stupid, I-have-way-too-many-emotions-wrapped-up-in-this-topic vaccine that rhymes with Tardapill (if you approve of this vaccine, I mean no disrespect and more power to you. It infuriates me that it is touted as a "cure for cancer"--that is wrong and also neither here no there. Sorry.) And I almost changed the channel. Then they said, "And you don't even need a prescription, it's over the counter." Of course that caught my attention and I listened on. It was promoting a vegetarian lifestyle. NOT just fresh fruits and veggies, which it did do, and we've heard before---but an actual vegetarian lifestyle. Am I just waking up or something? Has anyone else ever heard something like that on public radio or tv? I haven't. I thought it was cool. The conclusion I came to is, this is how God talks to me. I start getting it from every angle. Even when I'm simply minding my own business, belting out with Jon Bon Jovi Living On A Prayer.

5. It's disgusting how meat is....uh...made? Produced? Grown? Whatever. You know what I mean.

6. I'm fat and this is my last ditch effort to change that.

Okay, to be fair, 5 and 6 kind of came after the decision had been made. I have learned more about meat since opting to give it up. And it has definitely solidified my decision.

So, thanks for starting this Millie. And thanks for the great recipes. We tried a new dish last night that we loved. I didn't make my kids eat it though, so I can't tout it as a wonderful family recipe.

Yet.

I'll post a couple that we love in a couple of days.

The End.

Recipe: Black Bean Hummus

2008-10-02T07:42:00.001-07:00

Good with veggies and pita chips or as a sandwich spread. From my fellow Cookie Emily:

Black Bean Hummus
Source: Emily’s Kitchen
Servings: 8 (about a ¼ cup each)

Notes: I used the juice of ½ of a lemon, but I think it needs a little more lemon juice. Next time, I plan to use the juice of a whole lemon. I served this with baked tortilla chips and raw veggies.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large garlic clove
2 to 3 T fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
2 T olive oil
3 T tahini (sesame paste)
½ t cumin
½ to 1 t salt

Drain beans and puree along with the garlic in a food processor or blender. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, cumin, and salt. Blend until smooth.

Meatless Monday Recipe: Hoppin' John

2008-09-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

I know somebody has to be wondering how on earth to make Hoppin' John without ham hocks. Here you go. Remember to play blues music or southern church choir music. Practice your southern accents. Look up the southern states on a map and talk about the missionaries there.

2 pkgs frozen black eyed peas or 4 Cups cooked black eyed peas (soaked dried b.e.p. overnight, simmer in the morning for a few hours until tender. Proceed with recipe. I avoid canned b.e.p. just because of the salt content)
3 Cups veggie broth (can use water)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
pinch cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper to taste
hot cooked rice (I use brown)

Toppings: chopped tomato
chopped green onions
shredded cheese

Cook black eyed peas in water until tender (15-20minutes) Do not add salt yet as it makes beans tough. Skip this cooking step if you cooked dried peas already. Drain and reserve the liquid

Saute onions, garlic, and celery in olive oil and butter until slightly caramelized (10-15 minutes). Add spices. Stir this mixture into the peas with enough liquid so it can simmer. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring every so often. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve peas over rice and let everyone pick their own toppings. Pass Tabasco around for those who want it spicy. Serve with corn bread and collard greens.

Collard Greens:

1 bunch of fresh green like collard, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens.

Rinse the greens well. Cut out the tough center rib of each leaf. Roll the leaves up and start slicing so the greens look like ribbons. Stick in a large pot and cover with water and a little salt. Bring to boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook anywhere from 10 30 minutes until the greens are tender (I prefer mine less tender than really tender. Its a personal preference.

Drain the greens and reserve the liquid for broth for another use. To be really southern, sprinkle you greens with vinegar and a but of Tabasco or hot sauce.

This Week's Menu at Scarehaircare

2008-09-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Ooh! Good idea. I will spare you the non-veggie days, here is the rest of the menu:

Meatless Monday: Hoppin' John over rice, collard greens, cornbread with honey butter
Family Night Treat: Peach Cobbler and vanilla ice cream

Wednesday: Spaghetti with homemade Mushroom Marinara , green salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and feta, crusty bread

Friday: make-your-own-pizzas. Magherita pizza for me (I might throw on some eggplant, too.)

This Week's Menu--for Heather

2008-09-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Just to show how flexible we are around here (the blog), I thought I'd show what is on the menu at my house this week.
Heather--I saw your comment on the previous post--you can definitely play here!

Monday: Veggie Calzones (I may throw some turkey pepperoni into a couple for the carnivores-maybe not)
Tuesday--canned soup (I work on Tuesday and heating up soup is about all my husband can do with consistent successful results--last week he made gardenburgers and used every skillet I own)
Wednesday--Indian Cashew Chicken--from this month's Cooking Light
Thursday--(the other day I work--so leftovers from Wednesday)
Friday--Black Bean Burgers
Saturday--Pumpkin Waffles and scrambled eggs
Sunday--Cheesy Potato and Cauliflower chowder

Anyone want to share their menu for the week?

Some things to try...

2008-09-26T16:56:00.001-07:00

I have been perusing around doing my usual blog reading today and came across this recipe for vegetarian eggplant meatballs. The comments from people that tried it said some of their kids were unaware that it was even meatless, so I thought I would pass it along, but didn't want to infringe on any copyright things, so there is the link instead.
Also, a favorite recipe of ours here that is REALLY easy and vegetarian is Crash Hot Potatoes. I saw in on Pioneer Woman cooks and we all love it. Again with the link.

Gardenburgers

2008-09-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not big into "fake meat" but I have always loved Gardenburgers. My grocery stopped stocking them, so I'm going to have to look for another place to shop. I have tried making them in the past, and been not incredibly impressed with the results. Last week I wanted to try again.

I found this recipe and they turned out wonderful! They tasted really close to the original. I made a couple of changes to the recipe. I left out the cottage cheese because we didn't have any. I also decreased the amount of mushrooms and added some black beans to make up for it. I doubled the recipe and made 10 patties. Yum.

Keep the recipes coming!

Keep Your Breasts out of My Phish Food

2008-09-25T17:15:00.001-07:00

Members of PETA: Certifiably Insane? You be the judge.

"PETA wrote a letter to [Ben & Jerry's] company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday, telling them cow's milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel."

As opposed to NOT milking them? Has anyone else had mastitis? :)

Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables

2008-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

8 oz thin fresh asparagus spears
8 oz baby portobello or medium white button mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, snipped
8 oz (or 3 cups) uncooked rigatoni pasta
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Cut all the veggies into bite size pieces (discarding ends of asparagus). Combine all in a bowl and mix with olive oil and mix lightly. Add pressed garlic, salt and pepper and mix well. Pour veggie mixture into a shallow baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 425.

Prepare Pasta according to package and in a separate saucepan simmer whipping cream 6-8 minutes over medium-low heat to thicken slightly, stirring constantly.

Drain pasta and combine with veggies, snipped basil and heated cream. Stir in the Parmesan Cheese.

Serves 4

Elizabeth's conversion, apostacy, and attempts to come back to the fold

2008-09-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, enough with the religious metaphors.

I grew up in Texas and New Mexico--meat country! We were meat eaters--at least the rest of my family liked meaty things--ham, bacon, sausage, hamburgers, and such. My parents were/are both educators so we didn't have lots of money growing up, and my mom didn't buy lots of fancy stuff. We ate, in my memory at least, the same 5 or 6 meals for dinner.

I never liked anything porcine, and abhorred steak. I didn't do much cooking as a teenager. I don't recollect ever really touching meat. When I went to BYU, I don't know what I ate the first few months. I know I had never heard of scrod before the Y--and never since, come to think of it. I had a lot of intestinal distress that first semester. Looking back on it now, it was probably more nerves than anything. Sometime during that first semester I met a girl who was from the Bay area and she was a vegetarian, and had been for several years.

I don't think it had ever occurred to me to not eat meat, but when the concept was presented, it just made good sense religiously, economically, environmentally, and physically; and from that time, until I was 31, I was a vegetarian (ovo-lacto--I tried vegan for about a year, but it was too hard). I had a boyfriend who was Indian, and a devout/orthodox vegetarian, so that worked out well. We were together for about 4 years so I learned to cook a lot of vegetarian food. I was completely happy in my vegetarian life. There used to be a place in Provo called Govinda's and I ate there weekly. And Bombay House, too. I miss those days. :)

Every now and then, very, very rarely, I'd get a craving for meat, and I'd skulk myself to a good burger joint and get something to go, and eat flesh on some back road where I hopefully wouldn't be 'caught'. I met my husband as a veg and he married me as a veg. He'd dated other social work hippie types so he was used to vegetarians, and Portland is chock full of them.

When I was 31 we got pregnant. It hadn't occurred to me to not continue vegetarianism. But then I started reading all those What to Expect/What to Eat books and I got nervous. I worried I would be hurting our baby by not getting enough protein.

So, I bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I honestly had never bought raw flesh before this. I read in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook what to do. But I was so worried that I would under-cook them and get some dread disease, that basically I made chicken jerky. It was soo dry. I laugh thinking about it because I'm still pretty neurotic. Whenever I eat really juicy chicken and think it is so much better than my typical results....it's sad, really--I get scared I'm going to be salmonella-ized. I've never cooked a roast. I have bought one whole chicken in my life--it's probably cheaper to go that route than buying boneless/skinless.

Ever since, we eat meat a few times a week. A 2.5-3 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts lasts easily a week. Tonight I made spaghetti sauce with turkey sausage. My husband is just happy I feed him so he doesn't fuss about meat or no meat. But he prefers to have meat than go back to vegetarian all the time. My older daughter acts like I'm depriving her if there isn't meat in dinner, but my 5 year old prefers the vegetarian stuff. I don't ever buy anything made from pigs. If I had money I'd go back to organic dairy/eggs/flesh.

I'd like my goal to be making my meat go even further. I think that would be more harmony-inducing than going 100% meat-free. I could just go back to not eating meat myself, but that is a pain. But, as I'm thinking aloud (so to speak), I could just not eat the meat in the dish, giving it to the carnivores... which could make the meat go a little further?? Hmmm.....

Right now, my goal is also to try to lower my grocery bill by about $10 a week.

So, that's me, and how I'm connected to the blog.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2008-09-24T12:47:00.001-07:00

In prep for Pizza Friday (or whatever day you make pizza at your house), here is my fave quick pizza dough and topping ideas.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(from Eatingwell.com. This is a great resource site so check it out. I love the magazine!)
Makes Makes 1-12 ounce or 1 pound dough
Ingredients
To make 12 ounces dough:

¾ cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
½-⅔ cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.

2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.

3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough Tips
Store in a plastic bag coated with cooking spray in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Per 12 ounces: 766 calories; 12 g fat (2 g sat, 8 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 142 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 16 g fiber; 1,882 mg sodium.Per 1 pound: 1,032 calories; 18 g fat (3 g sat, 12 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 189 g carbohydrate; 33 g protein; 21 g fiber; 2,509 mg sodium.
Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough Nutrition Information Cont.

Toppings ideas from Scarehaircare:

White pizza: olive oil, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and broccoli (yes, broccoli. Mmmmmm!)

Veggie pizza: light Alfredo sauce (make your own). Artichoke hearts, red onion, zucchini, roasted red peppers, mushrooms

Taco pizza: salsa mixed with sour cream, pinto or black beans, diced tomatoes, green peppers,pepper jack cheese

BBQ pizza: bbq sauce, red onion, cilantro, pinto beans, zucchini, fresh tomato slices, corn, cheddar/mozz mix

Minestrone Soup

2008-09-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have only ever had canned minestrone, and then only a few times, but my husband loves it so I decided to try my hand at making up my own recipe for it. This is what we are having for dinner tonight. It turned out great (I think, as well as my son #1 who is my picky, non veggie eating son), and has lots of veggies in it. I hope you'll try it out and let me know what you think.

½ Cup Butter (or Olive Oil if you live healthier than I do)
½ to 1 tsp dried basil (more or less to your tastes) Fresh would work also
½ to 1 tsp Italian seasoning (more or less to your tastes)
1 med to large onion
2 stalks celery
2 medium sized carrots
One small zucchini (like you get at the grocery store)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 can of diced Italian style tomatoes (do NOT drain it)
Four cups diced potatoes
6 to 8 cups of broth (I used chicken, but veggie broth would be lovely)
1 15oz can green beans (drained)
1 15oz can peas (drained)
1 15oz can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 15oz can Great Northern beans (or other similar bean of your choice, drained and rinsed)
1 to 1 ½ cups of small macaroni shells
1 6oz can of tomato paste

In a large stock or soup pot heat butter or olive oil. Chop the onion, carrots and celery finely and add it to the pot, along with the spices and sauté until the onions begin to become translucent. Add the minced garlic and sauté a little longer. Add the can of tomatoes (including the juices) and the zucchini and stir. Let simmer over medium heat while you dice the potatoes (I peeled them, but you could leave the peels on). Add the potatoes to the pot and then 6 cups of the broth. Cook, stirring occasionally over medium to medium high heat for about 5 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften but are not fully cooked. Add the cans of drained green beans, peas, kidney and great northern beans. If you think you will need more broth for cooking the macaroni noodles, now is the time to add it (I used 8 cups total when I did this, but if you use fewer or smaller veggies it may not need that much) Bring the soup to a boil and add the macaroni shells, stirring. Reduce the heat to just over medium and stir in the can of tomato paste. Cook until the macaroni noodles are soft, making sure that the potatoes are also cooked through. Enjoy!
You can serve this soup with a little Parmesan or Romano cheese grated on top. This makes a huge pot of soup. It will feed my family of 7 not including the baby at least twice. You could cut the recipe in half, but you would have to use only half a can of the veggies and beans, or just use one kind of each. Of course you can use different kinds of veggies or leave out those that you don’t like. I chopped up the celery, carrots and zucchini with a food processor so that they were fairly fine, and my pickiest eater (who hates most veggies) loved the soup.

Veggie Casserole

2008-09-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

My zucchini haters will eat this and like the dish. It's a good mix of veggies.

Veggie Casserole

5 C Zucchini, leave skin on and grate
1/2 Diced onion
1 C shredded carrots
2 cans of cream soup (mushroom, chicken, broccoli, or celery)
1/2 C milk
2 C cooked rice
1 C shredded cheese

Cook zucchini, onion, and carrots in water until crisp tender (3-5 minutes). Combine soups, milk and stir in vegetables and rice. Put in casserole dish and top with cheese. Back at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

What type of vegetarian are you?

2008-09-21T08:10:00.001-07:00

These definitions come from about.com.

1. Pescatarian - The word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet.

2. Flexitarian/semi-vegitarian - You don’t have to be vegetarian to love vegetarian food! “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.

3. Vegetarian (lacto-ovo vegetarian) - When most people think of vegetarians, they think of lacto-ovo-vegetarians. People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products are lacto-ovo vegetarians (“lacto” comes from the Latin for milk, and “ovo” for egg).
Lacto-vegetarian - is used to describe a vegetarian who does not eat eggs, but does eat dairy products.
Ovo-vegetarian - refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

4. Vegan - Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin. Many vegans also refrain from eating foods that are made using animal products that may not contain animal products in the finished process, such as sugar and some wines. There is some debate as to whether certain foods, such as honey, fit into a vegan diet.

5. Raw Vegan/raw food diet - A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). “Raw foodists” believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost a significant amount of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body.

6. Macrobiotic - The macrobiotic diet, revered by some for its healthy and healing qualities, includes unprocessed vegan foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and allows the occasional consumption of fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided. Perhaps the most unique qualifier of the macrobiotic diet is its emphasis on the consumption of Asian vegetables, such as daikon, and sea vegetables, such as seaweed.

Huh. I'm a Flexitarian. Well, if you want to get all techie about it, I am a
Primarily-Localvore(ish)-Flexitarian/Pescitarian.

How We Change

2008-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

People who read my blog know that Saturday is most likely going to have a Psychiatric Saturday post.

I decided to post the topic here today instead, because I think it fits nicely with what some folks are trying to do.

"The Stages of Change Model was originally developed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island when they were studying how smokers were able to give up their habits or addiction. The SCM model has been applied to a broad range of behaviors including weight loss, injury prevention, overcoming alcohol, and drug problems among others. The idea behind the SCM is that behavior change does not happen in one step. Rather, people tend to progress through different stages on their way to successful change. Also, each of us progresses through the stages at our own rate." Follow this link to find out about all the stages, and then come back to the rest of the post.

I use these stages with people all the time because the concept is just so simple to understand, and helps explain why we have difficulty making changes. If a person came across this blog, and the immediate thought was "Not eat meat?! Are you nuts??!", that person probably would be in precontemplation. But, if they were a friend of Millie's and thought it sounded interesting, they'd be in contemplation. Perhaps you had really high cholesterol, and your doctor told you to make some dietary changes or you'll likely have a heart attack in the next year, that might move you from precontemplation up to preparation or action. As Millie (just as an example) looks through her pantry and decides this may be too hard, too demanding of her time, the benefits don't seem high enough, etc., maintenance wavers and she might slip/fall off the veg-wagon/relapse! But, the good news is that we just re-enter the cycle, and get back on track to maintenance.

The average number of times it takes a smoker to give up cigarettes for good is about 7 serious attempts. I have fallen off the exercise wagon 70 times 7, I swear. I wonder if most people considering vegetarianism, in whatever form, tend to decide they're done, and then never look back.

Protein: Shopping in your kitchen

2008-09-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Before I decided to become a vegetarian, getting enough protein was a major concern. I've done Weight Watchers' Points plan before and since I didn't eat enough lean meat, and couldn't eat half the foods I normally did, the new diet would give me headaches. It felt like a pair of big ice tongs were squeezing the sides of my head. Sure, I lost some weight, but I was miserable. Which is better, skinny or happy?

Only after I found out how much protein I actually needed, and that I could get enough without eating meat, did I decide going veggie was a possibility for me. Those links on the sidebar about protein - they're all mine. I wanted them close by for future reference.

Since I'm between the ages of nineteen and forty-nine, I need 45 grams of protein a day. The challenge now is eating enough protein-rich foods to meet that requirement. I decided to look around my kitchen and see how much protein I had hanging around.

First the cereals: I have five kinds. Here's the amount of protein for each.

Kellogg's Corn Flakes = 2 grams per 1 cup serving
Total Whole Grain = 2 grams per 3/4 cup serving
Rice Chex = 2 grams per 1 cup serving
Kellogg's Raisin Bran = 5 grams per 1 cup serving
Post Grape-Nuts = 6 grams per 1/2 cup serving

I was happy to see that Grape-Nuts, a.k.a. Colon Blow or "Avoid the middle man and just pour it in the toilet," did so well for protein and fiber (7 grams). I do put sugar on it, but I figure it's better to eat it with some sugar than not eat it at all.

In the freezer I found, along with all the frozen meat I'll have to figure out what to do with, a bag of shelled walnuts and some single-serving bags of sweet peas. Here's the breakdown for those:

Diamond Shelled Walnuts = 5 grams per 1/4 cup serving
Birds Eye Steamfresh Singles - Sweet Peas: 5 grams per bag

That's pretty good. Buy more peas. Nuts are a little fatty (20 grams), but it's good fat, right? We're supposed to have more good fat than bad fat, aren't we?

I also found some Umpqua vanilla ice cream in there but sadly, the package had been manhandled to the point that the protein gram statistics were no longer visible. It's probably just as well.

Moving on to the refrigerator:

Small curd lowfat cottage cheese (2% milkfat): 14 grams per 1/2 cup. YOW!
Whole dill pickles: NO protein. But at least they're also fat, sugar, carb and calorie free. What are they good for? Putting on your peanut butter sandwiches. You heard it here, girls.
Applesauce: No protein.
Gold-n-Soft spread: No protein there either.
1% lowfat milk: 11 grams per 1 cup
Large eggs: 6 grams per egg, but they provide 71% of your daily cholesterol limit, so I'll probably eat one a day, if that.

Looks like we're sticking with dairy. Now that I've gone veggie, I find myself craving lots of milk.

This post is long enough (some might say "too long") so we'll save my cupboards for another time.

Thanks for humoring me during my protein search. Happy Eating!

French Pasta Salad

2008-09-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

I originally posted this on my blog this past summer. I'm pulling it out again because it truly was great for packable lunches.

Adapted from Moosewood Daily Special cookbook
Serves: 10

My notes: Moosewood is notorious for big servings so I increased the overall servings(original cal/serving was 509) You still get a good size serving. Note that I used the high fiber pasta. The original recipe called for toasted hazelnuts which I omitted after deciding that it didn’t need it. (Don't get me wrong, they would taste great, but I was trying to lighten the recipe.) The red peppers are roasted in the original recipe but I like the crunch of the fresh. I also added the tomatoes and mushrooms. This would be a great “toss in the entire garden” recipe. Great reviews from family and my running trainer. Wonderful main dish for those nights it is too hot to cook too much. Leftovers pack well for lunch.

14 ounces Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate (1 box)
3 Cups green beans, stemmed and cut crosswise
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
1 Tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 large shallot, minced
1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 large red pepper, julienned
1/4 Cup italian parsley, chopped
8 ounces button mushroom, quartered
1 Cup cherry tomato, halved
1 Tablespoon capers, drained
1/2 Cup chevre cheese

Cook pasta according to directions. Add green beans during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water to cool immediately. Drain again.Whisk together oil, vinegar, tarragon, basil, shallot, Dijon, salt and pepper.Toss pasta and beans with dijon vinaigrette and the rest of the veggies. Serve at room temp or slightly chilled.Cal: 216; Fat: 8g; Fiber: 6g; Protein: 7g; Sodium: 270 mg; Calcium: 231 mg; Carb: 36 g

Broccoli Stuffed Shells

2008-09-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe in an email from Flylady today. I am not good at keeping up with Flylady at all. I generally delete, delete, delete the emails. I chanced to actually read this one that has a week's worth of dinner recipes and saw that there was a vegetarian recipe. So I thought I would post it here. It looks good to me!

Broccoli Stuffed Shells
Serves 6

24 Jumbo Shells -- uncooked
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli -- thawed
1 cup part-skim Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon onion, chopped fine
1 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper -- to taste

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain. Combine
broccoli, Ricotta cheese, Swiss cheese, onion, oregano, basil, salt
and pepper. Stir together until well blended. Pour about 1 cup
spaghetti sauce over bottom of 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Spoon 1
round tablespoon of cheese mixture into each shell and place open-side
up in an even layer in the pan. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over
and around shells. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 375 for about 25
minutes until heated through, and serve.

Hummus = Yummus

2008-09-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

However, I was disappointed to find that while chickpeas = protein, the commercially-prepared hummus I bought at WinCo today had only one freaking gram of it. To the Protein Queen, this was quite distressing. I might as well have bought a Snickers bar to snack on.

Maybe it's all the other stuff in the hummus - high fructose corn syrup is always high on my list of "yeah, gimme some more of that" ingredients - but I was really hoping that the hummus would have more protein in it than the pita chips I bought to eat it with. Heck, I've got cereal made with refined white flour here that has more protein than this hummus, which I think was made with actual chickpeas.

Hopefully, we're checking labels and making sure we know what we're buying before we bring it home. I'm sure this is obvious to everyone else, and personally I've checked more labels just in the last week than I probably have my entire adult life, but I trusted this hummus. As a new vegetarian, I put my heart in its little hands, and look what happened.

My dear friend Elasticwaistband Lady tried her hand at making homemade hummus not too long ago. Her experience is linked-to in our "Recipes" portion of the sidebar.