Winter Chilis

Last Sunday I made some awesome veggie chili from scratch, dried beans and all. Today I made some veggie white chili. They are not super unique recipes but I am going to post them here for future reference. Amounts are approximate since I tend to just add things as I see fit. The first recipe was adapted from this one and the second was much more free form.

Veggie Chili
1/2 cup TVP (soaked and drained, optional)
1/2 cup of frozen diced onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup dried red kidney beans (soaked overnight)
1 cup dried navy beans (soaked overnight)
1 can petite diced tomatoes with juice
1 can diced tomatoes with chilis with juice
1 orange bell pepper, diced
about 6 baby carrots, diced
1/2 cup or so cauliflower florets
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a squeeze of honey
salt and pepper to taste
a little olive oil
1 cup water or broth (or more if needed)

Saute onion, garlic and tvp in olive oil until browned. Stir in all seasonings. Stir in everything else except tomatoes. Simmer stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until beans are soft. Add tomatoes and simmer another 20 minutes or so. Add extra seasonings if needed. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream.
Note: adding the tomatoes later allows the beans to soften faster.

White Veggie Chili
1 cup dried navy beans (soaked overnight)
1 1/2 cups or so frozen sweet corn (from grandma's farm preferably)
2 frozen roasted hot peppers from my garden (or canned chilis will work too)
1 cup leftover brown and wild rice
1/2 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup frozen diced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 cups or so broth
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
juice from one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
a little plain yogurt or sour cream

For this one I just put everything into my crockpot and turned it on high for 4-5 hours. Add the yogurt or sour cream at the end. Cheese might be nice too.

Minimalist Cooking eBook

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember that I used to post recipes occasionally. My Mother-in-Law recently released an e-cookbook for the minimalist cook that I love and I think almost anyone would benefit from reading.
If you like to keep cooking simple but still eat tasty, nutritious food check it out: Minimalist Cooking - 27 Practical Recipes
For under $5.00 you'll get a collection of healthy and easy to prepare recipes including bread, veggies, meat, pasta, salads, and desserts. Some of my favorites are the Roasted Root Veggies, Roast Beef, Veggie Lasagna, Chicken Pecan Salad, Apple Crisp and Frozen Yogurt...

If you'd like to spend less time preparing food and more time enjoying a meal with your family, this is the perfect cookbook for you! And if you want to check out some of her recipes for free you can find a few at MinimalistCook.com

yummy winter food!

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe here but these were so good I felt I needed to share. The first is a Moroccan Lentil Stew adapted from this recipe. The second is the veggie dish I made for Thanksgiving. Both are vegan (if you use olive oil instead of butter for the latter) crockpot recipes. Great for winter!

Moroccan Lentil Stew

-3/4 cup dried lentils
-1/2 can garbanzo beans
-2 sweet potatoes chopped into 2 inch chunks
-an equal amount of another veggie (I used broccoli but zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, etc. would be good too)
-3 1/4 cups water
-1 veggie bouillon cube
-1 t cumin
-1 t ginger
-1 t salt
-1 t pepper
-1/2 t cinnamon
-1/2 t coriander
-1/2 t allspice
-1/4 t cloves


Chop up all of your vegetables and add them to the crockpot. Drain and rinse off the beans, add to the pot. Add the dried lentils and the dried spices. Stir in the water and bouillon (or use broth instead). Lentils will be softer if you add any tomatoes and salt at the very end.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Soup tastes best the longer you cook it, and it is even better the next day.



Roasted Root Veggies

-1 rutabaga
-1 bag of whole carrots
-2 parsnips
-1 bunch of chopped fresh parsley
-4 Tbsp butter (I didn't measure so I'm guessing at this amount)
-1/4 chopped white onion
-2 or 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
-salt and pepper to taste


Peel all of your vegetables, and cut into 2-inch chunks. Saute onion and garlic in the butter on the stove until they are soft. Pour over veggies and parsley in a big bowl and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour it all into crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

cooking with tofu

On a whim, I picked up some tofu at the grocery store the other day. We're not exactly vegetarians over here but we definitely enjoy lots of veg. cuisine. Plus, I don't love dealing with raw meat. So anyway, I found this recipe over at Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit (originally from 101cookbooks) and, because I also just happened to have Brussels sprouts in the fridge, decided to try it out. It was delicious! My first successful attempt at cooking with tofu... and Nick LOVED it, too. Besides the chopping it was really quick and easy so I may just have to make it again. So here it is: Caramelized Tofu and Brussels Sprouts (served with leftover cilantro lime basmati rice)




And here's Meiby helping in the kitchen again. She looks pissed but really she was just mid-blink:


She's been doing much better the last few days. The vet says to give it a little time and if she continues to have problems we can switch her to a very bland or prescription food. For now we're back to a normal twice a day feeding schedule with half rice/cottage cheese and half high-quality kibble. We had been feeding her just rice/cheese 4 times a day and I think that was overkill. So, we'll see how this goes...

more summer cooking

Last night I was staring at some quite brown bananas wondering what to do with them. I didn't feel like making banana bread again, I certainly wasn't going to eat them and I didn't want to just throw them out. I found a box of Jiffy fudge brownie mix and made banana brownies! I just replaced the called for egg and oil with 2 mashed bananas (which just so happens to make them vegan as well). They are very fudgy and tasty!

1 box Jiffy fudge brownie mix
2 over-ripe bananas
1 tbsp water
chopped walnuts optional

mix, pour into lightly greased pan and bake at 350 for 30 min.


While searching for a recipe I came across one for pesto that I'd been saving. Ever since I started growing basil I've wanted to make my own pesto. I didn't quite have enough basil to make a full batch so I used half spinach/half basil. I also didn't have pine nuts or much olive oil so here's what I did:

2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups fresh basil
4 cloves garlic
handful of raw mixed nuts (cashews, walnuts, brasil nuts, pistachios, almonds)
1/2 cup or so grated parmesan cheese
enough oil for desired consistency (I didn't measure, only had a tiny bit of olive oil left so I filled in the rest with canola oil)

put spinach and basil into food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add garlic, nuts and cheese and mix until well blended. Pour in oil while processing until it looks like pesto.


Also, since I haven't posted a photo of Meiby in a while, here she is "helping" me in the kitchen :)


She's always underfoot, waiting for something to fall...

Breakfast

I don't really have a name for this but I make it for breakfast nearly every weekend. It's perfect for 2 or 3 people and very easy to make. Today's version is shredded potatoes, turkey bacon, broccoli, fresh basil, eggs, and parmesan cheese. Here's the recipe:


ingredients:

• half bag of frozen shredded or diced potatoes
• handful of frozen or fresh veggies (I often use frozen peas or corn or fresh peppers or broccoli)
• 4 strips of bacon or turkey bacon, chopped up
  
• chopped garlic and/or onion as desired
  
• 1 or 2 tbsp. veg. oil or butter
• salt/pepper/herbs as desired
• 3 or 4 eggs
• shredded or grated cheese
  

As you can see, it's a pretty loose formula that you can customize according to what you have on hand.

First, cook the bacon, onion, garlic (or whatever combination of these you are using) in a large skillet. If not using bacon you will need to add enough butter or oil to coat the bottom of the pan. If you are using bacon there will be plenty of fat in the pan already.

When bacon is cooked through and onion/garlic are softened, add the potatoes in an even layer and let fry for 5-7 min. (don't stir if you want them to be crispy!) While the potatoes are cooking, layer veggies on top of them and sprinkle with any spices/herbs you like. Flip everything over and let fry for another 5 min.

Stir fry until everything is as soft or brown as you like it. (peppers cook fast, broccoli needs a little more time)
Break eggs into the pan (on top of everything) and stir fry until the eggs are fully set.
Turn off heat and sprinkle with cheese.

Kumquat Bread

Last week at the grocery store I spotted a display of kumquats. I'd had them before but it had been a really long time so I picked up a big carton of them. When I got them home I thought, "ok, what do I do with kumquats?" So I looked up some recipes. I ended up settling on Kumquat Nut Bread but during my search I found some reviews of bread recipes. Someone had mentioned that their breads kept turning out heavy and dense, just the problem I had with my last 2 attempts at beer bread. The solution, it turns out, is to use fresh baking powder. My baking powder was several years old and kind of clumpy so I ran out and got some fresh stuff and proceeded to make my kumquat bread and voila! Beautiful, perfect bread!



Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2/3 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
2 tbsp oil
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 cup pureed kumquats
3/4 cup chopped nuts
3/4 cup sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, eggs and oil.

2. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. (this includes the sugar, I almost forgot this because I generally assume sugar is part of the "wet" ingredients)

3. Add liquid mixture and stir until moistened.

4. Fold in pureed kumquats and nuts.

5. Bake in a greased 8" x 4" x 2" loaf pan in 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. (mine was done in about 53 min.)

6. Cool and remove from pan.

Vegetarian Meatloaf

Unfortunately, this kinda looks better than it tastes. It's not bad though. I think maybe if I sauteed the onion and garlic before adding it in, it might have been a little more flavorful. I didn't add any spices because I figured the sauces would take care of that. They didn't so I slathered A1 over the top upon serving. I probably won't make this again because it was kind of a pain but I'm glad I tried it anyway. In any case, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dry brown lentils
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 1/2 cup frozen veggies (I used peas and carrots)
• 2 tsp. hot sauce
• 2 tbsp. BBQ sauce
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

Directions:

• Cook lentils and brown rice according to package directions. (I boiled the lentils in just enough water to cover them for about 40 min, then added instant brown rice to the pot and boiled for another 10 min. adding hot water as needed. There's probably a better way to do that though. I prepared these the night before so it had plenty of time to soak up additional moisture and were nice and soft for the "mashing".)
  
• Preheat oven to 325 F.
• In a large bowl, mash lentils and rice. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
• Pack into a lightly greased loaf pan (I ended up splitting this between 2 loaf pans.)
• Bake, COVERED, for about 1 hour. (I added more BBQ sauce and baked uncovered for the last 15 min.)
  

Pumpkin Treats

pumpkin treats
Originally uploaded by ameetek16

I finally found some small halloween cookie cutters and made these pumpkin dog treats. Pumpkin is very good for pups (lots of vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidents) so I had been wanting to make these for a while. They turned out pretty hard but that's good in a way... Meiby actually has to sit down and chew on it for a few minutes instead of just gulping it down. Also, when making homemade dog treats, you know exactly what's in them (I even tasted one... it's like a pumpkin cracker).

Chocolate Stout Cake

I made this months ago and it's amazing and happens to be vegan. I wanted to post it here so that I don't lose it and so that others can share in the awesomeness. I got this recipe from someone on Ravelrywho found it online somewhere. Enjoy:

Vegan Chocolate Stout Cake

• 2 cups sugar (I reduced the sugar by about 1/2 cup)


• 3 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/2 c cocoa


• 1 tsp salt


• 2 tsp baking soda


• 3/4 c oil (I used a little less; maybe about 2/3 c)


• 4 tsp vinegar


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 1 bottle (12 oz) beer (I recommend a dark stout or chocolate stout; I used Young's Double Chocolate Stout)


• 1/2 c water

Sift all dry ingredients together into a large bowl and make three wells in the dry mixture (one large and two small). Pour the oil into the large well, and the vinegar and vanilla into each of the small wells. Pour beer over mixture, add water, and mix well.

Bake at 350F for 35 - 45 min. in lightly oiled pan.

Here's a photo of the finished product dusted with powdered sugar. I really need a nice cake pedestal or something...

Morning Glory Muffins

These muffins were so amazing that I needed to post the recipe here. Unfortunately, they were so amazing that they were all eaten before I had a chance to take a photo. We just moved into our new house and whenever someone stopped by to check it out they had a muffin and then took one for the road. They freeze well (I'm told) and make an awesome quick breakfast.

Clean-out-the-Fridge Morning Glory Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup ground flax seed (I used a combination of whole flax seeds and oatmeal, wheat germ and oat bran for texture)

3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup white, 1/4 cup brown)

2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1/2 cup raisins (I used craisins instead)

1 medium tart apple, peeled and grated

I also threw in some sunflower seeds and some leftover granola with dried apricots. You could also use grated zucchini, peaches, other dried fruit, other nuts, etc. You can also replace one of the eggs with 4 egg whites to lower the fat content.]

1. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, orange juice, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the carrots, pecans, coconut, raisins and apple.


2. Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or use foil liners; fill three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.