Sweet Potato Casserole

I feel like I have been a real runner recently. This potato casserole does not make that notion go away, either. Lots of bananas, potatoes, and other power foods for me... which is good, I guess, because all of these are cheap and healthy! I have never eaten so many baked potatoes in my life. I'm so grateful that there are so many things that a person can put on a potato- my personal favorite is barbeque sauce. Sometimes I like to add caraway seeds or pepper, but there's always bbq sauce. It's quite good...

The other day M and I wandered into a running store, looking for new shoes, and I really want a head band to protect my ears, and we saw this brand called Newton. They had the coolest shoes ever- bright neon colours, and the shoes were so light weight. M looked up the brand later, and saw that the shoes were a whopping $150, so I don't think I will be buying them anytime soon, which is quite depressing. But Brooks are still probably my favorite brand. I can highly recommend them, even though they don't look nearly as cool.

This casserole is something that M has been making for eons now, even before we became vegetarian.  It's so good, and satisfies a sweet tooth, no problem.   I love it to death.  I ended up improving a lot, because we still don't have all that many tools.  I ended up mashing them in a plastic container, which was weird but turned out fine.  And I added nutmeg, because we don't have vanilla extract.  It's still heavenly, though, and easy to through together (especially when you have all the tools). 

You might end up with a bit extra topping, like I did.  It's good on lots of things- or you could just make another casserole.  That's what I'm doing.


Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole

Adapted from All Recipes

Serves 8

4-5 large sweet potatoes
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup natural applesauce
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk or silk
Nutmeg, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
Wash and prick the potatoes with a fork. Microwave until tender, and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, mix the brown sugar, walnuts, coconut, and applesauce in a bowl, and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350.
When the potatoes are cool, remove the pulp and mash in a large bowl. Discard the skins.
Combine sugar, eggs, milk or silk, nutmeg, and salt with the mashed sweet potatoes. Optionally beat with an electric mixer (preferred), or mix well with a potato masher or fork.
Put the potatoes in a casserole dish coated with nonstick spray, and top with nut mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, until heated through.

Major Memory Lapses and Orange "Beef" Stir Fry

I have had a container of orange stir fry sauce sitting in the pantry for almost a year now, and have enver used it.  Today, however, I finally cracked it open, and this stir fry was the result.

The reason I say that I had memory lapses was that I inteneded to add garlic and spinach, but totally forgot about them.  Probably because this almost burned while I was trying to pry open the orange sauce bottle.  It was stuck really tight!  But it still turned out really good, although the orangey flavour was a bit subtle for me.  I loved it, and it was another great stir fry. 

Orange “Beef” Stir Fry

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 4-6

1 package vegetarian beef (about 3 cups)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
2 large carrots, coined
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets
4 cloves garlic, pressed (I forgot to add these, but next time I would add them)
½ cup Lee Kum orange flavoured sauce (I think this is about the right amount, but I just poured it on until the sauce looked about right)
½ lb snow peas, trimmed
¼ lb leek chives, chopped
½ lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped large
3 tbsp mirin
5-6 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp chili garlic paste
1 ½ tbsp cornstarch

Mix together the soy sauce, mirin, chili paste, and corn starch in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat a large wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the onion and carrots, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add the shiitakes and broccoli. Once that is stirred in, add the garlic and leek chives, and stir fry for two more minutes. Add the snow peas and bell pepper. After the veggies are looking well on their way to being finished add the beef and soy sauce mixture. Get that stirred in, and add the orange sauce. Cook until satisfaction, and serve over rice.

A New Toy!! And Really Good Soup

I am so excited.  One thing that I have always wanted, and have never had, has been a pepper mill.  I have grown up with preground pepper, and have never used anything different.  But today, everything has changed.  I went to Sur La Table and bought the coolest pepper mill that I have ever set eyes upon.  It's neon yellow, and you turn it one way to make it grind pepper, and the other way for salt.  I love it.

And the new pepper mill was just perfect for this soup.  It added just the right touch.  Oh, how I love this soup from the bottom of my heart.  It's quite hearty, and the broth is just right.  Don't even get me started on how good the veggies are, and it's really quick to make too.  I highly recommend getting the chicken bullion- I purchased mine from the Asian Market, and I'm pretty sure that's what makes this soup really good. 

The name of this soup came about because originally it was wedding soup, but then I decided to add some beans that needed to be used up.  M said it seemed rather like ministrone, and there you have it.  I guess that makes it really Italian.  And speaking of Italian, I just got a really big Italian cookbook from the library, which has a lot of good looking recipes. 

I've been feeling really bad for M recently, because she seems to be constantly shivering.  That's kind of backwards this year, because normally I am the one who is so sensitive to cold.  I'll admit, the weather is so crazy this time of year- a cold front just came from Canada, and it was 70 degrees yesterday, and now it's 30.  And that's really good soup weather...

Wedding-Ministrone Soup

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 8

1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets
6 cloves garlic, pressed
7 1/2 cups water
3 tbsp vegetarian chicken bullion
1 veggie bullion cube
1 1/2 cups chopped fake meat, cut into small cubes (I used a giant sausage-like object that was rather firm)
1 ½ cups small pasta, like small penne, cooked
1 bunch spinach, washed and stemmed
Generous ½ cup dried great northern beans, cooked
1 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp corn starch mixed with 4 tbsp water
Freshly-ground black pepper

Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat and add the green onions, carrots, broccoli, and garlic. Sauté until the broccoli turns bright green, about 7 minutes. Add the water and bullions, and bring to a boil. Return to a simmer, and add the meat, pasta, spinach, beans, and thyme. 10 minutes or so before you serve the soup add the corn starch mixture. Serve, topped with fresh pepper.

Hearty Cabbage Stoup

The weather where I live is beyond me- just a couple days ago, I was wearing my warmest sweater and still shivering, and now I am wearing short sleeves and shorts. It’s just so weird… but I think that the whole US is supposed to get some arctic blast from Canada, just in time for Thanksgiving. Ah, Thanksgiving. It’s just around the corner now, and I can’t wait. Plus I have just about six hours until I am entirely free until next Monday. Which is more welcome that you could even imagine. And I will be doing so much cooking. And eating. And cooking. And other fun stuff too, like Christmas shopping.

I think that’s really all I have to say at this point about life, and now on to this stew-thing. I am reluctant to call it a full-blown stew because it’s not really all that thick, but it seems like there is not enough broth to call it a soup. And so you have stoup. And very good stoup, I might add. It’s loaded with nutritious and filling things, and is quite cheap as far as these types of things go. Cabbage with tomato sauce, rice, and potatoes, and some vegetarian sausage. I loved how this dish turned out, and will most certainly be making it again, because it took all of 20 minutes to put together, and was so warm and filling. The caraway seeds were also quite an interesting addition. I’m so glad I bought them- M ended up finding the seeds, because I couldn’t at first. And the sausage is quite funny in the package. Like all the other ingredients, it’s quite cheap as far as fake meats go, and looked like a giant, short, fat sausage. M thought it looked quite unappetizing, but I just thought it was funny. It tasted kind of like the beef, but had a bit firmer texture. The only thing about it was, because of its size, M was struggling for almost ten minutes trying to get the wrapper off because it was freezing her fingers. Defrosting the chunk took quite a while too, but the stoup was so good.

Cabbage and Caraway Stoup

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 8

1 large onion, roughly chopped
1/2 green cabbage, shredded
1- 2 tsp caraway seeds
2 smallish red potatoes, cubed
4 cups water
1 vegetable bullion cube
2 tsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring
8 oz tomato sauce

½ 100 g log-sausage-like-thing of fake meat

2 cups cooked rice
Salt, to taste
Paprika, to taste

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the cabbage, and sauté for a couple minutes, until it has shrunk some. Add the seeds through the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, and continue to simmer for atleast 10 more minutes, until potatoes are tender and it is heated through.

Caraway, Cheese, and Broccoli Casserole

Ok, wow.  Talk about improving a recipe big time!  I had broccoli, and the soup, and a lemon, but that's about it.  Not even a piece of pepper to be seen.  But I am holding out for a pepper mill, so I can experience the wonders of fresh pepper... I just need to find a mill that I actually like.  And our lemon juicer was MIA, and I think it might have broken or something, so that is another thing that I will have to keep an eye out for.  I am getting so pumped up for Thanksgiving.  Although it will just be M and me, I think I have some pretty creative ideas for what to make.  We'll see just exactly ends up on our table, but I have a feeling that it will turn out a lot better than last year's meal.  That seemed to be a failure.

I did love this broccoli dish, though.  Like I said before, I had none of the spices on hand that the original called for, and so ended up spotting an unopened jar of caraway seeds that I had bought for a different recipe.  And so, I opened the jar, took one whiff of the seeds, and decided that they were going in the dish.  The seeds do have quite a strong flavour, but it jazzes up the dish to the point that both M and I declared it an easy favourite.

Cheese, Caraway Seeds and Broccoli Casserole

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen
(about 6 servings)

8 cups fresh broccoli flowerets
1 can fat free broccoli cheese soup
¼ cup milk
Juice of one small lemon
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
2-3 tsp caraway seeds
¼ cup-ish parmesan cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 375. Heat a wok coated with nonstick spray over medium heat with a bit of water. Sauté the broccoli for about 5-7 minutes, until it just starts to turn bright green.
Mix together the soup through caraway. Mix the sauted broccoli and soup mixture in a casserole dish. Bake, covered, for about 25 minutes, until it starts to bubble.
Top with parmesan and bake for 7-8 minutes more, until you are fed up whith waiting. Serve.

A Many-Beaned Stew

When I first picked out this recipe, it had white beans.  I originally was going to use up the last of the huge bag that has been in my pantry for ages now, but the thought of finally trying 12 bean soup mix would not get out of my head.  And so, that's exactly what happened with this soup.  Or stew.  I don't really know what to classify this as.  A stoup?  Sure... That just doesn't sound very appetizing, does it.  And that was what was going through my head when the bean mix finished cooking.  It was essentially a grey blob.  But I decided to go foreward with the complete recipe, and am oh so glad that I did.  This is another great and really filling stew for cold days when you are in need of something to melt icicles off of your fingers.  I can highly recommend it with a plain baked potato and a salad for dinner. 

On a different note, I still hate Charles Dickens.  He goes off on way too many tangents.  Dickens needs to stick the the point of his stories and get his message across.  Serioulsy.  It's really annoying.  I don't know how many other Dickens books I will be reading after A Tale of Two Cities, but I hope that number is very small.

Oh, just a random tidbit about the soup.  Use the parmesan.  It really makes the soup something memorable and something that I would want again and again.  Without the parmesan, and good hot dogs, you are not going to have a very satisfactory soup.

Fake Sausage, Peppers, and 12 Bean Stew with Parmesan

Serves 8
Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

2 medium onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 carrots, coined
1 generous cup 12 bean soup mix
28 oz can petite dice tomatoes
1 tsp. coriander
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
2 tsp dried thyme
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring
1 vegetable bullion cube
3 vegetarian hot dogs, coined
Grated parmesan for topping

Cook the beans: Bring a pot of water to boil, and add the mix. Make sure the water is just enough to cover the beans. Simmer for 50 minutes, until tender.
Sauté the onions and carrots until the onion begins to turn transparent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and pepper, and sauté for 5-6 more minutes. Add the ingredients through the bullion cube, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Add the hot dogs about 10 minutes before you are ready to eat.
Serve, topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Slightly Sweet, Slighty Indian Stir Fry

Harry Potter 7 came out today in theaters.  I didn't go, but I know quite a few people that did, and it was supposed to be quite good.  Perhaps I will see it some day, but most likely not.  I don't get why people stay up unitl three in the morning to go see some movie, especially when there is school and work the next day.  Honestly, I think I would much rather sleep and cook.  I also heard that there were quite a few creative costumes running around the theaters, which I found rather funny.  One person tried to be the Hogwarts Express, and that was kind of a failure, appearently.

And so, in honnor of Harry, I made this stir fry.  Not really.  But I think it was just as good tasting, and probably better for you, than some of that stuff that the elves whip up for Hogwarts students.  The name pretty much says it all- a little sweet, mixed with subtle Indian flavours.  At first I thought it was rather bland, but as I ate more of it, I liked it exponentially more.  Especially the spinach.  I really need to eat more spinach.  I think it was one of the only veggies that I have loved since the day I was born... the only draw back is the amount of prep it takes.  But the ease of other ingredients in this stir fry negate that time.  I was pleasently surprised at how good this one tasted, and how easy all the chopping was.  And I still love those fingerling potatoes.  So cute, and they have such a nice pop.

Slightly Sweet, Slighty Indian Stir Fry

Inspired by Wok

Serves 4-6

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring
1 1/2 tsp each ground coriander and cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 heaping tsp garam masala
1/3-1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 1/2 tbsp chili garlic sauce

1 large onion, sliced
2 carrots, coined
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 shallots, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 cups green cabbage, shredded
1 package vegetarian mutton, defrosted and broken into bite-sized pieces
12 oz fingerling potatoes, large ones halves and boiled until tender (about 8 minutes)
1 bunch spinach, stemmed and washed

Mix together the soy sauce through garlic sauce in a bowl. 

Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water.  Add the onion and carrots, and after two minutes add the cauliflower and shallots.  After a minute toss in the garlic, and then add the pepper and cabbage after anothe minute.  After two or three more minutes add the mutton, and let it heat up a bit.  Stir in the sauce and potatoes.  When that is heated through again, add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Serve over rice.