Thursday, October 29, 2009

Quick Easy Meal: Hamburger Stroganoff

Hamburger Stroganoff

1 lb hamburger/ground beef
dried or fresh minced onions
garlic powder or fresh cloves of garlic
2 cans mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
S&P
Yogurt - 2-3 Tbsp

1/2 lb bag of cooked wide egg noodles, noodle twists, etc.  Any large, short, flat-ish noodle will work

Brown hamburger and onion and garlic in skillet.  (If using dried minced onion and garlic powder, wait until the hamburger is mostly browned before adding.)  Season with S&P to taste.  Add in 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 2 cans of mushrooms.  Add 1/2 can of water (from the soup can).  Stir to combine and heat until bubbly.  Stir in 2-3 Tbsp plain unsweetened yogurt.

Serve over cooked noodles, or rice would probably be tasty too.  Broccoli is our favorite veg to put with this meal.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Collard Greens: A new old vegetable

I know I hadn't had collard greens before and I'm sure many others haven't either.  But since I joined this food co-op we've gotten some "new" and different vegetables that I haven't tried before, like collard greens and kale, that I now have to figure out how to cook.

On Sunday we boiled them until tender then sauteed them in olive oil with some salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice and bacon bits.  Very tasty.  Tonight I decided to make a meal of them.  I started by cutting some beef and chicken in to cubes and browning it in a bit of olive oil.  Then added in minced onion, garlic, S&P.  Cut the thick stems off the collard greens and chopped them into smaller pieces and sauteed them with the meat.  When the meat was browned sufficiently I added in a cup of brown rice and the rest of the collards chopped into medium pieces along with 2 cups of water.  I simmered the whole deal on the stove for about an hour and a half and dinner was served. 


Tasty, filling and easy.  The adults liked it, the 2yo not quite sure about it, but she did eat some.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Chocolate Cupcakes

Going to a potluck tonight and decided to make chocolate cupcakes.  The recipe is vegan, as long as you don't put in milk chocolate chips as a special treat.  The recipe is reportedly from an old Grange Hall cookbook from the depression era (shortage of eggs at that time).

Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar (I sometimes substitute part of the sugar for honey or maple syrup or just cut the sugar down to 1 1/2 cups instead.  It still works fine.)
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup vegetable oil (olive or canola I have used and both are good)
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together all dry ingredients.  Add in all wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Divide into 1 9x13" pan, or 1/4 cup in each muffin tin, or 1 Tbsp in mini muffin pan, or 2 8" or 9" round cake pans.  Cook for 25-35 mins until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Cool and frost as desired.

Saw a recipe for vegan frosting the other day.  Something along the lines of whisking heated almond/rice/soy milk into dark chocolate chips (non dairy) until it's smooth and melted.  Then fold in rice syrup fluff (like marshmallow fluff) until it's the consistency of store bought frosting from a can.

Happy Caking!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Granola Bar Recipe

Tonight I re-attempted making granola bars.  I started by soaking 1 3/4 cups of steel cut oats and a Tbsp or so of flax seeds in a couple cups of warm water (enough to make 4 cups) for 2 hours ish.  Add in 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour, 4 tsp honey (or to taste), 1 Tbsp flax seeds, 1/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup cut raisins, 1/4 chopped nuts, 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup chocolate chips. 

Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or so until firm and the edges are browned a bit.  Cut while warm.  Pictures to follow (I hope!)

Monday, October 12, 2009

Apple Butter Recipe

Since so many people have asked me for it here is the apple butter recipe that I've made several times over the last few weeks.

Starts with home made applesauce (put apples in a pan with a bit of water and cook until mushy and put through a food mill)

Fill a large slow cooker with applesauce and add in the following spices:
Cinnamon (1-2 Tbsp)
Nutmeg (1 tsp)
Ginger (1/2 - 1 tsp)
Ground Cloves (a good sprinkle)

Put chopsticks across the top of the slow cooker and put the lid on top .  This keeps the lid over the apple butter but up high enough for the steam to vent as you want the apple butter to reduce and get thick.
Cook on high for 15-24 hours stirring occasionally.  Once the apple butter is done, put into jars to can or freeze.  Save some out in the fridge for "right now" if you'd like, but it's much better after it's sat a few days to meld the flavors.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

This Weekend's Cooking Extravaganza

Well, in an effort to clear out some of the freezer as it is over stuffed and to use up some fresh ingredients that are in great need, I've been cooking like crazy this weekend.

Started Friday with several batches of applesauce in order to make some apple butter. Apple butter in the slow cooker over night with all the wonderful spices make the house smell great! Also made some creamy corn soup that was yummy. At least the adults liked it. Made apple crisp for dessert. (Can you tell I'm attempting to use up apples?)

Saturday I made a huge batch of pancakes for dinner. DD ate 5 pancakes! That's a lot for a little tummy. We had only 6 left :-) Experimented tonight making kale popcorn. Very crispy and flaky. Good, but odd. Recipe follows:

Kale Popcorn
Wash a big bunch of kale
Rip into 1-2 inch pieces removing the large ribs as you go.
Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Spray with olive oil spray or other oil spray/butter and sprinkle with salt and any other seasonings you'd like.
Bake in 400 degree oven for 7-8 minutes turning/stirring after about 5-6 minutes until completely dry and crispy but still mostly green.

More tomorrow perhaps!

Intro to Blog

Finally decided to start my own blog. Maybe people will be interested, maybe not. I really don't care either way, but at least then I can keep a log/journal if you will of my crafting and culinary experiments.

I plant to keep a log of recipes, craft projects and general musings for those interested. So read, enjoy and be inspired!