Food Friday - What did I eat instead of Turkey?

I have had so many people ask me what did I make for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. So I am going to share what I made here, including the recipe. And no, not a tofurkey!


Ever since I became a vegetarian I have become a recipe manipulator. I come up with my own recipes, I take recipes I have had before or seen and change them around to make them vegetarian and I scour old and new vegetarian cookbooks.


Often times I will look in my pantry and try and find something that needs to be used and turn it into a recipe. That is how this recipe came about. I have made cottage loafs a few times and we like them. I have made them with oats and with Grapenuts before. I was trying to come up with something just a touch different for Thanksgiving.


Looking in my cabinets I saw a box of cereal that had been sitting there for a while that nobody really wanted to try. It had cranberries and nuts in it. My kids are not big on nuts unless I hide them in a meal. So I took that box and included it into my recipe, perfect for Thanksgiving with cranberries in it.


It turned out great! This sort of turns out a little bit like a stuffing in texture and flavor but it is packed full of protein with the cottage cheese, eggs and nuts. The cranberries gave it just a touch of sweetness.


Jane's Cranberry Nut Cottage Loaf


*1/2 cup butter or margarine


*1 packet of Onion Soup Mix


*2 Tablespoons of vegetable stock (not neccessary)


*4 Beaten Eggs


*1 large size container of Cottage Cheese


*1 13oz box of Millville Breakfast Harvest Cranberries and Nuts cereal. I get this cereal from Aldi market. You could use 5 - 6 Cups of any kind of corn/bran flake type of cereal.


*3/4 cup of ground fine almonds or Walnuts. I buy it ground already but you can just put some in a ziplock bag and smash them to pieces. Great for getting out some frustrations.


Preheat oven to 350 F
Spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray
Get a large mixing bowl and simply mix everything together well. I smash the cereal in the bag a little before adding it in.
Press into your greased baking pan
Cover with foil and bake on the top rack for 1 hour.
Remove foil, turn off the heat to oven and let sit in oven for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
Leftovers freeze well and reheat well.

Tasty Tuesday - Spinach Balls

Spinach Balls with Mustard Sauce

2 - 10oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 pkg. stuffing, mixed to pkg. directions or your own homemade stuffing mix
1 c. Parmesan cheese
a dash of nutmeg
6 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. melted butter

Mix all ingredients together
Form into walnut-sized balls
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake 400°F for 10-15 min. until firm.

The spinach balls may be frozen either before or after baking.

Serve with mustard sauce.

Mustard Sauce
1/3 c. dry mustard
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg yolk

Combine all ingredients in saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened.

Tasty Tuesday - Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

2 cups zucchini, coarsly grated
4 egg whites or egg substitute
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons Miracle Whip or Mayo
1 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

Combine everything together in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Form into golf ball sized balls and roll in additional bread crumbs.

In a nonstick skillet over med.-high temperature, heat a small amount of oil. Place "crab" cake balls in the pan and gently pat with a spoon to form thick patties. Lightly brown on each side.

Serve with tartar sauce. I make simple tartar sauce by mixing Miracle Whip and relish.

I usually double this recipe to feed my family of six which includes 3 teenage boys.

Red Chard and Carmalized Onions

I've never cooked red chard until recently and boy am I glad I did. This was easy and delicious!

RED CHARD AND CARMALIZED ONIONS

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 bunch red Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 lemon, juiced

In a cast iron skillet, cook onions in olive oil over medium-high heat until they begin to brown. Stir in brown sugar, and continue cooking for a few minutes. When onions are brown and tender, stir in chard and olives. Cook until chard is slightly wilted. Stir in capers and salt, and continue cooking until chard is completely wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with black pepper and squeeze lemon over the top.

Recipe with Kale

I've never made anything with Kale before. Last night I did. I confess, I rarely measure anything precisely. I usually just put in what looks like a tablespoon, or what looks like 2 cups ect... so these sizes will be estimates. I usually see recipes and I change up the things I want to change. Like with this, the original recipe called for chicken stock, I substitue with vegetable stock. Thigs like that. This was so flavorful. It was a little too sweet the way I made it so I would probably just leave out the sugar next time. I think I might try adding chickpeas to this next time as well.
But this was quick and easy, a nice summer time dish.

Sweet and Sour Kale

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons white sugar
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 cups vegetable broth
2 bunches of torn and rinsed kale
1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
salt and pepper to taste
sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted.
Stir in the dried cranberries/cherries, and continue boiling, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by about half, and the cranberries/cherries have softened, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.

Grape Nuts Roast

As you know, I have been trying to eat much healthier. Including switching to a vegetarian diet about 9 months ago. Then changing over to vegan a few months ago. I have decided that changing to vegan is not going to work for me at this point. So back to vegetarian which is very doable for me. In the mean time I have been struggling with coming up with meals that are balanced with a good amount of protein. Meals that help "replace meat". That give a similar feeling as just having eaten a meat meal. Meals that are not always beans.
I had bought a box of Grape Nuts cereal last month and found out nobody in the family likes Grape Nuts cereal. I didn't want to waste a whole box of cereal so I looked online for a recipe that included Grape Nuts. I was sure there had to be some ingenious person who came up with a decent recipe to use it in. Sure enough, someone had come up with a recipe for Grape Nuts Roast. So thank you, Sandee Eveland, for coming up with this recipe.
I tried it out and WOW. We were surprised to find that it gave a nice meat feeling when eating it. You make it in a bread pan and it comes out sort of like a meatloaf. It is very good and even better I thought, when you ate it with a little catsup like a meatloaf. Oh, and did I mention it is very easy to make too?

GRAPE NUTS ROAST

1 c Grape nuts
2 ea Beaten eggs (or egg replacer)
1 1/2 c Milk (dairy, soy or almond milk)
3/4 c Chopped nuts (I buy already chopped almonds in a bag from Trader Joe's)
1 ts Grated onion (or powdered onion if you don't have fresh onion in the house)
1 c Chopped celery (optional, I didn't use any)
1 ts Salt
2 tb Margarine

Combine all ingredients.
Let stand for 20 minutes.
Pour into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

Recipe by: Sandee Eveland
Serve with a green leafy salad and you have a nice complete meal!

New Recipe

I'm not sure what to call this. Mexican Bake? It was delicious. I don't usually measure things out much. I kind of just go by look and feel so the measurements are estimates. This is one the kids enjoyed too, well, my younger two did. My older two are tired of beans.

Mix together all of the following in a bowl
2 cans chili beans (or dried and soaked)
1 can corn
1 chopped onion
1 tsp chopped cilantro
1 can of tomatoes (can subsitute with salsa)
1 tsp cumin
chili powder to taste

spread into a glass baking pan

on top pour corn bread mix. You can use a box mix or the following, which is yummy.

1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp sugar (not neccessary)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
mix and spread on top of bean mixture in the glass pan.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the corn bread in done

Enjoy!

Yummy healthy snack

Banana Roll-Ups

I mixed up some organic peanut butter with some honey and a little ground flax seed. Then chopped up some banana into small pieces and mixed it into the peanut butter mixture. Spread it on tortillas and roll up. I used small tortillas. My kids loved these.

Vegan Poop

I believe I have mentioned that I have received some apprehension of changing over to a vegetarian diet from 2 of my sons. They are my oldest sons, ages 13 and 18. My oldest son has taken pictures with his phone to show his friends vegetarian meals I have prepared and made him eat. We have hit a new level, now that I am transitioning to vegan from vegetarian.

In attempt to heal my body of follicular non-hodgkins Lymphoma I have also been trying to keep sugar out of my diet.

I miss sweets! So I tried to come up with a healthier natural candy/dessert that I could indulge in. When my 13 yr old son CJ came into the kitche and saw me making something, he asked me what it was. Before I could answer he piped in, "Uh Oh, is this vegan?"

I replied with a "yes"

He said, "It looks like vegan poop!"

So, this recipe has been affectionately named Vegan Poop curtesy of CJ. My 5 yr old daughter and I LOVE this sweet treat.

Vegan Poop

• 1 cup rolled oats


• 1 cup almonds


• 2 cups raisins (I prefer Newman's Own organic raisins)


• 1 tbsp. Brown Rice Syrup*


• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg


• 2 tsp. cinnamon


• extra cinnamon to coat after mixed together

This is so quick and easy plus there is no baking involved!

Put the almonds, oats, nutmeg and cinnamon in a food processor and let it run until it is finely chopped into almost a dust, like flour. Then add in the raisins, and brown rice syrup. Let the food processor run until the mixture pretty much rolls up into a big ball (this can take a little while). Take it out of the food processor and place it in a bowl. You can refrigerate it now for an hour or more to make it a little easier to work with or you can go ahead to take pieces and roll into logs about 2 inches long and half an inch wide. Then place them in a bowl of cinnamon and roll them in the cinnamon to coat. Another option rather then the logs is to roll them into marble sized or a little larger balls and roll them in the cinnamon to coat. Refrigerate once made and they will last quite a few days. I am finding I like them in the little balls so I can just grab one when I go in the fridge and just pop it into my mouth. They really make a great quick little treat to satisfy that sweet craving.
Ofcourse, use all organic ingredients if possible for the healthiest treat.

*You could use honey instead of Brown Rice Syrup

Jane's Vegetarian Burritos

My family's conversion to vegetarianism is getting easier. Last night I made a vegetarian meal that my teenage sons devoured. I haven't gotten many rave reviews from my 17 year old son on the vegetarian meals but he loved this one.

Black Bean and Spinach Burritos
However, if kids have an aversion to the words "beans" and "spinach" then just call them vegetarian burritos.

2 cans of black beans
1 can of corn
1 cup salsa (homemade or jarred)
2 tsp. cumin or 1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained

I mashed 1 can of the beans up and then mixed everything in a skillet on medium heat. Cooked until heated through and mixed well.
Have topping you want available. Grated cheese, onions, lettuce, taco sauce ect...wrap in tortillas and enjoy.
*If you like sour cream in your burritos, a healthier option is non fat plain yogurt. You'd be surprised how good of a replacement that is to sour cream.
This recipe would work fine for hard of soft tacos too.

Jane's Vegetarian Chili

The week I needed to make dinner and didn't have a lot in the house to work with. I did have some cans of beans, 4 ounces of Monteray Jack Cheese, an onion, a green pepper and a jar of medium taco sauce.
So I mixed it all together and made chili. WOW, it turned out delicious. It was a little too spicey for me but perfect for my husband. I had some non-fat plain yogurt in the fridge. I added that to mine and it made it just right for me.
I made it again last night and we loved it just as much.

1 can of kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 jar of taco sauce
4 oz. monteray jack cheese, diced up or grated
1/4 cup non-fat plain yogurt (optional)

I put the beans in a pot with the taco sauce and had that heating up on medium heat. chop the onion and green pepper. Add the onion and pepper. While that is cooking dice or grate the cheese. After the onions and peppers have cooked in the beans for a little while, add the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.
Scoop into bowls and drop yogurt on top if desired. Enjoy!

Raw Tabouli

I tried a new recipe tonight. MMMMmmmmMMMMM it was so good. I never would have guessed eating a raw foods diet could be so good. So far so good. Tonight I made Raw Tabouli. I kind of mixed a couple recipe ideas for this. I used...

A bunch of fresh chopped cilantro

A bunch of fresh chopped parsley

A bunch of chopped scallions

4 tomatoes chopped

2 avocado chopped

1 tablespoon tahini (this would be fine to leave out)

the juice of 1 whole lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon sea salt

Just mixed it all together. I looked at it for a while trying to bring myself to try it. I had never eaten avocado before and parsley to me was a garnish you put on the side of a plate or added as dried flakes to a meal. Cilantro to me was a dried spice not something you eat fresh from the garden in a bunch. So, I ended up wrapping it up in a bowl and placing it in the refridgerator while I made the kids some pasta and raw veggies. I knew they were not ready to be pushed into eating Tabouli yet. So they ate their pasta and veggies and I went back to the fridge and took the bowl back out. I got myself a fork and dug in.

WOW! Now THAT is flavor! It was delicious. I am learning to get over my fears of trying new foods and recipes. I followed my son's example and took a picture of my dinner. :)

Becoming a Health Food Junkie

Soooooo, I have decided to change my way of eating. Not just my way of eating but my whole family's. We have gone vegetarian. We have cut out meats from our diet and I will slowly be changing over to a mostly all raw foods diet.
It has been 1 week and my kids are still alive and not only that, I made a meal tonight that all of them liked except one. 5 out of 6 is not bad at all. It was called black bean pie and I think it will become one of our regular transition meals.
My oldest son, age 17, is not thrilled with this change to a vegeatarian diet. I was snooping through his cell phone pictures and found that he has taken a picture of each dinner to show his friends what I am making him eat. What I am torturing him with. Hehe Last night was apricot lentil soup and I have to admit the picture looks like vomit. lol
I am juicing carrot apple juice every day and drinking it. I about gagged when I smelled it under my nose when I took my first sip. Keep in mind that I have never liked carrots, raw or cooked. But once I got over the smell I was very surprised at how tasty it is.
I have found out that I like lettuce and tomato sandwiches on flaxseed bread. I have found out that I can eat bean sprouts in my salad and not think about eating grass. My goal is to eventually be eating a completely organic. vegan, raw foods diet.
I had a short period a few years ago where I went to a vegetarian diet. I enojyed it but slowly fell off the vegetarian cart. I have a whole new inspiration now, healing for me and preventing cancer in my own children.
Yes, I am now one of "THOSE" people. A health food nut.