Dinner Duggar Style: Tomato Soup-erole

Hello party people! Raise your hand if you love the Duggars!!

Have you noticed that these pots are going up later in the day? I'm busy busy at work since my boss had her baby!!! Fun times. Anyway...

One of the things I didn't mention in my recap post was that we've been watching A LOT of Duggar's at our place. I started the marathon before Mike's fam arrived, and lucky for me both Mike's mom and sis are fans of the show.  Now that they are gone I've lost possession of the big screen, and our living room is looking a lot like this:

Dang. He caught me.

The recipe I'm bring you today was very, VERY loosely inspired by Anna Duggar's Chicken-etti Recipe.  Basically her thrown together chicken/spaghetti mash-up inspired me to make a mash-up of my own. Tomato Soup + Pasta Casserole = Tomato Soup-erole!

What You'll Need:

1/2 box a pasta

1 can tomato soup

1 1/2 cans water

1 Tbs corn starch

1 Tbs nutritional yeast

12 saltine crackers

Salt & pepper to taste

First, pre-heat your oven to 400 and get your pasta cooking on the stove to al dente. Now start working on the soup.

Add the soup and water to a small sauce pan and heat to a low boil. Add the corn starch and stir continually while soup thickens. Add the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste. The saltine crust will add a lot of salt to the over all taste, so keep that in mind.

Once the pasta is al dente, pour it into an oven-safe casserole dish then cover with the soup.

Crumble the saltines over the top of the casserole. Pop it into the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the saltines start to look toasted.

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes then dish it up and enjoy!

Happy munching!

Potato Dinners and Easy Peasy Smashed Potatoes Recipe

Hello dear friends! Guess what day it is.....HUMP DAY! YEAH!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is just a week away?  The holiday season just started and it's already flying by! In honor of the upcoming holiday, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite quick and easy sides. 

I love these guys for a few reasons: 

1) They are totally easy to make and pretty foolproof in execution. 

2) They look fancier than they are (especially if you use red potatoes) 

3) They're POTATOES!!! What's not to love??

Let's pause for a minute and gather round into a nice little truth circle. It's confession time, and I'll go first. I may have called these guys a side above, and they're great for that. BUT that doesn't mean that I've never had them as the main course. In fact, they may have been my dinner last night. No judging remember, we are in the truth circle.

While I love cooking up something inventive and semi-complicated for dinner, more often than not I just want something quick and easy. Sometimes that means we are eating pasta with sauce from a jar. No frills. No sides. No salad first course. Just a quick and easy dinner. Even more often than pasta and sauce though, is the Potato Dinner. 

Back in October (can you believe that "back in October" is a real thing already???), Mike and I went to an orchard  and in addition to the apples, we bought a pretty large bag of sweet potatoes. Welcome to the era of sweet potato fry dinners. Yummy. After the sweet potatoes were all used up, we kept the potato dinners alive with grocery store bags of golden potatoes. Our preparation method of choice: Smashed! 

Here's What You'll Need:

2-3 medium sized golden or red potatoes per person

Salt & Pepper

Hot Sauce or other favorite seasoning(optional)

Smashed potatoes require a two step cooking process. First preheat your oven to 450. Next prepare your potatoes to be boiled. Place the potatoes in in a large microwavable dish. Cover with water to about 2 inches above the potatoes. Microwave on high for 12-15 minutes. Microwave time will very depending on the size of your potatoes. The goal is to get them to a point where they can be easily pierced with a fork but aren't crumbling apart. Usually this is around the time that they start to float in the water.

Potato hot tub...yummy.

If you don't have a large enough dish or would prefer to not use your microwave, you can boil the potatoes in a large pot on the stove.

Once your potatoes have been soften up, place them on an oiled cookie sheet. For easy clean up, I recommend lining the pan with foil.

Halfway there.

Now comes the fun part. Pull out the potato masher and smash each tatter into a flattened disk. A fork and a little extra muscle would work fine too.

This could also be a good stress reliever after a long day. Just imagine the potato is that annoying person's face.

Season your taters with oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I have a handy little oil mister that I use to get a thin layer of oil evenly over the taters. You could use a brush or just carefully drizzle and spread with a spoon or your Jesus spoons (fingers).

You can stop with the seasoning right here if you'd like, but I've been on quiet the spicy food kick for the past few months. Bring on the hot sauce!

Just drizzle over the potatoes as desired. Other fun topping ideas: steak seasoning, garlic and herbs, taco seasoning, chili powder...the possibilities are endless.

Pop that deliciousness into the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until little crispy brown edges start to form.

Behold, crispy, carb-y goodness.

Plate and devour!

Happy almost the weekend! We can make guys!

Half the Guilt Caramel: Raw and Vegan!

What do you do with a half peck of apples?

Last weekend Mike and I stopped at an orchard and came home with a big ol' mix bag of apples.

Also sweet potatoes.

Now don't get me wrong, nothing in the world is a better afternoon snack than apples and peanut butter. But let's say you've lost count of how many days you are into the apple and p.b. snack binge of 2013. You might be looking for a new dipping option.

Source

You may also be finding yourself inundated with mouth watering images like the one above. Nutrious work break vs. seasonal sweet break?? What's a girl to do...

Never fear my friends. It's Date Caramel to the rescue! 

Half the calories..half the fat...all the deliciousness.

I've heard of date caramel before and have experimented with a couple other raw desserts using dates as the sweetener. With a pile of apples sitting on the counter begging to be used, I figured now was the time to try it out.  For the complete recipe I used, including the list of ingredients, please check out this blog.

Overall, it was a pretty easy process using pretty normal ingredients (normal for our house anyway). Any dates will do. I found mine near the bulk section of Whole Foods, but I've found them near the raisins and other dried fruits in a standard grocery store as well. 

For me it was as easy as assembling the ingredients...

I skipped the lemon juice..didn't have any in the house. nbd

Dumping them in my blender...

and blending them up...

Blend, blend, and blend some more.

...til it turns into a smooth and creamy consistency

yummy

If you don't have a high speed blender, see the note in the original recipe about soaking the dates.

This is both a raw and vegan recipe, but that doesn't mean you should be eating it by the spoonful. For me it works as a nice change from peanut butter. That being said, this recipe does kick-butt compared to the store bought stuff.

Store bought example source.

I plugged in the ingredients in to an online nutrition calculator and was not disappointed. Compared to the pre-made stuff in the tub, this recipe has about half the calories and half the fat. Win! It's also not processed or filled with preservatives. And really guys, any excuse to fire up the VitaMix is more than welcome in our house.

Plus did I mention it's delicious?!?! 

Happy munching.

Go make yourself a snack! We're half-way to the weekend!

Tempeh Stuffed 'Shrooms

HUMP DAAAAAAAY! At some point in the near future I'll get sick of that, I promise, but that day is not today.

Welcome to another delicious blog post. Lately my love for TJ's has blossomed into something beautiful. While there on Saturday I noticed a nice little six pack of "Stuffing Mushrooms" Special thanks to TJ's for making the food epiphanies easy this week. Without further ado....

Tempeh Stuffed Shrooms with Red Wine Reduction

What You'll Need:

6 medium sized mushrooms

For the reduction:

2 cups red wine

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs Earth Balance buttery spread

For the tempeh:

4 oz tempeh, diced

Chopped mushroom stems

1 Tbs vegan Worcestershire

2 Tbs soy sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

1/2 cup water

For the stuffing:

Cooked tempeh (above)

3 Tbs red wine

1-2 Tbs Veganaise

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (plus est for topping)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Once again we have a lovely recipe coming to you from an index card. This time I had to do some veganizing to make it work. Bonus: I shaved off some serious fat from this recipe.

Thanks Mom!

First things first, prep your shrooms by cleaning the caps and removing the steams. Chop the stems into small pieces. Dice the tempeh into small pieces as well.

Add all of the tempeh ingredients in a skillet over medium heat. My mom's original recipe called for sausage filling. To mimic the taste of the sausage I added some liquid smoke and fennel seeds. Your shrooms will taste great without these, but it will definitely kick it up a notch to add them. 

Stir occasionally, allowing the liquids to cook off. Once done, set the mixture aside to cool.

While the tempeh is cooling, get your red wine reduction going. In a small sauce pan, combine all of the reduction ingredients EXCEPT the butter. Heat to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let the sauce reduce to a syrupy consistency, stirring occasionally

Balsamic not pictured :( But I remembered it for the sauce.

In a small bowl, combine the cooked tempeh with the remaining stuffing ingredients. Mix well, breaking apart the tempeh further. The stuffing should be able to hold its shape. If it's too crumbly, try adding more breadcrumbs to help it hold together.

Now would be a great time to pour yourself a glass of wine :)

Cheers!

Don't forget your reduction! Go give it a stir and check on the consistency. Remember we are going for syrupy.

Next step: stuff those shrooms. Go ahead and mound the stuffing above the cap. I used all the stuffing for 6 mushroom caps, so go crazy and be generous. 

Now lets give our shrooms some hair. In a small plate sprinkle a layer of breadcrumbs. One by one turn the mushrooms, stuffing side down, in the crumbs to coat.

Time to fry 'em up. Drizzle a bit of oil in a medium skillet and heat to medium high. Place in your shrooms cap side down and cook for a few minutes until browned.

Now comes the scary part. Flip the shrooms to stuffing side down and cook for a few more minutes until the breadcrumbs are toasted.

Girl, look at thoes shroom butts.

Flip 'em back over, turn off the burner, and let them chill while you finish up the reduction.

Continue to stir (and sip), while the reduction continues to simmer. When the reduction is just about the right consistency, add the butter and stir. 

Remove from heat. Plate up your shrooms and drizzle with the reduction.

Munch!

Happy Hump Day! 

Farmers Market Okra and Tomato Pasta

Hello Friends! Can you believe it's already October??

In addition to the many sporting events Mike and I watched last weekend, I also found time to make it to our local Farmers Market in Piedmont Park. There's something so wholesome about walking over and picking up some fresh produce. I love it.

Now usually when I go, I wander around looking at what each booth has, recognize only half of the stuff, consider asking but chicken out, and end up leaving with a bag of fruit. Well ladies and gentlemen  this weekend I was lucky enough to have a new friend with me who was not afraid to walk right up to a booth and start asking questions. 

As a result I scored some awesome tastes of new things...muscadines?!?! Ever tried them? And I walked away with a cucumber and OKRA in addition to my standard bag o' fruit. 

After a year down here in the South, I've certainly had my fair share of fried okra prepared by our local eateries. When it comes to my knowledge of actually preparing okra myself, I know one thing: okra is Slime City (thank you to Top Chef for my vast culinary knowledge). Conveniently said friend was more than happy to ask for some advice on prep. The trick to avoiding Nickelodeon style slime? Oven Roasting!

There's something lovely about this fresh pasta dish with veg as the focus and no heavy sauces to weight it down.

What You'll Need

1/3 box of Linguine

Okra

Cherry Tomatoes

5-6 cloves of Garlic

Olive Oil

Slat & Pepper to taste

Our cast and crew for the night.

Preheat your oven to 450. Begin cooking your pasta in a large pot. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment for easy clean up.

No boiling over in our kitchen.

Do you guys use the wooden spoon trick to stop your pot from boiling over? As an often times distracted cook, I've found this to be a life saver.

While the pasta is cooking and the oven preheating, prep your veg. Cut the okra into small coins. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Peel the garlic. Place all veg on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly and pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, tossing again halfway through.

Check on your pasta. Once it's al dente, drain and return to the pot with a small drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking and clumping.

Once the veg has been roasted to your liking, remove from the oven and begin playing the fun game of fine the garlic cloves. You'll want to chop the garlic finely. I even used the knife to mash it into a paste.

Yummy..resist the urge to spread this on bread and eat immediately.

Add your roasted veg and garlic to the pasta. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil, if needed, and toss to combine. Serve up the pasta and top with a sprinkle of pepper to taste.

om nom nom

Happy Hump Day. Eat something delicious!

Let the Pumpkin-ing Begin!

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I don't care if the highs are still in 90's. September means fall. Bring on the pumpkin!

Luckily the hubster had no issues with this so Saturday night became night one of Pumpkin Fest 2013.

Pumpkin Mac n Cheeze

 sauce recipe adapted from The Veganomicon

What You'll Need:
1 c. penne noodles
5 strips of Lightlife Smart Bacon, crumbled
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 c. almond pulp
1 c. water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. turmeric
3/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/4 c. fried onion pieces
Vegan Parmezano sprinkles (optional)
Sprinkle of nutmeg.

Ready to become delicious.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin boiling your noodles to al dente. While noodles are cooking, crisp up your bacon. Crumble the bacon into bite size pieces once cooked. Drain the pasta and layer with the bacon crumbles in an oven ready casserole dish.

Now it's time to make the sauce. In a small sauce pan heat the oil over medium heat then add the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Instead of spending the time mincing my garlic with a knife, I've found that grating it with our zester works great. Just make sure you clean it really well after :)

Grate, grate, grate...grate, grate, grate...grate your garlic! (in the tune of shake your booty)

Add the pumpkin, water, and 1/2 c. of almond pulp to your saucepan and mix to combine. I tossed the pulp in a frying pan to help dry it out a bit, but you could skip that step. The almond pulp I'm using comes from my Homemade Almond Milk recipe.  If you don't have almond pulp on hand, you can substitute 2 Tbs. of cornstarch in the sauce and 1/2 c. of bread crumbs in the topping. Or you could just omit it all together. The pumpkin alone should make your sauce pretty thick, and the fried onion will make a great topping on its own.

After 2-3 minutes add the salt, turmeric, and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast (nooch) is a vegan go-to for a cheese substitute. You can find it in the bulk section of your local health food store. It's kind of mustard yellow color with the texture of fish food flakes. Nooch is high in B vitamins among other things and is a great pantry additions for non-vegans too! Try it sprinkled over popcorn :)

Over the next 2-3 minutes your sauce should cook down and thicken a bit. Next you add the lemon juice and mustard and stir to combine. And you're done. Your sauce is complete!

Pour and spread

Pour the sauce over the noodles and bacon. Spread it with a spoon to distribute evenly. Top with the remaining almond pulp, fried onions, and a sprinkle of parmezano and nutmeg.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Scoop into bowls. I topped my *cough* second bowl *cough cough* with some sriracha for an extra kick. Enjoy!

And don't forget dessert! Homemade pumpkin bread. Delish!

Happy Wednesday and welcome to Fall!