Barbara's kitchen open for business again!

The title refers to the fact that we moved recently, still in the Portland area though. And yesterday was the first time I had unpacked enough to be able to really cook.

Today I was getting food ready for work tomorrow. I still have to make smashed potatoes. But I did make an awesome veggie chili and a black bean, corn and red pepper salad.

For the salad, I used one can of black beans, rinsed, 1/4 of a huge red pepper, chopped and about 3/4 cup of frozen corn. Before I did that, I put in some red wine vinegar, and some dijon mustard from Trader Joe. Whisked that together with some dried thyme, salt and pepper. Whisked in just a little bit of olive oil. Put the veggies in, added a little more salt and pepper and some garlic and onion powder. Tastes great and it should be even better tomorrow.

The veggie chili was white and red kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, corn, onions, garlic, fresh cilantro. Put in some cumin and chili powder. Can't find my smoky paprika yet or would have used it. Put in a dash of cayenne, a little sugar, and some pepper. Made up some water with masa flour and put that in after letting it cook down for about a half hour. Thickened it up nicely. Very tasty as well. Going to put that over my smashed potatoes.

I've got steel cut oats cooking in the rice cooker and the dishwasher running. I'm in good shape for tomorrow.

Barbara

Lovely Potato corn chowder

I made my favorite soup, I think, a non-dairy Potato corn chowder from Table for Two by Joanne Stepianak. Here's a link to the recipe on Recipezaar. You can make it McDougall friendly by switching water for the oil.

And here's a picture, not very good.


And here's a link to another post about this soup with a much better picture.

I put just a little salt on it right before I eat it. It's good by itself or with some crusty bread.

Barbara

Soups

It's warm here in Portland but I"m making soups anyway. I enjoy them and they are filling. I made a barley-mushroom-kale soup and a black bean soup. I made some baked corn tortilla chips this morning, before it got too hot.

My black bean soup has evolved. I take one or two cans of Trader Joe's black beans and rinse them. Put in a pot with this small cube of frozen cilantro I have, some veggie broth (mine is from Pacific Foods), chili powder, onion and garlic powder. Let that warm up on low. Take about half the beans and enough liquid to cover and put in a blender. Blend well then put back into the soup. This thickens it. I like to have whole beans in the soup as well, so I don't blend up all of it. Add some salsa (I use Pace Picante) and corn. I had some leftover mushrooms from the barley soup so I tossed those in too. Heat and store for delicious meals! I heat up the soup then put in the baked chips.

Barbara

Quinoa Potato Chowder

I just got the "McDougall Made Irresistible" DVD and I tried making the Quinoa Potato Chowder from it. The recipe for this is also available in the November 2006 newsletter.

It tasted wonderful and even better with some of my fresh made whole wheat bread. I've got several other recipes I'll be trying soon and posting about here.

Barbara

Improv Bean and corn enchiladas

I had some leftover black bean/corn soup and some leftover refried beans. I poured out most of the liquid from the soup and put the beans and corn in a bowl. Mad some quick enchilada sauce (using Mary McDougall's recipes) and while that was cooking I mixed the refried beans into the black beans. I then added a few sliced black olives. Used small corn tortillas and made about 5 rollups in a round casserole dish. Poured the sauce on the bottom and top and baked. Came out great and tasty.

Back to work tomorrow. Two more weeks on this awful 4am-2:30pm shift. Not sure what shift I'll be on then, but I'm sure my boss will find a way to mess with me.

I've lost 4 pounds in 6 days so far eating McDougall vegan. My blood pressure is also down and I've stopped my bp meds. I'm so excited about that!

Barbara

Little bit chili

I got the idea for this chili from Frugal Guy. I love his blog. He talks about making chili by just tossing in some of this and some of that. In other words, a 'little bit' of this and that chile! So I gave it a try.

Fried up some ground beef with spices (celery seed, onion and garlic powder, some dill weed, salt, pepper and a few shakes of some others). Put in some chopped green pepper and minced garlic. Then a can of turkey chili with beans from Trader Joes. Then a can of black beans. A little bit of V8, pace picante, lots of chili powder, some cumin and cayenne, some water and the reminder of my spanish rice. Smells and tastes good.

Barbara

Tasty breakfast

I had such a tasty breakfast this morning. First, buttered 2 slices of dill rye. I love this bread.

Then into a small frying pan, some earth balance, 2 eggs. Scramble up a little, put in some nitrite free smoked turkey, all torn up. Then about a half cup of brown rice, cooked. When it's almost done, about 1/2 cup spinach leaves mixed in. A little salt and fresh ground pepper and done! Very tasty and cheap.

Tonight I'm having a salad and making chile from some leftovers. I make this 1000 island dressing from Table For Two. It's so simple. Some Veganaise, ketchup, onion powder, dill relish, dash of salt. Mix. Soo good!

Barbara

Veganomican, try 1

I've been trying some recipes from Veganomican. It's a great cookbook. I plan on trying a lot of the recipes in it.

I made rosemary focaccia bread. It came out fine, but didn't have much flavor. I much prefer the italian peasant bread I made off a recipe on recipezaar.com. It was much more flavorful.

I also made jelly donut cupcakes. They tasted great, but the preserves I used didn't sink down and get covered by the batter. My partner didn't like them, said there was too much nutmeg. I took a bunch to work and no one even noticed the nutmeg.

I have already made the chickpea cutlets and I plan on making more this week.

I also have a list of recommended recipes from this book that I've accumulated and will be slowly trying out.

Barbara

Great bread again!

I made my soft crust whole wheat bread again (recipe at this link).

It came out great again. Put one in the freezer for later in the week. My partner loves that bread and so do I. We use a presto bread cutting guide I picked up at Goodwill for a buck, still in the original box. Makes nice even slices.

No cooking today, my partner is off work and she did the cooking. Nice to have a day off!!

Barbara

Brussels Sprouts

Part of our dinner tonight was a recipe from Vegan with a Vengance. I love this cookbook.

I made Roasted brussels sprouts with toasted garlic. We've had it before and we both like it. Neither of us really ate brussels sprouts before.

Tomorrow I plan on making 2 loaves of bread, baking some chocolate chip cookies and maybe use up the last of the potatoes and make Potato corn chowder from Table for Two. I am also going to a Nanowrimo write-in at this bubble tea shop. Went last Saturday and it was nice. I'm about 3K words behind, but I'll make it up soon.

Barbara

Well, I made my improved bread recipe again today and the crust came out great again, softer, instead of rock hard. You can take a slice and fold it to make a half sandwich. So, here's the recipe. This makes two average size loaves of bread or one quite large one.

3-4 cups whole wheat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (Bob's Red Mill again)
1 tsp salt
3 tbl olive oil
4 tbl honey
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 pkg regular yeast or 4 tsp yeast

Measure out the first three ingredients into a bowl, set aside. Mix in
a bowl the water (110-120 degrees), olive oil, honey and yeast. Slowly
mix in the flour (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer). Dough should be not
sticking to the sides of the bowl. I usually end up using 3 1/2 cups
of flour. I let my mixer knead the dough for 7-8 minutes. If you
knead by hand, knead for 10-12 minutes. Wheat bread needs a longer
knead time.

Place in oiled bowl in warm place, covered by a towel or plastic wrap,
for about an hour or until about double in size. Punch down, turn out
of bowl. I make the dough into a ball and use a serrated knife to cut
in half. Shape each half into a rectangular roll and place in loaf
pans. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for
25-30 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped.

I'd love to hear how this recipe works for you.

Barbara