Nothing Beats Homemade

In an effort to keep using up items on hand I decided to look for recipes that will use up some of the canned pumpkin I have.  I found this recipe I had saved for a cakelike chocolate pumpkin doughnuts.  I altered mine to make them gluten free and for some reason I only ended up with 6 instead of the 8 the recipe said it would make.  However, they were a hit.  

The original recipe is here.

https://www.dashofsanity.com/chocolate-pumpkin-cake-donuts/

Saturday Morning Food Prep

We are still working on using things up.

I had Biquick left that I bought to make sausage balls for my husband’s Christmas party.

This used up the last of it.

These are for my daughter’s breakfasts this week.

I cleaned the waffle iron well and made a triple batch of gluten free waffles, too.

This used up a box of mix I had in my cabinet of gluten free items.

I ended up with 22....by the time I took a photo my husband had already swiped a few.

Part of these will go with him this week, we will eat some, and then I will pop any left in the freezer.

We’re continuing to use things up to make sure our stock is rotated.

The bonus is that this gives us a head start on our upcoming week.

Waste Not Want Not (Using up Produce)

It never fails that I end up with something lingering in the veg bin of the refrigerator.   While I was making out my menus, I did a quick glance to see what was there, and a huge eggplant was staring back at me.  I’ve been craving tomatoes — vitamin C I am guessing.  So I decided to make eggplant lasagna with the self imposed restriction of only being able to use what I had on hand.

A quick pull through and I found I had more than enough ingredients to pull together a decent vegetarian lasagna.  I used:

Garlic (Sam’s Club)

Kalmata Olives (Aldi)

Parmesan (Lidl/Aldi)

Mushrooms (Dollar Tree)

Tomato Powder (food storage)

Canned tomatoes (Walmart purchased on sale and with coupon)

Dried onion (food storage)

Dried bell pepper (food storage)

Ricotta (Lidl?)

Egg (Aldi)

Italian seasoning (Sam’s Club)

Eggplant (Aldi)

I sliced my eggplant and salted it to draw out some moisture and bitterness.

I mixed the ricotta, the powdered parm, and an egg together and set aside.

I put the sauce ingredients (except for tomato powder) in the pressure cooker along with a can of water.

30 minutes (soup function)

Then stirred in tomato powder to thicken it.

Rinsed and drained the eggplant and assembled two lasagnas.

This one I topped with cheese immediately and put in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

The one in the glass baking dish is not topped with cheese. 

I’ll top it with cheese when I get ready to cook it, but for now it is going in the freezer.

This was really good!

Lazy Night Pasta (Unrecipe)

This is the ultimate lazy night vegetarian pasta dish.

My recipe is enough for two, but you can double it without changing the cooking time.

In the electric pressure cooker — I use an Instant Pot — layer:

16 ounces of thick pasta sauce 

8 ounces of corn pasta (GF from Aldi — Penne is the perfect thickness)

3/4 of the jar filled with water (about 1 1/2 cups)

Put everything in in that order.

DO NOT STIR!

Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.

Quick release and stir.

I know it sounds like it should be soupy, but the pasta absorbs the water as it cooks.

If you aren’t feeling as lazy as I was, you can spend a few minutes browning beef first.

You could also just toss in leftover meat from something else.

Since I was the only one eating it, I went with vegetarian and cooked enough for my next day’s lunch.

Food Storage Breakfast (Recipe Included)

For those of you who are comfortable using an electric pressure cooker, a hot breakfast doesn’t get much easier than this.

I use an Instant Pot, but will include the times and pressure for reference.

This is all food storage items that most pantries will have.

This recipe was shared with me.

I’m sharing what I changed and then I’ll share in parentheses what they did.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1 cup old fashioned oats (steel cut)

3 cups of water

1/2 can of pumpkin —not pie filling

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (raisins)

1 to 2 teaspoons of butter if desired, but totally optional

Put the items in your pot in that order.  DO NOT STIR.

In the Instant Pot, use the porridge setting and change the pressure to low.

For other pressure cookers, do low on 20 minutes.

Release pressure, stir, and serve.

This makes 4 or so large servings.

My husband and I ate, and I put away that much more in the refrigerator for the next day.

He declared it the best oatmeal he had ever had.

Needless to say I’ll be keeping it in the repeat.

Sometimes You Just Have To

One family tradition that I miss since developing food allergies is having doughnuts on the weekend.

If the crowd was here we would buy a dozen.

If just a few of us were here, we might only buy 2 or 3 doughnuts.

Either way, it was something we did as a family.

For some time now I have sat and watched them eat their doughnuts.  

Not a big deal, but I really wanted one, too.

Today I made these.  

Old fashioned glazed doughnuts

They’re a yeast free, cake type doughnut with just a hint of nutmeg.

Sooooo good!

The recipe is from Nicol Hunn.

It is in the book Gluten Free on a Shoestring Quick and Easy.

She also has it on her site.

I have all of her cookbooks, and can honestly say I’ve never had one of her recipes let me down.

In fact, even those who don’t like/have to eat gluten free seem to like them.

As usual, I did make a few changes to her recipe because for one I am that kind of cook, and for two I am into using what I have on hand.  I did not have plain yogurt, but I did have cottage cheese.  I simply took 3/4 of a cup out and proceeded to mostly mash the lumps out of it.  I also didn’t want mini doughnuts.  I used my regular non stick doughnut pans in a 350F oven.  I started with 12 minutes, but ended up cooking them for 15 total.  The final change I made was to make a simple thin glaze because I really love that Krispy Kreme glazed feel and taste.  

Even my pickiest household member with texture issues really liked these.

3 of 12 — Pinto Bean Brownies

Recipe 3 of the 12 Days of Pintos came about faster than I had planned.

My grandson was helping me research recipes and saw the brownie recipe.

He had to have them “right now.”

Since I had the foresight to cook extra pinto beans, I decided they were destined to go in this recipe.

Pinto Bean Brownies

The original recipe linked above is vegan.

However, I made changes that made it vegetarian and allergy friendly for me.

I replaced the flax seed with one egg.

I used Sunbutter instead of peanut butter.

I used turbinado sugar and went with the 1/2 cup.

I also used corn oil instead of coconut oil.

Please ignore the flash.

I basically tossed it all in the food processor and let it mix until I had a batter consistency.

This shows the color better.  I divided it into 12 portions and baked it for 23 minutes. 

This is the baked results. 

These are quite good!

They have a nice texture and the flavor is good.

They’re not super sweet, but I did not add any chocolate chips or other add ins.

2 of 12 — Chicken, Pinto, and Broccoli Skillet

I know I said we weren’t going to do 12 days of pintos straight.  I promise we haven’t, but when I was searching for meals that I felt like used basic pantry and freezer storage I came across this recipe for Chicken, Broccoli, and Pinto Bean Skillet.  Since I had some fresh broccoli in the refrigerator I decided to give this one a try.  The beauty of using beans to stretch meat appeals to me and the eater always feels like they have had “_______” (whatever meat) and doesn’t really pay much attention to the beans. This is my take on this recipe. I started by cooking 2 cups of pinto beans. I don’t buy canned pintos....not sure why...but they could easily be used in this recipe as called for.  I used the pressure cooker and cooked my beans from dry for 1 hour.  This yielded approximately 5 cups of beans.  I  used two for this meal.

2 cups of beans

1 chicken breast, (I cut strips and then bite sized.)

I omitted the onion and the peanuts.

I had about 3 to 3 1/2 cups of broccoli, that I broke into bite sized pieces.

One red bell pepper cut into chunks

2 carrots in thick “matchsticks” (This was to replace crunch of onions and to bulk this out more.)

I omitted the red pepper flakes because my grandson was eating with us.

I used olive oil instead of bacon grease.

I added onion powder and 1 tablespoon of corn starch to 1/4 cup of liquid aminoes.

(I don’t use soy sauce.)

Cook chicken in a little bit of olive oil.

I used a med/high heat.

When the chicken was done, I added in all the vegetables.

Since I didn’t want a heavy fat content, I let them cook for a few minutes and then added a bit of water.

I covered it and let it briefly steam to finish softening my veggies.

I’m sorry I didn’t record a time.

I just kept checking until they suited me.

I then stirred in the sauce mixture and the beans and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

(While all this was cooking, I cooked rice in the Instant Pot.)

This is my largest frying pan, so don’t be fooled.  

This made a good amount.

This was the finished product all plated up.

The finished yield:

3 adults ate supper

1 toddler ate supper

And I packed two generous lunches with leftovers.

This recipe is a keeper.

Notes:

1.  I think frozen stir fry veggies would work fine.

2.  You could serve this over noodles.

3.  I didn’t add any extra salt or pepper — the sauce was enough.

4.  You could easily use beef, pork, or tofu cubes in this dish.

     

Triple Protein Salad — Recipe

I’m supposed to eat a high protein diet and average around 70 to 75 grams of protein a day.  While I do like meat, I find it hard to consume that much.  Not to mention that meat is expensive and I cannot have “steak” for every meal.  I try to find a way to eat a variety of protein sourcess of varying nature and cost.  Since I had a cup of chickpeas left, I thought I would share my “un-recipe” for  what I jokingly call “Three P Salad.”  It includes three protein sources (chicken and chicken eggs, chickpeas, and sour cream).  

These are the ingredients:

2 tablespoons Light mayo

2 tablespoons of Sour cream (I buy FF)

Chicken, cooked and coarsely chopped (I did one decent sized breast.)

Red onion, 1/2 small chopped to desired size

Celery, 1 stalk diced

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 dill pickle, diced

1 cup of cooked chickpeas

Salt and pepper to taste

Mash your chickpeas with a fork — I leave them kind of “chunky” for texture.

Add other ingredients.

Stir.

I added salt and pepper to taste.

It is now ready to serve.

However, I usually put it in a bowl and refrigerate it for a while to allow the flavors to meld.

Although your mileage may vary, my yield was approximately 5 cups.

Now for my notes:

1.  You can use any chicken or bits.  Or almost any leftover meat for that matter.

2.  Egg size doesn’t matter and you can add more or less.

3.  Any onion you like works.

4.  In addition to celery you can add carrots, apples, grapes, or whatever you like to bulk it out more.  Dried cranberries are pretty good, too.

5. You could easily drain and rinse a can of chickpeas for this.

6.  I don’t buy relish normally, but you could use pickle relish.

7.  Simply adjust the amount of mayo and sour cream to reflect what you need for your proportions.

8. Frugal note — cook an extra breast when you are cooking for something else for power savings.

As for serving:

On crackers

On a bed of lettuce

Wrapped in lettuce

In a sandwich

In a pita

In flour tortillas 

One final serving tip to stretch this even further.

Cook a batch of your favorite pasta.

Elbow noodles work well.  (GF works fine, too)

Stir noodles in.  Adjust mayo/etc.

Refrigerate and serve as a pasta salad.

(If I am making pasta salad, I will often use a “ranch” type seasoning blend to add some zing.)

Chickpea Patties Recipe

Since I cooked one pound of chickpeas in the pressure cooker yesterday, I thought I would share how I use them in meals.  I find I don’t particularly like to eat them by themselves, but when I use them as an ingredient I am quite fond of them. I’ve always struggled with bean burgers being too wet or too crumbly.  It took me some time of playing around and after years of experimenting I have finally created the recipe that works for me.

The ingredients are pretty simple.

2 cups of cooked chickpeas (drained)

1/2 of a medium red onion, finely diced

2 tsps. Of minced garlic

2 tsps. Of Italian seasoning

2 tbsp. Of olive oil (plus more for frying pan)

Salt/pepper to taste

1 egg

1 cup of gluten free panko bread crumbs 

(If using another “grain” make sure you use dry bread crumbs.)

Lightly cook onion and garlic in a small pan.  

(I added a tiny bit of olive oil.)

The goal is to remove that raw taste.

In food processor, with blade:

Mix chickpeas, cooked onion, garlic, Italian seasonings, salt, and pepper.

(I cooked my beans without any seasonings so I tasted the mixture until I had the salt level right.)

Then add in egg and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Mix again.

Mix in 1 cup of dry bread crumbs.

The mixture is slightly damp, but forms a good patty.

Heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a non stick frying pan.

Fry patties on medium heat until browned well on both sides.

Serve with your choice of sides, in pitas, or in buns with the usual burger fixings.

I opted for sliced bell pepper and sweet potato noodles.

The texture is firm without being too dry.

Vegetable Lo Mein Recipe (with options)

At the end of this post, I’ll share exactly what I did, but this recipe has lots of options.

You can cook your beans from scratch (you’ll need about 2 cups) or you can used canned — just drain and rinse.

You can use zucchini noodle, which I did, or you can use gluten free or wheat pasta of your choice.

You can use fresh veggies or a bag of stir fry blend.

You can use soy sauce or liquid aminoes.

You can use fresh pineapple, grate ginger, etc.  I didn’t.

You get the picture — pretty versatile.

My pithy recipe:

Cook your chickpeas.

I used the Instant Pot and cooked a pound with planned leftover.

If using canned, just drain and rinse.

Set aside.

1 or so cups of sliced cabbage

1/2 of a large red bell pepper

1 cup or so broccoli florettes (I broke them up to bite sized pieces.)

Carrot pieces

1 stalk of celery, sliced

Set aside.

If you are doing a traditional posta, start your pasta cooking.

If not, spiralize a zucchini or two.

Set aside.

In small sauce pan, mix:

8 ounces of pineapple tidbits in juice with 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (I use aminoes).

Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of ginger powder.

Stir in 1 teaspoon of diced garlic.

I added a tiny bit of black pepper.

Bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer a few minutes.

Meanwhile, stir fry your veggies.

I use olive oil, but you can use an oil of your choice.

I add the zucchini noodles last.

When the desired “softness” is almost reached stir in the sauce and let cook another minute or two.

Serve with your choice of sides.

I didn’t eat one.

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Recipe Link included)

A week or so ago, Mama brought me two small pumpkins that she was not going to use.  They had been given to her, but she does not eat pumpkin and she thought I might like to have them.  I put them both in the XL presssure cooker — still whole.  I cooked them and then saved the flesh.  I ended up with between 5 and 6 cups of pumpkin from them.  

 I love pumpkin cheesecake and since Thanksgiving was coming up it seemed a good way to use up some of the pumpkin.

 I made this recipe — RECIPE — with a few changes. 

 I wanted a deep dish pie with a gluten free crust, so I started by making 1 1/2 times the filling.  I used reduced fat cream cheese, turbinado sugar, fresh eggs, and my home cooked pumpkin.  I added pumpkin pie spice blend instead of worrying about separates.  For the crust, I used gluten free graham crackers that I pulverized in the food processor along.  (I added a bit of melted butter.). I did not take the crust all the way up the pie because I wasn’t sure how it would handle the baking time.  I ended up baking for 45 minutes, turning the oven off, and then letting sit in a hot oven for about 10 more minutes.

I ordered the “graham” crackers from Vitacost.

While this wasn’t the most beautiful cheesecake in the world, it was delicious.

We served it with whipped cream.

Despite the cost of the crust, which is higher for gluten free products...I consider this to be a pretty frugal make this time.

Cream cheese was on sale for the holidays.

The eggs and pumpkin were free.

The spices were on hand.

If I had gone crustless it would have all but been a free dessert.

Homemade Cheese Crackers — GF (Recipe Linked)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of fun, family, and food.

We have settled down for the day after in the peace and quiet of home and I’m trying my hand at a new recipe.

This recipe is from Gluten Free on a Shoestring.

I did not roll mine quite as thin as hers, but I wanted more of a Ritz cracker texture.

RECIPE 

My family loved them.

Apple Swirl Cake

No real recipe.  

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease an 8” cake pan.

Sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar in the bottom.

Arrange several paper thin slices of butter (or coconut butter substitute) over the brown sugar.

Arrange apple slices in a spiral.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Top with a mixed (per directions) cake mix.

(I used a 15 oz gluten free yellow cake mix from Aldi — made per directions except we wanted to omit any butter so I used shortening.)

Bake — my oven took 38 minutes.

Cool about 12 to 15 in pan on a cooling rack, then invert onto platter.

I didn’t get photos of the serving plates.

I simply sliced it into wedges, added a dollop of whipped cream, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

This was a hit with both the family and guests.

GF Flour Tortillas Review

A couple of weeks ago I tried the Aldi gluten free tortillas.

I honestly wasn't overly impressed with them.

They were dry and kind of chalky.

I rarely throw away food, but I ended up tossing the remainder of the package.

When I was in the Neighborhood Market (Walmart) I found Mission Gluten Free Tortillas.

I had heard a lot of good things about them and was actually excited to see them in our local store.

I have tested these pretty thoroughly.

I've made tacos with ground beef, used them as wraps for chicken and veggies with cheese, and used them to make breakfast wraps with scrambled eggs and bacon.

The final test was to see if they would make a good cheese quesadilla.

They do!

I've been very pleased with how well these taste.

Since they lend themselves to a variety of meals I feel like they are great for me to keep on hand.

The only downside I can see (and it isn't a big enough one for me to not recommend these) is that they are thin and one or two did tear easily.

I am sure it is due to the nature of the flours.

However, the taste and texture are quite good.

Kitchen Experiment

Long and complicated story short, we are having to make some dietary changes under doctor's orders.    We'll know in a bit how well they are or aren't working. Hopefully they'll work and be the end of constant back and forth to the doctor.  So with that in mind, we have been searching for a pizza crust alternative.  I think we have found one that we like just as good as traditional pizza crust. 

   Allow me to present a rice based pizza crust!

I followed the recipe fround here.

Of course, I made a few changes because I can't leave anything alone.

I started the crust cooking on the stove top and when the 15 minutes were up I transferred it to the oven under a low broil.

While the top firmed up a little more, I made sure I had my toppings ready.

(I just went with veggies and mozzarella cheese.)

When the top was dry and firm to my touch, I added my toppings and put back in the oven.

The results were a delicious pizza that was easy to cut in slices.

(The bottom corner shows a piece I deliberately flippedover to show how it crisped up.)