Sundaes for breakfast

Blame sour milk for this. My husband make Belgian waffles to use up some sour milk. So we made some mammoth sundaes. For breakfast.

But we put lots of fruit on them.

The final meal

Looks delicious!

It was! The vegetables, which had no butter, cooking in their own juices... We had them in the coals for 90 minutes. They were succulent.

The ras el hanout made the spiced pack very tangy and too hot for the child.

The Morningstar hot dogs were edible but far from amazing. Vegetarian hot dogs are a tricky busy.

BBQ of errors

We put a glass jar of green tea on the front step to brew.

We preheated our tiny charcoal grill for our first solo barbecue. We sprayed some aluminum foil and wrapped slices of red potato and organic carrot. One pocket had ras el hanout. The other is plain.

After twenty minutes, the downpour begins. Husband moves the grill under the cute dormer of the garage. I get the umbrella. Child plays in mud puddles.

Sun comes out.

We get the Morningstar veggie dogs. One fell in the grill. That was fun to dig out since we don't have tongs.

First meal on the grill

Asked our family friend Dan to teach us how to grill. Smoked sausage from my mother-in-law's favorite butcher, red peppers, corn-on-the-cob, and red potatoes. With a crisp honeydew for dessert! It was simple & incredible. Anxious to start on my own... Stay tuned!

Sesame sautéed brussel sprouts

Thanks to author friend Diane N. for suggesting a drizzle of sesame oil and some dried mustard on brussel sprouts! I put a drop of sesame oil on each sprout, but haven't tried with mustard yet.

Lunch was these sprouts with a vegetarian sausage and one scrambled egg. Now I want a tall glass of orange juice

Dinner is a vegetable

We went for my birthday ice cream at 5 pm, a nice peanut butter ice cream dusty road at the Purple Cow Creamery. Heavenly!

Now, it's 6:30 and I made some organic carrot sticks, raw cucumbers and fried up some Wegmans feta and spinach peorogies in leftover oil from last night.

That should make up for a lack of real food.

Evening wine

I snapped. Had to have wine. Sent Husband to the liquor store and he came home with a cheap bottle of La Vieille Ferme 2010.

Served with Snack Factory Everything pretzel chips, and cheese-- the cheese was a birthday present, aged cheddar and Monterey jack. And sweet Lebanon bologna. And the last of the dates. (Another birthday present)

And for "dessert," 61% cacao chocolate with almonds. My PMS impulse buy.

Life is good.

By the way, the wine was $9.99

Crab egg rolls

I have revisited a family favorite: homemade egg rolls. A previous version of my crab egg rolls can be found in this entry from January 2010:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/01/crab-rolls.html?m=1

But these are a tad simpler, take 30 minutes start to finish, and taste incredible.

I fried them in about 1/2 inch canola oil with a few dashes of sesame oil. It's too expensive and doesn't handle high temps well but a few splashes do taste wonderful.

If you wish to make these vegan, stuff with your favorite veggies and potentially tofu if you wish and seal with corn starch and water instead of egg and water.

INGREDIENTS:
- one can crab meat, or other meat if desired. I use the Bumblebee white meat because it's cheap and i'm broke
- one bag broccoli slaw from the produce department at Wegmans (the original recipes recommends cabbage but this comes already shredded and packs an incredible nutritional wallop)
- a few tablespoons of Tzatziki (sp?) dressing just to lubricate it. It's not necessary and this is the first time I tried it.
- a teaspoon or so of ginger
- a hearty dash of fresh ground black pepper
- some country herb seasoning (or any herbs that appeal. Fresh dill is magnificent.
- I also added a hearty dose of ras wl hanout but I don't expect anyone else too

Get some Egg Roll Wrappers. Peel, fill, smear with an egg-water wash, fold up, and fry.

Pizza-ish Pipettes

I had to use up a bag of salad, so I started this meal with the following:
- side salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, red cabbage and cucumbers with raspberry cherry vinaigrette dressing
- last of the pickled, mustard seed vegetables canned last summer

Drink: juice with bubbles

And the pasta:
INGREDIENTS
- one box pipettes, cooked
- Morningstar vegetarian meatballs
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- one small can Hunts no salt added tomato sauce
- one can pizza sauce
- hearty handfuls of real parmesan cheese

1. Fry the meatballs in the skillet until thawed and slightly warm
2. Add sauces and cook on low until bubbly
3. Add pasta, stir well
4. Top with cheese and serve

Birthday

Breakfast: cake
Lunch: Wegmans classic escargot
Next stop: purple cow ice cream

Small picnic

It's an insane day in our household. Dad works 9-2, Mom works 3-10. The library (Mom's the board president) has a book fair 10-3. Child has dance 11-12:30.

Picnic.

Yup.

Rushed home from child's dance class to pack a picnic while she's dancing.
- juice with bubbles
- cucumber with homemade zesty creamy dippings (dill, country herbs, mayo, lemon juice, yogurt dressing)
- baguette with sweet Lebanon bologna and havarti dill cheese
- last of the canned peaches
- a fresh d'Anjou pair

All in a wicker basket with cloth napkins

Hello, Wegmans

I needed some fresh produce and unusual food. Stuff you can't get at Target. I'm tired of the cheap stuff I buy at Target. And it doesn't help that I went to a Greatlands Target today near my daughter's ENT's office but couldn't buy the cool stuff they carry that we don't because it would have had to sit in the hot car.

Then daughter lost a tooth and I needed to assist the supernatural entity who is obsessed with teeth.

I went to Wegmans although I'm ridiculously broke. Just me and my visa at 9 p.m.

I spent $70.27. I bought:

- eggs, one dozen large, 89 cents
- 12 count classic escargot in pesto-butter, 2 boxes at $6.99 each
- Amy's Organic Tofu Scramble pockets, 3 at $2.49 each
- 2 bags of frozen broccoli florets, not cuts, florets, $1.99 each
- 4 pound bag of spinach-feta peorogies, $5.99
- Wegmans chunky pizza sauce, 2 jars at $1.19 each
- pear halves in juice, the big can, 2 cans at $1.59 each
- pear slices in juice, the big can (meant to get three of the others), $1.59
- canned white crab meat, $2.29 (for egg rolls)
- Bob's Five Grain Cereal, $2.39
- Wegmans spirals Mac and cheese dinner, 10 at 39 cents each
- Wegmans dark chocolate with almonds, $1.99
- sweet Lebanon bologna, one pound, $4.99
- silly putty, $1.99
- baguette, $2.25
- 2 Anjou pears (or was it 3), $1.52
- 1 green pepper, large, $1.21
- bagged lettuce, 99 cents
- broccoli slaw, $2
- 1 cucumber, 99 cents
- egg roll wrappers, $2.99
- one pound organic carrots, $1.19

Pumpkin breakfast bars

Adapted from:

http://www.thedailycrumb.com/2011/11/01/chewy-pumpkin-breakfast-bars/

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix wet ingredients:
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1/2 cup peanut-almond-cashew butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses

In separate bowl mix dry ingredients:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2/3 cup brown sugar

Add dry to wet ingredients, slowly.

Add:
- 1/8 cup organic apricot preserves
- 3/4 cup golden raisins
- 4 medjool dates, chopped

Bake 30-40 minutes

Pumpkin pancakes

Adapted from:
http://www.howto-simplify.com/2010/10/pumpkin-pancakes.html?m=1

My husband, a Virgo and mellow by nature, slammed some cereal boxes on the table this morning and bellowed, "Why is breakfast always my responsibility?"

Because I'm not functional in the early morning.

So I'm making pumpkin pancakes to freeze, heat and eat.

DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 cups unbleached white flour
- 1 cup stoneground wheat flour
- 1 heaping heaping tablespoon baking powder
- about 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground sea salt
- about 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- about 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Combine. Mix wet ingredients and then blend two together.

WET INGREDIENTS
- 2 eggs
- about eight ounces pumpkin/ half a can/ half a cup
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 cup vanilla almond milk
- about 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 2 tablespoons melted butter

I got a yield of 18 pancakes, with a batter thick enough that I had to spread it onto the griddle with a rubber spatula.

Pockets

Not an elaborate dinner by any means... My daughter did most of the preparation on this one.

-2 pie crusts
- one fairly large package broccoli with four cheese sauce
- diced chicken
- buffalo blue cheese dip
- fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Arrange pie crusts in cookie sheet.

We'll eventually fold over the pie crusts and pinch them closed so we want to fill only one side.

Place chicken, then coat with buffalo blue cheese dip, sprinkle with pepper, smother with broccoli in cheese sauce and pinch closed.

Bake about 20 minutes.

Flounder with homemade tartar sauce

Today for Sunday dinner I made white rice, green beans almandine and Archer Farm lemon-chive flounder with homemade tartar sauce.

I got the fish on clearance, $2.48 for three servings. I made the tartar sauce on the back of the box, with modifications based on my family's preferences.

The original recipe:
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons chopped pickle, relish or capers
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix and refrigerate

My version:
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives (chopped) from my garden
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme from my garden
- 1/2 dill pickle spear, chopped
- 2 teaspoons honey mustard (no other varieties in the house)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

I loved this sauce, so did my husband. That's amazing since I hate mayo and he hates mustard, citrus and pickles.

Gardein burgers

Went to Target for a few things on sale and ended up using coupons and getting a bunch of clearanced food. Spent $104 and filled the fridge, the freezer and most of the cupboards. No more snow peas for lunch!

I had a coupon for $1.50 off 3 Gardein meatless products. They were on sale for $3.79 and they're normally $4.49. We got burgers, chicken fingers and beef tips.

Martin's Potato Rolls were on sale for $2.49, regularly $3.29.

Organic spring mix was on sale for $2, regularly $3.99.

I fried up some burgers with spring mix on potato rolls, served with a side of Bush's vegetarian baked beans and the cantaloupe I promised my daughter.

That lunch hit the spot!

Peanut Butter Evaluation

We have no food in the house but vegetables, noodles, rice and dried beans. I was hoping to make it to payday before grocery shopping, but after having snow peas for lunch and dinner, it became apparent that wasn't going to work.

I don't have much in the checkbook, and I worked 12:30 to 5 yesterday. So at noon, I went to Target to try and find non-perishables for dinner. Because I knew at 5, I'd simply want to go home.

So... I got breakfast for dinner.

- Archer Farm Apple Fritter breakfast bread, $3.99
- Peanut Butter and Company Natural No-Stir White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter, $3.74
- Market Pantry blueberry crunch cold cereal (it's supposed to taste like blueberry muffins), $2.54
- Market Pantry cinnamon toast cereal, $2.54

We had unsweetened soy milk at home for extra protein.

And that was dinner.

The child loved it because we rarely eat cold cereal.

While in the store, I noticed we had Better Oats oatmeal on sale. That's the instant oatmeal I prefer based on nutrition and ingredients. It was on sale for $1 a box. That's 20 cents a serving before my employee and REDcard discounts! I bought six boxes.

A note on the peanut butter:
The ingredients are peanuts, evaporated cane juice, vanilla, cocoa butter, palm fruit oil, lecithin from sunflowers, and salt.

Nutritionally, it matches JIF, but has less salt and 11 grams of carbs per serving versus 7 for JIF.

Sugar Cake from the Flour Shop

My mother-in-law brought me sugar cake from The Flour Shop. I fell in love with sugar cake at Moravian College and even had a Moravian Love Feast at our wedding.

My grandmother-in-law used to make sugar cake-- the real version made with potatoes.

As soon as I tasted this, all brown sugar and buttery, I knew The Flour Shop uses the real recipe too!

Haven't had the real thing in years...

Biscuits and gravy

The kids (mine and her playmate) made biscuits and gravy. The kids made the multi-grain biscuits (adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe) and I believe I've posted that recipe before.

The gravy was also a Betty Crocker recipe:
- 2 tablespoons meat drippings
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup liquid (broth, water or milk)
- pinch salt and pepper

Mix and heat until bubbly

I used frozen beef drippings and soy milk.