Dill Peorogies

I had my big work event yesterday, and didn't get any food at the party, so my husband got me a couple of pizzas from Papa Johns. We had buy one get one free coupons.

We had pizza for breakfast, too.

For dinner tonight my daughter is having her leftover Mexican and a side of spinach feta peorogies from Wegmans. I'm going to fry them in oil with butter and fresh dill.

Crazy Vegan Burgers

I started with a teaspoon canola oil, a teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of fresh dill and 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce. I'm frying some vegan boca burgers. We're not eating them with a bun and if I don't mind corrupting my vegan meal, I may add some smoked gouda.

But then, my daughter wanted cottage cheese and apple butter with hers. And a side of blueberries, so that's a lot of cheese.

My husband raved about these. He said they were so good he had to read the blog to find out what I did to them!

Fried Rice and Egg Rolls

I'm reheating some of my crab egg rolls for lunch today because I have to work late and this way I know my daughter has had some good stuff today.

The egg rolls can be found here:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/01/crab-rolls.html
For a side I prepared some 'fried rice.'
Ingredients:

• One tablespoon sesame seeds
• One tablespoon canola oil
• one teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
• one-half cup brown rice
• one quarter cup peas
• one quarter cup spinach, ripped tiny
• one small can water chestnuts

In a wok, combine the oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds. When the wok heats up, add the vegetables. Cook a few minutes and add the rice. Cook until the rice absorbs the leftover "sauce."

Banana Pancakes

I made a double batch of pancakes using Betty's Crocker's 25th anniversary cookbook.

The basic recipe for pancakes is this:
1 egg, beaten until fluffy
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
(combine ingredients and fry on griddle)

The Betty Crocker oat variant is this:
substitute 1/2 cup oats for 1/2 cup of the flour. Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. (This actually makes the calorie content go down from 100 to 85 calories a pancake)

Now, they claim the yield is nine four-inch pancakes.

So, this is what I did:
Angel's banana-oat pancakes
2 eggs, beaten until fluffy
1 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1.5 cups soymilk
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons canola oil
6 teaspoons baking powder (which isn't that 2 tablespoons?)
pinch idiozed sea salt
2 extra ripe small bananas mixed thoroughly into batter
1 banana, perfect eating condition, sliced to stir into batter

Leftovers get frozen for quick, yummy breakfasts later.

Modified Ugly Bean Dip

We needed a quick vegetable-rich dinner, so we made ugly bean dip. We modified the recipe based on what we had on hand:

Sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup sugar
(I did not use it all)
Boil and cool.

Dip ingredients, mix in bowl:
red onion to taste, finely diced (about 3/4 cup for me)
3 small tomatoes from the garden, diced
about 1 cup finely diced cucumber
about 1 cup yellow corn
one can black beans, drained

Pour sauce on ingredients and stir.

We didn't have the fancy scoop Fritos so we ended up dumping the fritos on top of our dip on the plate and spooning it into our mouths instead of dipping.

Chicken Nuggets with Broccoli

I made a special lunch today since I plan on running away to a special French dinner tonight, so hubby and daughter will have nachos for dinner (a great option when it's 90 degrees).

So, we had some leftover chicken tenders (four) so I cut them into thirds and cooked them in some canola oil, butter and sprinkled on some of my organic rainbow peppercorns. I added two thin slices of garlic. While they cooked, I took some of my homemade breadcrumbs, added the rainbow pepper, garlic powder and my pizza and pasta seasoning. Then I rolled the hot chicken in it. I fried the chicken again. (Yeah, this isn't low-fat.)

Then I sauteed some broccoli in a little oil with about a teaspoon of butter and sprinkled garlic powder on it (I was too tired and hungry to slice fresh). Then, I served with a side of ranch dressing (my ranch was spiked with Frank's Red Hot Sauce) and a dollop of lavender honey in another side. That was fabulous on the chicken.

But I also served some leftover peanut butter and graham crackers leftover from my lunch Friday (which also tasted incredible with the honey.)

And for dessert... a watermelon.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

My daughter and I are planning a birthday party today. We decided to celebrate my husband's birthday, which is technically Sept. 11. I had planned to go to the store and get the makings for a chicken-corn pot pie concoction, but that has been delayed. Instead, we are making a pumpkin cake, a variant of my carrot cake recipe.

My original carrot cake recipe is listed if you click on the cake link and read the "pumpkin spice muffin" entry.

Today's "Pumpkin Spice Cake"

Sift:
3 cups flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
about 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
about 1/2 teaspoon ginger
about 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
about 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Blend into batter:
15 ounces pumpkin
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt

Beat two minutes.
I could have added four eggs one at a time, but instead I used ONE egg, two ripe bananas and five tablespoons apple butter.

Add walnuts and/or walnuts if desired. I didn't.

Pour into greased and floured 13x9 pan and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.

VERDICT: I used storebought cream cheese icing on it, and this turned out to be the best cake ever. It is soooo good. My husband said: "Did you just find a new recipe somewhere or did you make something up?" We know the answer-- I made it up.

Curried fried veggies

I'm probably going to make Morningstar chk'n patties or nuggets to accompany this... but I have broccoli, carrots and cauliflower cooking now. I mixed some curry powder (amount based on the smell) with breadcrumbs and plan to roll the veggies in the mix and fry them. We'll see how it turns out...

Wow... another culinary coup. ;-)

To try this at home:

Angel's curried fried vegs

1. Cook your vegetables, but not too soft. I used about 2-3 cups of frozen cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli.

2. Mix about 3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs, two tablespoons curry powder, and two tablespoons garlic powder.

3. Roll veggies in the crumbs, the moisture from cooking should help them stick.

4. Heat canola oil in skillet. I used about a 12 inch skillet and used a layer of oil about 1/2 inch thick. That's pretty generous for me.

5. Drop coated veggies in hot oil and fry until crispy and darker. I drained mine on paper towels before serving.

photo caption: Morningstar buffalo chicken wings, commercial spinach dip (for the nuggets) and Angel's curried-fried veggies.