Recipes

Main Dish:

Baked Pasta

Burritto

Falafel and Roti

Lasagna Rolls

Meatball Subs (that doesn't involve meat)

Sloppy Joes

Sides:

Biscuits

Breadsticks

Potatoes Rojo

Millet salad Mexicano

Sweet potato pancakes

Lebanese garbanzo beans

Soups:

Vegetable Chowder

Dips:

French Onion dip

Extra:

Energy bars

Thanksgiving 2013

I was really ready to not care at all about thanksgiving this year, and in the end I only really made stuff we normally would eat. The recipe I wanted to share from this, though, is my mac and cheese recipe. I have experimented with mac and cheese for years. I think its like one of those recipes like chili or tomato sauce that you have to try a lot of recipes and experiment with them in order to find what your preference is. My trouble with mac and cheese up until now is that most of the recipes use a bachamel sauce, and I can't help it but bachamel sauce tastes like gravy to me. gravy with cheese added. cause it is gravy with cheese added. lets be honest. So I have been working around that this whole time. Meanwhile some time ago I found this recipe that was roasted potatoes with cheese on top. So I would fry up some fake ground sausage with garlic and fennel seeds added and I would add it to the potatoes and roast it with cheese and serve it with steamed kale. Then I thought: wouldn't this be great in a soft taco shell as a taco? Well it was. but I had to go one step further. The step further was based off of my pasta sauce. I was making a red marinara sauce and an alfredo sauce and adding them together, because red sauce alone is kind of hard on me cause of my acid reflux. I simplified the alfredo sauce by just heating up heavy cream, adding a little vegetable bullion cube, and parm cheese. So I decided to try this with sharp white cheddar cheese. It was delicious and tasted so so good on the potato/sausage tacos. Recipe about 1/2 cup of heavy cream Sharp white cheddar cheese, maybe about half a block, added in after the cream gets hot. DON'T BOIL CREAM add about 1/4 piece of vegetable bullion cube pepper. Mix until cheese melts. Experiment with cheese and cream amounts. I just decide how much to put in of each when I make it. So back to the original point, I thought: Wouldn't this work for my mac and cheese too? So I doubled what you see up there, boiled some macaroni noodles, cut up some shiitaki mushrooms and broccoli, mixed it together and baked it on 350 for about 1/2 an hour. clyde lovvvves it. the shiitakes are really important, they give it really good flavor. make sure you don't add too many noodles for how much cheese sauce you make. I make the whole box, and add them in slowly to figure out a good ratio. This was the highlight of thanksgiving this year.

3 roasted root pasta (aka salty pasta)

it gets salty. I'm just saying.
first i roasted some root vegetables.
I used
1 beet
1 parsnip
1 carrot
cut into about 1 inch chunks. i put them in bowl and coated them with about 1 tablespoon of oil, pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. After they were coated i put them on a baking sheet into a 425 degree oven.
after 8 minutes i turned everything over
after 8 more minutes I take the parsnip and carrot off the baking sheet and then I put the beet back in a baked until it was done. I think it took maybe 10 or 15 more minutes.
MEANWHILE
I cooked up about 5 strips of fake bacon until it was nothing but crisp. (stiff)
I did this by putting oil in my cast iron and putting bacon in until it was no longer soft. it couldn't move without cracking.
MEANWHILE
I sauted 1/2 on onion.
I cut up about 6 kalamata olives, about a jars worth of artichoke hearts, and about 8 sundried tomatoes (i just get a combo thing of them at the Mediterranean bar at kroger). I also cut up about 1 leaf of collards so I could have some leafy green. After the onions were cooked I added all this into the onion pan with about 1/4 cup grated parm. cheese. I added the roots.
I cooked brown rice spiral noodles.

Resist, then give in

I had to resist all caffe ine for a little while since my acid reflux became constant and uncontrollable, and since my sugar is mostly in my beverages, I also had less sugar. Then, when I got my medication I gave in. Thats been going on since. So now its back to the resist side. I am going for a one sugar and caffeine drink a day (total is one drink). I just read this thing about controlling your blood sugar for keeping alert. Which I and everyone knows, but I still have to give in and my sugar intake has really increased a lot so I have been pretty anxious which causes compulsive talking, and thats never good. Resisting is fun, too.

I have been really successful this week thinking about how to divide my recipes into categories. First, I think of the base, which is the pasta, or rice, or tortilla. etc.

Then the protein

Then the vegetables

Then the spices
Then the sauce.

The cooking method (baked, loose, fried, grilled, boiled)

The recipe practically writes itself. I was successful in this with a pasta dish I made the other night. Here is what I did:

cook 1 box of whole wheat penne until its still kind of hard, cause we are baking this in sauce

I made a sauce out of about 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1 cup of rice milk, and almost all of a wedge of fontina cheese. maybe over a cup. I made this in a large pot, because I am adding everything to it. I cooked an onion in this pan before I added the milk and cheese, and also added about 2 tablespoons of butter. Then I added the vegetables. I added mushrooms that were quartered, some spicy greens that were called kale but I have my doubts, and broccoli. For my protein I added some tofurky cut into cubes and some green peas. for the spices I did spicy-ish since its a white sauce. black pepper, paprkia, and red pepper flakes. I put all of this in my thickened sauce and added the noodles. Then I put it in a 350 degree oven until it was cooked. about 20 minutes. it was pretty good.

good biscuits with a buttermilk substitution

This biscuit recipe is way better than my older one.

It comes from the Better Homes and Gardens 14th edition cookbook, which is awesome, by the way.

What was the most useful about this cookbook is it explained how to substitute buttermilk and get the same results. apparently buttermilk is acidic, and in recipes with buttermilk there is also baking soda, and when those acid and baking soda collide there is that volcano action from our science project youth. so to subsitute you want to put one tablespoon of acidic liquid like lemon juice or vinegar into a glass measuring cup or a one cup measuring cup. then add enough milk to make one cup total. (not a cup and tablespoon, but a cup of combined liquid total). Rice milk works fine, thats what I use. let sit for 5 minutes.

3 cups all purpose flour (but I do half and half all purpose and half whole wheat successfully)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (just give up substitution and buy it)

3/4 cup cold butter (I found out you want it cold, cause I used to melt it and add it, so that when the butter melts in the dough while cooking it releases steam causing the flaky layers)

1 and 1/4 cups sour milk

this is a wet dough by the way

Preheat oven to 450 deg.

combine dry ingredients. (1-5)

cut up butter and add into dough. you can use a pastry blender, or two knives I have heard you can use, I rub it in with my fingers until its all flour/butter granuals.

make a well in center and add milk

stir until moistened. its pretty wet.

flour your board and kneed it a few times and pat it out until its about 3/4 inch thick (I guess) and cut out biscuits with a cutter or in my case a cup rim. cook for 10-14 minutes.

This recipe should cook about 12 biscuits. I always cut it in half.

some things I have found out or heard:

don't kneed them too much or they get ruined. I don't know the consequences, and I also don't know how much is too much. I've heard that from multiple sources.

secondly don't oil your baking sheet. I have done this. my bottoms cooked way faster, I think.

The recipe says not to do this, but I was scared of them sticking so I did it anyway. you don't need to.

Lebanese garbanzos

this calls for fava beans, but every time I buy them and cook them they smell a little funny and never get fully soft, so I just use chick peas and everything works out fine. So use what you want.

2 cups beans (I just use a can of chickpeas) can also be fava or broad beans

2 garlic cloves crushed and finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup cut up parsley

green onion

in bowl combine everything after beans are cooked. I like my beans to still be hot, though.

energy bars

we can't eat the store granola bars cause of the nuts, but this works

1 cup rolled oats (I don't use instant, but the recipe says you can)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (use what you want)

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup dried fruit + 1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dry milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (but who are we kidding, I love cinnamon, I probably use like a tablespoon)

1/3 cup maple syrup (unless I have it for a special occasion, I use honey here. It works not as well in taste, but fine in consistency after which I have heated to make runny).

2 eggs

preheat oven to 350 deg.

coan 9X13 pan

put everything but syrup and eggs in blender (of course I use the magic bullet, and do this in batches)

after you get it out of blender then add syrup and eggs.

put into pan and coat bottom evenly.

cook until brown. it says 20 minutes, but mine cooked way faster than that, so check it after 10.

cool for 15 minutes.

sweet potato pancakes

1 pound sweet potato

3 scallions

2 large eggs beaten

1/2 cup all purpose flour

salt and pepper

oil

grate potatoes

put in bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix together

I used a cast iron skillet and heated up the oil and used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out and fry. make sure you really flatten them out after you put them on the skillet. 4-5 minutes per side, or you know, until they are brown.

the problem I always have with stuff like this is that some are out while others are frying, which always leads the the first ones being a little greasy (in my opinion). I kept them warm in the oven after they drained on some paper towels for a little while, but still, I wish I could fry everything up at the same time.

millet salad mexicano (but I used quinoa)

I have used both quinoa and millet in this recipe and both are good.

1 cup millet

2 cups water

salt

kernels from six ears of corn (I did about 1/2 cup of frozen)

2 ripe avacados

2 tablespoons green onion

4 chopped tomato

(although the recipe didn't call for it I added carrots and celery and put it all on top of greens instead of just the grain being the base, and it worked fine)

dressing

combine:

1/2 cup of lime juice (I used lemons both times, except this last time I combined lemons and lime juice, and it worked fine both times)

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon cumin (I cut this in half, don't LOVE the cumin)

1/4 cilantro

So if your doing millet roast grains for 5-7 minutes. then combine millet and water to boil, adding salt, for 30 minutes.

if your doing quinoa I just followed the directions on its box.

put on baking sheet to cool.

put down greens and add grain, then the rest of the salad ingredients. pour dressing on top. sooooo good

I got a mixer, I got a mixer, I got a mixer, I got a mixer

Yea. I got a mixer. The kitchen tractor. Finally. I have been nagging Clyde for 2 whole years about it, and so he said "lets go get it". We got a 5 Qt. one from cosco. I can't wait to get the pasta making attachment. I think the reason clyde finally caved is that he is currently prescribed opiates for his wisdom tooth pain, so he is more suggestive. but whatever, I finally got a mixer.
Here is how it went down:
I am blurry because I am jumping up and down.





Here it is on our counter next to our new espresso/coffee maker which we love (the magic bullet is in the middle because it always has to represent as the REAL kitchen tractor)



Today is sunday, which is already bread making day. I followed the recipe in the book, it went like this:

Kitchenaid bread:
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 cups hot water
2 packs of Active dry yeast
5-6 cups whole wheat flour (I only used 5)
3/4 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil
(Instead of 5 cups flour, I substituted 1/2 a cup of 6 grain cereal that I grinded in the greatest magic bullet. Usually I will also do another 1/2 cup of a mix of grinded flax and sunflower seeds, but clyde is afraid they may get into his tooth hole)

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in all of the water and yeast until the yeast rises. this takes about 10 minutes.
Put 4 cups of flour, the powdered milk, the rest of the brown sugar, and salt in the mixer. attach the kneading hook. turn the mixer on to the kneading speed and mix a few seconds. while its kneading add yeast liquid and oil. let it mix for about 2 min longer, may have to stop and scrape. Gradually add in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time ( allowing it to be completely mixed in between half cups) until it doesn't stick to the side of the bowl. At that point let it go a few more minutes.
Put into an oiled bowl and let rise about an hour. I put the oven on 400, left it on a few minutes (it never even reached 400) , turned it off and put the bread in there.
After an hour cut the bread in half and put it in two loaf pans, or like I used to do, a loaf pan and shape one in an oval and put it on a flat pan. Let rise another hour.
After that put in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temp to 350 for another 20 or so minutes.
its not as good as my old bread, but I will adjust.
here it is:


Take it out of the pan so that it doesn't get soggy.

I also made roti, but it doesn't mix well in the mixer, so I wouldn't suggest it.
Roti
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (but you can just use 2 cups all purpose if you want )
1 teaspoon of salt
Mix these together
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix
add 3/4 up hot water.
Mix into ball o' dough.
Its sticky. Then I heat up my pan on about 5-7. Med - med. high heat. I use cast iron with no oil. My Teflon did well for this with no oil, but my aluminum (?) metal pans they just stick to with no oil. But if you use oil they turn out crispy. So I take out small balls of dough. really small. smaller than the falafel. I use a wine bottle for a rolling pin for this because it makes it easy to hold one side of the dough while rolling, because you want it pretty thin. Recently I have made it less thin, like maybe the thickness of a tortilla. and about the size of a small tortilla. So when your done you pretty much have a tortilla, which i have used as replacement when I didn't feel like making this bread, but this bread is better. They cook really quick, just a few seconds on each side, and they get bubbles of air on them while cooking. they are good.

I have been putting them on wax paper and inside a plastic bag in the freezer, they last.

Last I made pizza tonight. (to use the mixer again) We had good toppings:
zucchini cut thin, garlic, onions that were sauted, black olives, broccoli, spinach, and mozzarella cheese. I used the frozen sauce from last sunday. it was good.



I had the thick crust on the right










I'll come back to the pizza dough in the mixer recipe, because I did not do it right.
Here is the old way:

Pizza dough:
1 and 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour (I use half wheat and it works)
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Put yeast in a small bowl and cover it with 1/4 cup of the hot water. Let it sit until its all yeasty, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix dry ingredients.
When ready add yeast mix, oil, and rest of the water.
mix and kneed on floured surface about 3-5 minutes.
put into an oiled bowl, make sure its covered with oil, and let it sit for an hour.

clyde got his wisdom teeth out

poor little clyde cannot chew. So I am on the soft food kick again. like thanksgiving, only instead of antibiotics they were fully removed. Miso soup would have been good for tonight, but the tooth extraction was unexpected, and I grocery shop on the weekend for the whole week, so I did not have the ingredients. All I have on fridays are left over vegetables and flour, pantry items, etc. So I made a mixture of things that are soft to give him a spectrum. Unfortunately if you boil vegetables as much as I did tonight they lose all nutritional value. but whatever, we gotta eat. First I made mashed potatoes/cauliflower. I like to mix cauliflower with the potatoes to lessen the amount of carbohydrates. Next I made cream of broccoli soup from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook grandma got me for Christmas. I deviated a lot because I didn't have too much broccoli. Clyde really liked it.

Cream of Broccoli soup (with mushrooms)
2 cups cut broccoli (but recipe suggests 4 cups broccoli, no mushrooms, you be the judge)
1 cup cut mushrooms
1 and 1/2 cup broth (I used vegetable, but you can use whatever kind)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Boil the cut vegetables for about 10 minutes. I put them directly into the strainer, because I don't like them to be hot when I magic bullet them because of the steam buildup.
Next you make your basic cream sauce, melt the butter, add the flour, stir for a minute.
Then add the milk and stir that for another minute. this is all on med. heat. It will get really thick during this time.
Next stir in 3/4 cup broth.
Put all or half (I did all cause of clyde, the recipe says just blend half and put the other directly in.) of the vegetables into the magic bullet with the other 3/4 cup of broth. I love the magic bullet. blend
add to soup.
add the cheese
season with salt and pepper.

Last I made biscuits. thats on here a bunch of time and I am too lazy to link it.
I gotta find more soft food recipes.

sunday is funday. aka. cooked a lot

OK so I have been not feeling like cooking a lot on the week, so I tried an experiment of cooking a lot of freezable items on sunday to see how well they turn out unfrozen. this is because I do not like the taste of reheated/frozen food so much that its an experiment. I was looking at giadas first cookbook and found that tomato sauce is freezable. Although I do not use her recipe, I do use a lot of sauce during the week, and it does take awhile to cook. So I tried it. yesterday I tried to reheat it, and it takes a while. Not as long as cutting up all the stuff for the sauce and cooking it, but I guess if you have a microwave it will help to thaw the sauce first. here is my sauce recipe:

Marinara sauce:
saute onion (I don't like a lot of onion, so I usually only do half of one)
with 1 carrot and 1 celery
with 2-3 garlic cloves (clyde likes garlic)
Until it is pretty soft
Next I magic bullet 2 cans of diced tomatoes and add
add:
1 table parsley
1 table basil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
Cook until tasty, about 1/2 hour

I also tried cooking ravioli to freeze. THIS DOES NOT WORK. very disappointed. The recipe was good, and without the freezing problem it would have worked. The advise was to line the ravioli on wax paper in the freezer for 15 minutes, then put into a ziplock bag.
Problem #1: they stuck to the wax paper when peeling off. made holes.
Problem # 2: they stuck to each other in the bag and made a lump. I tried to pry them apart. make a mess.

So if your not freezing them, here is the recipe:
Ravioli
The first thing you want to do is press a container of tofu. This is easiest by cutting it lenghwise into 4 pieces, wrapping it in a towel or shirt, and laying a baking sheet on top if it with many heavy items on top of that. if the tofu isn't pressed for this recipe it is too watery, and you can really tell. After about 1/2 hour or more take the tofu out and crumble it by just squeezing it thru your fingers until its in small pieces. In this recipe I am using it to substitute for ricotta, so it should have a similar texture when finished. add a little bit of sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper, about 1 or 2 tablespoons of basil and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. mix and set aside.

next you need
10-15 mushrooms cut
1 ten oz. pack of frozen spinach- thawed and drained
I added a few pieces of broccoli, optional though
1 egg mixed with a teaspoon of water
1 package of won-ton wrappers

about 10-15 mushrooms cut into pieces. saute until they have lost all of their liquid. when these are finished you can decide whether to food process them with the spinach (as suggested by recipe) before mixing with tofu, or just mix them with the tofu, like I did. its total preference.
lay out won-ton wrappers.
one at a time use brush to put egg around the edges of wrapper, add spoonful of filling, then egg another wrapper, and top it. squeeze the edges together. it should seal. put them on floured baking sheet until its time to cook.
It helps me to wash fingers occasionally, or they stick to wrappers and make mess.
bring salted water to boil. add oil and ravioli, 4 at a time so they don't stick. The cooking time varies. she says 3 minutes, but that isn't really enough. I just pull some out and try it every few minutes until they taste done. cheese on top.
I use the extra filling and put in my red sauce I pour on top of this. I serve it with penne.


Man, I haven't even gotten to the curry, flat bread, and yeast bread I made on sunday, but its time to make dinnerd. fajitas. mmmmm.

melissas miso recipe

Melissa sent me this recipe. I love miso soup.


>
> Miso Soup 2
>
> Ingredients:
>
> 4.0 cup Water
>
> 3.0 tbsp Miso Paste
>
> 1.0 packet (8 ounces) Silken Tofu
>
> 2.0 whole green onion, chopped
>
>
>
> Cooking Directions:
>
> 1. In a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat, combine dashi granules and
> water. Bring mixture to a boil. 2. Reduce heat to medium and stir in miso
> paste, tofu, and vegetables. 3. Cook on low heat for about 3-5 minutes.
> Serve.

getting settled

First post of the new year!!! I wanted to start taking pictures and video for each one, but we are still getting set up in the new place, so we aren't so high tech yet. I have had lots of food on the mainland that was so good I wanted to mention it, but I am going to digress to today.
meals have been spotty since I came back because of new food and new kitchens, but we have finally found our own little place to live, and my kitchen is quite nice. I have two big windows and much cutting space. The oven is spotty, but only because the seal is broken so it doesn't seal. So far so good. Tonight I made the tvp (textured vegetable protein) sloppy joes and spicy baked macaroni, which I got from the cookbook Giadas Everyday pasta. I got this cookbook from Melissa for Christmas, she is my favorite food network person. here is the recipe: (modified by me)

(I will give her measurements, but I reduced by a lot)
1 pd. macaroni pasta (I used Radiatori, cause I had no mac. noodles)
1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 10 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 and 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 and 1/3 cup grated romano cheese (I only had parm cheese, so It was find without this)
2 tablespoons butter, softened, and 2 table cold butter
12 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed
(I added chopped broccli)

preheat to 350 deg.
cook mac noodles (or what you got) until somewhat firm
heat oil and cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic until tender. stir in tomatoes, spinach, and red pepper flakes about 5 minutes.
in a small bowl mix bread crumbs and 1/4 cup of both cheeses
cover the bottom of a 9 * 13 * 2 in. glass baking dish with the soft butter
spread 1/2 of the bread crumb mix on the bottom
in a large bowl mix the veggies, macaroni, and cheeses. I added lots of salt, pepper, garlic salt, and basil. put into pan. top with the rest of breadcrumb mix and finish with putting cold butter pieces around. cook for 20-30 minutes

TVP sloppy joes

So backtracking:
During thanksgiving clyde had a infected tooth, and couldn't really chew. So I delayed the holiday in order to prepare only soft foods for clyde. This was soft and good, we like this recipe:

TVP sloppy joes
Ingredients
1 cup TVP
3/4 cup boiling water
1 diced onion
1 minced carrot (This is what I usually use, but I thought carrot would be hard for clyde, so instead I used about 6 mushrooms)
1/2 zucchini
1/3 cup water
28 oz of tomato sauce
1 and 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar
1 table of molasses
2 tables of chili powder
1 and 1/2 tea garlic powder
1 and 1/2 tea Tabasco

SO you...
Combine TVP and boiling water= set aside
Saute vegetables in the 1/3 cup of water in a deep skillet for 5-7 minutes (or until very soft if you have an infected wisdom tooth)
add tvp and rest of ingredients and cook for 5-10 minutes

I like to buy round hamburger buns from the bakery. this is pretty good substitute.

I made it with the mashed potatoes with rojo sauce.
Rojo sauce:
6 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 cup of basil (if you have fresh, adjust for dry-I just shake it in when i use dry)
1/2 tsp. thyme (dried)
1 and 1/2 tsp. Paprika
pinch cayanne
1/4 tsp. pepper

Heat together and mix to mashed potatoes, I also poured a little heavy cream in the sauce to add too

Thanksgiving

I can't wait.
What is everyone cooking?

so far:
french onion dip (requested by clyde)
cookies (chocolate chip, coconut, oatmeal)
stuffed mushrooms (haven't found recipe yet)
Macaroni and 4 cheese from ellie kreiger
potatoes rojo
eggrolls in filo dough we had last year (requested by rubbo)
mashed potatoes and cauliflower-maybe garlic and parmeasean
bring on the bread: regular loaf, a pumpkin loaf
last year I made a braided bread, I don't know about this year, maybe yeast rolls or something
pumpkin pie
broccoli and cheese casserole
whole cranberries (requested by clyde)
some kind of tofu clyde wants-but how to cook. tofurky is out of the question.

IDEAS???

baked pasta, better than normal

both boys liked it a lot
so you know its good

Baked pasta (yes, there are a lot of steps)
make sauce and tofu at same time with noodles while cutting up vegetables to steam. good luck.

Sauce
same sauce thats on here a hundred times. but this time I mixed it with a white sauce. here are both:
red:
2 cans chopped tomatoes magic bulletted
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
a bunch of basil from back yard, or just shake some in
salt and pepper
a sprig of rosemary from the back yard
1 teaspoon of sugar
a few shakes of parsley
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

saute onion
add tomatoes and everything else
simmer until tasty

white sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 and 1/4 cup milk (I used rice milk, which takes longer to thicken and tastes sweeter in the end, your milk is up to you)
salt, pepper, 1 clover of garlic
melt butter (Med low heat)
put in flour and stir whole time, about 3 min
pour in milk, turn heat up to med high and stir
it will start to boil
keep stirring
add garlic and salt and pepper
keep stirring (seems like it should be getting thick by now...I get impatient, clyde comes and stirs for me, because I cannot wait. It takes a while)
should be getting thicker
Keep stirring
thick. taste it occasionally. I quit when its good

Tofu:
Clyde thinks the tofu in this dish wasn't suited. So its a work in progress. Its the same tofu I always make. Suggestions?

Then I cut up a pretty good amount of mushrooms, a lot of broccoli and cauliflower.
you want a lot
you can add squash, or eggplant. you know, whatever.
I put it in the strainer and put it over my boiling pasta water (I used penne for this dish) while boiling my pasta until its kind of soft.
giada puts her vegetables in a 450 degree oven with olive oil and roasts 15 minutes. I have done this and its good, but you know, time consuming.

Combine sauce, noodles (I used a whole box), vegetables, and about 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, and the not-fitting tofu. mix and put into a casserole dish. I put small chunks of butter spaced out on top and a layer of parmeasean on top.
bake in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes.

french onion dip

I found this recipe and tried it. and it really tastes like French onion dip. But better than store bought. and its easy, too.

French onion dip:
1 med onion-cut into slices, not too big, not too skinny
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon vinegar, I used red wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon thyme
12 oz sour cream- I don't know about this, I just put about 3 spoon fulls in and stirred it around until it looked right

So preheat the oven to 450 degrees
put onions in small casserole dish with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, cook about 20 minutes
let onions cool and cut them into pieces.
add rest of ingredients.

chowder

tonight was chowder. I haven't been making anything but repeats this last week. It was like a best of.
Veg. chowder

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
bulk of veggies- I like carrots, potatoes, squash, corn, white beans, broccoli, cauliflower
2 cloves of garlic
1 and 1/2 cup milk
1 and 1/2 cup water or broth
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper

Melt butter in sauce pan
Stir in flour
stir in garlic-30 seconds
Add veggies (not beans yet), milk, and water/broth
add spices
simmer until potatoes are done
add beans before its almost done

Potatoes Rojo

mmmmm
This is really one of our favorites. Tonight I discovered a trick too.

Potatoes Rojo
Ingrediants:

A mixture of 2 pounds of potatoes and carrots ( I use sweet and regular, but I use the purple sweet kind that is grown here, I don't know about yam kind) cut into 8ths (meaning I cut the potatoes in half. The halves in half. and then those halves in half.
cut carrots in to half too lenghtways and midways.
The veggies should be the same size

For sauce:
6 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 and 1/2 teaspoon paprika
dash cayenne
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter and oil. Add spices. Cook briefly. Pour over potatoes in a casserole dish.

Cook on 375 until done (takes about 40 minutes, sometimes less, depending on size of potatoes) open every 15 minutes to baste potatoes in sauce.