Tuesday, February 28, 2017

...Batch Cooking...

...Hello Everyone!

...it seems like convenience food/cooking is all the rage right now...with meal delivery options...'five day freeze'...and 30 day batch cooking...

...I do often freeze leftovers to be eaten later...but I don't usually intentionally cook things and then immediately freeze them...
...but we are about to start Lent...and so I thought it'd be a good idea to have some handy already portioned meals in the freezer to make our busy evenings a little bit easier...
...so I started with a big pot of brown rice...
...I cook my brown rice like pasta...and a big pot of water...
...I don't let it absorb all of the water...but just cook freely in the water just like pasta...
...and then when the grains which have remained entirely separate are nice and soft...
...I strain it...just like pasta...
...and I have perfectly cooked fluffy brown rice...
...I seriously think I use my muffin tins more for freezing than for cooking...
...I just pack the rice into the muffin cups...for perfect 1/2 cup servings...

...next up is a big protein packed quinoa/black bean dish that can be a main or a side...

...not really a recipe...but here's what I did...
...chopped up a red onion...
...and a red bell pepper...I want a nice colourful dish...
...and pressed some garlic...
...I water sautéed these...and then added a whole package of quinoa...
...we are batch cooking after all...and this is a big batch...
...next...in went a big can of diced tomatoes...
...and then a lb. of black beans cooked in the crock pot...
...and finally a bag of frozen corn...

...doesn't it look pretty?...
...I packed it into another muffin tin for individual servings...and a couple of freezer containers for family side dishes...
...and now the brown rice is frozen solid...
...so I dipped the muffins into some warm water...and popped out the little cups of frozen rice...
...and sealed them up in a ziplock bag...
...and when the quinoa was frozen...
...I did the same with it...
...and finally this was a big batch of my favorite Wendy's Chili Veganized...

...and I was so certain that I'd already shared this on the blog that I didn't even take photos of the making of it...

...but when I just searched the blog to find the link to post here...alas...no link...I must never have shared that...
...so that will have to be a future post...but I have a big bag of Wendy's Chili Veganized...

...have you ever done any batch cooking?...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, February 27, 2017

...I'm a Winner...

Hello Everyone!

...I hope you all had a good weekend and that your week is off to a good start...
...This cookbook came in the mail over the weekend...

...I was thrilled to have won it over at Vegan Eats and Treats...hop over there and check out her review...

...V.E.& T. is an awesome blog...Amey does a lot of recipe and vegan product reviews...
...just delving into it for the first time...it has a lot of interesting recipes that I want to try...and a beautiful photograph of each one...I love that!...

...what new cookbooks are you cooking from this week?

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

...Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs...and a movie (series really)...

...so I had seen all of the internet hype about these carrot hot dogs...
...kinda like the stereotype that a lot of people have about vegans and vegetarians...that we would bring a carrot on a bun to a cookout as Tish from The Weekenders has done here...

...and I kinda...seriously...might bring one of these carrot hot dogs to a cookout...

...you'll see...it may sound kinda far fetched...but they wind up being kinda awesome...
...start with some carrots...but we're not going to just slap one on a bun...
...choose ones that are fairly straight already...peel them...and round the ends a bit...I saved all the extra little bits in a bowl for salads and such...
...mix up your marinade...

...I used the one from Clean Eating Veggie Girl...but there are a ton of variations out there if this one doesn't suit you...
...a lot of the recipes (this one too)...said to boil or steam the carrots until fork tender...but I thought they'd be better if they actually cooked in the marinade...so that's what I did...
...just baked until a fork inserts easily...like you'd test a baked potato...they're not quite there yet...
...but already...they kinda look like hot dogs...
...so I baked them a little bit longer and tested again...now they're ready...you don't want them falling apart tender...
...melt some Earth Balance in a pan...
...and fry up your carrot dogs...the marinade sort of coats them and gets all caramelized...they smell delicious...
...and now they really really look like hot dogs...
...time to try them out...I've got a bunch of other toppings...relish...sauerkraut...slaw...
...but for this first test...we'll just go with the classic mustard and ketchup...
...and they really are good...

...I can't say that I was ever that big of a fan of hot dogs...but I'd definitely munch on one of these at a BBQ or picnic...
...I wrapped up the leftovers nice and tight and put them in the freezer...so the next time I 'need' a hot dog...I'll have one... ...and now for the movie...

...we had watched the French Netflix series A Very Secret Service...last year...and thought it was very smart and funny...

...and then my dear overseas friend Maureen suggested Call My Agent...it's call Dix Pour Cent in French...

...so this week I chose to watch the next episode of that instead of a movie...

...what have you been watching?..and are you up for a Carrot Hot Dog?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, February 24, 2017

...Copycat Taco Bell Sauce...

...Hello Everyone!

...what do y'all get at Taco Bell?...they have lots of vegan options...check out the vegan menu on Vegan Eating Out...
...and the mild sauce is one of my favorite things...

SAUCE INGREDIENTS: WATER, VINEGAR, TOMATO PASTE, FOOD STARCH, RED, LESS THAN 2% OF: CHILI PEPPER, SPICES, SUGAR, NATURAL FLAVORS POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, MALTODEXTRIN, YEAST EXTRACT, SALT, POTASSIUM SORBITATE AND SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVATIVES). CONTAINS SOYBEANS.

...and since I didn't want to 'steal' a bunch of packets...I headed over to Top Secret Recipes...where they have a replica recipe...

...it was super easy to make...I just followed the recipe exactly...it was already vegan...
...then we had a little taste test...in appearance they are indistinguishable...
...and almost so also in taste...there is something that I can't quite pinpoint that's different...and I'm thinking it's the starch...but they are really...really close to exactly the same...
...in other words...the copycat version is delicious...
...so I roasted me up a sweet potato...in my 'new' George Foreman Grill...
...that just took a few minutes...
...and then I put the sauce in a recycled squeeze bottle...the recipe makes a lot of sauce...
...and drizzled it over the roasted sweet potato...
...perfection...

...what recipe have you copycat-ed recently?...

~Have a lovely day!