Avast, Me Hearties! Thar Be Stew!!

Sadly, we forgot to talk like pirates on Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), but tonight, thanx to my cousin Tim, the Rosses ate like pirates.

You see, a few days ago, Tim shared a recipe for "Pirate Stew" with me and few others. It sounded so, so yummy. Now, the very first ingredient was ground beef, so, clearly, some adaptations would have to be made, but you know this boot-wearing, rough-talking pirate would never let a little detail like that stand between her and delicious piratey goodness :)

I intended to make it on Monday, I think. Then, I thought, "Okay, maybe Tuesday..." Did I mention the two parent meetings this week at my daughter's middle school? Yeah, well. There were those. And there was a dance class, which now takes place right at dinner time (convenient! Not.) Well, we ordered pizza one night, ate leftovers another, threw together a quick stir fry yet another. So, tonight, I was ready to actually cook something. Pirate Stew it is! ...sorta.

See, I didn't have a can of tomato sauce, or a can of potatoes, or a can of pinto beans. And I don't use worcestershire sauce, because the good kind is not vegetarian, and the vegetarian kind is not good. Yeah, I know, that's a matter of opinion. This is my blog, so you get my opinion. If you like worcestershire sauce, you go right ahead and use it. I also thought it would be a good idea to add a few carrots, and I was in a big hurry, so I didn't use a crockpot. Oh, and we like brown rice better than white. I also left out the spicy stuff, and Shane and I just added hot sauce. So.,. first, I will post a link to the original recipe (Thanx, Tim!):

http://www.ehow.com/how_2309291_make-pirate-stew.html?

You know what? Apparently, I don't know how to post a link. I amend my previous statement: I have posted an address that, should you paste it into your browser, ought to take you to the original recipe. Try it. I'll wait here.



*dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum*



Oh. Are you back? Awesome. Hopefully it worked and you read it. Sounds super yummy, huh?

Now, I will tell you what I did:

In a soup pot, heat 1 TBS olive oil

Add one small onion, diced. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes, until onion is translucent.

Add one package veggie burger crumbles and 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillion Vegetarian No Beef Base

Brown the veggie burger/onion mixture, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the following:

2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Add the diced veggies to the pot and cook, stirring for about 10 minutes.

Stir in 1/4 cup dry brown rice, rinsed

Add 1 1/2 cups of your favourite spaghetti sauce, 1 1/2 cups water and the liquid from one can of black beans (reserve beans to be added later) and 1/4 tsp. chili powder.

Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Check potatoes and rice for doneness. Add more liquid, if necessary and continue to cook until potatoes and rice are done.

Stir in black beans and cook just long enough to heat through. Turn off heat, taste and adjust seasonings.

We LOVED this. Shane requested that I add it to our list of "Dinners We Really Like." I will. I thought about adding peas and green beans, and I think that would have been good, too.

I would have photographed it, but we were too busy scarfing it up. Next time, I might add more veggies, and I will definitely make cornbread or biscuits to go with it (Shane is lobbying for cornbread, and i think I'm with him). Oh, BTW, I added a little hot sauce to mine, and I think it was perfect. For the record, I served this with roasted cauliflower and garlic, for which I will post a recipe at a later date. It was also positively delicious.

So that's it. Until next time ~ ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

Lunch? It's in the bag!

Another school year is off to a roaring start here in Sunny So-Cal, and, for us, that means another year of "What shall we pack for lunch?" Sure, my kids could buy lunch, because I believe most schools in the area stipulate now that they do, in fact, offer vegetarian choices. Unfortunately, their vegetarian choice is cheese pizza ~ that's really the only one I have ever seen offered ~ AND there is no guarantee that there will be any left by the time my children get through the line, and they might be stuck with the other option of the day, which will not be vegetarian. Besides which, my kids aren't big fans of cafeteria food. So, we pack our lunches.

Now, my kids are not big sandwich-eaters, either. Well...hmmm...let me take that back. Two of my kids LOVE sandwiches, assuming they make them at home and eat them immediately. Last night, for instance, was Sandwich Night. I have decided, this year, to have a Sandwich Night for dinner once a week. More about that in another entry. Kid # 3 likes things that other people put on sandwiches, as long as they never touch each other, so she'll eat, say, some peanut butter, a slice or two of bread and a banana, but the idea of a peanut butter banana sandwich totally shocks and appalls her. What it comes down to this: we don't often pack the traditional sandwich in a bag for our kids' school lunches. There are some exceptions, and I'll let you know about them in another entry, also. Suddenly, I have so much food to blog about. Where to begin...? Well, I decided that, today, I will write about today's lunches. That seems elementary enough, does it not, My Dear Watson?

As I mentioned, last night was Sandwich Night. Naturally, we had a lot of leftover sandwich fixins, and three lunchboxes to pack...and three kids who aren't big sandwich-eaters. Convenient, non? We decided to make one of our favourite lunches ~ or should that read SOME of our favourite lunches, since there were actually three of them? ~ our own, homemade version of the ever-popular Lunchables. Now, Lunchables are super convenient, and kids seem to like them. In fact, I even used to be able to find a vegetarian version years ago, and I am sure I could find it again, if I felt like searching for it. The thing is, they don;t always contain EXACTLY what each kid likes. We have special dietary needs to consider, even beyond the vegetarian aspect ~ one daughter has a milk allergy, another is allergic to strawberries, we have one with some serious food aversions, etc. ~ so, for us, it works best to make our own, using ingredients each child likes.

This year, I lucked out and found some super-cute and convenient divided containers that fit perfectly in to the cute new lunch bags. You can also use a variety of small containers and pack things separately, but I have to say, they look extra fun and appetizing packed up together, just like a real Lunchable. If you have a divided container, like ours, you might want to pick up some little paper cups or smaller containers that will fit inside, to separate the ingredients and make it look (and taste) more appetizing. Check out bento boxes online. There are a lot of interesting varieties of containers, and the possibilities of what to pack inside them are endless. Visual appeal really does matter. I have found children, like most people, are far more likely to eat food if it looks good. Not surprising, if you think about it, since children are actually just fun-sized humans, and I know I don't relish eating yucky stuff.

So, once you have your containers, you just need to choose which ingredients to include. In future entries, I will revisit this idea and share other school lunches packed in the same way, so you can get an idea of how fun, interesting and varied these lunches can be. This time, I will just show you what the girls took for lunch today:


First, Justice's "Lunchable"-style lunch, which contains vegetarian "ham," soy cheese, red grapes and 12-grain crackers.



Next, Kaia's, which contains soy turkey, American cheese, 12-grain crackers (she loves those, too) and yogurt-covered raisins.







And, finally, Hallie's. In one side of her neat little box, she has a mixture of diced tomato, garlic, basil, ground black pepper and a tiny bit of red wine vinegar & olive oil. In the other side, she has two slices of fresh mozzarella. We also packed red grapes in a small round container and sliced bread in a waxed paper bag.


The girls also have snack breaks during the day, so, today their bags included a Z-bar for Justice and one for Kaia, and a fruit gel for Hallie ~ and, of course, the all-important canteen full of water.

So, that's today's lunch. Stay tuned for more exciting, foody, vegetarian news from the place we like to call "Little House in the Big Yard."

(Vegetarian) Hamburger Pie

Hamburger Pie.

It's a recipe my mom used to make when I was growing up. It was always one of my favourites, and my dad's, too. I remember Mom once telling me that she'd never met a man who didn't love it. So, once, many years ago, I decided to make it for Shane (substituting veggie burger crumbles for the usual ground beef, of course). As far as I can tell, my mother was right (as usual...funny how we never figure that out until we're grown, isn't it?). Shane loved it. Luckily, so do the kids (well, two of them. The little one eats the potatoes, veggie burger, green beans and corn all separately, so it works out okay ~ I just leave a little bit of each ingredient aside for her). For me, it is the ultimate comfort food. There's the burger, the potatoes, green beans, corn, tomato soup...mmm-mmmm! It's quick and easy to make, doesn't dirty a lot of pans, makes everyone happy...What's not to love?

So, here ya go. This is a simple one.

Start by making some mashed potatoes. That is, unless you already have mashed potatoes left over, in which case, you'd might as well use those. You can make homemade mashed potatoes or instant, whichever you prefer. Make them the way you usually do, because that's the way you like them, right? My family won't eat instant potatoes. I tried once. They all looked at me like I was crazy. Funny. I remember loving instant mashed potatoes as a kid.

Next, in a large cast iron skillet (or stovetop to oven casserole...or a skillet, then later transfer to a baking dish...but we have always used the cast iron skillet, just like Mom does), heat a little olive oil. Get the skillet good and hot over medium-low heat first, then put in your oil ~ just enough to coat the bottom of the pan a little. Let it heat for a few moments. Add one package of veggie burger crumbles, your choice. Sprinkle in a few dashes of ground black pepper and a little onion powder. Brown the burger, then add one can of cut green beans, drained, and one can of corn, drained. Stir in one can condensed tomato soup, and cook until it is hot through.

Turn off heat. Spread mashed potatoes evenly over the top, then pop in the oven at about 400℉ until hot and bubbly around the edges and slightly golden on top. Remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

That's it. Perfect.

Note: If desired, you can sprinkle a little grated parmesan over the top before you bake it, but we don't do that, since we have dairy allergies here.

Also, I have to admit, tonight, I did not have canned corn, so I just threw in some frozen mixed vegetables. It was STILL perfect. I'm pretty sure this stuff is almost impossible to wreck.

Enjoy!

EDIT: Mom said this recipe originally came to her from her sister, my aunt, Eleanor (Gambino) Larsen. Thanx for the info., Mom ~ and big thanx to Aunt Eleanor for the recipe. We sure do love it.