Tofu Corn Dogs

I'll start this by declaring that while these were loved by the children, there is definitely room for improvement. To start, the batter was too thin. I should have made the batter a little thicker. Also, I fried these and I should have either used a less shallow pan, or I should have baked them. As you can see, they tended to widen a bit when they cooked.

We used "smart dogs" veggie protein links. They do look, smell, and taste a lot like hot dogs. The texture leaves something to be desired. As the only carnivore in my spousal relationship, what I really miss is that snap of biting into a real hot dog. These are a bit..."soft". That being said, the kids ate a ton of them and my better half would have enjoyed them more if I had baked them instead.

Next time I will try making the batter thicker to hand form it around the dog and baking it to help keep it's shape.

Cranberry Sauce

I first made cranberry sauce last year after a frustrated attempt to find sauce in a supermarket near me that didn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. (I've since discovered that Ocean Spray puts out cans around Passover made with regular sugar that you can buy in the Kosher aisle, so I bought a few to have on hand)

My wand mixer is in storage at the moment while we have our house on the market so normally it comes out fully jelled and more even in consistency. This batch turned out more like a whole berry sauce. Still thick, but not quite as jelled as I usually make.

Cranberry Sauce:

1 standard sized back of cranberries washed and picked through to pull out stems

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups water

Put cranberries, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the water into a saucepan and heat on medium heat. When berries start to "pop" and develop a ring of froth add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low-medium heat using spoon to pop cranberries that havent split yet. When mixture is thick and sounds kind of like oatmeal cooking, remove from heat and let sit another 10 minutes. Using a wand or hand mixer, blend the mix well. Store in a glass container with lid and refrigerate.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Wow did this come out good. Even our niece Christine said that you couldn't tell that the gravy wasn't meat gravy. A few tweaks to add more green veggies and less potatos and I think we're good. Since this meal was lacking a bit in the protein area we also served it with both vegetarian "meatballs" and regular meatballs (for those of us who are still a little bit carnivore).

The Crust (makes two medium sized pies or one pie of traditional size):

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 stick plus 2 TBS butter

1/4 cup to 6 TBS cold water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut butter into small cubes and toss with the flour to coat cubes. Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut butter into flour until bits are about the size of a pea or even a bit smaller. Sprinkle cold water 2 TBS at a time onto the mix and fluff until it is coated and when pressed will stick together. Mixture should not feel wet but it should stick together.

Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes.

Divide into the number of crusts you need (no more than four) and roll out each section on a well floured surface. Add crust to pan and press into bottom and sides if air pockets puff it up. Fill with vegetables and gravy(etc) and then cover with top crust. Press and roll in the sides. Remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. The best pie crusts are the ones that look kind of funky.

The gravy:

1 TBS paste style vegetable boullion

3 cups water

3 TBS clarified butter (you can use regular butter)

3-5 TBS flour

Mix boullion into 3 cups warm water until dissolved completely. Set aside. In a saucepan, make a roux by melting clarified butter on medium-low heat and whisking in the flour to make a semi wet paste. When paste forms, add broth and turn heat to medium-high. Whisk steadily until gravy thickens. If gravy does not form to your liking, you can add a pit more flour pre-mixed with water slowly to thicken it.

Pies should bake at 425. Start checking after 25 minutes. This pie took about 35 minutes but I like my crust slightly on the darker side.

If you do try this, let me know how you make out with it. Usually our vegetarian meal substitutes are tasty and passable (like shepherdless pie) but this one we all devoured and we honestly were hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor between this and a meat pot pie.

Mini Quiches Start: 10:32 PM End 11:31 PM

The last thing I thought I wanted to do tonight was cook. But at 8:45, I found myself getting home ridiculously late from the Magic Show/Surprise-all-the-kids-get-free-ice-cream-sundaes bash at the library and I still had two loads of laundry to finish. That's when I figured to throw caution to the wind and make quiche. It's breakfast. It's lunch. It's options.

I'm not a very good pie crust maker but months ago after getting a handheld pastry tool I stubled upon a recipe that mixes all of the ingredients into one bowl and presses it into the pan. No rolling involved and no dusty flour counters. My hands get really greasy using this method but the crust is buttery and rich and exactly the way it should be in the end.

My crust is:

1.5 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick of butter

2.5 tablespoons milk

Mix everything into one bowl until it's completely blended. I have a pastry tool that helps me but honestly, you can do just as well and even better by kneading the whole thing with your bare hands. With this mix, you don't have to cut the butter into pea sized pieces and you don't have to roll it at all which eliminates the dreadful "roll as soon as it starts to stick together" method of traditional crusts.

When fully mixed press into pie pan to evenly cover bottom and sides. I prefer to use a coated muffin tin and it's the same method for each muffin cup.

My quiche filling base is:

4 eggs

1 cup milk

Beat together well and pour into molds. Before this step, you'll want to add whatever ingredients to the empty pie shells. Tonight I just added shredded cheese. Often I make it with cheese and spinach. It's important to add the non-egg ingredients first and then fill with the egg.

Baking time varies. I usually bake at 375 until edges are golden and egg is set. I finish off with 5 minutes at 450 just to get the top done a little more. If you are doing these in muffin tins, they'll come out rounded like cupcakes but as they cool they'll set nice and flat.

Granola Start: 10:20 PM End: 10:48 PM

Techincally, I won't put the lid on this granola until a bit closer to midnight to give it a chance to cool and crust a bit. But the prep and bake time for this incredibly easy, incredibly cheap granola is fast enough that it's something I can just make on a whim if I want it for the next day.

About a year ago I started reading all three volumes of The Tightwad Gazette. My main motivation was to look for little things to help me save money and also cook a variety of inexpensive and wholesome foods for my family while using all real ingredients. I borrowed the books from the library and read them all in a few days. Aside from the tips I found useful in other areas, I did walk away with about 15 recipes added to cards in my recipe box.

Muffins and granola are most often made as well as a great lentil bulger base which makes an amazing "crumbled meat" substitute in just about anything. For dinner we had burgers from this base and they were delicious enough to be consumed in multiple quantities by two out of three of my children (o.k. my oldest only ate one). I rarely make this late at night, so we might not see them on this blog.

This granola is made from seven real food ingredients: Whole oats, cinnamon, salt, raisins, honey, oil, and brown sugar. I add a handful of slivered almonds if we are eating it at home but since the kids go to a no nut school, I don't add them prior so they always have the option of packing some. And the total cost for what you see is less than two dollars. Yum!