Vegetable Egg Rolls

VEGETABLE EGGROLLS

1 head of cabbage ( shredded) or you can buy the one that is already shredded

3 shredded carrots

2 stalks celery

3 green onions (chopped

4 cloves garlic ( minced)

3 tbsp veg oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

½  tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

In a wok heat the oil then brown the garlic, about 2 mins or until brown. Thenput the cabbage, carrots, celery & green onion and stirfry the vegetable until the cabbage is soft, do not overcook veggies.  Then add salt , soy sauce & pepper.  Let it cool for wrapping.

Buy eggroll wrapper brand is “Menlo” , if you can’t find it ask the Asian store or Walmart. I don’t think Walmart will have this.  I like Menlo bec it is thinner and easy to separate. Separate wrapper carefully, lay a wrapper on a plate and put 2 or 3 tbsp or more depends on how big of an eggroll you want. Then wrap it and to seal it you put water at the fold & seal. Deep fry in a 375 degree oil.   I freeze  eggroll (unfried) for later.  The wrapper stick so lay wax paper on top of the other. J

Summer Squash Bundt Cake

It is that time of year when an abundance of yellow crooked neck squash and zucchini overwhelms even the most creative of cooks.  Our family prefers the many versatile uses of zucchini, so I am often left with a question mark when it comes to yellow summer squash. We love zucchini bread, so it stands to reason that a quick bread could rise from a pile of yellow squash. I've adapted several different recipes to come up with a bundt cake/quick bread that received rave reviews from my 8 and 10 year old children.

3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 container vanilla Greek yogurt (ours was a Chobani 5.3 oz)
1/3 cup coconut oil, warmed just enough to liquefy
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground  cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves (to your taste)
2 cups finely shredded yellow summer squash
1 cup whole cranberries

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a bundt pan or angel food cake pan. I used Pam cake release spray instead. Beat eggs in large bowl until fluffy, then add sugars, yogurt, oil, and extract. Beat or stir remaining dry ingredients gradually into egg/sugar mixture.  Stir in squash and cranberries. Pour into prepared pan and bake about 1 hour. Ovens vary, so I began checking my cake after 45 minutes.

A word on the yogurt and extract: It occurred to me that a container of lemon Greek yogurt and/or lemon extract would have been another tasty option.

I stirred together a powdered sugar glaze using lemon juice as the liquid simply because we were out of milk and the vanilla extract was used up in the cake. You could use a few tablespoons of milk and vanilla or lemon extract with the powdered sugar. I just combined until it was a good drizzling consistency.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

It is March 1 today, but there are no signs of spring here. It has snowed several inches today, adding to our already impressive snow pack.  So for dinner we needed something colorful, spicy, and comforting! This recipe was posted on another social network site, so I googled and found the recipe came from a blog called SimplyLoveFood. Here is my take on it:

olive oil
3-4 large bell peppers
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups cooked brown Basmati rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup corn
1 16 oz jar salsa
1 heaping TBL taco seasoning (packaged or homemade)
shredded cheese
cilantro, chopped (to taste)
guacamole or avocado
sour cream
shredded lettuce
additional salsa

Heat oven to 400.  Cut bell peppers in half, removing seeds. Rub the peppers with olive oil and roast in a baking dish for 20-25 minutes.  While they are roasting, brown the ground beef with the onions, and cook the rice...if you are using brown rice you will want to start this before anything else since it takes about 45 minutes to cook.  Remove peppers from oven.

In a large bowl, mix cooked ground beef, cooked rice, black beans, corn, taco seasoning, chopped cilantro and salsa. Spoon the mixture into the roasted pepper halves, and top with shredded cheese.  We happened to have taco seasoned shredded cheese and it was perfect. Bake another 15-20 minutes or until the peppers are cooked through.  Serve with shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and additional salsa.  

We used six medium pepper halves, and had a lot of the stuffing mixture left over.  I added another can of black beans to the leftover mixture, a little more taco seasoning, and put it in the freezer to use for burritos on another day.  

For vegetarians, visit SimplyLoveFood.  She has some great tips to adjust the recipe for vegans and vegetarians.

Rosemary Flax Crackers

All the blogs promised it was easy to make homemade crackers....and those bloggers were not telling tales! Made my first batch of homemade Rosemary Flax Crackers on this first day of the new year 2014 using this recipe.  I used 1 cup white whole wheat flour, about 1.75 cups of white flour and the rest flax meal to make up my three cups.  The other ingredients I followed exactly, with the exception of adding dried rosemary to the dough.  It is a good idea to let the dough rest a bit, and if you think you've rolled the dough thin enough, go ahead and do it a little thinner.  My first batch was slightly thick, and gave me more of pita chip texture.  Or hardtack.

I also skipped the step of brushing with water and putting seeds or sea salt on top because I didn't have anything on hand.  The crackers were seasoned nicely, but I wouldn't have minded a few sea salt crystals on top. Now that I know how easy it is, I'm going to have to try one of the recipes for cheese crackers.  

Fettucine With Asparagus and Peas

8-10 stalks asparagus
frozen sweet peas, 1 or 2 cups
1 lb fettuccine or linguine
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter
salt & pepper
chopped fresh basil
fresh parmesan
pine nuts, toasted (optional)


saute garlic in olive oil, add butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper
add half of the chopped basil
steam or grill asparagus then cut in 2 inch pieces
cook pasta, add peas last four minutes to the pasta
add drained pasta with peas to sauce, stir in asparagus and toasted pine nuts
(add more oil or butter if needed)
top with grated parm and rest of chopped basil

White Cheddar Ale Soup

I have had a craving for North Peak Brewery's White Cheddar Ale Soup with mustard pretzel croutons lately.  However, that's a 2 hour drive for me, so I thought, "well how hard can it be.  It's ale, it's white cheddar, you can't really go wrong..."  As usual, I searched the net high and low for recipes.  One called for leeks, one for Worcestershire sauce, another for heavy cream.  I had none of these items on hand.  What I did have was a lovely winter ale and some white cheddar.  My blog is all about using what I have on hand to make delicious food at home because we live quite a drive from the grocery store and it is an even farther drive to find a great restaurant.  Below is what I came up with:

5 TBL Butter
2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
1 small onion
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk (2% is what I used)
12 oz bottle of ale
spicy brown mustard
8-10 oz grated sharp white cheddar cheese
salt, pepper
chicken stock

Halve the carrots lengthwise and thinly slice.  Dice the celery and onion finely. Saute veggies in butter, season with salt and pepper, simmer for 10 minutes. Add flour and whisk until bubbly, 1 or 2 minutes. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly. Add beer and mustard. I didn't measure the mustard, a couple squirts, perhaps it was a couple of teaspoons--you won't want too much.  Increase heat to medium high, bring to boil while whisking constantly.  Boil one minute, reduce to low and simmer 10 minutes.  The soup should be creamy at this point.  Mine was a little heavier than I wanted it, so I added a cup of chicken stock made with chicken base. I would recommend adding a teaspoon of the base to the soup even if you don't add the water to make stock. Once all this is incorporated and looking creamy, add the grated cheese a little at a time until it is combined.  Someone* (*the huz) got into my white cheddar, so I added a few crumbled slices of regular cheddar as well, and that was fine. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed, even a pinch of crushed red pepper if you like.  Serve with popcorn or croutons.

I was quite pleased with the results, if only I had the mustard pretzel croutons on hand.  But some popcorn popped on the stove top was a nice addition and a traditional accompaniment to "beer cheese" soup.

For dessert, I whipped up a batch of Banana Oat Cookies, a nice ending to a very comforting meal.

Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

There are a few vegans in our family.  I only dabble in it occasionally, after all it never hurts to eat more vegetables!  So I have scoured the web for a few good recipes in order to more easily break bread (heheh) with the family.  I had pumpkins.  I had cranberries.  And I ran across a pumpkin cranberry bread recipe here at What Would Cathy Eat?  I've tweaked it for muffins, which I prefer to quick bread loaf.  I just love this recipe, number one, the muffins are delicious.  Number two, you almost can't hurt it.  Sometimes I put in a little extra flax seed, maybe a heaping cup of pumpkin puree.  I'm not big into measuring so I eyeball the seasonings.  And as a matter of fact, the pictured muffins were made with roasted butternut squash puree.  I discovered this thanksgiving that Libby's canned pumpkin is actually a variety called the Dickinson pumpkin which is more closely related to butternut squash than your friendly neighborhood jack o'lantern.  Knowledge is power!

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons orange juice
a bit of orange zest if you have it
1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup cranberries, roughly chopped or whole your preference

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, flax, orange juice & zest, vanilla and oil.  In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices, then mix into the wet ingredients. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.

Fill 12 muffin cups, bake about 20 minutes.  Ovens are different so keep an eye on them the first time you make them.  Sometimes it seems I have a little too much for 12 muffins so I put the rest in a mini muffin pan (12).