veggie burger stir fry

stuff to use:

random veggies

frozen veggie burger patties 

usually i’m not in a big hurry to use frozen stuff up, but i was visiting some dear family friends and trying not to leave “my” groceries behind when i returned home :)  it’s a little intimidating being in someone else’s kitchen, but i do all right ;)

i’m a big fan of bread, but i knew if i didn’t use it i would have room for other stuff, so i went for a stir fry instead.  veggies for the taking were red pepper, celery and zucchini, so chopped them up in no particular order and mixed them in a frying pan (with a little butter, and i didn’t have my usual go-to’s so that was it!)  

the veggie patties are a little hard to cut through when they’re frozen solid, so i microwaved two for just long enough to soften them a bit, but not make them fall apart (about half a minute).  i chopped them up into bite size pieces and tossed them into the mix.

i kept it on medium-ish low heat to get things a little bit charred, but turned it down when it started to smoke just a little too much!  i went into the other room for a bit so i’d make sure to let it cook long enough and not jump the gun....i do that....

onto a plate with some ranch dressing and a sprinkling of parmesan and i was sooooooooo happy.  serious yum!

veggie burger stir fry

approximate price: $4

Fish and Chip.....Casserole?

as i've said....everything on my plate winds up mixed together by the end ;)

stuff to use: 

leftover fish and chips

for real.  i was determined to do something with these.  i mean they’re potatoes right?  i know potatoes!  i remained a little uncertain, but determined.

i started with some onion (just to get off on a good foot ;) and the only other veggie i had on hand was red pepper so i got some of that going too.

i chopped up the mound of french fries into bite sized pieces, and chopped up the fish pieces too.  (no other good way to heat them i don’t think!)  

i threw that all together in the pan and started adding stuff in attempt to make the french fries NOT dry and gross :)  butter, the leftover sauce that came with it (tarter?), garlic, bragg’s, and we didn’t have any malt vinegar but i figured regular vinegar couldn’t hurt....so......

fish and chip......casserole?

this was definitely the weirdest thing i’ve made in a while.  i realize it sounds totally unappetizing, and maybe it was, but we were hungry and the novelty of it was enough to cut me some slack ;)  and really, it was actually pretty tasty.  (i did NOT however attempt to reheat this again when it came time for the next adventure!  i do draw a few lines, and that was one of them.  i actually threw something out.....)

approximate price: $3 

beer floats!

so i seriously didn’t realize that beer floats were such a foreign concept!  i mean, sure i’d only had one ever before, but when i was served that one at The Green Frog Acoustic Tavern in Bellingham, WA it just seemed so natural (and GOOD! :)  they used some kind of chocolate stout there, and what i had on hand that (re)inspired the idea was Real Ale Coffee Porter.

my sweetie was doubtful, as i expected, but it had something to do with the difference between a beer on tap and beer from a bottle.... i was not to be swayed.

my good friend, Alyse Black, came over for rehearsal and i announced it would be our reward for getting through the songs :)

little bowls, a big scoop of vanilla icecream (i let it soften up on the counter for a bit) and some coffee porter poured on top.  eat with a spoon, live well and be happy.

(true, it didn’t foam up all that much, but my goodness it was enough!)  

will wasn’t sold on it (though he did try a bite), but alyse and i both had seconds :)  

beer floats!

pass it on!  :) 

steak and pho stir fry over quinoa

stuff to use:

leftover pho (broth, tofu, and mung beans--i’m saving the basil for something else :)

leftover steak

leftover chinese food peanuts and sauce

ok so this was a no-brainer.  stir fry ahoy!  and we still have chard.....i almost forget sometimes.....so, perfect!

i planned on rice for this, but the rice hadn’t been opened yet and there’s a nice big bag of quinoa that remains moth-free so i was compelled to use some.  i took the pho broth and measured it by the cup (as both rice and quinoa are a 1:2 water ratio, i believe), getting one full cup and a partial one, which i filled the rest of the way with water.  

i put the quinoa and broth on to boil and then simmer with a lid (tho i really don’t know exactly how to do it....hot liquid and time--it’ll get soft!  just don’t let it burn :) and put on some chopped red and yellow pepper and onion (the usual....i know!)

i rare-ly cook with meat (get it get it??) but we had some leftover from dinner with the folks and it didn’t take too much talent to chop up the whatever-it-was and toss it in the pan, along with some garlic and bragg’s, the mung beans and tofu, and of course the peanuts!  oh my god did it smell good :)  when everything seemed “cooked” i chopped up the chard and stirred it in (remember greens generally need more frequent stirring than other veggies) and that was pretty much it!  i like my greens a little more “rare” than will, but we compromise and i make sure they aren’t left at all tough or fibrous. 

steak and pho stir fry over quinoa

this was really, really, really good!  one of my finest ;)  and almost everything was salvaged leftovers from something else.  awesome!!

approximate price: $5

Veggie Pasta and Salad

food is cute :)

stuff to use:

1 bag pasta

handful of chard

spaghetti sauce (leftover from the other night’s pizza)

that leftover wine

kalamata olives (in juice)

leftover shit in a pot (veggie stirfry stuff)

baby spinach

feta 

garlic

green onion

bragg’s

i fully realize that kalamata olives and feta cheese are not cheap, every day things usually lying around.  i didn’t buy either of these things; the olives came home with us from thanksgiving and my sweetie bought the feta.  he often brings me home those treats from the grocery store that i just can’t seem to buy.....maple syrup, jam, feta....

oh, and one bag of pasta?  SO MUCH FOOD.  

the process:

i started a pot of water to boil

in a big frying pan i put the veggie leftovers and tomato sauce on low

i chopped up three cloves of garlic and put in with the sauce

i needed more sauce than i had so i kept adding liquid in hopes that it might multiply.....braggs, wine, olive oil, olive juice......

i broke and called the sweetie to bring more sauce on his way home (though i COULD HAVE mixed the noodles with some olive oil and seasoning before adding the sauce and i bet it would’ve been fine :)

i made a salad with spinach, a bit of feta, kalamatas, green onion, oil and vinegar 

i emptied the noodles and put the back in the pot with the sauce

on the plate: 

veggie pasta and spinach salad

SO MUCH FOOD!   fed three people, a couple times

approximate price: $10

garlic mashed potatoes, red pepper rice and salad

my cooking is often accompanied by a yummy beverage of some sort :)

needed to use:

grilled red peppers

garlic mashed potatoes

rice leftover from the Epic Chinese Food Excursion this week :)

random salad veggies

i had stir fried up some red peppers a couple nights before and got too full from the mashed potatoes to do much with them.  (then i had a super random dream about hanging out with the obama’s at my mom’s house for a meal and suggesting the peppers i had made the night before...)  i put them in the big frying pan with the (brown) rice and some bragg’s to soften the rice up a bit and add some flavor.  (i should have put a little water in there too, as it ended up being a little bit dry, but not bad.)

i heated up the mashed potatoes in another pan, and chopped up what veggies we had for a salad of some sort.  (i can’t help it: fresh vegetables are good for you and i insist on trying to eat some whenever i’m in charge of dinner--thanks mama! :)  it ended up being cucumber, tomato, and celery (chopped into small bite size pieces--i chose to eat mine with a spoon), sunflower seeds, raisins, oil and vinegar.  (i always grind a little salt on the top for myself.)

some fresh green onions made the rice and peppers quite pretty, and that was it!  i had to call will downstairs only a few minutes after i started “cooking,” easy :)

garlic mashed potatoes, red pepper rice and salad

approximate price: $6

cheesy indian bread with rice and potatoes and warm spinach salad

my food tends to blend together by the end of a meal!  :)

needed to use:

leftover indian rice and paratha bread 

two slices of the epic mustard pizza

red potato and carrot mish mash 

i thought of making some sort of melted cheesy wraps with the rice, but didn’t know what to put with it, so i dumped it with the potato and carrot leftovers, reminding myself that Casa Que Pasa in Bellingham, WA has a super duper potato burrito and people dig it.

i preheated the oven to low (200 or so) and arranged on a cookie sheet the pizza and the parathas (which are kind of like super thick whole wheat tortillas) with shredded muenster on them.

while that was going on i figured dinner could stand a little color so i sauteed up a thinly sliced red pepper, on medium-ish heat so that it could blacken a bit with some butter and bragg’s (i turned down the pan before i put garlic in, ‘cause i didn’t want to blacken that.)  

i had a whole lot of baby spinach on my hands (as i like to do :) so i thought of making a warm salad.  i tossed spinach in the pan with the peppers and stirred so as not to singe parts of the leaves while leaving the rest untouched.  (it can start to look a little unappetizing then... :)  i did, however, get distracted by the oven and cook my spinach a little longer than i intended.  just as well; it was much better that way.

i served salad in bowls, and put the other three things on the plate, letting will decide if he actually wanted a weird potato burrito or not.  

cheesy indian bread with rice and potatoes and warm spinach salad

it was fun to eat, too, ‘cause i ended up combining things one by one.  after i had my burrito, with some of my salad on top, i put the rest of my potatoes in with the salad, and then ended up scooping it out and adorning bites of pizza with it.  three separate meals all coming together.  that’s some sort of shit in a pot record!  :)

approximate price: $7