Copy Cat......

The other day we tried Chipotle's Mexican Grill and loved it! I decided to try and make their Vegetarian Bowl and must say it was close ;)

*HERE* is the recipe for the rice. I still made my rice in the rice cooker.

I layered the ingredients in a cake pan.

• (cooked) Rice
• Black Beans (either soaked or from a can)
• Shredded Cheese
• Sautéed Onions - Peppers - Tofu

Cooked until the cheese was melted.
Topped with Home Made Guacamole!!

Some ate it with chips. Some with tortillas!!

Vegetarian Shepard's Pie!

Looks Yummy on a Cool Evening!!!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/recipes/vegetarian-shepherds-pie-535165/

ingredients

• 3 small potatoes (3/4 pound)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 medium carrot, sliced (1/2 cup)
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14-1/2-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and cut up
• 1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn or mixed vegetables
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• Paprika (optional)

directions

1. Peel and quarter potatoes. Cook, covered, in a small amount of boiling lightly salted water for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain. Mash with a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer on low speed. In a small saucepan cook garlic and dried basil in margarine or butter for 15 seconds. Add to mashed potatoes along with salt. Gradually beat in enough milk to make light and fluffy. Set aside.
2. For filling, in a medium saucepan cook onion and carrot in hot oil until onion is tender but not brown. Stir in kidney beans, tomatoes, frozen vegetables, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Heat until bubbly.
3. Transfer vegetable mixture to an 8x8x2-inch square baking pan. Drop mashed potatoes in 4 mounds over vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and, if desired, paprika. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese begins to brown. Makes 4 servings.

More Squash :)

I have fallen in love with Butternut Squash :)

Here is a new one I found!!

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper and salt (or salt substitute) to taste
• 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. On a rimmed cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil, place squash with the rind facing up. Bake for 45–60 minutes, until very soft. Let cool for 5 minutes and scoop out the insides, being careful not to include the outer skin.

Place the squash in a casserole dish. Sauté garlic and onion in the olive oil, and mix into the squash. Stir in bread crumbs, pepper and salt. Sprinkle cheese on top and cover the dish with foil or a lid. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes (or longer if ingredients have cooled). Serves 6.

Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion,

garlic,

1 egg,

1/2 cup bread crumbs,

cumin,

red pepper flakes,

Tabasco,

ketchup.

I bake mine in the oven, so I preheat to 380. Mash the black beans until theyre thick and pasty. Mix all the other ingredients in and blend well. I save the breadcrumbs til last because these are teh most difficult to blend in, much easierif everything else id blended first! I oil my hands with olive oil and form these into patties. I bake them for 10 minutes on each side. [ I guess you could grill these too, but Ive never tried it.]

A good variation is to add some corn in there. Makes kind of a southwest black bean burger. When I add corn I add red bell pepper- so flavorful! =)

Depending on how dry your black beans are you may need more bread crumbs...

This time around I bought the dried beans vs the canned beans :) 1 bag of beans about equaled to 2 cans of beans. So half price!! YAY gotta save where I can!!!

Not sure what to do with the dried beans? This site was helpful :)

Soaking & Cooking:
Black beans, like all dried beans, need to be soaked before cooking. This hydration helps to reduce the cooking time. Because they are small, 2 - 4 hours soaking in cold water should suffice. Drain, and cook as per recipe.

If you don't have the time, boil the beans in water for 1 - 3 minutes, turn off heat, cover the pot and let them sit for one hour. Drain and proceed as per recipe. However, there is a problem with this quick soaking (boiling for 1 - 3 minutes) method. Hot water increases the solubility of the water soluble nutrients, and softens the cell membranes of the beans, further accelerating the loss of these nutrients. This should be a consideration, because of the long cooking time during which more nutrients are lost. Cold soaked and cooked at a very gentle simmer, beans retain most of their nutrients, which are considerable.

To cook, drain the soaking water and add cold water, 1 part beans to 2 or 3 parts cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a very slow simmer, so the beans stay in their jackets. Simmer for 2 hours.

Taco Seasoning.

Taco Seasoning Mix
(8 servings)

1/3 cup dried minced onion
3 T. salt
4 tsp. granulated garlic
3 T. chili powder
4 tsp. cornstarch
4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. dried oregano
4 tsp. ground cumin

Mix 2 T. of mix with 1 pound ground beef and ½ cup water. Simmer these in pan, stirring constantly. Makes enough filling for 8 tacos.
Cost of gift: $1.25 (remember this makes 8 separate meals, so it is a huge savings from buying a packet for $0.50, plus NO MSG!)

Ranch Dressing!

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 cup mayo

1 cup plain yogurt......the two reds ones are for if you are making dressing ;)

1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. salt

Add water or milk to make it the right consistency for dressing, or leave it thick for dip.

IF you are looking for the dried package of Ranch just omit the 2 red ingredients!!!!

Menu.....

THIS yumminess is on the menu tonight!!!

Banana Bread!!

Y*U*M*M*Y*

http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=121

We did tweak it to not be Vegan ;) I have issues with margarine and we added chocolate chips!

I also used our Almond Milk and not Soy.

"White Sauce"

.....my kids call it "White Spaghetti" :)

3 c. Almond Milk
2 tbsp. butter
Garlic powder
3 tsp. minced parsley
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 c. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (actually it was Veggie Shreds)
4 tbsp. flour

I also chopped FINELY some Mushrooms & Broccoli..... no one suspected a thing!!

We have this over Rice, Noodles or Spaghetti noodles!!

Veggie Pizza :)

Something fun we came up with over the weekend :)

We go to our local farmers market every Saturday and there is a kind lady that sell Pitas. Y*U*M*M*Y* Pitas I might add!!

So take your Pita. Add this for the "sauce".

Then add your favorite raw veggies!!

• Broccoli
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Black Olives
• Onions
• Snap Peas

The ideas are endless!!!

Blueberry Muffins!!

Very Simple Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour (unbleached)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder (used aluminum free)
3/4 cup soy milk (used our Almond Milk)
1/4 cup oil (Olive Oil)
1 cup frozen blueberries (fresh blueberries)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Place baking cups in a muffin pan.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Add soy milk and oil. Mix.

Fold in blueberries.

Pour into baking cups and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Makes: about 8 muffins, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 30 minutes

Finally :)

We have tried and tried a few recipes for guacamole.....and always ended up not what we were looking for!!!

Till now!!! From this site!!!!!

2 ripe avocados 1 small onion 1 clove garlic 1 small tomato 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice (or juice of 1 fresh lime) salt and pepper to taste

Peel avocados and remove the pit
Peel and mince the onion and the garlic
Chop the tomato.
Mash the avocado in a bowl and then stir in the remaining ingredients.
Serve cold with tortillas