The Best Veggie Burgers

This recipe makes a lot. It can be 1/2ed or 1/4ed, but I recommend making the whole thing and freezing them. 


These can also be used for taco filling, meatballs, etc.

1 onion
4 stalks celery
1 cup carrots
1 med zuchinni
3 cloves garlic
Mince all. I used my food processor. Salt & saute until barely translucent. This step is important because the burgers will hold together a little better and crisp up more easily if the veggies have let go of some of their moisture prior to being mixed in with the grains and beans.

2 cups dry lentils
2 cups dry split yellow peas *note- black beans could also be used
Cook beans in stock according to package directions. Mash them up up a bit. 

1 1/2 cups dry bulgur
Cook in water according to package directions.

1 cup walnut meal
about 4 cups oatmeal- you may need up to 6 cups depending on the moisture level of everything
4 eggs (or 6 egg whites)
Mrs. Dash
Parsley
 20 dashes or more liquid smoke
4 tablespoons  or more worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper

Combine everything and refrigerate for a few hours. Add more oats if it seems too wet to hold any shape. Season liberally. This makes a lot of burgers. If you are wondering if it's seasoned enough, take a small amount and brown up a tiny patty to taste for seasoning. 


The mixture is going to be fairly wet and kind of gummy and sticky. Form into patties. I form patties by putting some of the mixture on the counter, smashing it down to the thickness I want my burgers, and use my largest biscuit cutter to cut them uniformly. 


Flash freeze on baking sheets lined with plastic wrap. Bag up once frozen. 


Saute frozen patties on medium for 6-10 minutes per side depending on how frozen they are and how crisp you'd like them. Makes about 40 med-lg burgers.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles or Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 bulb garlic, peeled

1/2 med. onion, chopped

8 stems fresh dill

4 cups water

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/8 cup salt 

1/2 jalepeno, sliced

6-8 pickling cucumbers, sliced or quartered into spears *OR*

6-8 green tomatoes - sliced *OR* a mixture of both

Directions:

Place 1/2 of the peeled garlic cloves, onion, peppers and dill on the bottom of a 1/2 gallon sterilized jar.

Pack  1/2 cucumbers and tomatoes in jar.

Place remaining 1/2 of garlic, onions, peppers in jar. 

Pack remaining 1/2 of cucumbers and tomatoes in jar. 

Place remaining dill on top.

Heat water, vinegar and salt until the salt dissolves. 

Pour brine in jar, covering everything.  

Set at room temperature for about 2 days

then refrigerate. 

Pickles will keep 9 months-1 year.

Freezer Cooking & Baking Day

I thought I'd share my cooking/baking goals for today. We just purchased a large freezer and I am excited to fill it up! My grandma is coming over to help, and I of course, will share the goodies with her. I will give the play-by-play and share recipes sometime this week. 


Here we go-


I'm going to try to update and mark them off as I go. 

• 1lb. bag of Pinto Beans in the crock pot
• Large pot of tomato sauce to use for spaghetti and pizza
• Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists
• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles x2
• Whole Grain Cinnamon Rolls 
• 100% Whole Wheat Bread
• Cranberry Orange Scones x2
• Thumbprint Scones x2
• Hamburger Buns
• French Toast
• Whole Grain Pancakes
• Banana Whole Grain Pancakes

Wish me luck!


Edit- We accomplished all of this, cleaned up, and packaged everything by 4pm yesterday. Wow! The funny thing is we didn't even fill a whole shelf in my new freezer. 

Dreaming...

of eating THIS today,
while enjoyng a cup of hot black tea.

Blogs and Inspiration

Here are a few of my favorite "foodie" blogs and websites. I'll be linking them up in the sidebar soon! Do you a favorite food related site? If so, please share it with me in the comments. 

All Recipes (numero uno source! always look at the reviews of each recipe…they almost always contain vital info)

Good & Cheap Eats

Old House Kitchen (they have a giveaway right now! go sign up!)

The Kitchn

Happy Lady Eats

Everyday Food

From Scratch

Tasty Kitchen

Italian Sausage and Sweet Pepper Ragu

The sweet peppers are the main attraction in this dish. Enjoy!

1/2 lb of italian sausage removed from casing

2 large yellow, red, or orange bell peppers, chopped, medium-large size pieces

1 small-medium onion, chopped small 

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 jar prepared tomato pasta sauce- I use Ragu b/c I always get it on sale

1 15oz. can petite diced tomatoes

1tbsp sugar or honey- cuts acid in tomato and balances out flavor

Seasoning to taste:

italian seasoning

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

onion powder- adds a different layer of onion flavor

garlic powder- adds a different layer of garlic flavor

21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe's

Serve with:

12oz-16oz box whole wheat rotini or penne

Cook in stock if you'd like an extra layer of flavor

Saute meat & break up as it cooks. Let it brown and caramelize a bit. Add peppers and onions, saute until onions are softened. Season this layer of flavor. 

Add sauce, tomatoes, and sugar. Let it warm through to let the flavors meld together. Taste it for seasoning and the sweet/acidic balance. Add more sugar or salt if needed. Season again. 

Simmer while pasta is cooking. Drain pasta and place back into pot. Add sauce and combine. 

The large sweet pepper pieces make this sauce a little different than my regular tomato sauce. The spice of the sausage along with the sweetness of the peppers  is a great balance. The flavors in this dish are balanced so well that you don't need to serve it with cheese. I found that the traditional parmesan sprinkle threw the balance off. So, save some calories. Believe me, you won't miss it!

Roast Chicken & a TON of Chicken Stock: Part 2- The Stock

This pretty gal is gonna make us a ton of chicken stock, therefore making many many dishes to follow much much more flavorful. 

I use chicken or vegetable stock (I'll show you how I make that as soon as I run out of chicken stock)for all kinds of things in my kitchen. 

Most often I use it in this:

Always as a base in my homemade soups

To cook pasta and plain or spanish rice 

To make pilaf 

 To thin sauces

To make gravy

Pretty much any savory cooking that you'd add water to, I use stock instead. 

Alright, this takes a while but it's SO worth it, I promise. 

You'll need:

all the cooked bits, juices, veggies, etc. left from your roast chicken

the neck and offal

2 -3 onions- not peeled, quartered

1/2lb baby carrots

1/2 bunch of celery stalks leaves included, broken into medium pieces 

8 cloves garlic- not peeled, smashed a bit
parsley stems from one whole bunch and some of the leaves
black pepper
white pepper
paprika
onion powder- I know this is a bit redundant, but to me, it's a totally different flavor that fresh onion
oregano
basil
Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute or Classic Mrs. Dash
generous amount of salt
35-40 cups of warm water (this is an estimate)


Mix everything but the seasonings and water in a large bowl. 


Divide into the pots you plan to use to make your stock. Or just use a BIG stock pot. I don't have a huge stock pot, so I use my 3 largest pots seen here:

This is not an exact measurement kind of thing. You want about 2-3inches of stuff in the bottom of each of your pots. Just be sure to divide the chicken bones and bits evenly between the bowls. 


Now, fill your pots with warm water, about an inch from the top of the pot. 


Season with your dry seasonings. Be very generous. For my large pot, I start with 1tbsp of onion, oregano, basil, 21 seasoning, and salt and 2tsp of the peppers and paprika. You are building flavor here and we want it to be delicious! Plus, my method involves stretching this chicken for as much flavor as I can get out of it. We need to help it out with a ton of veggies, seasoning, and to be honest, quite a bit of salt. 

Bring to a boil. Reduce to a nice simmer. 


Once the veggies are soft, give the broth a taste. Season it up a little more.


Simmer until the celery and parsley have turned that horrible, I mean MARVELOUS!, green-grey color. You want to cook this stuff to death. We are, after all, trying to suck every bit of flavor out of this stuff, right?


Turn off the burners, cover, and let it steep for about 20-30 minutes. It will stay HOT HOT HOT for a while. 


Strain the bits out and put the stock into 2 big bowls. This is what my garbage bowl of boiled stock bits looked like after I had strained everything. Yuck!

We need to cool the stock off as quickly as possible, so fill 2 large plastic freezer bags with ice, seal, and place one in each of the bowls. When the ice is melted, take the bags out and put the bowls in the fridge. 

Chill the stock until the fat has risen to the top and hardened up. Remove it from the top with a slotted spoon or your fingers. Save the fat if you'd like to make matzo ball soup or add some extra umph to your dumplings (that's what I'm going to do). By the way, the chicken fat is sometimes called schmaltz, but it's debatable if this method actually creates schmaltz.You can decide. I call it schmaltz. It sounds fancier than chicken fat.  


Divide the stock into freezer bags. I do it in 2 cup serving sizes. It's makes less waste for me that way. 


I realize that this is not as much a recipe as it's a "method."
If you're confused, or if I ever miss something in the steps, just ask me to help.