Baby food, Super Bowl cheese ball and Committing to the Blog

I had a list a mile long of all of the things I was going to do on my maternity leave. I am back to work now and the list remains. Sigh. But you must approach all such lists in the same way - one thing at a time. So, I really want to commit to recording recipes in this blog. The little bit I have done has been so useful to keep track of recipes we like and what went right and what went wrong to improve the recipe for next time. I have at least half a dozen draft posts I will finish but it seems only appropriate to just start today.  So, here's a quick recap of some recipes from this weekend.

First, how can this be a VeggieMommy blog without recipes for Veggiebaby? I just made the following two recipes for our little man. I tend to make several batches of food every couple of weeks. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then store the cubes in ziplock bags to be reheated as needed. First up, green beans and quinoa. I know, yum;) (Read:sarcasm.)

Green Beans and Quinoa
12 oz. green beans
1 cup quinoa

1.   Trim ends off green beans.  Steam for 10 minutes.
2.   Place 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all of the water is absorbed.
3.  Combine the green beans and the cooked quinoa in the food processor and process to desired consistency.

Rice, Lentils and Carrots
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
1 carrot diced
3 cups water

Place all ingredients in pan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour.  Puree or mash to desired consistency.

I love lentils, so I also made myself some lentils while the baby mash was cooking.  This time, I just cooked the lentils with water, but I usually use a combination of vegetable broth and water.  Add some diced carrots, onion and garlic.  Add pepper to taste.  Serve with a salad or rice.
 
Now, onto the Super Bowl party.  We finished our basement over the holidays to add some home office space and a bar where VeggieDaddy can serve his Homebrew.  We decided that the Super Bowl would be a great time to unveil the new bar to our friends (and their 17 children!).  We just made chili, a football-shaped cheese ball, and threw in some frozen pizzas.  The guests brought appetizers and desserts, which included some tasty little cheese buns, baked brie, artichoke and spinach dip, king cake, cheesecake frosted brownies and cookies, among other tasty treats.  It was a great spread!

Super Sweet Potato Chili
1 large onion, chopped
3 small or 1 large sweet potato, cubed
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans cannellini beans
2 cans pinto beans
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups beer (I used an IPA)
1T Garlic
2 t Cumin
1 t Seasoned salt
1T Pepper (I used ancho because I didn't want it to be too spicy for the crowd, but the combination of the sweet potatoes and spicy is really good when you do spice it up.)

I cooked this in the crockpot all day, but you can make it in a large pot on the stove as well.  This makes ALOT.

1.   Set crockpot on high and allow to heat.  Saute onions with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent.
2.  Add sweet potatoes and allow to cook while preparing the beans.
3.   Open all of the cans of beans and dump into a colander.  Rinse and drain well.
4.   Add the tomatoes, beans and all remaining ingredients and stir. If you use a crockpot with a timer, set it to 8 hours on low.  Since I was home, I cooked it on high for a few hours because there was so much to cook, it needed the high heat to get going.

Kickoff Cheese Ball
This is from the Parents Magazine February 2012 Issue, also reprinted here.  This is super cute and the girls had fun helping me make it.

4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
4 oz. Colby-Jack cheese, cubed
1/2 cup canned chickpeas. drained and rinsed
1/4 cup finely chopped jarred roasted red pepper
1/2 cup small pretzel twists
Chives or green onions for decorating

1.   Combine cheeses and chickpeas in a food processor and blend until smoothe, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times.  Add the red peppers and pulse until just combined throughout.
2.   Spoon mixture into a shallow dish and spread.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
3.   Crush the pretzels into crumbs either in the food processor or by placing in a ziploc bags and crushing with a rolling pin.  Spread the crumbs on a piece of wax paper.
4.  Scoop the cheese out of the dish and form into a football shape with your hands.  Roll it around in the pretzel crumbs to coat.  Transfer to a serving plate and use the chives or green onions to make the laces.

 With the chickpeas, this is much healthier than your usual cheese ball, and it holds its shape much better!

And on tap we had VeggieDaddy's Mocha Stout, a friend's Scottish Pale Ale, and Green Flash West Coast IPA.

And, with that, I will sign off for now with the pledge to post at least a few more times this week.

How to Make Cauliflower as Enticing as French Fries

This recipe is unbelievably easy and the kids love it!

Roasted Cauliflower
Southern Living September 2008

2 T olive oil
1 head cauliflower
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Drizzle a baking sheet with 1 T olive oil. Cut cauliflower vertically into 1/4 inch-thick slices. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared pan. Drizzle cauliflower with remaining olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Bake at 425° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

You could also add other spices to change it up a bit – cumin, cayenne pepper, etc.

Fun with Veggie Dogs

Our good friends had an Olympics Opening Ceremony party last Friday. They made an awesome spread complete with handmade empanadas, G’s famous homemade hummus, a fruit salad featuring the Olympic rings carved from watermelon rind, and veggie pigs in a blanket. This was the first of three meals we would have last weekend that featured the wonderment that is a veggie dog.

I know that some vegetarians poo-poo processed vegetarian products that resemble meat products, but I personally love them. It’s not that I miss meat and I personally don’t like any product that is too “meaty” but who doesn’t love the concept of the hot dog? You put it on a bun and add all kinds of things to it so that you don’t notice the consistency of the strange tube like thing you are eating – how American is that? And, as I plan to set out in this post, they are downright versatile.

So, first up, we have veggie pigs in a blanket. These couldn't be easier. Just cut some veggie dogs into thirds, wrap in dough and bake until golden. Our friends used leftover empanada dough (maybe if we're lucky they will post a comment with the recipe for their empanadas). We have used the biscuit or crescent roll dough that comes in a tube in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Kids love them!

On Saturday, we went camping and had (you guessed it!) veggie dogs over the camp fire for dinner! The key to roasting veggie dogs is not to leave them on too long. The casing can get a bit chewy if left on too long.

And, finally, for Sunday dinner:

Vegetarian Corn Dog Casserole
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups thinly sliced celery
1-1/2 cups sliced green onion
1-1/2 pounds vegetarian hot dogs
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (8.5 ounce) packages dry corn bread mix
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a shallow 3 quart baking dish.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter, then saute celery for 5 minutes. Stir in green onions, and saute an additional 5 minutes. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
Cut hot dogs lengthwise into quarters, then cut into thirds. In the same skillet, saute hot dogs for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Mix hot dogs into celery and onions. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, sage, pepper, and corn bread mix. Stir well to combine, then stir into remaining hot dog mixture. Mix in 1-1/2 cups cheese. Spread mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with reserved hot dog mixture and remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

From http://recipes.kaboose.com/corn-dog-casserole.html

This was tasty and the kids love it!