Quick and Easy eats!!

[tomturbomatic]

When I use TVP in a dish calling for beef, I marinate it in a non-meat beef broth concentrate with a little red wine, herbs and worcestershire sauce. Years ago, my mom ate some "Pepper Steak" I made with TVP and could not believe it was not beef.

No, Toggle, soy does not make extra gas in everyone; you must be lucky. Maybe you will be rich when the price of natural gas skyrockets.

I keep about a quart of my tomato/pasta sauce in the refrigerator at all times. I like to use some when cooking a char-flavored soy burger. When I put the burger in the pan, I put some thin onion slices around it and cook the first side with a cover on the pan. When I turn and season the burger, I spoon some of the tomato sauce on the onions and allow this to cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. I plate the burger and spoon the onion-sauce mixture on top of the burger. It tastes good to me. Even my mom likes it.

 

[zipdang]

TVP is defatted soy flour, and is a natural food. It's sold in dry form, and looks rather like Grape Nuts cereal. Before using it you add boiling liquid (like Tom noted above) to add moisture and flavor. Once reconstituted, 1 cup of dry TVP is roughly equivalent to a pound of cooked ground meat.

TVP can be purchased in bulk at most natural foods stores. Bob's Red Mill also sells it prepackaged in 10- or 12-ounce bags (if Bob's Red Mill brands are available in your area).

No worries, Toggles, it won't give you unwanted jet propulsion. Maybe leave a window open, just in case.

 

[eluxomarty]

YUMM-O!!!!!

Shane, I made this sauce tonight and it was wonderful!! I didn't know how much oregano and basil to use so i winged it. But it was fresh! I also added some fresh sliced mushrooms because i like them and all in all I now have a "base sauce" to work with! Yay! Thanks for the recipe!!!

Marty

PS I really don't know how to cook the well but this was easy AND yummy!!!!

 

[toggleswitch]

1.5 pounds ground beef. (or half beef and half turkey or chicken)
15 ounces tomato sauce (or two x 8 oz cans)
15 ounces water (Hint: fill the cans)
1 onion finely diced
Salt, peeper, parsley, basil, oregano
cinnamon

Saute onion in 1/4 cup or less olive oil
Sear and brown meat, on high heat, crushing constantly with fork.
add tomato sauce
add spices
add water

Saute over low to medium heat for 45minutes until water is absorbed/driven off.

Variations:
Add a spalsh of wine
shreded carrots
a pat or two of butter (for company).

To make this into a stufifing for stuffed peppers/vegetables add two tablespoons of rice per pepper. Cook until water is absorbed (just a few minutes). Will finish cooking in the oven in the peppers.

Pierce peppers (to allow rice to drink more water) add HOT water to pan, roast for 375*f for an hour. Some people drizzle oil or tomato sauce over the peppers before they hit the oven.

 

[toggleswitch]

oh it's a Bolognese (meat)sauce a la grecque.

The pan should be partially uncovered. Timing is not cirtical. Allow liquids to reduce to desired level of consistency.

 

[toggleswitch]

Metric:

Use 2.0 pounds (say 1kg of meat.)
and 24 ounces of tomato sauce ( 3 x 8oz cans); where 8oz =230ml

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Oh, I have SO many good recipes to share.......

ALASKA MOLASSES COOKIES

(This is a great, reduced-fat cookie -- apple sauce takes the place of more than half the butter or shortening giving these cookies a delightfully light flavor.)

1 cup applesauce
1 cup "Sugar in the Raw"
1 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
6 tablespoons butter, softened
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 large eggs
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cups chopped walnuts
3/4 cups chopped pecans
1 cup dark raisins

Cooking spray

RECIPE METHOD

Spoon applesauce onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl using a rubber spatula.

Combine applesauce, 1 cup sugar, and butter; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add molasses, egg, vanilla and ginger; beat well.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (flours through cloves), stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating until blended. Reduce mixer speed; blend in nuts and raisins. Cover and freeze dough 30 minutes or until firm, or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

With moist hands, shape dough into approx. 60 (1.5-inch) balls. Place 3 inches apart on four baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake each sheet (separately!) at 375 degrees-F for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size 1 cookie
88 calories (22 calories from fat)
4.5g total fat (2.5g saturated - 1.5g mono - 1.0g poly)
141mg sodium
12mg cholesterol
20g carbohydrates
2g dietary fiber
2.5g protein

Recipe [adapted slightly] reprinted by permission of "Cooking Light" Magazine. All rights reserved.

(See www.food.cookinglight.com)

-------------

NOTES:

Nuts & raisins optional. You can leave them out and significantly reduce the fat and carb content - or add just the raisins and not affect the fat or carb count but only slightly.

If you like sweeter cookies, you can lightly toss each ball in a dish of sugar in the raw before placing on baking sheet. But what I specifically like about these cookies is their light and not overly sweet flavor.

 

[jamiel]

What an interesting way to dewater the applesauce--I would never have thought of it, but it would be perfect to prep it for cookies!!!

 

[maggie~hamilton]

TYPO in my alaska cookies recipe


"Combine applesauce, 1 cup sugar, and butter;"

SHOULD READ

Combine applesauce, sugar, butter & shortening;"

 

[maggie~hamilton]

ÆTHEREAL OATMEAL COOKIES

You ever noticed that oatmeal cookies are generally heavy, overly sweet as a rule, and that they kinda lie at the bottom of your stomach like chewed up rocks?

Well, here's a recipe for the fluffiest and lightest oatmeal cookies I've ever tried. They're delicately tasty with just the right touch of spice, and are not cloyingly sweet.

The recipe calls for about half the amount of sugar of my other favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, so these are good if you are watching your sugar intake. (But, no, they are not "dietetic" so you shouldn't polish off the whole batch at one sitting although you might be tempted to!)

Okay, here goes---

2 cups "regular" (not instant or quick-cook) oatmeal

1-1/2 cups PLAIN (unflavored) vegetable shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar

4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
Grated zest of 1 large lemon

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 scant tsp ground clove

1 cup white raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread oatmeal in a thin layer on a baking sheet and toast until lightly colored, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Cream shortening and brown sugar together in a large electric mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to frequently stir mixture away from sides of bowl.

Stir in eggs, vanilla, coconut and lemon zest.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and clove over butter mixture and mix well. Blend in oatmeal, raisins, and nuts.

Lightly grease three cookie sheets (or line with parchment; or use ungreased nonstick cookie sheets). Drop dough by large tablespoons onto pans, 20 cookies spread evenly across each sheet.

Bake in MIDDLE of oven until edges of cookies are lightly browned, 16-18 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool to just warm, then transfer with a sharp spatula onto paper-towel cutting board to cool completely.

Store in a tightly covered container.

Makes 60 good-sized cookies.

 

[maggie~hamilton]

BLEU CHEESE DRESSING

(This is much lighter in taste and fat than any bottled bleu cheese dressing you can buy, since the commercial stuff is made with mayonnaise and sugar. This calls for sour cream which is less fat and just makes a deliciously refreshing dressing!)

4 oz crumbled bleu cheese
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp honey

1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp onion powder
2/3 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper

Dump it all in a small bowl, mix, sit for a couple of hours in refrigerator.

 

[maggie~hamilton]

BEST FRUIT CAKE EVER

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup dried fruit
1teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Lemon juice
1 cup brown sugar
Nuts
1 or 2 bottles of brandy

Before you start, sample the brandy to check for quality. Good isn’t it? Now good ahead.

Select a large mixing bowl, measuring cup etc. Check the brandy again, as it must be just right.

To be sure the brandy is of the highest quality, pour 1 level cup into a glass and drink it as fast as you can.

Repeat.

With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of thugar and beat more again. Again.

Meanwhile, make sure the brandy is of the highest quality. Cry another tup. Open second bottle if necessassary. Necressary. Necessarily. Crap! If you need more, open more.

Add 2 arge leggs, 2 cups fried druit and bet ‘til high. If fruit gets stuck in beaters, just pry if loose with a drewscriver.

Sample brandy again, checking for tonscisiticity.

Next, sift 2 cups of salt or anything, it doesn’t matter.

Sample the brandy more.

Sift 1 litre of lemon juice. Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add 1 babblespoon of brown thugar, or whatever color you find, and wix mell.

Grease oven and turn cake pan to 350 gredees. Now pour the whole mess into the boven and cake.

Check the randy begain.

Go have a little nappie-pie-poo.....zzzzzz.....