Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

This one comes from my old friend Lilac. Actually it made the rounds throughout her family, so I guess it isn’t technically “hers” so to speak.

They are an interesting bunch. If you can picture old school hippie beings who were raised on falafel, traveled the country in decorated school buses and were simply born with the crafting gene (one painter, one jeweler and one potter in the family) then you’ve got it just about right.

I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit for my own personal tastes. This makes a chili that is both sweet and spicy, just the way that I like it!

So without further adieu…

Miss Lilac’s Veggie Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 large onions (diced)
4 cups of kidney or black beans (cooked or canned)
1-2 medium green or red peppers (diced)
2 cups of tomatoes (canned or chopped fresh)
1-2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (chopped small or pressed)
1 package of Lightlife Smart Ground (taco flavor)
OR 1 package of Quorn Grounds (I prefer these.)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg (+ a pinch)
1/8 tsp cinnamon (+ a pinch)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or turbinado sugar)

1. Saute the garlic in the olive oil over med-high heath for a minute then add the onions and saute until they soften.

2. Add the spices and continue cooking for one minute.

3. Add the package of Smart Ground and fry until it is warm and broken up evenly.

4. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a simmering boil.

5. Cover. Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer for 30 minutes or more, until consistency and flavors are to taste.

6. Serve with organic tortilla chips and enjoy!

That’s right. This post was going to be titled Shred & Pour: Recycling Soap Ends, but the universe had other ideas.

What was to be a simple exercise in melting those little pieces of unusable soap that are left over at the end of the bar turned into an exercise in frustration and stinky kitchens.

My grandmother always used to save those useless ends of soap and put them into a bowl. Then she would add little sprinkles of water and press down on the mixture now and then, allowing the soap ends to sort of cream together. It was then possible to put your hand into the bowl and scoop out enough soap to wash your hands with.

A few years ago I decided that I would do the same but, having recently discovered soap-making, I though that I would melt all of those little pieces of soap together and pour the mixture into new soap molds.

All I can say is that it worked fine last time, the result being cute little bars of pastel green soap with tiny chunks of other solid colors mixed in.

This time….well I’ll get to that.

So here were the original instructions that I was going to give you……DON’T FOLLOW THESE!!!

Recycling Soap Ends

Supplies:

Soap ends from old bars of soap
Soap molds
A Double-boiler or
a microwave-proof glass measuring cup with pour spout
Scented oil (such as amber, patchouli or sandalwood)
Food coloring (if desired)
Cheese grater
Metal spoon

Instructions:

1. Grate soap ends as small as possible using the cheese grater.

2. Place soap ends into the top of the double boiler so that they fill a little less than half the pan.

Alternately, place them in the measuring cup to the same height.

3. Add three drops of scent and one drop of food coloring.

4. Heat over double boiler (or in microwave) at low heat until the soap becomes liquid. IT WILL BE HOT!!!

5. Stir a little, pour or spoon into molds.

6. Place into fridge to harden.

UNFORTUNATELY, I don’t have a double-boiler and although, in theory, you can create one simply by placing a smaller pan inside of a larger pan. I have discovered that this doesn’t work well when the pans have insulated bottoms, as all of my pans do. So I opted for the microwave method.

Disaster struck!

The whole mixture smoked something awful in the microwave, and still I persevered.

I kept cooking and cooking, waiting for the melt.

I added a few drops of water and it seemed to initiate a melt.

I removed and stirred to break up the chunks and still had to cook more.

I eventually got a brown gooey mess that resembled melted soap and so proceeded to pour it into the molds (which I had borrowed from someone.) There it proceeded to melt right through the pretty shapes and onto my counter.

‘nough said?

I tried to pour the last bits into metal mold shapes, but they smelled so burnt that I had to throw them away. Ahhh…frugality gone wrong…

So my new directions are:

Add the soap ends to store-bought glycerin soap chunks that are specifically designed for microwave soap-making and make sure to use a soap thermometer. Either that or get some metal molds, because those plastic soap molds and soap end recycling simply do not mix!

Oopsy, oh well. ;) I’m off to buy replacement molds.

Looking for a good Autumn recipe to try on your friends and family?

This is one that I mashed together with features from several different sources and a little of my own addition for inspirations’ sake.

It will work as a main course for any die-hard vegetarians but also makes a lovely side-dish to a larger meal (such as Thanksgiving Dinner.)

Sweet Root Veggie Cornucopia

Ingredients: (Items marked with an asterisk are optional)

1 Butternut squash
4 large Potatoes
5 Shallots
1 large or 2 medium Turnips
5 Parsnips
5 Carrots
*2-3 Apples
*2-3 pieces Celery
1 cup Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon Garlic
large pinch Nutmeg
*1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
*pinch Paprika
1 tablespoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit, oil a roasting pan or baking dish. (I used a very large lasagna pan. But an earthenware casserole dish would do quite nicely.)

2. Cut all veggie into 1/2 inch rounds or 1 inch chunks. Peel any veggies that you wish to peel, I suggest peeling the squash, the apples and the turnip but not everyone prefers this.

3. Combine all veggies and fruit in a large mixing bowl, or in your baking dish if its large enough to allow mixing, then drizzle both the maple syrup and olive oil over the top.

4. Toss veggies several times to ensure that all surfaces are glazed.

5. Sprinkle the herbs and spices over the top and mix thoroughly.

6. Place the entire combination in pan and bake for about an hour, mixing every 15-20 minutes.

~

This recipe (which I made tonight) is very hearty and delicious.

Many of the other recipes for this type of baked veggie dish call for Rutabaga, which I for some reason detest, so I removed it. Though I replaced the Rutabagas with Butternut Squash, you can always include or exclude any veggies that you wish.

Go on! Be creative and have fun with your food!

So today was my first try of corn pasta. The last attempt at non-wheat pasta was disastrous and, well, disgusting.

That was back in May and I will not be buying that Bionaturae wheat-free variety again. It was a mixed flour pasta with soy, rice and potato and the result was a rather slimy, not-very-pasta-like pile of stuff.

Tonight we had corn pasta by DeBoles along with regular Prego spaghetti sauce and Nate’s Zesty Italian meatless meatballs.

The corn pasta was wonderful! It was a yellowy color but tasted exactly like regular pasta and, though it took a bit longer to boil and made the water an interesting cloudy white, it came out the exact same texture that one would expect of wheat-based pasta.

Quite groovy I say!

Having been a vegetarian for a only a short time now, I was also pleasantly surprised at the quality of the meatballs. Very meaty in flavor and relatively natural in ingredients.

I will be attempting a veggie meatloaf soon and hope that it comes out half as good as those frozen meatless meatballs that we picked up in the Stop-n-Shop natural foods section.

Well me? Hmmm… Recently returned to vegetarianism after a 15 year hiatus. (Long Story) Definitely trying to learn more fun and creative ways to be frugal.

I’m an inspirational writer and psychic medium in my other life and I aspire to run my own farm someday.

What can you expect to find here?

Anything that strikes my fancy really: vegetarian recipes, hand crafts such as spinning and crochet, musings on raising animals and kids, reviews of books and products of interest to vegetarians, old-time anecdotes, natural healing, chatter about folk music and hippie living as well as simple things that we can all do to be a little more eco-friendly and a little less gimmee gimmee.

I hope that your readings here are fun and inspiring!