Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

Serge, Matt and myself went and spent New Year’s Eve with my friend Chuck and his girlfriend Diane. They are both known to be fantastic cooks and that is why I am always more than pleased to accept a dinner invitation to their place.

Chuck is Greek and has been commanded by his grandmother to feed everybody, a goal which he takes seriously and therefore always puts on a fantastic spread.

Diane is very much into ethnic foods, collecting chopsticks, saki sets and all manner of beautiful serving dishes. She likes to do tapas, creative appetizers and Greek dishes. A woman after my own heart, she is very good at coming up with a tasty dish at short notice with whatever is around the kitchen. (And she once saved my bum with a quick last-minute apple birthday cake for my roommate.)

Last night one of the multiple appetizers that she had laid out was some cute, diamond shaped pieces of homemade baklava. Oddly enough, whenever I have had baklava from a Greek restaurant or at parties I have not been very impressed with it. In fact, I thought that I didn’t like baklava.

To be polite I ate a piece of Diane’s baklava last night and was amazed! I loved it! I wanted to eat all of it and Diane was nice enough to send me home with the last two pieces and the recipe. :)

Serge and Chuck had a brief conversation about the ethnic origins of baklava. Of course it is Greek, but Serge remembers fondly how it was one of the popular foods sold at the beach in Crimea, when he lived in Ukraine.

So, whether you are going to the beach or having a New Years Eve party, here is Diane’s Scrumptious Baklava recipe…

Diane’s Scrumptious Baklava

Ingredients:

Pastry-

1-2 packages prepared Phyllo dough
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of walnuts
2 cups of almonds
1 cup sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

Syrup-

1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon (cut into quarters)
1 cup orange blossom honey
1/2 cup of water

1. Grind or chop the nuts finely and mix them with the cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar.

2. In a cake pan or casserole dish, butter the bottom and layer 6 layers of phyllo dough for the base.

3. Brush lightly with butter and press in approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the nut mixture.

4. Top with 4 layers of phyllo, butter lightly and then add another 1/8 or 1/4 inch layer of nuts.

5. Add 4 layers of phyllo, butter lightly and then another nut layer.

6. Repeat the process until you have 4-5 layers, ending with a thicker nut layer and a phyllo layer on top.

7. Cut half way through the layers in a diamond pattern (this makes it easier to cut to shape after baking.)

8. Bake for 1 hour at 325 or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. To make the syrup for glazing, mix syrup ingredients and boil for 15 minutes.

10. Remove baklava from oven, glaze with syrup, cover the pan and let sit on the counter for 2-5 days.

11. Finish cutting through the layers to form diamond-shaped pieces before serving.

***NEVER REFRIGERATE BAKLAVA, IT RUINS THE FLAKY LAYERS AND BECOMES RUBBERY***

The first time that I ever had Swedish Meatballs was at a New Years Party held by one of my Mum’s friends when I was about 5 years old. His mother was an elderly lady who loved to cook and she whipped up a whole Crockpot full of the little beauties.

They’ve been a personal favorite ever since, though they remained a rare but delicious occurrence in my life.

Making Swedish Meatballs can be a little time consuming as it is a multi-step process, but well worth the effort.

If you don’t have access to the main ingredient, Lightlife Gimme Lean, than you could try some Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) but I am not sure how the flavor would turn out.

Serve finished meatballs over linguine, egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

This recipe makes enough for five to six people to really stuff themselves. Expect leftovers.

Just for fun, you can see a video of the Muppets Swedish Chef serving Swedish meatballs.

Vegan Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 package Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style
1 package Gimme Lean Sausage Style
2 large onions (diced small)
4 medium portabello mushrooms (diced very small)
1.5 cups dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup rice or soy milk
2 cups soy creamer (ie. Silk)
4 tblspn olive oil
3-4 tblspn corn starch or flour
1.75 cups homemade No-chicken broth*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp sea salt

* No-chicken broth
4 tblspn nutritional yeast
1.75 cups filtered water
1 tblspn sea salt

1. In one bowl soak the bread crumbs with the rice milk and mix to soften.

2. Add half of the chopped onions, both types of Gimme Lean, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon.

3. Form into small 1 or 1.5 inch balls by rolling between your palms.

4. Brown the meatballs on all sides in a skillet with the olive oil.

5. Return meatballs to a large casserole dish or skillet (depends on whether you choose to bake or boil the sauce.)

6. In a separate sauce pan heat olive oil and fry the other half of the onions to soften them.

7. Add mushrooms and saute for two minutes.

8. Add soy cream and corn starch to thicken. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

9. Add No-Chicken Broth, a pinch of nutmeg, salt & pepper. Allow to thicken again.

10. Add to meatballs and simmer or bake for 15-20 minutes on low to medium-low heat.

11. Ladle over noodles and serve.

What are we having for dinner tonight?

When I asked myself this, at around 1pm today, I had no answer. So I strolled into the kitchen to see what we had the most of.

The answer to that was carrots.

It was snowing this afternoon and the sky had been promising to do it all morning long. So the coolness in the air led me to desire some nice, comforting, home-cooked soup.

That settled it, we were having carrot soup.

But just carrots in the soup sounded rather flavorless.

So I rummaged around some more and came up with the following pureed soup.

It’s smooth and light and even my roommate Matt liked it. (Not that he doesn’t usually like things mind you, just that he seldom voices it. So he must have REALLY liked it.)

Collage of Carrots Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb of carrots (washed but not peeled)
6-8 cups vegetable broth
3-4 cups water
1 large white potato (cut in small chunks)
1 medium onion (diced)
2-3 stalks of celery (chopped small)
1/4 cup small precooked lentils
black pepper
sea salt
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp thyme leaves (fresh is best)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
*other herbs & spices to taste (Serge prefers cayenne, in everything.)

1. Put broth and water into large soup or sauce pan and heat over low heat.

2. Cut carrots into large coins and chop all other veggies.

3. Place spices and all remaining ingredients in the pot.

4. Bring to a boil and simmer on high for 5-10 minutes.

5. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

6. Puree all of the soup in a blender and return to pot.

7. Stir, taste and add more spices as needed.

8. Serve with some lovely artisan bread and tasty soy margarine.

:)

There are always so many little tiny pieces of yarn that are left over after a knit or crochet project.

They get trimmed from color changes, from adding on a new ball here and there and from portions of store-bought yarn that should never have made it through quality control.

I hate throwing them away. Ever since I became a spinner (of not-so-fine fibers) I am acutely aware of the potential embodied energy (ie. work) that goes into even a couple feet of finished yarn.

So I collect my yarn ends in a small lunch-sized paper bag and always try to come up with creative ways to use them.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Mix with cotton, dried herbs or buckwheat hulls to fill small pillows and handmade stuffed animals.

2. Knit or crochet them into a natural fiber pillow or bag that is to be felted, just pinch them between your stitches or wrap them with your knitting yarn randomly as you work.

3. Lay them on top of raw woolen that you are felting into some groovy shape.



4. Use them for effect in some homemade paper-making.

5. If they are even long enough for 5-10 stitches then work them into a collage sweater or blanket á la Molly Weasely. Contrary to popular opinion it does not have to be just like hers to be a “Molly Weasely” creation. Her reasoning was to use up yarn ends and not waste precious materials.

6. Use a little bit of glue and add them to packages, ornaments, etc… for a touch of love and whimsy.

Most of all, have fun with your ideas. The whole point is to be creative and frugal while creating one-of-a-kind treasures of which you can be proud! ;)

This quickie that I whipped up tonight reminded me of the wild foods that we taste-tested in my Ethnobotany & Anthropology course way back in undergraduate school.

I have always had an interest in wild healing herbs and wild foods that are available in my local environment.

Not that I claim this to be a recipe which would satisfy historical purists of any kind. I am sure that at least one of these ingredients was not available to pre-contact natives.

But in spirit, with grains, nuts and fruit, it does closely resemble that simple, wild foods, style of eating.

Its so fast and easy to make, put it in the pot and barely pay any attention to it after that.

I created it out of yummy things that we had hanging around the kitchen and it was a hit.

Native American-Style Casserole

Ingredients:

1 cup pearled barley
3 cups water
1 carrot (sliced thinly)
1 small onion (diced)
1/4 cup crushed peanut halves
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
2 tblspn sea salt
black pepper (to taste)
1 green onion or fresh chives (chopped)
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Dice and slice both onions and carrots.

2. Place water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and add barley, chives and spices.

3. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

4. Add carrots, peanuts, onion.

5. Cover and continue simmering for 20-25 minutes over low heat until all water is absorbed.

6. Just before removing from pan, add pomegranate and mix.

7. Fluff gently and serve with salad.

* Some people prefer more flavors in a dinner dish and so an offering of fresh ingredients or spices on the dinner table is preferable.