Grandma Lourie's Molasses Cookies

My mother made these each Christmas and they are my go-to cookies for Advent since there are no eggs in this recipe. They use a lot of molasses per recipe so I buy it buy the gallon now from Azurestandard.com where I get a lot of organic and bulk grains and things.

"Grandma" is my mother's grandmother who she was near growing up in Vermont. Her grandma would bake these cookies every Monday and the grand kids would visit and knew they were allowed one cookie each upon their visit. There was a very special old lunch box she kept them in inside her pantry and one of the cousins bought Grandma's old house last year and is working to fix it after it fell to an owner who didn't take care of it. I believe that that old lunch box is back in it's proper place and if you visit Grandma's old house I have a feeling that our sweet cousin will be sure there are cookies available in that box.

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Herman of Alaska and many of us American Orthodox make cookies on his day (I'm not sure why we also have made pretzels on his feast day). Today I made stars (for his nickname the North Star) and spruce trees since he lived on Spruce Island out of Grandma's recipe this evening.

1c. sugar
1 c. shortening (I like the butter flavored Crisco)
1 c. molasses (not blackstrap. I use the first boiling: Barbados old fashioned aka light, but the second boiling: full or dark are fine)

I take these three and mix them in my mixer very well. Then slowly add:

1c. hot water (keep the mixer on low or there will be a big mess! ask me how I know!)

7 cups flour (may need a tad more but this should be enough, need more for rolling them out too, my mom's recipe says 6 cups but that's never been enough for me I always add at least 7)
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt

Mix all together, don't add too much flour. Put dough into large pieces of saran wrap, flatten them a bit and put in the refrigerator until chilled. Then roll, shape with cookie cutters and bake about 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.

Picture won't upload now...maybe later!

Fantastic Curried Lentils (no turmeric)

My mother is an amazing cook. I never appreciated her cooking when I was a kid, but now-a-days I wish she'd be my live-in cook and just feed me breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. She has run her own bed and breakfast in our Alaska home when I was a teenager. She would bring home stray church guests almost every Sunday and feed them a big hearty Alaskan sourdough pancake meal with real Vermont maple syrup. Not to mention that she cooked us a full dinner from scratch every. single. night even though she worked as a school teacher. We always had a salad, a vegetable some grain and a main dish. When my dad was finally willing to retire they were asked to come run an Inn in Hawaii for two  years where they would cook a fancy breakfast about half of the time for people staying there. My dad became a master of Hawaiian fruit platters and my mom would whip up amazing casseroles, scones, killer oatmeal, apparently amazing gluten free things for her special needs guests as well. I visited them there once for about a week, just me and my little 1-year-old and I thoroughly enjoyed getting spoiled by her cooking and relaxing by the pool.

As you probably know by now we are Orthodox Christians and we fast for about half the year, this means that we eat a vegan diet on our fast days. (We are allowed shrimp, scallops and other shell fish as well on those days.) Needless to say, we very much appreciate the Internet and all the vegans out there in the world publishing their delicious recipes. It has given our generation a lot of access to the cuisine of other countries and their favorite recipes. I have discovered that we really love Indian and much of the Thai food in addition to the Chinese (obviously). Growing up my mom would make Curried Lentils, but I was never a fan, it had turmeric in it and I realized I just don't love turmeric. It's the classic bottle of curry powder that you buy at the store, it is always yellow. Once I realized that Indian food didn't have to contain turmeric I started enjoying it far more. (What Wikipedia says about curry.)

My mom brought out dinner to our house a few years ago on a fasting Sunday afternoon. She was cooking for my sister's family and my family. Our husbands tend to struggle with the amount of legumes, rice, potatoes and general non-meat dishes that us wives prepare. Of course, like any wife who cooks often, we fall into bad grooves and finally our husbands have to beg us not to cook that dish ever, ever again. She brought us Curried Lentils and of course my first reaction was the yellow lentils as a child that I would have to eat and endure and in my mind ask my mother never to make them ever, ever again. I think she sensed my lack of excitement and explained that this was a new recipe she'd found in Good Housekeeping (Jan 2014) and she'd even add some shrimp for the extra meat and protein. Well, we all fell in love with it, but none more than our husbands. My husband and my sister's husband were in fasting-food heaven. I asked for the recipe and have made it quite a few times. Coconut milk seems to be that amazing secret ingredient in so many of our new favorite recipes these days...It makes the most basic ingredients creamy and fantastic. I have started buying the canned goodness online by the case, because I get the best deal and can keep it on hand. It's not cheap at the grocery store, usually between $3-$4 per can.

Curried Lentils
Makes about 6 main-dish servings

Blend in food processor your curry spices paste:
2 med. shallots, quartered (I never have shallots, I always use onions)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 jalapeno chili, stemmed (I typically have jalapeno slices in a jar that I use)
4 thick slices peeled ginger (I buy the ginger in the tubes in the produce section, it's quick and lasts quite a long time)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper
-Blend these until mostly smooth, transfer to a slow cooker or thick bottomed pot. Be sure to use an 8 quart if doubling this recipe.-

Then add:
2 c. Vegetable broth
1 1/2 c. lentils, picked over
1 can (15 oz) light coconut milk (I usually use reg, not light)
3 c. large cauliflower florets, placed on top nicely after everything else is combined
-let this all cook for an hour on the stove on low or 5 hours on high in the crock pot or 8 hours on low-

Before serving add:
1 c. frozen peas, thawed
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 lb of shrimp-optional
1/4 tsp salt (taste it, be sure it's enough)

Serve over rice, garnish with pistachios if you like. You could also garnish with shredded coconut...my mom just served me the curried shrimp with the turmeric powder when I was visiting her 2 weeks ago. She had chopped apples, shredded coconut, raisins and cashews to put on top, it was so yummy and fun to eat! I think that would be a fun addition to this recipe as well.

If you want to get really fancy you could sprout your lentils one or two days ahead. You won't need nearly as much liquid, so back off on the broth when you cook them. This seriously upps the protein in your grain and it's fin to eat little lentils with cute tails on them. It's also better for our bodies if we presoak our grains but especially when they're sprouted.

My last night in Hawaii with my parents.

Sweet and Sour Anything

The first time I ever ate this a young woman, who was a budding brilliant cook, brought this over for dinner when I had my son who is almost 17 now. It was love at first bite. She used chicken in her recipe. It's one that I for some reason forget about, you need to have canned pineapple, and that's not something I normally keep. But if I have it, I'll make this cheap and delicious meal.

Here's Christine's recipe she wrote out for me 17 years ago.

Sweet and Sour Chicken serves 4-6

Fry in frying pan with oil:
4 pieces boneless chicken breast
1 egg, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
cube chicken and mix in egg and cornstarch

Mix in a large saucepan:
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. white sugar
pineapple juice from the sm. can of pineapple chunks
Boil, then add:
pineapple chunks (what's left in the can)
2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce (to taste)

Mix in a little bowl:
1/4 c water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
then add to the pineapple mixture

Add chicken once sauce has thickened and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over rice. I usually double this recipe for our large family.

Vegetables:
I add peppers and onions to as much as I can now, also celery is cheap and easy to throw in too. Carrots are good as well as most "stir fry" veggies...those stir fry frozen vegetable bags would work for this. If we're fasting then I'll cook the sauce in a separate saucepan and fry up my veg in a large pan, then add the sauce on top. Don't overcook your vegetables! Only cook a short time then add your sauce, you want them still a bit firm like in a stir-fry.

For Tofu:
If I use tofu I fry that ahead of time with no egg or cornstarch in a non-stick pan. I have been using peanut oil lately for frying things and that worked nicely tonight. I use the firm tofu that come in little boxes that you have to cut open. This way they are shelf stable and don't have to refrigerate. Also, when you open them up I dab off as much water as I can. I slice the block in half and dab it more. Then cube it up and add to a hot pan with oil. I used 2 boxes tonight for my family of 8.

Shrimp:
This I'll just add to the vegetables. Shrimp cooks fast, add this last then the sauce.

Cheating recipe:
What I did tonight was instead of buying pineapple and making sauce, I actually bought two 15oz cans of Carnation sweet & sour sauce at the store. This was plenty to cover my vegetables and tofu and I got to skip making the sauce. I bought it for a night that I was tight on time and that was tonight. I prepared my tofu and vegetables and made my rice before church, then when we got home I fried the veg and tofu for about 5 minutes then let them cook in sauce for 5 min. Then served. Easy! I have a feeling that the Carnation sauce has all sorts of unhealthy things that I wouldn't have put into mine. But it was good.

Tofu, celery, onion, peppers before adding sauce.

Steph's Cheesy Grits

I have never thought to propose to another woman, that would be weird.

Until now.

Now I understand why men propose to women who can cook. There is so much joy in eating good homeade food, something like Stephanie's Cheesy Grits could move one to ask her to marry you. I did ask her to marry me, but she declined.

I think the secret ingredient is the bacon or ham that are not mentioned in the title, but this pot of goodness really hits the spot on a cold Sunday afternoon...or on Pascha at 2am. This dish has become a break-fast tradition in our small parish. This Christmas Steph will be gone and I just don't know what I will do without her grits. Perhaps I can make them...but they just don't taste the same.

 Steph's Cheesy Grits
 8 c salted broth, my homeade broth usually needs more salt
-heat until bubbly-
2 c polenta
-whisk into broth, stir a lot for about 20 minutes until it's thick and no longer crunchy-
about 10 drops Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 stick butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c sharp cheddar or other cheese (more if mild)
1 lb cooked, cooled and broken up bacon or diced ham
-serve immediately, Steph puts hers in a crock pot and keeps it warm until after the church service and we indulge after 40 days of fasting-

Cheesy Grits looking dapper

Missing you, Steph. Come home soon.
 

Chick Pea Love

Advent is another vegan season for us. And as I get older the more I fall in love with "ethnic" foods. Such as Arabic, Indian and Mexican. There are many varieties in the spices that we don't have in American food and the more I eat it, the more it becomes comfort food. These are some staples with the traditional Chick Pea that are our favorites.

The hummus and the falafel recipe both require a food processor. I was 36 years old before I bought my first processor (just last year). I really thought I didn't need one...and I didn't. But there were more and more things that I just couldn't make like the recipe stated...so I cleaned out space in my cupboard and bought a used one. I'm so glad I did!

Note on the beans. I LOVE sprouting beans (as of this update 3/14/2019 I try sprouting all the beans before cooking them...) It takes an extra day or two but your tummy will be much happier with you. If there are certain beans your body can't tolerate try sprouting them first and see what happens. Try lentil hummus too, sprout them first. I have soy beans that I sometimes add in to my garbanzo beans when I make it too, ups the protein and helps get rid of my stash.

I canned 14 pints of chick peas on Saturday and made a giant batch of hummus for coffee hr on Sunday. We're ready for Advent!

Hummus
This recipe was given to me by a special friend...but this never had enough FLAVOR so I am altering it and adding in more good stuff 3.14.2019.

3 cans garbanzo beans - one with juice and two drained. Coarsely grind in a food processor. Save some juice in case you need more liquid later. Please note if it's canned from the store if there is salt or not, I almost always make my own beans, usually sprouted first, so I don't have any salt in mine.
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. tahini (I have used almond butter with good results)

1 Tbs cumin (this is not in many other recipes I see, I think it's a secret ingredient, I have only left this out of my basil pesto flavored hummus otherwise keep it in...)

2 tsp salt (probably less if your beans are pre salted, but probably more if they weren't salted)
Olive Oil -while processor is running, drizzle in about 15-20 seconds worth of olive oil (I have used peanut oil when we were fasting from olive oil, I have seen sunflower oil suggested too)
8-12 cloves minced garlic 

Season variation of the day we have made:

Herb Hummus: thyme, sage, oregano, black pepper, two tsp each of the herbs and 3/4tsp of pepper
Paprika Hummus: Smoked paprika 2-3 tsp smoked and regular paprika, 6-10 shakes cayenne pepper, (everyone likes this one)
Basil pesto Hummus: I use a premade-pesto packet or two in place of cumin and other spice (soooo good, everyone loved this!)
Indian Hummus: 2tsp Garam Masala, 1tsp coriander, 1tsp garlic powder 1tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1tsp black pepper. Also used melted coconut oil for half of the oil to add the flavor.

Haven't had a chance to make these kinds yet:
Za'atar Hummus: Za'atar contains salt! We love za'atar but can't always find it, if you're Arabic you probably know where to find it and you obviously already know how to make hummus so you're likely not reading this blog post...)
Chives/scallions Hummus.
Roasted red pepper Hummus, top with pinenuts!
Olive Hummus

Add more seasonings 'till it tastes right. Try extra salt first, then tahini, lemon, olive oil. Flavors will blend if you let it refrigerate overnight. Process the heck out of it, the longer it stays in the blender the better it gets.

Before serving drizzle over with sumac, paprika or cayenne. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve with pita or chips.

Pita Bread
This recipe was given to us by the same friend. It is our go-to pita recipe now, I have made it twice this week already.

2 c warm water
2 Tbl dry yeast
-let yeast proof-
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbl olive or veg oil
5 cups flour
extra flour

Mix the 5 cups of flour into the wet ingredients. You want an almost sticky dough.

Let rise 'till doubled. Preheat oven and baking sheets at 450-500 degrees F. Punch down. Pull apart into 2" balls, form balls, place on a well floured surface. Starting with first formed balls (they have risen some by now) roll them out (remember extra flour) and place how ever many will fit on a baking sheet. They should take about 8-10 minutes to puff up and bake. Best to store in a bag right away to keep them soft and pliable. If you used too much flour they will be much more crispy and not as soft.

A bowl of hummus and fresh pita.

Falafels
For this recipe I give full credit to The Shiksa in the Kitchen. Her recipe is fantastic. It is the first and only one I have tried making from scratch (I used to buy boxes of falafel mix, a great alternate!) But after I bought the 25lb bag of dried chick peas I was committed to finding ways to use them. This recipe is so good and easy, it's worth trying. I think the reason I like it so much is it works perfectly and I never changed it.

1 lb (2 cups) dry chick peas/garbanzo beans
-cover with 3" of water and let them soak overnight or sprout them over a couple of days-
1 small onion, rough chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley (I have used dried)
3-5 cloves garlic (she likes roasted)
1 1/2 Tbl flour
1 3/4 tsp salt 
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I almost always skip the hot stuff)
Pinch of ground cardamom
Veggie oil for frying (grapeseed, canola, or peanut)

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that... but don't overprocess, you don't want it turning into hummus! I prefer mine more fine than coarse. Pour out into a bowl, mix with a fork, fish out large chunks, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate one or two hours.

This is the part where she lists all sorts of suggestions if it's not behaving itself and variations on the recipe. I'll skip to the frying...

Fill a skillet with oil to 1-1 1/2 inches. Heat slowly over medium heat. Form some falafels into round balls or small patties...I prefer small egg shapes I make with my table spoons. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side to brown. Turn down heat if it goes much faster, heat up if it's too slow.

Drain on paper towels. Serve them traditionally with hummus and tahini sauce...or our favorite way is in a pita with lettuce, onion and tomato with some tzatziki sauce.

She also recommends other "add ons" such as:
Israeli salad
dill pickles
tabouli
french fries
sprouts
cucumber slices
roasted peppers
roasted eggplant
sunflower seeds
feta cheese
yogurt

Tzatziki Sauce
This is my "vegan version" of it. It's not as great as the sauce made with the yogurt, but it's a great sub-in if you don't eat dairy. Some people also prefer it with sour cream.

1 cucumber -peel, de-seed, and grate or chop very finely, put to drain in a sieve or cloth-
1 cup Vegeniase (you could try soy yogurt, but I always have Vegenaise on hand) 
1 Tbl lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl chopped fresh dill (I use dry if it's winter)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine and let refrigerate 1-2 hours. 

Slather it on everything and enjoy!

Here is Shiksa's beautiful photo of her falafel.

And just for fun...every time I make hummus or falafels we must watch GoRemy's "Falafel Song" and the "Hummus Rap". They are a hoot.

Snow Icecream

As I sit at my desk not working but blogging instead, my kids are giggling behind me while they watch AFV with my husband. I love hearing them laugh.

The sky decided to open up this weekend and take a dump, literally. We have SO much snow from this "storm". The roads are really bad because they had a good coating of water last week from the melt off then froze, then it snowed, making things very slick. There have been countless numbers of crashes out there, I'm staying home.

To those that say it shouldn't snow in April? I say, "then you shouldn't live in Alaska...it ALWAYS snows in April". Learn like I had to that March is "fake spring" and end of April-May is "real spring".

My 9-year-old asked at 9:30pm if she could make snow ice-cream and papa wanted to say no since it was late but really? How many more great large fluffy snowfalls will we get this year? Here's how we make ours.

Sorry no pictures, my phone is in the shop after last weeks phone-death-by-dog incident.

Snow Ice-cream: serving 6 children

Fresh snow
Vanilla extract (I typically save my gallon of fake vanilla extract for this recipe since we use so much making this and I'm not eating it, the kids are)
Sugar
Milk, any kind (almond, soy, real, we end up usually making this with vanilla almond milk)

Scoop up a LARGE bowl of snow, heaping if you can - (don't scrape it off the ground, gross).
Quickly swirl on one large circle of vanilla, we don't measure.
Scoop on a scoop of sugar over the top, we don't measure.
Swirl on some milk. Stir, mush down chunks of vanilla and milk, keep adding more milk as needed. You want it to be almost mushy but not quite. There should not be any bright white snowy spots yet, you want all the vanilla mixed in. Taste to be sure you have enough sugar, add more if needed.

Serve in bowls, not cones, it melts fast.

Enjoy!

Meal Planning

Well today is Palm Sunday! Ha, psyche! I'm Orthodox...so today is actually Orthodoxy Sunday (meaning the first Sunday of lent). So we're just getting started... Our Pascha (Easter) is May 5th this year! Pretty late, but the snow might just be melted by then, yippie!

Along with Lent comes a new way of thinking and cooking. Vegan style.

My 9-year-old already makes us bread once per week now, so at least that's covered. I have refined my bread recipe a few times since I posted in 2011. Now we grind 4 kinds of wheat on Thursdays, soak the flour overnight, then on Friday she makes it into bread adding lentil, millet & brown rice flour, oats, ground flax seed, olive oil and maybe a cup or two of white flour. We like the recipe and I like knowing it is full of protein and will last longer in their tummies than regular store bought bread.

I also stay well stocked on apples and bananas. They are the most economical fruits I have found and I pretty much buy them in bulk every time I visit the store. Great snacks for any time of year. One of my favorite snacks is apple slices and dry roasted almonds.

I have found the internet so helpful and am in love with vegans because they have so many fantastic recipes!

Today I read my friend, Ser's, blog and she had posted about meal planning, inspiring me to get my rear in gear.

I spent a lot of time thinking of meal ideas, after all, each lent I have to remember how to be a vegan all over again. I make a much bigger deal over it than need be. I made a meal planning notebook and a list of food ideas. Then I can start assigning meals to each day. I decided to write about my ideas because I can never find my list each advent and lent... but I can locate a computer, the internet, and my blog so that next year I can find my list again. I used my blog today to get started, so many recipes listed are already here and I added my lentil soup today so I could be sure to find it if I need it later.

Fasting/Vegan food Ideas:

Hummus Pizza
Enchiladas
Tostadas w/ veggie "meat", avocados, caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce, re fried beans, salsa, fake sour cream, olives (made these earlier this year for company, sooo good!!!)
Vegan shepherds pie (can use the fake taco meat in this)
Seafood soup
3 Bean salad
Indian food! Cabbage Kofka, Aloo Mattar, Flat bread, Dal and Rice.
Pirogis, this recipe looks promising.
Dumplings and fried rice, these recipes look yummy, haven't tried them yet.
Yummy lentil soup
Chili and cornbread (have a recipe we love, will try to post sometime)
Falafels and Tabuli w/ pita (will be trying the one in the link this week, soaking chick peas now...update 3-26-13, the falafels in this recipe are fan-freaking-tastic!!!! I just put more beans to soak so we can have more tomorrow or the next day)
Hummus (have a new recipe we like better than the one linked, but have not posted it yet. This is my favorite hearty snack or lunch, especially with Kalamata olives.)
Spring rolls, so yummy.
Lentil veggie burgers (this look good! I just found this recipe)
Rib sticking pancakes
Waffles, I'm posting a successful recipe. I'd found 4 different ones then tried my own but it didn't really work.
Jambalaya (hubby's recipe with "gimmie lean sausage" fake chicken & shrimp, spendy recipe but very hearty, will try to post it sometime)
Roasted vegetables
Sushi
Sweet and sour shrimp or tofu and rice, have a great recipe for this.
Shrimp fajitas. I LOVE these so much!

One of my favorite websites is Veg Web. I love how they have their website laid out if I need ideas and the comments people add are nice. I added recipes to it a while back, not sure if they are still there. Also, Laura at Hey What's for Dinner Mom makes meatless meals at least twice per week and she's in Alaska, so she shares good ideas of local foods that we can buy, pick or grow up here.

I know I'll think of more later, but this will get me going.

Pretty vegetables. link.

Rib Sticking Pancakes

As I posted in the Hummus Pizza post, we have begun the Advent Fast. Advent isn't as difficult as Lent. Partly because it's not been since August since we had our last fasting time and that was only a short 2 week fast. Also because there is a lot of fish allowed during this fast and that makes it much easier.

I love making soup when we're fasting because I can sneak in a lot of grains and legumes in with vegetables. As long as I add enough spices and salt, it always tastes fine. But we miss certain comfort foods and pancakes is definitely a comfort food. But what to do when you can't fry up some sausage patties to go with them and can't add eggs to the cakes? A not too impressive dinner. It might stick in our bellies for an hour or so but then hunger strikes again. I am not typically a fan of making 2 suppers.

Today I was determined to make a pancake recipe that was:
a) tastes good!
b) protein rich, and will last 'till bed time
c) vegan

When we're not fasting I have a killer sourdough recipe, and the sourdough is bonafide old crusty sourdough from 100+ years ago. Or so my mom always said. But it calls for quite a few eggs and I have substituted with apple sauce (my go-to substitute for eggs in baked goods while fasting) but it didn't have the same chemical properties with out the eggs and didn't have the texture I like in pancakes.

Today I studied about 5 recipes then made up my own. I took my sisters favorite pumpkin pancake recipe (that happens to be vegan), another vegan recipe, a high protein recipe and a very basic pancake recipe. When looking at multiple recipes you can see similarities in them and what the chemical make up usually is. Here's what I saw with pancakes today per cup of flour needs: one cup of liquid, 1tsp salt, 2 tsp bkg powder. So if you need to adjust your recipe, keep that in mind.

So here's what I made. Next time I'll make a larger batch and start with more whole grain soaked flour the day before, but what I did make today fed our family of 8 a decent meal.

I haven't made these enough to be an expert and haven't tried all the varieties that I will list, but next time I'm using pumpkin.

Rib Sticking Pancakes (Banana, Pumpkin or Apple)

2 cups whole grain flour (millet, spelt, soft wheat, hard wheat, brown rice, etc)
2 cups water
-soak the night before-
2T flax seeds ground
4 t salt
2 scoops protein powder (I have GenSoy, it's expensive and this is a GREAT way to use that stuff as you can't taste it in these and that's a good thing!)
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (next time I'm going to use a 15 oz can of pumpkin or you could try a cup or two of applesauce)
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 c sweetened vanilla almond milk (if you don't have this use what ever milk and add a touch more sugar if it's not sweetened and 2 tsp of vanilla)
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 oats, ground
1/3 millet, ground
1/4 c sugar
2 1/2 c white flour (this is where I had to really stretch it and will use more wheat flour rather than white next time)

Before frying mix together then add to the batter:
1/2 c water
2 T baking powder
2 t baking soda

Fry up.

Add berries if you wish or if you're a nice mom like my sister is you can add chocolate chips. Those would be really good with the banana or pumpkin.

Note: I am really hoping that I took good notes while making this. The whole time I was focusing on trying to keep my balance of everything, write it down and add more stuff to the batter or we wouldn't have enough for dinner! Your batter should look like pancake batter! If it's too thick or too soupy, adjust by adding more flour or liquid. Apple sauce will usually have more water content than bananas or pumpkin.

Vegan, Whole Grain, High Protein, Banana, Fasting Pancakes

Indian food

Friday afternoon I drove by the sushi restaurant in town and wished it was still the Indian place. I miss it right now.

Yesterday I did nothing; until it was dinner time and realized I had not thought of anything to make, so I hit up Manjula, my favorite internet Indian cook.

I used the "St. John Church Cookbook" and made Ser's Aloo Mattar (I'll list recipe below) and I made Manjula's Besan Puda (pancake like flat bread with veggies in them). The thing I left out were green chilies, I don't have any.

I ground the chickpea flour and rice flour for the Besan Puda in the coffee grinder and our flour mill and they were very good. I've made the Aloo Mattar before and it's good too.

Today after church I was wishing for more leftovers than we had so I decided to make a bunch more Indian food. I started with my Dal recipe that I posted about a couple weeks ago. Then I started a pot of white rice. I remembered watching the Cabbage Kofta video last night and thinking I had most of the ingredients not to mention that they looked delicious. On the dumplings I used powdered ginger, dried cilantro (not the same as fresh!) and didn't have a green chilie. In the gravy I didn't have fresh tomatoes and used sauce, didn't have hing, powdered ginger, no yogurt, and dried cilantro. The kofta's themselves were awesome, probably should have skipped the gravy but it was good for dipping the Besan Puda's. I made more today with no veggie this time.

My parents showed up right in time to have some with us, it was a great Sunday meal with lots of leftovers.

Ser's Aloo Mattar, serves 4
(means potatoes and green peas, I like Ser's version since I have all the spices on hand)

2 lg potatoes, peeled and cut into sugar cube size pieces, soak in cold water
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 c fine diced onion, saute both in
2 T oil, then add:
1 c chopped tomato (I use canned)
1 t salt
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t ground cardamom
1/2 t turmeric powder
1/2 t ground coriander
pinch cayenne (opt, we don't add)
-cook 5 minutes-
-add well drained potatoes, stir for a minute, add:
1 c water
-cover, cook med heat 10 min-
1 1/2 c defrosted peas, add
-cover cook 15 min, till potatoes are soft-
-mash about 1/2 the pot-
Serve with rice and other Indian food, YUM!

I didn't take any pictures, but my Indian food is not photogenic. Manjula is a joy to watch, I bet she will inspire you too.

photogenic Indian food

Indian Dal

Argh, foiled by dinner again.

I don't know why, but when it hits me that I still have to think of dinner, it's like a brand new revelation EVERY DAY! Crazy...I'm just a bit crazy.

Today's another vegan day and I think I'll make rice and dal (lentils). My kids love the dal and it's pretty easy to make. I NEVER knew lentils could taste this good! I got the recipe from vegweb.com which is a great resource for vegan food recipes.


Indian Dal

I usually double or triple this recipe for our family and to have some leftovers which are good. If we're having company I may make 2 pots, one regular (spicy) and a large pot mild for the kids.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 small hot pepper, minced (I usually don’t unless I make a non-spicy pan for the kids too)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I love coconut oil for this)
1 cup small red lentils (I have 25lbs of green and I like them fine)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (not me)
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
I also add chopped spinach, beet greens, kale, or grated zucchini ½ way through.

Directions:

1. Place onion, garlic, and hot pepper in a pot, cover with oil (be generous with the oil, they should swim in it). Let all of it simmer, about 5 minutes.

2. Rinse lentils, add to pot, stir, then add spices, stir, add water to cover lentils. Cook at medium to medium high. Leave uncovered, don't walk away for too long.

3. You will have to keep checking because the water cooks down and you will have to add more to make the dal the consistency you like. Stir often because it helps the lentils cook down well.

4. After 30 minutes or so of cooking you can add fresh or frozen greens. This is not a must but it's a great way (for me) to get those frozen greens into our diet. You don't really taste them.

5. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Be aware that you don't want too much cardamom and ginger, they take control of flavors, cumin and coriander are more mild.

Serve with spinach, naan, and rice.

Serves: 3-4 maybe, Preparation time: 1 hour tops

Tips: For our family of 9 I always double this recipe. I also pre-make snack bags full of the spices that I need so I can dump them in and not measure out each time. If I'm making a pot and I'm out of spices, I'll make the dinner and the packets at the same time... This way I know that this frugal recipe is half way made for me and it will be even faster for dinner.

Rice is cooking, I'll post on family's favorite rice another day. Now off to chop onions and make a meal.



dal is not photogenic...it looks like mush but your taste buds will want to marry it