Slow Cooker Vegetarian Refried Beans (No Soak, Easy Method)

These are delicious and creamy refried vegetarian beans, using a 5-quart (or larger) Crock Pot and a few simple ingredients. No pre-soaking the beans is necessary.  The cooking time remains the same, soak or not. You can make them vegan if you substitute non-dairy butter at the end.

It takes approximately 6 hours to cook, once everything is in the slow cooker. You can freeze the extra in portion-sized freezer containers and they can last safely between 3-6 months.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb.  Dried pinto beans
• 1 large onion (yellow preferred)
• 4 bouillon cubes (I use Better than Bouillion paste in place of chicken bouillion cubes)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 6 cups water (I use 4 cups of vegetable stock in a carton and add 2 cups water to equal 6 cups total)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, this gets added at the end

Instructions:

1. This recipe does not require soaking the beans. You can soak the beans if you want, but it’s not necessary. Set up your slow cooker and set it to high.  (If you cook on low, cooking time is 10 hours.)

2. Slice the onion into large cross-section slices and sauté in a large skillet on medium-high heat with 2 TBL cooking oil until they are brown and caramelized on both sides.

3. Rinse and sort the dried beans, throwing away any rocks or clumps of dirt.  Put the beans in the slow cooker.  When the onions are brown, add them and their oil on top of the beans in the cooker. 

4. Add the bouillon/stock, garlic, and bay leaf. Stir and cover.

5. Set a timer for 6 hours. Stir every couple of hours and check on the beans.  They will take between 5-6 hours to completely cook. (If you cook them on low, set your timer for 10 hours.)

6. When the cooking time is done and the beans feel thoroughly cooked, ladle off at least half or most of the liquid - but save it separately to add back to your beans’ desired consistency at the end.

At this point, don’t forget to take out the bay leaf, if you added one.

7. Add the stick of butter into the cooked beans. Use an immersion blender and blend the beans in the pot until smooth. If you don’t have a stick blender, you can use a manual potato masher.

8. If your beans feel too thick and pasty, add a little of the reserved cooked bean liquid back, a tablespoon at a time, until it has the consistency you want.

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Eat with burritos, as a dip, with rice, eggs, tacos, roll ups, tostadas, etc.

Creamy Vegetarian Broccoli Salad

Tasty and filling broccoli salad!

Best eaten on the first day when it’s fresh, but still tastes good for an extra day.

Vegetarian. Contains dairy.

Ingredients:

• 1 crown broccoli, cleaned and grated, including the stems (cut off any small brown or dry edges from the stem first, but keep the majority of the stem)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (purple preferred, but any color is fine)
• 2/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese 
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise 
• 1 tsp sugar
• Imitation bacon bits for topping
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

In a large bowl combine the broccoli, onion, cheese, and sunflower seeds.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the sour cream and mayonnaise to make the dressing. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper and mix until it tastes balanced and the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and gently mix until everything is evenly coated.

Top with imitation bacon bits and serve.

Strawberry Napoleons

My kid made these and we loved them so much, we made them weekly for a while. Delicious and a very easy recipe for kids. You could make them with other fruit or mixtures, depending on what you have or what’s in season. You could also add other flavors to the cream filling, or color it pink (or whatever color you like) to get creative and make it even more special.

Ingredients

1 box frozen puff pastry sheet (or homemade)

1 box instant vanilla pudding, 3-oz size

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups whipped topping (like Cool Whip) or sweetened whipped cream

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

Powdered sugar for dusting at the end (optional)

Melted chocolate, sprinkles, or other topping for drizzling at the end (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Prepare the frozen puff pastry by thawing it and cutting it into 12 equal rectangles, using a pizza cutter or knife. You could also use a ruler if needed.

3. Add the puff pastry rectangles to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Bake for 13-15 minutes until the rectangles puff up and are golden brown.

4. Remove the puff pastry rectangles from the oven and allow to cool. Split them in half to make 24 rectangles.

5. In a bowl, mix the vanilla pudding with the milk. Let it set for 5 minutes. Fold in the whipped topping, to create the pastry cream.

6. Wash and slice the strawberries. If you use frozen strawberries, thaw them out and drain away most of the juice so they’re not too drippy.

7. Using a spoon or piping bag, put some cream on a rectangle, place some strawberry slices on the cream,   Add a little more cream, and then add a puff pastry rectangle on top.  Like a little sandwich.

8. On top of each little strawberry cream pastry sandwich, top with a little more cream and a few more strawberry slices.

9. At this point, you could drizzle them with melted chocolate or dust with powdered sugar, if you want.

10. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  They are best eaten fresh, but can be stored for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Easy, Kid-Friendly Blueberry Vinaigrette

My kid is working on learning to enjoy eating green salad, because healthy.  So we found a way to use the blueberries that we picked and froze last summer to make a super tasty and very PURPLE salad dressing that makes eating salad fun awesome. You simply blend the 4 ingredients together, using a regular blender or immersion blender, food processor…or any machine that will purée the ingredients into a smooth dressing.

Ingredients

1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw)

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup honey

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients with your blender

2. Strain, if you want.

3. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  Shake before pouring.

The Best Homemade Waffle Recipe Ever

My son and I have perfected a waffle batter recipe. You’ll need a waffle iron.  It will get messy and drippy, so maybe put a piece of parchment paper underneath your machine while you use it to catch the drips. It’s totally worth the mess, though.

Also, you can put the cooked waffles in a freezer bag, freeze them, and save them for later. These are better than store bought waffles!

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A dash of cinnamon
• Nonstick cooking spray
• (Optional) Toppings for your cooked waffles, such as butter, syrup, powdered sugar, jam, peanut butter, Nutella, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. In a large bowl, whisk just the eggs until they are thoroughly blended and smooth.

3. Add the flour, milk, and vegetable oil. Mix until blended.

4. Whisk in the sugar, and then everything else - the baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon just until smooth, Be careful not to overmix.

5. Spray the waffle iron with non stick cooking spray. Pour some batter onto the hot waffle iron and cook until golden brown.  I use a soup ladle, which seems to be the perfect amount (about 4 oz)  to fill both sides of our smallish waffle maker. Use whatever works for your machine.

For our waffle iron and this recipe, 4 minutes seems to be the perfect amount of time to cook the waffles to a perfect level of golden brown crispness.  But it could take anywhere from about 3-5 minutes for other waffle makers.

Enjoy your amazing waffles!

Magic Mojo Easy Spaghetti Sauce for Picky Children

My sensitive kid is currently finicky about textures in his food.  He likes sauces that are "smooth with no chunks" and no pieces of unidentifiable herbs or vegetables.  While we are working on helping him broaden his horizons to include more variety and chunky things in sauces, in the mean time he helped me create this great recipe for spaghetti/pizza sauce.  It is simple enough for a kid to assemble, extremely inexpensive, and so tasty!  The credit for the inspiration for this goes to a wonderful and gracious lady/blogger mom, a.k.a. 4hatsandfrugal.com , who also has finicky kids.  We started with her fabulous make-ahead pizza sauce recipe and adapted it to our tastes to be a quick spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients:
1 small can (6 ounces) of tomato paste
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 to 1 tablespoon ground oregano (should be like a powder, not leaves)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

How to make it:
In a medium sauce pan, combine the ingredients (my son measures and combines in the pan for this part).
Turn the heat on to just under medium and continually stir as the sauce heats up.  Make sure it's smooth.  We like to use a whisk; It works great.  It takes just a few minutes before the sauce starts bubbling. Then, turn it way down to simmer while your noodles (or whatever protein/vegetables) are cooking.

We like to put it on Italian Bucatini, which is a large, tubular spaghetti type pasta, and then chop up a baked, crunchy vegetarian "chicken" patty to put on top.  Then we top it all with some Parmesan cheese.

If you are the type that mixes sauce into pasta and mixing before serving, this recipe makes enough sauce to cover an entire 16 ounce package of Italian Bucatini noodles.

SO EASY. SO TASTY. SO YUMMY.

Easy and Cheap 7 Can Vegetarian Chili Soup

This extremely quick, simple, and cheap recipe for chili soup is what we crave on cold rainy nights.  It's inexpensive and goes a long way.  It's based on the Pioneer Woman's meat-based recipe, but I've tweaked it with my own flair as a vegetarian dish and I've added a few extras.  You could definitely adapt this to be vegan if you wanted, I think.  But my version does have some dairy in it.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can white (northern or navy) beans
1 can red kidney beans (light or dark red)
1 can vegetarian chili
1 can Rotel tomatoes, original flavor
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
8 ounces Velveeta (or substitute), divided into several small chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 TBL olive oil or butter to saute

Steps:
1. Over medium heat in a large pot, saute the chopped onion in some oil and cook thoroughly or carmelize as golden as you prefer.
2. Add the chopped garlic.
3. Add the contents of all the cans.  DO NOT DRAIN THE CANS.  Just add every bit of what's in each can.  The liquid in the cans becomes part of your soup.  Every drop is used in this recipe and nothing is wasted.
4. Let it all get hot and start to bubble a little.  Then, add the Velveeta and stir until it's all melted together.
5. Serve when it turns into a beautiful orange soup.  You can top with a little sour cream and chopped green onions if you're feeling festive.

That's it! So easy.  So quick. So tasty.

You could leave out the Velveeta if you wanted to avoid dairy and it would still be tasty.
You could also add a can of green chiles, or use Fiesta style corn for variety.  The beans could also be changed for some other canned beans, if desired. Like navy, for instance.
I also sometimes add a chopped up veggie burger, to make it more "meaty" and chili-like.

See photos below!

The basic recipe ingredients

Saute onions until caramelized

Add garlic and start adding in the cans' contents.  Don't drain the cans. Use every drop.

Veggie chili

Black beans

Northern beans

Light red kidney beans

Sweet golden corn

Chopped up grilled Boca "turk'y" burger from yesterday

Throw in the Velveeta (this was the generic store version, "Nice N' Cheesy")

A few minutes later, it becomes a beautiful, zippy, orange-colored chili soup that will thaw the coldest of hearts on a rainy night.

Bento Box Salad Dressing

It's no secret that I am a complete sucker for teriyaki and yakisoba.  I am on a quest to test out every teriyaki joint in my city.  I think I finally figured out a good approximation of the creamy, mayo-ey salad dressing comes on the fresh green salads that you get with a bento box at teriyaki restaurants.  I crave that taste sometimes - the crispy-fresh, cold, crunchy lettuce with a delightful dressing accenting the top.  YUM.  In restaurants, the dressing ranges from white to off-white, to beige, but it's always slightly tangy, slightly sweet, kind of aromatic, and slightly creamy.  It balances out the other flavors on the tray perfectly.  This is a basic recipe that can be adjusted, depending on your taste, and depending on what you have on hand for your ingredients.

Ingredients

5 TBL mayonnaise (I used regular American mayo, but many recipes use Japanese mayo/Kewpie)
1 TBL seasoned rice vinegar (if you don't have rice vinegar, you can use a mild vinegar like white wine vinegar)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar, more or less (some recipes suggest 2 tsp, but I prefer it less sweet)
2 tsp sesame oil

If you have sesame seeds, you can add 1-2 TBL of them, or ground them up and add them.

Mix everything in a bowl until the sugar has fully dissolved and it has a creamy, tan-colored salad dressing consistency.  You really shouldn't taste one overwhelming flavor.  It should be a nice balance of all of the ingredients.  But of course, that depends on your own personal preferences.

Some people add a little grated ginger to this recipe. You could also add some fresh black pepper, a teaspoon of fresh, chopped garlic or onion,  It is very customizable.  But start with the basic recipe and go from there.

I eat this on fresh green iceberg lettuce. It is so simple and so good that I don't feel like anything is missing.  Because Lettuce + Dressing = LOVE.

Occasionally I will add some baby carrots.  Some people put this dressing on soba noodles or cole slaw style sliced, raw cabbage. You could definitely use it as a dipping sauce for all sorts of things: steamed vegetables, cold noodles, proteins...there's really no limit.  (*But maybe you shouldn't put it on your breakfast cereal.  I wouldn't pour it on ice cream either.)

I'll tell you what would be awesome.  Dip some perfectly ripe, avocado slices in this dressing. Now you're talking.

Once made, if there's any left over, it should be refrigerated and used within a week.

*This is a vegetarian recipe, made with egg-based mayonnaise.  Vegan mayo could be substituted.

JZ's Vegetarian Spinach Muenster Quiche

Everything below will be divided into 2 pies.
You will need:
2 standard pie shells (16 oz. each)
16 oz. grated Muenster cheese
2 packages frozen, chopped spinach
A big onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon (+/-) chopped garlic
Olive oil for saute
5 eggs
A pinch of salt, to your taste

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Defrost and squeeze the liquid from the spinach and move to giant mixing bowl.
3. Saute the onion and garlic in a pan, over medium heat until soft and transparent. Let cool.**
4. Mix grated cheese into spinach.
5. When onions are cool, fold into spinach/cheese mix.
6. Beat eggs and gently add to the mix.
7. Pour the mix into equal parts into the pie shells.
8. Bake for about an hour, or until each pie firms up.  It may need longer, depending on your oven.

*Because these quiches are so thick, we bake them at a pretty low temp for a long time, to avoid overcooking on the outside and undercooking on the inside.  Depending on your oven, you might need to adjust the cooking time.

*Could you add an herb or spice?  Oh my, yes.  I tend to add a dash of nutmeg to spinach dishes.  But any kind of herb would probably be delicious...maybe a hint of curry?  Or oregano?  Or basil?  Yarp.

**Remember that part I mentioned about letting the sauteed onion mix cool off before adding it to the spinach/cheese mix?  I mean it. 
Hear me now and believe me later:  One thing you don't want is having hot onions melting super soft cheese prematurely and turning the whole deal into a globby, melted cheese disaster in a bowl before you pour it into the pie shells.  Not pretty.

Everyone in our house loves this kickass quiche...even our finicky toddler.
You could sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top, also, btw.

ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING:
After you take the quiche out of the oven, let it sit and rest for about ten minutes.  The eggs will continue to cook.  Also, Jay says, "The cheese needs to calm down." What he means is that the cheese is too hot, angry, and melty, straight from the oven when it's nuclear hot.  Just like pizza, you can't cut a clean slice until the dish sits untouched for a bit.

Roasted Cauliflower, yummmm.

Wash and slice your head of cauliflower into bite-sized chunks.
Toss with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, or whatever oil you've got.
I sprinkled a little Rosemary Lemon Sea Salt on the florets, that I recently made.
Spread the florets onto a baking sheet. Bake for about ten minutes at 450° F, which will be approximately the halfway point of cooking.  Then use a spatula and stir/turn the pieces.
Cook for another 7-8 minutes.
Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on, and maybe some chopped herbs.  I added some fresh basil and oregano from the yard.  Also, Trader Joe's has some awesome cheese, called Unexpected Cheddar, which is like a cross between a sharp white cheddar and parmesan.  Try that for a treat.
Bake until everything is melty and roasted.
That's it.  Yum.

Homemade baked black bean burgers: with or without avocados, they are superb

These are baked and delicious.

Once you eat these, you'll be hooked and not want to buy the frozen ones (that will suddenly taste way too salty and overprocessed) anymore.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped fine
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon (or as little/much as you like) chili powder
• 1/2 (or more) teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. Finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic (you can also use a food processor).  ***At this point, I suggest the optional step of sauteeing the peppers, onions, and garlic in a pan with a little olive oil and letting them cool.  It makes the burgers taste great this way, but you can also keep them raw when you add them to the black bean mash mix.***
4. Stir the vegetables into the mashed beans.
5. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and hot sauce.  Add a little salt at this point, if you like.
6. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together (we use our hands). Divide the mixture into four patties.
7. Place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10-11 minutes on each side.  Keep an eye on them until they feel thoroughly cooked.

Stuff we like to top the burger with, in various combinations:

Cheese
Avocados
Lettuce
Thinly sliced bell peppers - red or green
Sauteed mushrooms
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Mustard
Thousand Island Dressing
Pickles or relish
Fresh tomatoes

Sometimes we toast the buns.  Sometimes we like them soft and squishy.

My vegetarian spinach mini pizzas were delicious

Tommie Lu's Spinach Casserole

I love spinach!  What's great about this simple recipe is that you taste the delicious spinach - you don't taste a bunch of other things overpowering and covering up the taste of the main ingredient.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning or dried thyme
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 pieces diced bread (we use keto bread and lightly toast it before dicing)
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1. Stir everything together in a large bowl.
2. Grease a 9x13" casserole dish with olive oil and pour the spinach mixture into it.
3. Bake 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees F.
4. Top with more parmesan cheese.

Super Secret Vloedman Spaghetti Sauce

A favorite recipe from my late, ex mother-in-law...

Ingredients

• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 6 oz. water
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 clove (or more) garlic
• 1 cup canned tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TBL chili powder
• 1 TBL brown sugar
• 1 TBL lemon juice
• 1 TBL oregano
• 1 can mushrooms
• 2 TBL parmesan cheese 

Simmer all ingredients.
You can double the recipe and freeze some for later. Freezing may intensify the flavor.

Tasty Vegan Chocolate CRAZY CAKE

I am told that this was one of the recipes from the Great Depression, when many cooking ingredients were hard to find, such as eggs.

My ex-mother-in-law taught me this recipe.  She glazes the cake with a powdered sugar and milk mixture.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup cooking oil
• 2 cups cold water

You will need a very large bowl.  Mix all of the ingredients together and quickly pour into a 9x13" pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.  Do not overbake, or it will taste disgusting. 

***VERY IMPORTANT:  Be sure that your baking soda is fresh for this recipe.***