Gluten Free, Non Dairy, Vegetarian Burritos

My niece is in town for a visit adding yet another set of food allergies to cook around!  We all loved these burritos!  I was glad to find a taco sauce with no black pepper that she could eat.

We are lucky here in Florida to have so many great allergen free foods.

1 onion, chopped

3- 4 Tbsp. Grapeseed oil

2 tsp. The Spice Hunter coriander lime rub

1/2 cup Brazilian spinach, torn

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

4 cups cooked brown rice

1 package Gardein crumbles

1 pouch Frontera Texas skillet taco sauce

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pouch vegan cheese shreds

Large tortillas.  Recipe makes approximately 12- 14 burritos.

Start by softening onion in a little oil, reserving some to brush the burritos prior to baking.  Season with salt and coriander lime seasoning.

Add in spinach, garlic, and crumbled, cooking till spinach is softened.

In a large bowl, combine rice, beans, taco sauce, shredded vegan cheese and crumbles.

I used a standard ice cream scoop and put 2 scoops on each tortilla, wrapping envelope style.

I placed them on a sheet pan and brush them with oil and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until golden.

Advertisements

Top of the Hill Grill in Brattleboro, Vermont

We found this gem by accident and arrived to a much shorter line than when we were leaving.  Got there just in time!  Locals will tell you – amazing food, reasonable prices, great views!

 

I had the best patty melt ever and my friend had a grilled tempeh wrap.   It was a bit rainy so we sat in the small cabin rather than outside.

Overlooking a stream, thus the name,  the views are breathtaking.  They also smoke their own meats, cater events (including, coincidentally,  my friend’s sister Denise and her husband Gene’s wedding).  If I lived nearby, I’d order takeout all the time too.  If you’re ever near Brattleboro, it is worth seeking out!

Missing My One in a Million Dad on Father’s Day

I know I’ve written about by my dad in the past.  Today on Father’s Day, somehow, even though he’s been gone well over 20 years, I’m missing him more.  I am also celebrating that I had an amazing dad who taught me well.

My dad was a CPA and showed my brother, sister and me the importance of hard work and always doing a good job.  By the age of 14, I was fully ensconced in helping with some of his accounts by doing entries on ledgers (no Excel spreadsheet or Quickbooks back then) and even preparing payroll for a local small restaurant each week.  I appreciate that I learned the value to a job well done from him.  It somehow was translated in my mind as “what I do is who I am” though.  Recent conversations with my siblings confirm similar beliefs about ourselves.  Maybe not such a bad thing.

Dad taught us what he was taught.  He was the product of a father who was a CPA, the youngest of a large sibship, raised by his siblings when their parents died.  His mother was from an the elite Hulvey family from Sweetwater, Tennessee, whose homestead is a historical landmark along with the Tennessee Military Institute her father, Colonel Otey Crawford Hulvey, ran.

And, maybe, just maybe, if more people did their best, no matter how routine, mundane, or repetitive our jobs may seem, the world would be a better place.

When I think of Dad, I remember all the good things because there were so very few bad things.  He was honest, hardworking, loving, kind, super smart, loyal, funny, and fun.

He taught me to love the Steelers and the Pirates!  He passed on his great baseball abilities to his grandchildren.  Hardly a disciplinarian, but always an inspiration.  He made me want to be a better person.

I had moved away from home in 1978, and would only see dad once or twice a year.  I didn’t run home each time he had a health crisis.  Our family wasn’t that way, plus, I went through ten years of childbearing, and travel was not on the agenda.  The song The Living Years makes me cry every time, since I wasn’t there when Dad passed away, and I do believe I’ve heard my dad’s echo in my newborn baby’s tears.

Last, but not least, I’d like to acknowledge that my dad set the bar high.  I’ve spent years lamenting that my six children missed having a dad like mine.  Truth is – they are one in a million.

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Sausage Mac and Cheese with Veggies

I keep cooked, crumbled ground meat and sausage in the freezer for night like tonight when I can’t decide what to make and want dinner in a hurry!

 

1- 2 lb.  Cooked crumbled meat I used Turkey brats

Broccoli florets

Chopped onion

Oil to cook veggies

1 tsp. Garam Masala

1 container vegan cream cheese

1 can pumpkin

1- 2 cups vegan shredded

1 lb. Cooked pasta

Cook veggies in oil.  Season with Garam Masala.

Add defrosted meat.

Mix in cream cheese and melt.  Stir in pumpkin.  Place in greased 13×9 casserole dish.

Top with shredded and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

A total success!!

Brownies

Since my youngest son is lactose intolerant, I am always on the lookout for desserts he can eat.  Not only do these fit the bill, but the ingredients are  always in my pantry.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 eggs

3 Tbsp. oil

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 C. sugar

Combine ingredients in food processor.  Pour into greased 8 x 8 pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Loneliness – Today’s Mayan Drought

I recently cancelled all but local channels, which has led to me viewing much more news programs than I have in years.  I had recently only sourced my news from the internet, except to occasionally watch a 60 minutes, 20/20, Sunday Morning, or other such program.   Actual picture of me watching TV.

Photo Creator:James Steidl & Kyle Gruba – Copyright:©2008 James Steidl James Group Studios inc. – no copyright infringement intended.

 

On Sunday Morning last week, they spoke about loneliness.  The researchers they spoke to said they initially expected to find that those suffering from loneliness would be largely comprised of the elderly.  This turned out to not be true.  The pattern of loneliness they discovered involved the isolative, divisive world of social media and media in general.  How many friends do you have?  How many likes did your post get?  When did you last pick up the phone or get together with someone you love?

Here I sit, isolated, and there you sit, isolated, and the real connection you and I may actually have available to us is mostly lost.  Yes, you may identify with me momentarily, or think I am right, but no interaction or conversation will take place which could lead to a deeper connection.  We will both believe our own truths filtered through our own needs.  Do whatever we need to reinforce our own beliefs.

I am heavily involved in a local non-profit organization that presents personal growth seminars a minimum of every 6 weeks to our local South Florida community.  At these seminars, more than anywhere in my usual daily life, I have an opportunity to connect:  to feel heard, to feel a sense of value, to listen to what people are really saying.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the world has reached a collective “not good enough” place of shame and isolation that could prevent many of us from experiencing the joy that is part of our everyday lives.  One of my favorite poets, Merrit Malloy, said in a poem I didn’t understand the first time I read it.  She describes how a victim thinks.

She also said something profound about living in the present.

Seeing others’ lives online so that we can envy or judge them.  I can’t decide which is worse.  I do know that neither serves me or nurtures me.

Connection both serves and nurtures me.  I will continue to attend self-growth workshops, see a therapist as needed, speak to strangers at stores, and write my blogs.  Read more Merrit Malloy.

The drought in connection in today’s world will potentially be the end of our civilization, just as the drought the Mayans suffered, leading them to scatter and disappear.  They ran away from the drought, leaving behind a paradise.

Programs that help people connect are the hope for this world.

Do I write this now to connect with someone?  If I say yes, I may have an expectation of an impact in the future by my posting this and I set myself up.  Or am I thinking it will be read by more people than it is, leading to disappointment.  Do I fail to dream of something that could happen, and believe no one will read it?  Again disappointment.

Here’s my take on life – I am writing this for me and my inner child.   No matter how the rest of my day goes, I have connected with myself today and looked at who I am and what I love about myself.  Definitely “good enough” stuff today.

My inner child.

At the very least, it got me into feeling, writing, and reading Merrit Malloy again!

 

 

 

Tex Mex Empanadas

Leftover chicken chili was the inspiration for these yummy empanadas.

2 packs Goya frozen turnover cough  (these are my faves because there’s plastic sheets separating them.  No more dough sheets sticking together!

4- 6 cups leftover chili

I egg for egg wash

Water to deal seams

I finally got myself an empanada press.  Now making empanadas is so much easier!

Lay the dough on the press and top with filling.

Run your finger dipped in water along the dough edge and fold over filling pressing gently so it will deal well.

Squeeze closed.

Viola!  Place on sheet pan lined with parchment, sprayed with coconut oil.

Brush with beaten egg and bake at 37tF for 20 minutes.

So many variations of fillings!!  Sloppy joe.  Ground meat in gravy.  Sausage and cheese.  Barbecue.

Make Ahead Sandwiches

My mom used to make and freeze sandwiches for us to pop into the toaster oven any time we wanted one. Twenty four sandwiches sounds like a lot, but they go quickly!

You will need meat and cheese and buns.
I used:
1 lb orange chipotle Turkey
20 sliced assorted cheeses
24 small hamburger buns
Lay them out for easier assembly.
Saute some onion (I used one large sweet onion, finely chopped) in oil, season while it cooks. Once the onion is translucent add 1 stick butter, 2 Tbsp. Mustard or other condiment, and fresh herbs. I used Dijon mustard and Italian seasoning.

Then tear off 24 pieces of foil and lay out the buns for assembly.

Top each bun with the cooked onion spread.

Top with meat and cheese.

Wrap in foil and freeze.
To prepare, Bake at 350 in toaster oven 15 minutes. Cheese will melt and bun gets crispy.
The original version had a little Worcestershire sauce and poppy seeds in the sandwich spread. Needless to say the variations are endless!

 

Chicken, Yellow Rice, Black Beans and Plantains

Tuesday night is girls’ wine club, and I always try to make something that everyone, even my grandsons, will like.  The local market had frozen plantains on a BOGO sale, so my menu inspiration started there!  The chicken was cooked in the crock pot all day.  When I got home,  I shredded the chicken, I put the rice in the rice cooker, and heated up the black beans.  It’s more appealing to the eye if you serve each component up separately, but with our gang, I put it all back in the crock pot on warm so it stays ready to eat until everyone is ready to eat.  I put the plantains in the oven late, after the other food was ready, so not the best planning I’ve ever done!

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 pouch Frontera fajita sauce

6 c. cooked yellow rice

2 cans black beans

2 pouches frozen plantains

Olive oil to cook the plantains

Cook thighs in fajita sauce in crock pot on low 8-9 hours.

Cook rice in rice cooker and meanwhile heat up black beans in a saucepan.

Cut up or shred the chicken and add in the rice and beans, and keep warm in crock pot.

You can either make the plantains while the rice is cooking, or after you’ve put everything in the crock pot.  I bought frozen, like I said, that was on sale.

Toss frozen plantains with oil and spread evenly on a baking sheet.   Bake at 400 F until plantains are golden and crispy.  It took 25 – 30 minutes.

 

Austin’s Birthday Brunch – Quiche and Berries!

Today is my oldest son, Austin’s 30th birthday.  We will be celebrating all day, starting with quiche and berries!

 

I made four different quiches – three vegetarian and one with chicken apple sausage.

I set up an assembly line and made them all at once.  The following is the basic recipe for one quiche.

1 pie crust

5 eggs

1/4 large sweet onion

1/2 c. carrot matchsticks

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt or salt mix

1/2 tsp. herbs of choice (I used rosemary and thyme)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 c. sour cream (I used tofutti for my son, Donovan, who can’t have dairy)

1/4 c. milk (I used almond unsweetened)

1/4 c. cream cheese (again, I used tofutti)

1/2 package veggie shredds or shredded cheese of choice

1 package frozen vegetable of choice, cooked and drained – I used broccoli rabe, broccoli, and asparagus.

8 oz. cooked meat instead of or in addition to veggies – optional – I used apple chicken breakfast sausage.

Cook onion and carrot in olive oil, seasoned with salt and herbs, until softened and slightly browned.  If you’re making more than one, cook enough for all of them and save the pan for cooking the meat separately if you’re trying to keep any of them meat free!  Meanwhile:

Get pie crust ready.  I used 2 refrigerated and 2 frozen, since I only have two pie plates!

Set out bowl to place cooked, drained veggies in.  Top with onion/carrot mixture, sour cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, 5 eggs (per quiche) and blend.

Pour blended fillings into pie crusts.

Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until knife in center comes out clean.

Many quiche recipes call for baking the crust first.  Totally not necessary!  These were a huge hit!