Today I was out all day running errands & picking up produce. I made the mistake of purchasing those premade muffin mixes (65cents each) because they were on sale and I hadn't bought them in years as I always bake from scratch. I usually cringe at the chemicals found in cake & muffin mixes and always shy away from them. But for 65cents I thought...sure why not? I haven't used eggs in years for baking and have never had issues. When I used the muffin mix, I used my usual egg replacer and did the rest as per the instructions. I ended up with 6 gooey-ish tiny flat muffins...yikes. They don't taste too bad but now I'll have to give the mixes to friends who eat eggs. Might work out better, maybe the chemicals work with the egg. haha! I should have known better..live and learn! I never have flat muffins when I bake from scratch, so I'm not sure why this happened.
 

Right now my kitchen is a bit of a disaster. I had at least 100 spices in there, some from years ago and some in bags I had bought in Morrocco and Spain last year. I cleaned them out, threw out the old sketchy ones and now the spice shelf looks normal again though I still have at least 50 spices left! :) I do love my spices! 

After cleaning the spices, I decided to take a look in my pantry, freezer and fridge to see what I should use up. I took out some older frozen bread that had gone stale (which is why i had frozen it) and will make some french toast with it in the morning. I ran out of soymilk but always keep powder on hand, so I made a fresh batch today and will use that for the french toast. I can't wait! I also ran out of maple syrup which isn't good. I can't seem to eat that fake stuff but might have to make a batch of the sugar/maple flavouring kind tomorrow so I can eat the french toast. I might also use the "Miel de Cane" which is a honey like molasses tasting syrup from Spain that I bought last year. It has lots of iron so that could be an option too.

I discovered a master mix which I had made before Christmas. I had 2 cups left which wasnt enough for some of the recipes I had but ended up making some muffins and improvising. I added two small ripe bananas I had on the counter, a little vanila & frozen blueberries. WOW! Turned out amazing, so much better than the crappy mix! :)

I saw that I had an incredible amount of lentils on hand and made some Ethiopian lentils in the crockpot. The recipe is on this website so if you look up Ethiopian it's there. The kitchen smells delicious, much like the Ethiopian Restaurant I used to go to. So now I have some meals for awhile! 

I also discovered some frozen peas I had which had been there awhile. I don't use peas alot and had probably purchased them for a specific recipe. I took them out and made some pea soup for my friend as I am not a huge soup eater when the weather starts warming up. Here is my recipe:

PEA SOUP (using frozen peas)

2 cups of frozen peas

4 cups veggie broth or water

Several dashes of thyme, rosemary and mint

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1 carrot (diced)

1 stalk of celery (diced)

1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes (or one small potato) - i find this makes soup much creamier

Throw everything in a pot and boil for about 10 minutes till veggies are tender. Blend with a hand blender, then add instant mashed potatoes and blend again. If using real potato, add with other veggies. Season with some pepper!

This turned out pretty nice and creamy. I stored the soup in 3 containers and will give this to my student friend who rarely has time to cook these days so his diet hasn't been great. He could use the healthy food!

I don't know what was wrong with me today, but I bought a gigantic box of Golden Grahams cereal which was on sale. I used to eat them when I was younger and loved them. I made the mistake of going to the store when I was hungry too (same time I bought that muffin mix!). I rarely buy cereal because a lot of it is filled with sugar, but I had a bowl and BOY was it good! I fear I will eat the whole box in no time and don't want to do that, so I will make some Golden Graham Smores treats for work. It'll use 6 cups of the stuff and I'll be able to use the leftover marshmallows I had bought when I made homemade hot chocolate for friends for the holidays. Marshmallows are not vegan (they are made with either pig or cow gelatin...eeek) so I won't use them myself anyway. This will be a perfect way to dispose of some of that sugary cereal and finish of the marshmallows. yay!

I'll continue my kitchen pantry cleaning tomorrow and probably cook and bake more. I have so much more food that I thought, so perhaps you might want to look around your kitchen before you go grocery shopping, you'd be surprised what you'll find. I can probably live off what's in there for a month. Really!

PS: Posting on both blogs now, so if you see duplicate content that's why. The postings are different though but could have some of the same content. :)

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It's my friends birthday today and last night I made him this. He loves peanut butter so I decided to put it on a cake!

Chocolate Cake (from a zine called Don't Feed the Bears"

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup cold water

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil (I used sunflower)

Heat oven to 350F. Put all ingredients in a bowl in order given, then stir (not too much!!!) and pour into a square cake pan. Bake for 30-35mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Easy!

Peanut Butter Icing

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup margarine

Stir everything till smooth. Ice cake when cooled.

I sprinkled the entire cake with cake sprinkles (coloured ones) and placed happy face round birthday candles on it.

1. ENJOY!!

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No one will ever know this is vegan, and BOY is it good! I bought some light rye bread from the market this weekend and know it will be stale by tomorrow, so this is a dinner I will make one evening. Breakfast for dinner? Sure!

VEGAN BANANA COCONUT FRENCH TOAST
(recipe adapted from vegetarian.about.com)

2 medium bananas (mashed)

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup non-dairy milk (soy, rice, almond...)

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional but yummy!)

Whisk everything in a bowl (I use a hand blender to get it nice and smooth)

Dip stale bread slices in and cook on each side until lightly browned. Top with fruit and pure maple syrup.

Images:

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I made some really good blueberry muffins that I found on allrecipes.com.http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Muffins-I-2/Detail.aspx

I used egg replacer instead of the egg, sunflower oil as the oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar instead of 1/2 cup white sugar and before baking I topped them with a tsp of raw sugar and sprinkle of cinnamon. My sweetie loved them, i gave a few to my friend and he said they were amazing. Very moist and almost cakey. I forgot to add the lemon zest even though I had some so will make more again tonight! :)

I also made a nice veggie chili for dinners/lunches this week. I never use a recipe for chili, just throw in what I have!
 

Tomorrow is my friend's birthday. I've been flooded with birthdays the past month but won't have any to worry about till June after this..haha. My friend doesn't have any other friends here, so I am taking it upon myself to organize something for him. My budget is really limited right now so I am making him some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (everyone always requests it for gifts from me!) and some hummus which he also loves. I wanted to take him out to dinner, but I didn't want to take him out to the diner we usually go to and other restaurants he likes are too pricy for me right now, so I am making a spinach lasagna and will bring some vegan cesar salad with it and a homemade birthday cake. Good thing I have tomorrow off because I'll need to prepare all this in the morning as I have an apt in the afternoon. I just better get up early if I want to get this all done by lunchtime!

Work should go by quickly today as I have some work to do....

Hope everyone has a frugal week!

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Gee I am really posting a lot of recipes lately! I haven't done a real big grocery shopping in about 3 weeks and am trying to finish things I have on hand. Here is a recipe I wrote in my first "BIG" Zine. I usually look for things i've never made or just make up new recipes for upcoming zines, but tonite I decided to go back and make some things I concocted! Haven't had this in a few years but made it tonight for dinner, boy was it GOOD!! This is a soup recipe from one of my first zines that i wrote. Really tasty and nice for a cold day or evening! Serves about 6 people and it cost me about $2.50 because fresh broccoli was expensive at the supermarket :( Feel free to use a few cups of frozen broccoli for this if it's cheaper for you,

Curried Potato Broccoli Soup

1 onion (diced)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tsp curry powder
5-6 cups of water or veggie broth
1 Tbsp soy sauce (or 2 tbps braggs liquid amino acid)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 cups diced potatoes
1 head of broccoli (chopped)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for vitamin B12) (optional)

In a medium saucepan, fry onion, garlic and curry in a little oil for about a minute. Then add broth, soy sauce & nutmeg and bring to boil. Once it boils, add vegetables & nutritional yeast. Cook veggies till tender, then blend with a handblender. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

ENJOY! This will warm your insides really nicely :)

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This is a recipe I found somewhere on the internet and adapted it! It's really filling and makes enough for 6 people and costs about 50 cents a person :) I made it tonight and it was very filling and tasty!

Frugal Black Beans & Polenta

6 cups water

2 cups cornmeal

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 15oz cans of black beans (drained & rinse)

1 cup salsa

To make polenta, boil water & salt, then add the cornmeal very slowly so it doesn't clump. Keep stiring until really thick on low heat. Be careful because it will bubble and splash! This might take 20 minutes or so. When it comes off the sides of the pot, spread onto a 9X13 greased pan. While polenta is sitting, combine black beans & salsa and heat. When polenta is cooled a bit (10 mins or so), cut into 12 even pieces. Place two pieces of polenta on a plate and scoop some black beans on top. This is really filling and tasty! I used the zucchini salsa I made at harvest time. Feel free to add other veggies if you wish.

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Last night we decided to have a breakfast for dinner..and BOY was it GOOD! We had scrambled tofu with roasted sweet potatoes, toast and homemade jam. Here is how I made it all:

Scrambled Tofu

1 lb firm tofu

1 small green pepper (diced small)

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Some pepper to taste

Crumble tofu in a pan and fry with green pepper in a little oil for about 4 minutes on medium heat. Then add all other ingredients and stir well till well mixed and heated. Serve on toast or with roasted potatoes.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

These measurements are only approximate as I do not measure when I cook. You can also use a mix of regular & sweet potatoes and even throw in some chunks of carrots!

2 large sweet potatoes (peeled & cubed)

3 tbsp olive oil

A few sprinkles of cayenne pepper

1 tsp oregano or basil

A few dashes of sea salt & onion powder

Preheat oven to 400F. Toss all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place in a 9X13" pan and place in the oven for about 15-20 mins. Stir every so often. Then heat oven to broil (550F) and cook for another 5 minutes or so to brown the tops of the potatoes.

Now to think about tonights dinner...hmmmm...

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A few weeks ago I had a pumpkin chip muffin at a local cafe and loved it! I went searching on the internet for a recipe, which i found on Recipezaar but adapted it to make it healthier :) I woke up this morning and made them! SO GOOD!

Lower Fat Pumpkin Chip Muffins

*Egg Replacer (4 eggs worth)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade)

1/2 cup oil (I used sunflower)

1 small can of pureed pumpkin (14oz)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (other recipe called for white)

3 cups flour

2 tsp each of baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (I used one)

Mix first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, then add all other ingredients and stir. Place in muffin tins and bake at 400F for 16-20mins. Makes about 24-30 muffins depending on the size.

*Egg replacer is found at your grocery store in the health food section, it comes in a box and is powdered, usually contains a mixture of starches. The original recipe called for 4 eggs but that would be an extra 20 grams of fat added to your recipe!! YIKES! Egg replacer works really well! You can also use 4 TBSP of cornstarch & 12 tbsp water if you don't have egg replacer, 3/4 cup mashed bananas, or 3/4 cup of silken tofu.

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I am finally off to yoga again this afternoon after a little break! I think my body needs it now as I've been rather sedentary the last while.

Because I knew I didn't want to be cooking dinner when I got back, I used one of my recipes from a zine I wrote a few years ago which literally takes me 2 minutes to prepare. I let it cook in the crockpot for an hour or two and voila! This is very flavourful

Crockpot Tortilla Soup

1 28oz can of tomatoes

4 cups of water or veggie broth

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp of cumin

2 tsp each of garlic & onion powder

1 tsp of oregano

2-3 cups of crumbled stale tortilla chips

Salt and Pepper (if using unsalted chips), do not add salt if you are using salted chips or else it will be WAY too salty :)

Throw it all in a crockpot and cook for a few hours. When heated, blend with a hand blender to mix. This time I only had a cup of chips, the only difference is that the soup will be less creamy but still good! If you want some protein, feel free to add a can of black beans to this after you've already blended it. Serves 4-6 people.
 

Enjoy!

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1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix oil and sugar; then add applesauce. Combine dry ingredients and add to applesauce mixture; beat until smooth. Pour into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking dish. Bake for 45 mins. Use icing if desired.

 

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Since tonight is my turn to cook dinner and I am not feeling that great and also a bit lazy, I needed to make something healthy and fast. I was reading a cook booklet last night called "Vegan On a Shoestring" which was compiled by university students in Montreal. This recipe was in it but I didn't follow the recipe exactly, here is what I did and feel free to alter it a bit to make it your own.

Veggie Pie

4 cups cooked grains (rice, millet, quinoa...)

4 cups veggies (any kind, leftovers are great for this!)

1 large onion

2 tomatoes (chopped) - recipe called for 5 but i only had two and it worked great.

2 tsps minced garlic

1 can of beans (chickpeas are good) = I used 1 1/2 cups of tofu as I didn't have any canned beans on hand.

A few tsps of basil, oregano, cumin, salt & pepper to taste (I also used some hot sauce because i love spicy food!)

a few cups of leftover mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes)

In a skillet, heat a little oil and add chopped onion, garlic and spices. Cook for a minute or so. Then add tofu or beans, tomatoes & veggies. Cook  on medium heat until everything is well heated. (5-7mins). If you want to just use one pan, use a large rectangle baking pan, spread the grains on the bottom, then the veggies on top, then the mashed potatoes. I also sprinkled the top with paprika because my mom always did this with her sheppards pie and i think it looks nice :) Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. You can also use pie pans so you can make a few and even freeze some. This serves about 6-8 people.

If you use rice as a grain it's much cheaper. I used quinoa which is pricy but VERY good for vegans, this is the best grain in terms of vitamins. You can probably make this for under $5 depending on what you use. This is perfect to make if you have leftovers, the recipe states that you can even use leftover stew if you have that. So be creative and enjoy! This took me about 15mins to prepare, then another 20 to heat up. "Almost" under 30minutes in total. Not bad for a dish that feeds up to 8 people! :)

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This is a casserole I am making for dinner tonight that serves 2-4 people. Serves 4 if you serve with a salad or something on the side or 4 kids :) REALLY Frugal! This cost me less than $1 to make,

5-6 potatoes (peeled & sliced thinly)

1 15oz can of beans in tomato sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tsp pepper

1-2 cups grated cheese (I use vegan cheese)

Preheat oven to 400F. Boil potatoes until tender (about 5 minutes) then drain. In a bowl, mix beans, mustard and pepper. In a greased casserole, arrange 1/2 the potato slices, then 1/2 the beans and half the cheese. Do it again then cover and cook for 35-40mins. YUM!

Enjoy!! This is a nice warm dinner for a very cold night here :)

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I came home from work today tired and hungry and didnt know what to cook. I looked at what was in my fridge and decided to make a quick sheppard's pie just with what I had in terms of leftovers. Here is what I did:

About 1 1/3 cups of veggie ground (if you are a carnivore use ground beef)

1/2 small onion (chopped)

1/4 cup corn

1 tomato (chopped)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instant mashed potatoes (for 5)

In a large pan I heated everything aside from the mashed potatoes. Placed this in a small loaf pan. I made the instant mashed potatoes using the microwave, placed on top of the "meat" mixture, sprinkled with paprika and cooked it in the toaster oven for 20 mins at 400F. This will feed two large portions or three small ones. It was VERY good! The veggie ground stuff usually has a nice flavour so it wasn't bland :)

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My friend called me last night sick as a dog. Sounds like he's got a very bad flu. So this morning I woke up and made him some pea soup which I will bring to his house for lunch as I have the day off. This is what I did

1 cup split peas (green)

6-8 cups veggie broth or water

1 small onion

1 large carrot

1 large potato

Place the water and peas in a large pot, bring to boil then simmer for at least 30mins until peas are tender. Add chopped/peeled veggies and cook for another 45mins. Add salt & pepper to taste. I also added one veggie chili hot dog sliced thinly. Inexpensive soup that will give lots of vitamins and some protein!

It's very very cold out, so the soup will warm him up and I will keep the rest for my sweetie and I for dinner to eat with some english muffins which i bought on sale (3 packages for $2.50!). Was going to make cookies but the bus is in 30mins so I don't have time. Maybe tomorrow :)

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I had the day off today but it's so cold out I had no desire to venture out, plus when I leave the house I spend money. I was more than happy to sit in front of my space heater and surf the internet while sipping on coffee sitting on the couch.

After a few hours of being rather sedentary, I ventured out to the kitchen to test out one of my frugal recipes that I invented for my upcoming zine. I have been writing an article with recipes about casseroles. Especially in the winter months, we all want comfort food that's quick, cheap and easy right? So I tested my casserole and made a few adjustments but here it is! Costs about $2 to make and feeds about 6 -8people! I couldn't believe how much food this made which means I'll have lunches for awhile!

Lazy Lentil Pasta Casserole

1 cup red lentils

3 cups uncooked pasta (I used macaroni)

1 700ml jar of pasta sauce

6 cups veggie broth or water

Put all ingredients in a large casserole and stir. Preheat oven to 400F and place casserole in for 45 mins, Take out and stir then cover with foil for 15mins. All water should be absorbed and lentils & Pasta cooked!

Then I decided to make some cheap rice pudding to go with my lunches. I packaged this in 8 small containers ready to eat:

Frugal Rice Pudding

1 cup rice

4 cups milk (to be frugal use powdered soy or skim milk).  I used vanilla soymilk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup raisins (optional)

Bring to boil, then simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed but still creamy :) Let cool and store in fridge.

After all my cooking, my friend came over and gave me my Yule present which was a candle kit! I have candle making stuff but never had the proper melting pot! I made 8 votives with chunks, as well as a sand candle. These will make great birthday gifts as all my friends have march birthdays!

After my candle making which took me the remainder of the day, my friend came over again and we went grocery shopping. He likes taking me because I save him money, though this time he was spending like mad because he got $100 worth of gift cards for the grocery store. He lives by himself and spend $110! I just told him that next time he takes me, he'll have to listen to me. haha. I bought him a book called Vegan Cooking for One which gives you a frugal grocery list. he said he didn't have time to cook because of exams this week and bought tons of premade food even though I did give him lots of chili to freeze so he could eat. LOL.

Maybe I should write a zine for starving students who have no time. He could probably use it. I know for $110 i would have bought TONS of stuff, he came out with 4 small bags. I couldn't believe it! He was dead set on those Brita Filters and gigantic $8 candle. Of course he didn't buy the gigantic jar candles for $3....he's picky. I tried!!

I spent $30 myself, which $8 was spent on beautiful dark purple  tulips. I do splurge on flowers when they are cheap and for 10 tulips, at least where I live, that was a deal. I paid $2 for a box of  individually wrapped mini turtles which i will put in gift bags for Valentines day along with other discounted chocolates I purchased this week.

Tomorrow I am back at work. I'm looking forward to packing my lunch with the frugal food I made: Casserole, rice pudding and an apple. If I calculate the cost of my entire lunch, it's under $1 for ALL of it! :) YAY!

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Whether you want to make this for a new years pot luck, to feed a lot of people or to freeze, this is such an easy recipe!

Chick Pea Curry for a Crowd

1 restaurant size can of chick peas (industrial size, i think a few litres (maybe 10 cups?) - undrained

1 large sweet potato - peeled and cubed small

2 cans of coconut milk

1/2- 2/3 cup of madras curry paste (or any other curry paste) - the amount will depend on what paste you use, so start out with a bit then add more if you need it.

1 bunch of fresh coriander (or 1 tbsp dried)

In a large pot, add all ingredients and stir. Bring to boil, then simmer for at least 30 minutes with the lid off. Turn heat off, cover and let sit overnight or for a few hours, the sauce will get thicker as it cools. Store in containers or serve on a bed of rice. Add salt & pepper to taste if desired. Serves 12

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I realized this morning that my pantry is fairly empty but I didn't want to go grocery shopping till I get paid next week. I decided to take what I had on hand, throw it in the crockpot and see what happens!
Here is what I came up with:

1/2 cup lentils (I had 1/4 cup of green & 1/4 cup red)

1 1/2 cups brown rice

4/ 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 tsp each of oregano, celery salt & onion powder

1 large carrot (sliced)

Place everything in the crockpot on low and cook until rice is done.

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