Sarah's Vegetarian Adventures

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

Not too bad. Sauteed the sliced mushrooms before putting them in. I didn't think the jar of sauce would be enough so I made my own white cheesy sauce to add to it.  Wish I had just used my own sauce and skipped the jarred sauce. Also need to remember to allow it to cool a bit before slicing. 

It's that time of year.......

It's English Toffee time!

Adventures in Sourdough........

I really enjoy baking and am always on the hunt for great recipes. I have found a basic sandwich bread recipe that I adore and have decided to now move on and experiment with sourdough. I have used had a sourdough starter before but it was never as active as the one I started this week.

I am a big fan of the breadtopia.com website and they have a fantastic sourdough recipe.

Sourdough by breadtopia

I chose to make sourdough pancakes for my first experiment with my sourdough.

The recipe starts the night before with a cup of sourdough and a couple cups of flour and water. I was really pleased to see the activity the next morning. This is a whole wheat starter hence the offwhite color.This recipe made some delicious pancakes. Everyone asked for more.

Pecan Pie.......

I am on a mission. I am looking for a pecan pie recipe for hubby. My hubby has always been a fan of Mrs. Smith's pecan pies. Nothing else compares in his mind. It has a smooth, creamy and light colored texture to the filling with just a light topping of pecans on top.

We can no longer find Mrs. Smith's pecan pies and looking at their website they no longer even have the pecan pie listed. I have tried many recipes over the years and none have been quite right.

Finally, yesterday I came closer. Hubby even requested I make a second one so he could give it as a gift. How is that for getting closer to success LOL.

Most recipes I have found call for equal parts sugar and corn syrup. The recipe I tried yesterday called for a higher amount of corn syrup over the sugar. I am afraid of going to high on the corn syrup because it might get runny, maybe I should use more egg in that case. Recipe also called for dark corn syrup but I just used light instead. I just don't know what else to change . If anyone has any suggestions they are greatly appreciated

Homemade Ricotta, part 2................................

Life gets hectic and I haven't had time to post my success with the homemade ricotta.

Ready to go into the oven.............

Things got rushed, this was supposed to be two seperate loaves.

Fresh from the oven...........
And the final production, homemade ricotta in the stuffed shells, homemade french bread, lettuce straight from the garden and homemade croutons.

Today's Kitchen Adventure, Homemade Ricotta Cheese.................

When it comes to my kitchen I like to be able to say "I can do that" or at the very least "I have tried that". Last week I made homemade french bread which totally put store bought french bread to shame. After I made the loaf I started thinking about what else I can prepare from scratch for a nice Italian meal. I am not ready to try and conquer homemade pasta so I decided to try homemade Ricotta. I think I have had a success here but I will know for sure tomorrow when I use today's freshly made Ricotta in stuffed shells.

Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients: 1 half gallon of whole milk

2 cups buttermilk

The step by step instructions can be found here http://cheese.about.com/od/homecheesemaking/ss/making_ricotta.htm

175 Degrees

Cheesecloth prepared

Straining out the curds

Draining out some of the whey

Tied up and allowed to drain for about 1 hour

TADA!!! I have Ricotta

Update tomorrow with results of the Stuffed Shells

Homemade Vanilla..........................

Since I tend to live a bit on the frugal side (cheep, cheep, cheep...... that is what I am called by immediate family, and yes I know that is spelled wrong LOL) when I came across the directions on how to make homemade vanilla I had to give it a try and I am not disappointed with my results.

The average cost of a bottle of pure vanilla in my local grocery store is 10.00 for a 4 ounce bottle. That is equal to $2.50 per ounce. That is pretty pricey so I have always used imitation vanilla. There is a big difference in flavor between real vanilla and imitation.

An average bottle of vodka is $9.00. I started with 8 vanilla beans in the vodka which cost me $12.00. Beginning total = $21.00 A bottle of vodka is approximately 25 ounces. For an average of .84 per ounce. Not bad at all.

The process is very simple. Carefully slit the vanilla beans down the side and drop into the bottle of vodka. Allow the bottle to sit for a couple months before beginning to use. As you use the vanilla from the bottle occasionally add some more vodka and a fresh vanilla bean.

It is also important to watch the for the strength of the alcohol in the vodka. A bottle of vanilla extract is 35% alc/vol. The first bottle of vodka I bought was also 35% alc/vol. Just today when I was tweaking my bottle of homemade vanilla extract I noticed that my new bottle is 40% alc/vol. Hmmmmm, hopefully my kiddos won't get a bit tipsy from their oatmeal cookies.

I have also found that vanilla beans can be quite expensive. If you have to pay a small fortune for the beans it totally defeats the purpose of making homemade vanilla. I have found the best price for vanilla beans at Cost Plus World Market. They come two in the little sealed pouch, making them only $1.50 per vanilla bean.

Swiss Chard..................

......such a delicious vegie. It is growing really well and we can't get enough of it. Our fave recipe so far.....

SAUTEED SWISS CHARD

One bunch swiss chard

1/4 cp diced onion

1 minced garlic clove

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs butter

1/4 cup white wine

salt to taste

parmesan cheese

Dice onion, mince garlic, and rough chop swiss chard, discarding the toughest part of the red stalk.

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until just transclucent.

Add chard and wine and saute until chard has wilted down.

Lightly salt to taste. Serve with a few slivers of cheese on top.

Yummy...Chicken Salad

Just a simple chicken salad recipe I created one day and the kids loved it (always a good thing when kids love something). Oldest son has been asking for this lately so today was the day.

5 cups cooked diced chicken
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced celery
¼ cup diced walnut pieces
1 cup mayo
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Simply mix all ingredients together and serve your favorite way. My favorite is on a croissant but I didnt have any on this day.

Look what we made............

Or should I say look what I made last week. My kids love bread and butter pickles. They can wipe out a jar in one meal. So my proposition to make a few jars was met with skepticism and a bit of disbelief.

My first task in this mission was to find a recipe, so to my trusty computer I headed and found one that I felt would work.

Then off to the store for supplies. And a few hours later...........voila, eight jars of bread and butter pickles. Disgregard the fact that only seven are pictured. You will just have to use your imagination to figure out what happened to the last one.

Yet I still see skepticism on my children's faces. So I pop open a jar and offer samples to the doubting Thomases. The look on my youngest child's face after she bit into her first pickle was hilarious. Her eyes popped and she had a look of amazement. Her mother, who she probably feels is inept (as most children do feel) had actually created a masterpiece. Yeah, yeah they are just pickles but give me my moment of glory won't you.