Open-faced Onion Sammys

You wouldn't think it, but these bad boys are the bomb-diggity, and only about 100 calories to boot!

Ingredients:

1 English muffin
1/4 onion, sliced
1 oz mayonnaise
2 slices or shredded mozzarella / cheddar cheese

A toaster oven works great for these, but a conventional oven will do the trick as well. Turn your toaster to high, or preheat your oven to 300 degrees. These only need around 6 minutes of cook time, so you might want to be making something else as well if you're using the big oven.

Spread mayo across the face of each muffin and add onion slices and cheese. Cook for a few minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is crispy brown.

Proceed to eat. These are incredible! I tried a variation where instead of English muffins, I used some sort of strange toast in a can... I think it was British. Anyway, that was awesome as well. I'm sure these would be good with bagels too. Mmm mmm mmm.....

Eggy-Bread Dealies

I don't remember what these we're called, but I shall affectionately describe them as Eggy-Bread Dealies (patent pending). Here's a little treat that is high on taste, low on calories, and will fill you up in no time.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 pieces whole wheat bread
dash of salt
dash of pepper
butter or cooking spray
shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease two of the slots in a muffin pan.

Rip apart bread into halves or thirds (depending on how large your muffin holes are), and run the bread along the outside rim of each slot to create a bowl.

Crack an egg into each bowl. Place in oven for around 15 minutes or until the eggs are cooked the way you would like them (mine were cooked but slightly runny- I reccomend them this way). If you have cheese, sprinkle some over the top of each bowl.

Once cooked, remove from oven, add salt and pepper, and devour. Quick, easy, cheap, and delicious. What more could you ask for?

Epic Eight Sauce Fondue

And epic it was! We feasted, and feasted, and feasted some more. Then the next day, we did it all over with the leftovers! God bless leftovers....

If you don't have a fondue pot, well you're out of luck my friend. Your best bet is to pick up one, then start making this tasty fried treat. It beats the hell out of blowing $200 at some restaurant, and it makes for great conversation.

Ingredients:

Veggies. Lots of them. We used-
1 whole onion
1 bundle chives
10 mushrooms
1 sweet potato
1 zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant
1 brick firm tofu

Dipping batter for extra crispy veggies-
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg
1/2 cup water

We also made eight dipping sauces to go along with our veggies:
(I'm pretty sure most of these are wrong, but this is what I remember. Brecken will fix this when she returns from her hiatus.)

Spicy garlic sauce-
2 parts ketchup
1 parts Sriracha (Thai red sauce)
1 clove garlic

Creamy chive sauce-
3 parts sour cream
1 part cream cheese
1 stalk chopped chive

Salty soy sauce-
2 parts soy sauce
1 part hoisin sauce
1/2 stalk chopped chive

Rice wine sauce-
2 parts soy sauce
1 part rice wine
1 part vegetable stock

Spicy sour cream sauce-
2 parts sour cream
1 part horseradish sauce
1 dash of pepper

Sweet and spicy sauce-
2 part ketchup
1 part tabasco

Zesty sauce-
2 parts soy sauce
1 part hoisin sauce
1 part rice wine
1 part vinegar

Teriyaki sauce-
2 parts soy sauce
1 part sugar
1 part ketchup

I highly recommend trying this out sometime. Whip together any kind of sauce you can imagine (or at least have ingredients for), and ordinary vegetables become extraordinary crispy taste-explosion bites!

Poor-man's Freezer Fritatas

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And even though your wallet might be starving, you sure don't have to. That's were this recipe comes in handy... and surprisingly deliciously.

Step one-
Open up your freezer and bust out whatever goodies you may have. Frozen veggies work pretty well. I know for sure you have some... and they have probably been sitting in there for quite some time just taunting you every time you open it up. Peas and corn work wonders here.

Step two-
Grab some cheese, bacon (vegetarian if you prefer), bread crumbs (to hold things together a bit and to give it a thicker consistency) and whatever herbs and spices you might enjoy. We used some salt, pepper, onion powder, thyme, and a little freshly grown basil.

Step three-
Bust out our key ingredients: eggs. You will need two eggs per fritata, but go crazy if you scored an 18 pack for a dollar at the grocery store yesterday.

Makes one personal sized fritata.

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

2 strips veggie bacon
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
2 leaves freshly picked basil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn

Heat up a frying pan to medium heat, toss in veggies and bacon. Stir occasionally and cook for just a few minutes. Mix eggs, breadcrumbs, herbs, and seasonings in medium bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together and place into a ramekin or other small oven-safe bowl type dish for 15 minutes.

Once cool, remove from bowl and serve. Great by themselves, or add a bit of salsa. Surprisingly tasty and incredibly easy!!!

Now you can enjoy amazing food at home for practically nothing, provided you already have these staples inhabiting your freezer. Happy cooking!

Meet Our Loaf

Why a vegetarian would crave meatloaf is beyond me. I'm pretty sure Mom never made it when I was little and "loaf cooking" had pretty much fallen out of style by the time I was out of the house. So why the sudden urge? I asked Andy. The response: "Because I'm craving the loafiness of it?". Works for me.

I couldn't find any recipe I liked on-line. I wanted to use tofu and tofu only; not meatless crumbles, not lentils, just tofu. How hard could it be? E-A-S-Y, that's how hard. Plus, with the exception of the tofu, I already had all the ingredients.

Veggie Loaf

Makes one loaf pan. Serves six "normal" people or two very hungry cooks.

Ingredients:

14 oz. extra firm tofu
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup bread crumbs or crushed corn flakes

The night before, drain the tofu and place in a baggie in the freezer. When you're ready to make the loaf, defrost the tofu and mash in a sieve using a fork or a spatula. Freezing is not absolutely necessary, but it gives the tofu "meatier" texture and lets you press more liquid out of it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix together. I used my hands to get it well mixed.

Coat the inside of a loaf pan with oil and press in the mixture. Bake in the oven for about an hour or until brown.

Once cool, remove it from the pan. Warning: it's going to seem kind of, uh, watery. It's not really, though. Give it a few minutes and it will firm up.

Serve with ketchup (I'm looking at you, Christy), barbecue sauce, gravy, whatever. Taste-tastic! I cannot wait to have it as a sandwich tomorrow.

V-Day: Braided Hearts

Love makes you do stupid things.

Today, for those unawares, is Valentines Day. I claim to hate the holiday in all of its red, sweet, Hallmark glory, but I was the girl in high school (HIGH SCHOOL!) who handmade everyone, friend, foe, jock, geek, stoner, or other, a card. Why? Who the hell knows. I guess my craftiness just always got the better of me.

A few days ago I saw this post for Savory Braided Bread Hearts at Peanut Butter and Julie and I knew I had to make them for Andy. A quick note: I DO NOT bake. True, my last name is Baker, and no, the irony is not lost on me, but as a general rule I try to avoid things that require copious amounts of flour, yeast, or high-altitude adjustments. True, I made challah a few weeks ago to satisfy Andy's half-Jewish side, and we did make bagels for the holidays, yet I digress...

So, under the guise of making coffee and veggie-sausage muffins, I sneaked out to the kitchen to try my hand at the little braided bits of goodness. The result? Well, Andy is still sleeping, but I think they look scrumptious. Hopefully the extra dose of love I added will make them taste as good as they look. Plus I actually cleaned the whole kitchen (usually his job) so he didn't wake up to a mess. I told you love makes you do stupid things.

I'm now off to make more coffee (I drank the whole pot!), really make veggie-sausage muffins, and make Andy a Valentines Day card. Bust out the construction paper: here comes my inner-crafter to take over where the love-struck baker has left off.

Braided Bread Hearts
(OG recipe at Peanut Butter and Julie)

Makes five hearts

Ingredients:

2 cups flour(I used one cup bleached and one cup whole wheat)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
1 cup milk
1 egg yolk
Sesame seeds, ground garlic, poppy seeds, optional for topping
(Look, Ma! No yeast!)

My quick and dirty, food processorless instructions:

Preheat your oven to eleven 350 degrees.

In a big ol' bowl, combine flour, sugar, thyme, salt, and pepper. Using a hand beater, mix ingredients.

Toss the butter pieces in to the bowl and mix some more. Once everything is as blended as you can get it, slowly pour in the milk with the beaters running. (Note: It might not take the whole cup of milk. I used almost a full cup as the whole wheat flour did not want to stick, but, alas, ended up adding a bit more flour to get it "doughy". I told you I don't bake.). I had to work the dough a bit with my hands as beaters are not ideal for "balling" dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 15 equal pieces. Roll each piece in to a rope. Mine ended up being about 15 inches long, but if you're a better braider then I am, make them as long as you can stand (Julie suggested 28 inces, 1/4 inch thick).

Place three ropes side by side and pinch the ends together. Braid the ropes and then shape the braid into a heart, overlapping the ends. Transfer them to a lightly greased baking sheet. In a little bowl, whisk up your egg yolk. Brush each heart with said yolk and top with seeds or garlic, or nothing at all. I did a bit of all three.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. If they don't brown, crank up the oven to 375 and bake for about five more minutes.

Let cool and serve with a sweet card, piles of kisses, and big smiles.

P.S.

Even though I do not have an artistic bone in my body, I did indeed draw, ink, and color that card. I rule.