Beef up that meal!

I wasn't always a vegetarian. Even after becoming a vegetarian, those in the house with me have enjoyed meat. Therefore, I've managed to collect (and invent) meat recipes over the years. Here are a few with beef in them.

BEEF STEW

One of my inventions; the recipes I had for stew seemed too bland.

2-3 lbs. stewing beef

3 T oil

2 C water

1 onion, chopped

8 oz. tomato sauce

1 C flour

1 T soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

4 carrots, cut up

1 large potato, peeled & cut up

6 oz tomato paste

4 T vinegar

3 T honey

salt & pepper

Cut beef into bite-sized pieces. Trim fat & dredge in flour & brown in oil. Add every-thing except carrots & potato. Cook 15 minutes. Add carrots & cook 15 more minutes. Add potato & cook 30 minutes. Add water as needed. Serve over noodles.

OVEN POT ROAST

This is from my Grandma Hallock. She added, "I sometimes add soy sauce to thicken & for color. This is an easy meal."

4 lbs. chuck beef (boneless)

1/3 C flour

1/4 C oil

2 C carrots, cut up

2 C onions, sliced

2 C celery, cut up

1 C tomatoes (opt.) or 1 small can tomato paste

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 can mushroom soup (optional)

Wash & flour meat. Brown in fat on stove top (all sides of meat). Put in large casserole or Dutch oven. Cook at 400 degrees for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Put vegetables around. Last 1/2 hour, add soup. Add 1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 C water to thicken gravy (if necessary). Serves 6.

BEEF ROLLS

Another one of Grandma Hallock’s recipes. She wrote, "Made these a lot when we were young. Kids loved them. Used flank steak." She also sent a recipe for Baked Butter Carrots which, she also wrote, are "good with Beef Rolls."

1 1/2 lbs. flank steak, sliced thin

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1/2 C boiling water

1/2 tsp. onion flakes

2 tsp. lemon juice

3/4 C bread crumbs

3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning

flour

1/8 tsp. pepper

butter for browning

Wash meat, trim fat. Cut into 6 slices, making them as square as possible. Beat egg. Add crumbs & seasonings. Place in center of pieces of meat, then pin 4 corners of meat with toothpick or tie with string. Flour them, then brown in butter. Add 2 T flour to thicken sauce around meat. Put in casserole. Pour boiling water over it. Cover & bake in oven at 275 degrees for 3 hours or 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Serves 6.

BEAN BURGER

The kids had this one evening when I had a class to go to; they loved it.

1 1/2 lbs. hamburger

2 T mustard (or to taste)

2 cans baked beans

2 T brown sugar (or to taste)

Brown hamburger. Drain grease, then add beans, mustard & brown sugar. Heat thoroughly. May be eaten on hamburger buns, taco shells, or plain.

HAMBURGER SPECIAL

One of my variations of the good, ol’ hamburger. One-half diced yellow pepper may be added along with the red and green peppers, if desired.

2 lbs. hamburger

1 - 2 carrots, peeled & cut into rounds

1/2 green pepper, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 package dry onion soup mix

Mix all ingredients together & form into 8 patties. Cook immediately or freeze separately. Serve on hamburger buns.

Vegetarian Dinners

Back in the Dark Ages (the 1950s), meat and potatoes were the order of the day; if one didn't eat meat for dinner, it was considered sacrilege. Red meat was king in many households, though chicken, fish, and pork were acceptable variations on a theme.

Of course, there were exceptions and rules to the beef/chicken/fish/pork/etc. rules: If one was a practicing Catholic (or had grown up as one), it was fish on Fridays; if you'd invited the neighbors for dinner and you knew they were Jewish, pork was definitely not what you were fixing that evening; if someone mentioned that he or she simply wanted a salad, chances were that a smaller number on the scale weighed heavily on someone's mind.

But a meatless meal? As in vegetarian?!? You might as well suggest that someone thought that he or she was a three-headed martian, dropped into Roswell with the thought of bringing back every third person back to Mars. What were you, nuts?

(If you've read about my lasagna experience with a certain ex-coworker, you may be aware that there are still people who feel that way. Not to worry, it's entirely possible to adhere to a vegetarian diet and be perfectly healthy; in fact, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes." (http://www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357)

Great, you're thinking, I came here to see what's cooking, and she gives me the food lecture? Okay, lecture's over. Here are few non-meat meals. One or two of them are definitely not vegan (someone who eats and uses no animal by-products at all). I'll post a note after each recipe on what can be done to make it vegan. So...here goes:

Spaghetti Sauce

28 oz. can tomatoes (note)

2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 6 oz. cans tomato paste

3 onions, chopped

3 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed

2 T oil

1 T oregano

1/4 - 1/2 lb. grated cheddar cheese

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. dill

1 tsp. anise

2 T honey

Brown onions & garlic in oil. Add tomatoes, sauce & pasted. Stir. Add everything ex-cept cheese & stir. Simmer 1 hour. Add cheese & stir until cheese is melted. Serve over hot spaghetti. Better the next day—if any is left!

NOTE: I usually use crushed tomatoes. If you’d rather use fresh tomatoes, 6-8 large ones may be used (diced, of course) in place of the canned tomatoes, & add an extra can of to-mato sauce.

Note:If you want to make it vegan, leave the honey out and use grated vegan cheese.

Angel Hair Pasta

I had something similar to this at a local Italian restaurant several times, and decided to try making it. A hint for making this: wait until all the veggies have been cut up, then start the water boiling for the angel hair pasta. The veggies should be cooked for 2-4 minutes, and the pasta cooked for 2 minutes before the pasta is drained and then allowed to finish cooking for another 2 minutes with the veggies. Timing is important—unless you like disgustingly soggy pasta.

1/2 C water

2 T balsamic vinegar

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2green pepper, diced

1 T oregano

1 lb. angel hair pasta

Cut up veggies while heating the pasta water. DO NOT PUT PASTA INTO WATER UNTIL THE VEGGIES BEGIN COOKING. (There. I said it.) In veggie pot, heat 1/2 C water & balsamic vinegar until it begins to bubble; add onion, garlic, pepper & oregano and stir once or twice. NOW ADD PASTA TO POT OF BOILING PASTA WATER. (Boy, what a bossy broad.) Simmer veggies on low-medium heat for 2-4 minutes, covered. Cook pasta for only 2 minutes, then drain in colander. As soon as pasta is drained, remove cover from veggies, dump pasta into veggie pot, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring several times. Remove from heat. DIG IN!!! (Now, isn’t that good?)

Baked Noodles & Cheese

No idea where this came from.

8 oz. noodles, cooked

2 1/2 C grated cheese

2 eggs

1 C milk

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 T butter

Layer noodles & 2 C cheese alternately in a 2-quart casserole. Beat eggs, milk, salt & pepper together & pour over noodles & cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese over it & dot with butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until set.

Note:Not sure how to make it vegan; you can use vegan margarine and cheese, but the eggs...eh.

Grandma Shwedo’s Mac And Cheese

Grandma was a character; I could write a book about her. This is her version of the ultimate comfort food. She told me she made this for my dad and my uncle when they were kids. Very simple, but very good.

1 lb. elbow macaroni

1-2 jars of Cheese Whiz

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Heat Cheese Whiz, either in microwave or boiling water. (Remove lids from jars first.) Drain macaroni, dump into a large bowl, add heated Cheese Whiz, stir, and PIG OUT!!!

Note:I'm really sooo not sure how to replace the jars of Cheese Whiz. Anyone know if there's a vegan replacement?

Jason’s B-B-Q Gluten

This is from my oldest son. Rather than reword any of this, the recipe is included exactly as he wrote it out for me. (This stuff is definitely good.)

Ingredients:

5 lb. whole wheat flour

2 onions

1/2 creamy peanut butter

2 bottles of B-B-Q sauce

1 stick butter

2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons paprika



Huge ass bowl

Take whole wheat flour, empty into Big Bowl. Add enough water to knead into dough ball. Knead really well. I repeat, knead really well. For at least 10 minutes. Fill huge ass bowl with water, put dough ball under water for 2 hours. Pour off water and drowned roaches. Knead doughball under cold running water for 10 minutes or more. Water should be clear. You are washing out the starch and bran. You know it’s ready when stringy and it sticks together and is bouncy. Melt 1 stick butter and fry 2 chopped onions until clear. Dump onto Gluten. Add salt, paprika, and peanut butter. Mix with hands completely. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking pan with non-stick spray. Pinch off pieces bigger than a golf ball. Take piece and fold it and twist it and lay it down in pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for 10 more. Pour B-B-Q sauce and bake 10 more minutes, then flip and pour more B-B-Q sauce and bake 10 more minutes. It’s done—enjoy.

(Xtra note—be careful when you first mix wheat and water. Don’t add too much water. Make a hard dough ball. It might take 20 minutes to knead it.)

Stroganoff, times three

Ever notice how every few years, different foods make a comeback? During that resergence, everyone seems to have a recipe for the food d'jour.

Years back - maybe thirty-ish - the big thing (other than fondue) seemed to be stroganoff. Somehow, I ended up collecting three stroganoff recipes. Here they are, for your enjoyment:

Beef Stroganoff

This one is from my mom.

1/2 C finely chopped onions

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/3 C butter

1 1/2 lb. chuck, cut up

2 T flour

1 C boullion

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T tomato paste

3/4 tsp. Worchester sauce

1/4 C sour cream

1/2 C heavy cream

1 1/3 C white rice

1/2 C butter

Sauté onions & mushrooms separately, cooking each in butter until tender. Remove & set aside. Roll beef in flour & brown in remaining butter. Add bouillon, salt & onions. Cover & simmer until beef is tender (about 1-1/2 hours). Add tomato paste, Worchester sauce, sour cream, heavy cream & mushrooms. Heat thoroughly. Meanwhile, cook rice & add butter.

Stroganoff

This was from the wife of a now forgotten coworker.

1 lb. hamburger

2 onions, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 C sour cream

Brown hamburger, onions & pepper. Pour off fat. When brown, add soup & stir in. Add sour cream and lower heat. Stir once or twice, then serve with noodles.

Poor Man’s Stroganoff

It seems that everyone has at least one stroganoff recipe. This one, as well as the recipe for Fast Chicken Curry, are from my dad. This one ends, "service with hot Italian bread, vegetables, and tossed salad. Services four. Total time with rice about 45 minutes."

1 1/2 lbs. hamburger

1 can condensed mushroom soup

1 small can mushrooms

1/2 onion, diced

pepper & salt

1 pt. sour cream

4 T margarine

Brown onion in margarine. Add hamburger & brown slowly. Add pepper & salt to taste. Add ½ can water to mushroom soup & add to hamburger. Simmer 5 minutes. Add mushrooms & simmer 5 more minutes. Add sour cream, stir & bring again to simmer. Serve over brown rice.

They'll Never Know It's Vegetarian Lasagna

I’d been making lasagna for years, using a favorite cookbook. One year, my oldest son took the same recipe, and replaced the meat with eggplant. His came out tasting so much better better than when I made it.

I tried recreating the eggplant version, but it never quite came out the same. So, I changed the recipe drastically, getting rid of some ingredients (most notably meat), adding others (tofu crumbles), and changing amounts where I felt the changes were needed.

True story: Years ago, a coworker thought I was wonderful, while I found him nice but definitely not my type. While we both had pleasant enough conversations over coffee, it was not something I wanted to pursue.

One afternoon, a group of us were talking about food; he mentioned he absolutely loved lasagna. I made a mental note of that, thinking, Next time I'm planning that, I'm soooo not telling him.

A few weeks later, I decided to take a rare day off and started making a huge pan of - you guessed it - vegetarian lasagna. Just before I put it in the oven, the phone rang; it was you-know-who, telling me he missed running into me at work.

About this time, my youngest came into the kitchen and said (loud enough for my coworker to hear), "So you're getting ready to put the lasagna into the oven, right?" The guy immediately stated that he was on his way over.

That evening, the guy ate two helpings of the stuff. (He was a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy; a meal without meat, to him, was nothing short of sacrilege!) The next morning, when I ran into him, he enthused, "That was the best lasagna ever! How much meat did you use?" I told him none. He continued, "Okay, no red meat. Ground turkey?"

I told him it was tofu crumbles.

"What's that?" he asked. When I told him, he looked at me aghast, and asked, "What are you, some kind of vegetarian?" He immediately decided I was not the right person for him. Go figure...

Tomato sauce:

2-3 onions, chopped

3-5 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz. can tomatoes

2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce

2-6 oz. cans tomato paste

2 T olive oil

1 T oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. dill

1 tsp. anise

1 or 2-10 oz. package tofu crumbles

Brown onions & garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients, stir well, simmer for 1 hour. While sauce is cooking, in a separate pot, cook 16 oz. lasagna noodles & make cheese layer.

Cheese layer:

2 C sour cream

2 C cottage cheese

2 eggs

4 C mozzarella, grated

2 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 C Parmesan cheese

Mix ingredients together in large bowl.

Assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 9" X 13" pan, place half the cooked lasagna noodles length-wise. Top with half the cheese mixture, then half the tomato sauce. Repeat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before cutting, as it tends to be a little runny when it first comes out of the oven. Serve with a salad and a loaf of hot Italian bread. Very yummy.

More drinks - Oh, you smoothie!

Today's offerings are smoothies. Before they were a staple in the grocery store, they were made in the blender. Some of us still do it that way! Enjoy!

J’s Fruit Smoothie

My oldest son, J, has always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen. This is something he came up with around the time he finished seventh grade.

6 oz. can orange juice (undiluted)

2 bananas

6-10 grapes

2 C cold milk

Put ingredients into a blender and blend until pureed and smooth. Serves 2-4.

NOTE: Plain soymilk can be used in place of the milk.

Banana Smoothie

One of my inventions.

1 C milk

1 T wheat germ

1 banana

1/2 C yogurt (any flavor)

1 tsp. vanilla

4-5 ice cubes

Blend. Serves 2.

Fruit Smoothie

Another of my inventions. Fresh strawberries are okay, but frozen ones give this a nice chill on a hot day.

1 C orange juice

1/2 C yogurt

6-8 strawberries

1 T wheat germ

1 banana

Blend. Serves 1.

Eastern Sunrise Smoothie

The fruits used are from the eastern U.S.: orange juice and strawberries from Florida,cranberries from Massachusetts. Top that off with a beautiful pink color. It’s a yummy way to start the morning.

1 C orange juice

1/2 C yogurt

4-6 frozen strawberries

1 T wheat germ

1/2 C frozen cranberries

Blend juice & berries. Add yogurt & wheat germ & blend about 15 seconds more.

Purple Haze Smoothie

Variation on a theme. If you’re getting the idea that you can make smoothies out of almost any fruit and/or juice (or milk), you’re right. Experiment; use any juice to your liking: apple, cranberry, orange (my favorite), whatever, then add whatever fruits you have around. If none of the fruits are conducive to freezing (berries work best), add a few ice cubes, or better still, frozen juice cubes.

This one is similar to the above smoothies. The blueberries give it a pleasant taste and a beautiful color.

1-1 1/2 orange juice (see note)

1/2 C frozen blueberries

4 frozen strawberries (optional)

1/2 C yogurt

1/2 C frozen cranberries

1 T wheat germ

Blend orange juice & berries. Add yogurt & wheat germ, blend for 5-15 more seconds.

NOTE: If adding strawberries, add the extra 1/2 C orange juice. Or use 1 C juice and 1/2 C soymilk.

I'm thirsty!...

How many times have we said that? How many times have we heard that? Sure, there's water, soda, coffee, tea, bottled juices and drinks, but sometimes we want something a little different, something that makes the taste buds dance.

For those times we want something different, I offer you the following recipes. Today's offerings are for small gatherings, and one gift-giving idea.

WATERMELON PUNCH

Years ago, I was a bride’s maid at a friend’s wedding. A friend of the couple held the reception dinner; this punch was served with the hors d’oeuvres. I’ve added ginger ale to the recipe; it’s good either way.

1 watermelon

1 T honey

6 oz. can orange juice, undiluted

2 liter bottle ginger ale

Put watermelon (excluding rind and seeds) in a blender—and blend. Pour juice through a strainer into a large bowl. Add orange juice and honey, stir, and add ice. Add ginger ale just before serving.

PINK LADY PUNCH

Not sure where this one came from, though I'm thinking maybe from one of my mother's cookbooks that she bought to raise funds for some group or other...

4 C cranberry juice

1 1/2 C sugar

4 C pineapple juice

2 qts. chilled ginger ale

Add sugar to cranberry juice. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add pineapple juice. Chill. Pour into punch bowl & add ginger ale.

LIZARD LOUNGE TEA

My oldest son spent several summers traveling the country, both singly and with friends. Several times, he wound up at the Rainbow Gathering, where he hooked up with a larger group of friends. Most of them had grown up in hot areas of the country, so they nicknamed themselves lizards; their area of the camp site was the lizard lounge. They would cook up their version of iced tea, which they would barter for other commodities. They were frequently asked what their secret ingredient was.

This is a scaled down version. I found that cranberry or cranberry-apple herb tea works very nicely with this, but any herbal tea can be used.

½ gallon apple cider

4-5 herbal tea bags

Place cider in a large pan or teakettle and bring to a boil. Place herbal tea bags into a large container and pour the boiled cider over the tea bags. Let steep for 15-30 minutes and cool. Very good.

The next one is perfect for gift-giving.

SPICE TEAI used to make this every year for Christmas presents; it was quite popular. Unfortunately, life got a little hectic...As simple as this is, though, I may be reigniting this as a present!

8 oz loose tea

3 orange rinds/peels

1 1/2-2 sticks cinnamon

2 T chopped cloves

Cut orange peels into small pieces. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring occaion-ally. Let cool, add to loose tea, along with broken cinnamon sticks & cloves. Store in tight containers.

I'll post some single-serving drinks in a later post. In the meantime, enjoy!

Sandwiches: Banana-Ham; Ham & Cheese

For a number of years, my dad had a job that required a lot of travel. This was after my folks had split up, so the idea of being paid to travel the world on their dime seemed very appealing.

After one business trip, Dad sent me a short note; in it, he wrote, "In Canada I had two sandwiches which were new and delicious." The first one ended with, "GOOD!" Both sandwiches are definitely that.

BANANA-HAM SANDWICH

French bread, cut along long axis, without crust

1 cold banana

thinly sliced ham

Roll bread & thinly sliced ham around cold banana; deep fry about 15 seconds in very hot fat. Hot on outside & cold on the inside.

HAM & CHEESE SANDWICH

Ham & cheese on French bread but the bread is dropped in egg & fried (a la French Toast).