Munchie Monday: Smoked Almond Cheddar

Still trying to the vegan things most of the time.  Here is a recipe I do not recommend!

Smoked Almond Cheddar

2 cups raw almonds, soaked overnight in water in the refrigerator
1/2 to 3/4 cup pimentos from a jar, plus 1/2 to 3/4 cup packing liquid
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 3/4 teaspoon smoked sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Drain the soaked almonds.  In the bowl of the food processor put everything including 1/4 cup of the pimento packing liquid.  Process well.  Scrape down sides then process some more.  You may need to add more of the liquid to make the texture better.


For my iteration I used Smoked Garlic and Onion Seasoned Salt mixture instead of the smoked sea salt which would have entailed circling back around to the first store I went to which did have some at a very great price.  The store where I was sure to find it did not have any at all.  Oh well.

My notes on this material:  it tastes okay.  It is not great and it DEFINITELY is NOT CHEDDAR.

I have not thrown it out yet but I also have not tried serving it to Dear One.  I think I will try that tomorrow. My hopes are not high...

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Peanut Sauce

Recently I found a recipe for peanut sauce.  Today I made it.

Quick and Easy Peanut Sauce, PACC version

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 Tablespoon rice vinegar--plain or seasoned

Put all the ingredients into a small blender and blend until smooth.  This is fabulous for dipping all kinds of vegetables in:  red bell pepper strips,  celery sticks,  steamed broccoli, probably anything you want.

Munchie Monday: Sweet Potato and White Bean Burger

Over the weekend I saw a recipe for Sweet Potato and White Bean Burgers and thought I would see if I could improve it...without trying it first.  I am always trying to make a good veggie burger; good meaning: tastes good, has good texture,  mostly fat-free, and holds together.

Well, this one was about three-quarters good.  It did not hold together.  Dear One said it was okay.  High praise, indeed.  

This is the way I made these burgers.  For some reason I did not save the original recipe.  That recipe had corn in it, some more spices, and they were fried, something we are trying to avoid.  I am sure they was taste even better fried in a cast-iron skillet with your favorite cooking oil.

Sweet Potato and White Bean Burgers
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Makes 12 burgers

2 medium sweet potato, roasted and peeled

2 15-ounce can of white beans, drained and rinsed

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoon granulated  garlic 

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2/3 cup nutritional yeast

1  cup Italian parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

Salt

Black pepper

Place sweet potatoes and beans in a large bowl.  Mash with a potato masher until well mashed but not totally mush.  Add onion, parsley, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and seasonings.  Mix very well then add in the bread crumbs to make a good consistency.

Using a 1/2 cup portion scoop, dip out the mixture and place on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet then flatten to about 3-3 1/2 inches across.  Bake 30-40 minutes.  Let cool a bit  then remove from pan.  Eat plain or in a bun with all the fixings.  These are really good.  In my opinion.  Some people in the family used Frank's Red Hot sauce on his.

Food Friday: Egg Salad on Vacation

When you use your Instant Pot to hard boil a dozen or more eggs the day before vacation, what do you do?  Why, you take the eggs with you in the ice chest.  Then what do you do?

At the beginning of the week we had a few eggs chopped into green salad.  After that we ate out a couple of lunches so the eggs were aging in the refrigerator so something had to be done.

This morning I peeled the eggs, rinsed off the egg shells, then chopped the eggs on the cutting board I had purchased at Goodwill thrift store (which was conveniently close right across the street from our resort!!) and tossed them into a bowl.  I mashed them up somewhat with a fork. We had some celery and some small onions so I chopped both celery and onion and tossed into the bowl.  Next I squirted in a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise,  at least the same amount of mustard, and a good 2-3 tablespoons of sweet pickle relish.

After stirring everything together I tasted it.  Too bland, SO  I added in some Garden Harvest Seasoning.  Quite a bit, actually.  After blending well I scooped some onto a nice crispy red leaf lettuce leaf, folded it over, and ate it.

That was a mistake...to eat it right then.  The harvest seasoning actually needs to soften up in the egg salad overnight.  If not, you feel the "grit" in your teeth.  That really puts you off the egg salad. 

However...the next morning things were different.  There was no grit.  Sadly, we still needed tiny bit of salt to make this fun to eat.

Tomorrow I plant to scoop some into a luscious tomato for lunch. Or maybe breakfast...

Vacation Report: Yellow Lady Slippers in The Wild Gardens of Acadia

The weather was glorious so we went to The Wild Gardens of Acadia.  There is a fabulous set of gardens with all kinds of plants from all the various types of habitats on Mount Desert Island from meadow to mountain to beach land, and more.  We were there at the end of May so there were few plants in bloom, but those plants were really stunning.

The plants with the most impressive blooms were the yellow lady slippers.

They really were great, except for the creepy part that looks like arachnid legs...!

When we were children our father put an iron pipe into a spring beside Jigger Hill which always ran with water.  In that woodsy section of Jigger Hill in the early spring weather we could almost always find Jack-in-a-Pulpits and a bit later some purple, pink, and white delicate tiny lady slippers.  We never picked them, just loved looking at them as we walked by up the hill from school.

That was probably one of the first times I realized I love flowers.  Daffodils and lilacs are my favorite spring and early summer flowers.  I also like carnations.  Well, I like pretty much all flowers, but daffys and lilacs take the cake for me.