Mmmm Mmmm Good!

I figured it's been a while since I've shared some of my culinary ventures, so here's a few of the latest. Tonight was my all-time favorite: veggie burgers. I used to make these even before we cut out meat and I get a serious craving for them every couple weeks or so. To be honest, they're a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it. Pete and Vince really like these burgers now, but they put theirs on a bun. Since these are breaded, I eat mine without a bun. It's just lots of veggies, like broccoli, carrots, leek, onion, corn, potatoes, and mushrooms all ground up together into a patty. The veggies are sauteed first and the potatoes act as the thing that holds it all together. Vince doesn't like leek, Dylan doesn't like mushrooms and carrots, but the kids like these burgers! To go with it, I made quinoa and wild rice pilaf and some good ol'fashioned canned baked beans (organic, of course, so there's no high-fructose corn syrup, caramel color, or anything else that's made in a lab). I have a recipe for homemade baked beans, but tonight wasn't the night to try that with the work the other dishes were.

A while back, I wanted to try a recipe like the old S.O.S. (can I say that?) that we had growing up. So we had a healthy mushroom gravy recipe with tempeh strips (a meat alternative product made from fermented soybeans and brown rice). I used shitake mushrooms because a lady sells them for a really good price at the farmers' market now. We just had it over organic farmhouse bread with smashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with corn and carrots) and a salad on the side. The tempeh is my favorite meat alternative; it tastes nothing like tofu and even smells good when it comes out of the package! The kids kept calling it "chicken!" I'll have to try other things with it, like tacos and stuff. My Dad and my brother Derek just arrived here tonight, so we'll see how they like this week's culinary menu! It includes my spinach alfredo pizza of course on Friday, which Derek is excited for, and seitan (another meat alternative) and veggie burritos. Watch for their responses on another post!