Homemade veggie burgers, rolls and fries!

Burgers...4 cups 1 inch cubed winter squash, finely chopped leeks, onions, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, 1 small bell pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup oats and 3 Tablespoons oil, chili powder and black pepper to taste.  Puree all ingredients except for bread crumbs and oats in blender.  Make patties, dust with flour and fry in light oil until crisp and cooked through.

Rolls...  scroll through to find my bread recipe and make them! LOL!

Fries... if you can't figure that out, you shouldn't be cooking! ;)

This meal took me less than an hour to make and that counts the time for the bread to raise!  There is no reason for people to not eat healthy!

Make the bread ahead of time and freeze it if need be!  The veggie burger "meat" can be made in advance also! Make the patties and freeze them when you have time! Easy Peasy!

Keep it here for more recipes and fun in the future!

Don't forget to smile at a stranger! :)

To help a neighbor

Today there was a gentle knock at our door.  When I opened it, there stood our neighbor looking confused and forlorn.  I greeted her with a smile and said hello.  She burst out with, "I don't know what to do with all of this fresh produce! HELP!"  So I did.

I spent a couple of hours at her place helping her to chop, grate, blanch, puree and freeze most of her produce.  We had a grand time chatting and getting to know one another.  She talked of her children and their accomplishments and how proud she was of all three of them. She loved showing me all of their pictures along with pictures of her grandchildren.  It was wonderful!  We made plans to do it again next week.

When we were finished I returned home and began my daily tasks.  Again, there was a knock on the door and upon opening it I saw the same neighbor with four grocery bags in her hands.  "Here, these are for you." She handed me the bags as she thanked me for my help, smiled and walked away.  It was so nice of her to share this produce with us and was even nicer to see her smile. :)

Tonight, so far, I have made dinner with the bottoms of the four squash. I stuffed them with a mix of rice pilaf, sauteed onions, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, 1 bell pepper and 1 egg plant.  They smell delicious!  I also cut up the remainder of the squash and prepared and froze it!  Four quarts in all!  I am preparing the seeds (that I did not keep to dry and plant next year) to roast them as one would roast pumpkin seeds this evening.  The rest of the produce was put away because I am sure that we will use it within the next couple of weeks.

We need to start doing more of this.  Sharing our time, our knowledge, our laughter and stories and... our produce! :)  I had an amazingly incredible day and am looking forward to next week when we work on the tomatoes and the rest of the peppers! :)

I did not set out today to "earn" anything. I simply wanted to help out a stressed out neighbor.  The rewards were plentiful and I thank her for her contribution to our freezer! <3


Don't forget to smile at a stranger... it's how I met this neighbor! <3

some more homemade goodness

Just thought I would share a pic of one of the many things I make.  These are fun and easy to make! I don't know how to read a pattern so I just make my own.  I wouldn't even know how to begin to explain how I do it either.  I guess that just goes to show that anyone can figure out what they want to do if they want it enough.  I use the instructional videos on youtube A LOT to figure things out.  :)

Time for a bit of selfish promotion I guess.  If interested in the things I create, here's the link to my Facebook page... http://www.facebook.com/OfYesteryear

Hope to see you there!

Don't forget to smile at a stranger! :)

Pumpkin, pumpkin and more pumpkin!

Ever had one of those days when everything just goes right?  I had one today! :)

First of all, I finally got some decent sleep!  RLS kicked my ass until around 5 this morning but I was able to sleep until almost 11!  YAY!

Secondly, my favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers won!!!  They not only won... they STOMPED the Bills!  Woo Hoo! :)

Next, I spent a couple of hours processing a nice size pumpkin and made pumpkin soup, pumpkin bars, pumpkin/potato hash and froze 3 1/2 quarts of pumpkin for future use!

I baked 2 loaves of bread and 8 garlic/basil rolls.  My boyfriend made a seitan loaf and we had it in sandwiches tonight on the homemade rolls with the hash on the side!  It was absolutely delicious!  And, there are plenty of leftovers for his lunch for the rest of the week!  Oh yeah, we do it right in this house!

So, here's how you make the hash...

Sweat down an entire small onion and 3 garlic cloves, add 4 large diced potatoes and saute on low heat until almost done.  Then, add 2 cups diced pumpkin and stir well and allow to saute until it is tender.  Season to taste (I used basil, fresh shredded ginger, freshly ground black pepper corn and a bit of fresh thyme.)

Oh, and the next time you make iced tea, try putting a few fresh basil leaves in it while you steep it!  It's INCREDIBLE! And, so good for you!

Well, that's all for tonight folks!  Going to watch a movie! I am wiped out after cleaning up the mess from today! Good night kids! Don't forget to smile at a stranger! <3