Vegetarian Tacos

This recipe is so great! I love tacos, but really don't like making them very often because they use so much meat. When I discovered this recipe, I was so excited because now I don't have to use meat and my family doesn't know the difference! Look at this picture. Deceiving, isn't it? Not only do I save money by using beans, it's a lot healthier than meat, but flavor and texture is not sacrificed! :)

Black Bean Taco Filling

Printable Recipe

INREDIENTS:

2 Cups black beans, raw (see note below if you want to use canned)

2 eggs

2 Cups plain bread crumbs

1/2 Cup onion, diced

1 Cup carrots, finely shredded (or ½ cup carrots, ½ cup zucchini)

1/2 tsp. powdered garlic

4 Tbsp. olive or canola oil for frying

Taco Seasoning, to taste (use your favorite from the store or see my recipe below)

Accompaniments: Salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce, cheese, sour cream, etc

DIRECTIONS:

Cook black beans in pressure cooker with 6 Cups water on high pressure for 50 min. Use quick release method.

Note: You can use canned beans if you don't want to use dry. I'd estimate about 3 cans of canned beans but maybe 4 - experiment until you get a good mixture.

Blend drained beans in food processor until smooth. Add a little water, if needed. Combine beans with veggies, crumbs and spices. To cook filling, heat oil in a non-stick skillet. Place bean mixture in skillet and cook on medium to medium-low heat. Crumble and turn until done. Season with taco seasoning to taste. Serve with salsa, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on soft or hard tacos. Tasty!!

Note: This recipe makes a lot, but it freezes well. I like to put leftovers in family serving size bags, freeze, and enjoy multiple times

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

This is so good with my fresh homemade salsa recipe. In not too long we won't have any tomatoes or peppers left, so I'm enjoying it while I can!!

Taco Seasoning Mix

Printable Recipe

*Yield 6-7 batches, 4 servings/batch

INREDIENTS:

¼ C. dried minced onion

¼ C. chili powder

2 Tbsp. salt

4 tsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. crushed red peppers

2 tsp. beef bouillon granules

1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix to combine. Store in an airtight container for up to one year.

To prepare tacos: Brown 1 lb hamburger; drain. Add 2 Tbsp. seasoning mix and 1/3 to ½ cup water. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 min.

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Cinnamon Swirl Bagels

What a great recipe I ran across for homemade bagels, the other day on this blog. I made them and yum, they are really really good. I did make a few adjustments as always. I used less flour than the recipe called for in mine so just be aware of that. I used quite a lot less (the first time I made them they were too dry). But without as much flour, they were really moist and yummy - not crumbly at all like other bagels I've made. I'll definitely be experimenting with the other kinds. So far I've only tried the cinnamon and the plain. Both were very tasty! Thanks Elizabeth for a great recipe!!

Cinnamon Swirl Bagels

1½ C. hot water (heated for a couple of minutes in the microwave)

2 ¼ C. freshly ground white wheat flour
1 Tbsp. yeast

1 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. dough enhancer (optional)

2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1/2  to 1 C. white flour 

Directions   

In a Bosch mixer add water, whole wheat flour and yeast. Mix with a dough hook for a couple of turns. Let this mix stand for 15 minutes. Then add salt, sugar, dough enhancer and gluten flour.  Add enough white flour until the dough just pulls from sides of the bowl. Mix for at least 6 minutes.  Remove dough and divide into 10 pieces and form round balls. Cover the dough balls and let rise for 12 minutes. Shape the bagels by pushing thumbs in the center of the dough balls to form a hole in the center. Place each bagel on a parchment lined baking sheet to rise for 20 minutes. While bagels are rising, preheat your oven to broil.  Then bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pan. When the bagels have risen, broil bagels about 2 minutes on each side, but do not let them get brown. After they have broiled, change oven temperature to 375 degrees.  Place the bagels in boiling water, about 3 at a time, and then turn stove top down to simmer.  Cook them 1 minute on each side. Set them on paper towels to drain.  After they have drained put them on a floured cookie sheet. Bake them for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Variations:

See her recipe for other yummy variations!

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Dehydrating Tomatoes: Tomato Powder

Are you wondering what I'm going to do with all those green tomatoes? Well I'm really excited to share with you my newest method of preserving my tomatoes after the harvest...

First I put all the tomatoes in the basement to ripen on flat pieces of screen or wood that are suspended on buckets.


When the tomatoes ripen I wash them...



I cut off their stems and stick them in a blender (skins and all) to puree into blended tomato puree.

Heres what the tomato puree looks like.

 

In our basement I keep the dehydrator that is running almost all the time right now. I spread the puree out on the fruit roll sheets (of if you don't have those you can make your own using freezer paper. Dehydrate the tomato puree on 135 F for about 24 hours or so. Don't worry so much about the time - just dehydrate it until it's crispy and breaks when you bend it.

When it's finished break off the pieces and stick back in your perfectly dry blender (make sure it's all the way dry or you'll have to re-dry the powder. Blend and then wallaah...tomato powder!

Here's a close up view.

Store tomato powder in a mason jar with an oxygen absorber to seal the lid. Keeps for a long time if it's stored in a dark, dry place.

To rehydrate just add boiling hot water until the consistency you want. Add less water if you want a paste, more for a sauce. Experiment with how much you like. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and Italian seasoning for a delicious pizza sauce. Or mix a little into your homemade spaghetti sauces to thicken a little. The possibilities are endless with this stuff. I'm still experimenting, but I'm really excited about this simple, quick method that preserves tomatoes. It's especially nice for this time of year when you're burnt out from canning! Some of the benefits of drying instead of canning are:

• Less Space - this is a big one! You can store a lot of tomatoes in one canning jar. I estimate about 80 - 100 tomatoes per quart!
• Less Time - dehydrating with this method is a lot faster than canning and you can do a little each day so it's perfect for busy times of year.
• Nutrition - from what I've learned dehydrating preserves better the nutrition than canning, but I need to read up more about what the benefits are.

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The Harvest is in! Here are the tomatoes, peppers and summer squash! (And check out that pile of jalapenos!)

And here are the winter squash and melons!

We feel very blessed! The night before the frost, on a hunch, Brandon went out and covered all the tomatoes. We were very grateful the next day because it snowed and we may have lost most of them to the freeze. We picked them later that night. The green tomatoes will ripen down in our basement and the winter squash will decorate our house for 3-4 weeks until they cure and then we will stick them down in the basement to eat this winter!

Happy Harvest! Canning is almost done! I lost track of how much I've canned, but it's a lot more than I've ever done before! Glad it's about over. Now I can put my life back together and work on posting some of these recipes that I've been creating! :)

Ta ta for now,
Heather

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Yellow Squash Muffins

I think the harvest will be coming in tonight - it's getting kind of cold here...pictures to come soon.

And speaking of harvest. I have loved making our favorite muffins this summer and will miss them so much. My kids eat these up like there's never going to be another meal anytime soon. I doubled-plus-a-half (I don't know if that's the correct term - I made that one up...it means 2-1/2 x) this recipe using 5 small to medium sized yellow squash this morning. Boy were they good. My 6-year-old ate 5 of them and brought 2 to school for lunch. And I thought I was going to be able to freeze some...Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Yellow Squash Muffins

Printable Recipe

*Makes 1 dozen muffins

*Note: You can use ¼ Cup applesauce in place of half of the butter in this recipe if you want to cut the fat. They are still good, but you will notice a difference.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound yellow summer squash, cut up
½ Cup butter, melted
1 egg
1-½ Cup wonder flour
½ Cup sugar or honey
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, bring the cut up yellow squash to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the squash and puree in blender. Add the butter, honey (if using) and egg to blender and mix for a few seconds.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar (if using), baking powder, and salt. Stir in the squash mixture. Fill greased muffin cups ¾ full and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

*These muffins can be frozen and reheated.

Recipe Source: adapted from Friend Magazine

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