Embrace the Weird. Embrace the Pups.

There’s a lot of times where I’ve got random things in the refrigerator that don’t really make sense together.

That can be fun though.

You can put together things that aren’t really things that you would think would be awesome, but with a little tweaking, with a little creativity, you get something in the end result that makes a delicious new thing.

I do that all of the time.

Sometimes it works.

Well, actually it works most of the time.  I don’t really give up on recipes I try to make up.  I just keep adding things until they all go together.

I mean, who likes throwing away food?

The pups like it when I have to throw away food.  That’s about it.

In any case, I had a bunch of garbanzo beans that I had cooked off because I wanted to make a little hummus.  Which means I had some garbanzo beans left over.  There was one beet in the refrigerator that I didn’t want to go bad, some carrots, an onion, parts of jalapeno, a container of quinoa, you know…just random stuff.  That happen to go in the fridge.

So I put stuff together.

Togetherness.

I basically put together these things in a bowl:

1C cooked quinoa, 2C pulse-chopped garbanzo beans, a small carrot(cut matchstick), a clove of garlic(minced), half of a yellow onion(minced), a peeled & diced beet, half of a jalapeno(minced), 2T nutritional yeast, 1t sea salt, 1/4t celery seed, 1/2C rice flour, 1/2C water, & 2T olive oil.

That will make a good patty for either pan-fried patties or baked pseudo-pizza.  Or even croquettes.  I did them all, just to try it out.

The patties were pretty good & went well on the biscuit recipe I’ve been playing around with.

I greased a pan & baked a larger patty in an oven at 350F for a half an hour, topped it with the hummus & pan-seared some kimchi I had made a little earlier in the month.

It looked like this:

This is the only time I’ve eaten pizza with a fork in my recent recollection.

You can use any hummus & kimchi, I’m sure, but this was delicious in any capacity.  I’d like to call it a “happy tummy pizza.”

The next morning, I decided to try to put the rest of the mix in a cupcake tin & bake it for the same amount of time & temperature.  You know, just to make little pizzas.

I made croquettes instead.

Breakfast noms.

It’s just a dab of hummus on top of one of the flipped patties with some chiffonade-cut basil.

Delicious.

I think I ate five of these things.

That’s the fun of the kitchen though, never give up & play around with the things you have.  You don’t always have to make traditional foods or recipes to make a fantastic dish, and you should never just settle for normalcy.

That’s about it for me, I’ve got to get this vegan habanero cheddar set.

Pictures of pups to embrace:

“I don’t always ______, but when I do, I _______.”

So much cute.

Running around the park on the coldest day in Florida’s recent history.

It’s almost like he’s staring into your soul.

Have a great week everyone!

Easy Banana Oatmeal Cookies, No Meat March, & Veg Fest

I’ve been a busy bee.

I’ve worked on some new recipes & perfecting recipes that I’ve already played with, coming up with cool vegan breakfast sandwiches with black-eyed pea sausage, working on new artisan cashew cheeses, & getting my ginger bug to make soda for me(soon, ginger beer!!).

That’s all stuff for the near future though.

In the nearer future, there’s a couple of events coming up & you should definitely check them out if you’re in the area.  Let’s not kid ourselves, though.  You should check them out even if you’re in another country.  Maybe plan a vacation while it’s not too hot here.  Perhaps peruse the fine city of Jacksonville.

That’s enough of that, you can check out the websites too.

The first event is the fifth annual Northeast Florida Veg Fest.  That occurs on March 7th & is a great time for all involved.  There’s veg vendors, bands, non-profits & veg food EVERYWHERE.  It’s put on by the Girls Gone Green, a local non-profit that explores animal, health & environmental issues.

There is a TON of food there.  It’s so good.

Speaking of food, the other event coming up is No Meat March.  That’s a 31-day challenge to quit meat & you can elect to quit eggs, dairy, & butter as well.  You get supportive emails & recipes for signing up.  It’s not tough at all, take the pledge on the website!  That is also supported by the Girls Gone Green.

Okay, so easy banana oatmeal cookies.

Take two bananas & mash the Hell out of them.

Bananas. Mashed.

Next, add about 1/2t of cinnamon & a cup of rolled oats.  Mix that around & add a half cup of vegan chocolate chips, or if you’re feeling adventurous, raisins.

I chose raisins.

Mix all of that thoroughly & then scoop onto an oiled cookie sheet.  I usually get about twelve small cookies out of this.  I usually flatten them a little bit to avoid having cookie mounds, but that too is an adventurous task.

Next throw them in an oven that’s been preheated to 350F for about twenty-three minutes.

Then take them out of the oven.

Extreme close up.

I even did chocolate chip & fresh minced mint in a recipe. None for the pups.

Let them cool for about ten minutes & store them in the refrigerator if you don’t eat them all first.  They are delicious.

Another couple of variations to do instead of raisins or chocolate chips are diced apples or pears.  All are tasty.

Have to cut it short because I’ve got to get going on a rice & beans recipe, but here’s some pictures of pups.

Catching a tan.

We can both make funny faces.

Hey, they wake me up all of the time, I should be able to wake them up from time to time.

That’s all, enjoy your weekend!!