Sesame Noodles with Purple Kale

Extended Life for: Purple Kale

Once again, Vegetarian Times has proven my faithful servant when various produce arrives in our kitchen and I'm at a loss as to what should be done. There wasn't much to change for this recipe and I had no idea on what kind of adaptations to consider, so if you're interested in this deliciuos and simple meal, simply click here. We had the pleasure of sharing this meal with a recent CouchSurfer from the Netherlands it was complimented well by Altitiude's Tumblewheat brew, if you're in the Laramie area that is.

Italian Potato Soup

Extended Life for: Sun-Dried Tomato Garlic, Shallots, Spinach, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Parsley Ingredients:

4 cups Potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Onion, chopped

1 cup Carrot, chopped

2 Shallots, minced

1 clove Garlic, minced

2 tsp. Sun-Dried Tomato Garlic

1 can Great Northern White Beans

1 can Butter Beans

1 can Diced Tomatoes

2 cups Spinach, chopped

3 Tbsp. Parsley

3 cups Chicken Broth or Cold Chaser Tea
Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Heat a bit of olive oil in a stock-pot; saute onion, shallot and garlic in warm oil. Add chicken broth or tea, carrots and potatoes, bring to boil. When potatoes are tender, add canned beans and tomatoes, heat through. Add spinach until wilted. Serve in a bowl garnished with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and paresan cheese.

Catfish Cakes

Extended Life for: Catfish, Egg, Parsley, Onion

Fish is NOT a favorite food for the palate of Melissa Harrington. For MONTHS we've had an uncanny amount of fish in our freezer. Occassionally, I will feel inspired to eat more fish or try to get rid of it bit by bit. I came across this recipe on Allrecipes.com and thought "I'll give it try." Little did I know that I would love every savory morsel of Catfish Cake that would grace my tastebuds. If you're wanting more fish in your diet or have a husband who wants more fish in their diet, yet you're not so sure you can do it, give this recipe a try - it just might win you over!

Ingredients:

1 lb. Catfish Filet
1 med. Onion chopped
1 tsp. Mustard
1 tbsp. Mayo
1 tsp. fresh Parsley, diced
2 1/2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
Splash of Milk
1/2 cup Flour
1 cup Vegetable Oil for frying

Directions:

Place catfish in saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to boil until fish flakes easily with fork. Drain fish and mash/flake fish in a medium bowl. Stir in onion, mustard, mayo, parsley and bread crumbs. Beat eggs and add some milk, place in shallow bowl. Pour flour in shallow bowl. Begin forming patties with the fish mixture. Before frying each patty, dip it in the egg mixture then the flour, then add patties to hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side. Continue until all mixture has been fried, serve warm and ENJOY!!!

Blackberry-Apple Pie Crisp

Extended Life for: Apples and Blackberries Take a long good look at those blackberries...now, give me one good reason why they were disposed of? We're not sure either, but thankful for the opportunity to work with these delicious little morsels.

Ingredients:

1 pre-packaged 9in. Pie Crust
1 lg. pkg. Blackberries
2 lg. Apples; peeled, cored, sliced
1 cup Sugar
Sprinkling of Cinnamon

3/4 cups Rolled Oats
1/3 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/8 cup All-Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. Butter
Sprinkling of Cinnamon

Directions:

Place crust in bottom of 9 in. pie plate. In a bowl, mix apples, blackberries, sugar and cinnamon. Let set for 20 minutes. Meanwhile; mix oats, sugar, flour, and cinnamon together, cut in butter until mix is crumbly. Pour fruit mix into pie crust and top with oat mixture. Bake in oven at 400 for 45-50 minutes until heated through and crispy. Enjoy with ice cream, whipped cream or great friends and great conversation!

Beer Cheese Soup

Extended life for: Parsley, Cottage Cheese, Onion, Ranch Dressing and Left-over Twice Baked Potato FillingWe had the pleasure of inviting our friends over to celebrate the joy of new life being formed. Knowing of the male counterparts love for beer cheese soup, I decided to seek out a recipe that would please his palate. We had some local brews left over from our night of Catfish Cakes as well as some filling from the Twice-Baked potatoes, I took advantage of these items and used a Beer Cheese recipe from Allrecipes.com to whip up this tasty soup.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. Butter

1 Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

12 oz. or so Light Beer (we used Altitude's Tumblewheat)

14 oz. Chicken Broth

3 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 cup Milk or Half-and-Half

1 cup Cottage Cheese

1 1/2 cups Baked Potato Filling of Mashed Potatoes

2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

3 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, saute onion and garlic. Add Worcestershire sauce and stir well. Add the beer and bring to boil for 3 minutes in order to cook out the alcohol. Add chicken broth and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Combine cornstarch with equal amount of water and set aside. In blender; mix milk, cottage cheese and potato filling. Add potato mixture to the pot and heat through. Gradually add shredded cheese until melted. Last, add the cornstarch mixture and heat until thickened. Garnish soup with parsley and bacon bits, enjoy with dear friends!

Twice Baked Potatos with Butternut Squash

Extended Life for: Butternut Squash, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, Half and Half, Parsley In my youth, mother once discovered a recipe for twice-baked potatos that she began preparing for our Christmas dinner. I LOVE them! It's all the joy of a baked potato but more compactly presented and all things are mixed together and delicious!

After most of Mike's foraging outings, if he brings something home I'm not familiar with cooking or have grown tired of it's usual manner of preperation, I hit the internet and begin searching out new ways to use specific ingredients. A few months back, it was Butternut Squash. I made my way to the Vegetarian Times website and did a search on Butternut Squash. The most intriguing recipe was this one for Tangy Twice-Baked Potatos, so I saved it to my recipes and awaited the day when it would be time. I baked the squash, gutted it out and put it into the freezer until the day would finally came. And dear friends, it has come! Here is my version of the Vegetarain Time recipe (measurements may not be completely accurate).

Ingredients:

8 medium Russet Potatos

2 cups cooked Butternut Squash

2 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 cup Cottage Cheese

1/2 cup Sour Cream

Half-&-Half, until desired consistancy

Parsley, diced for garnish

Directions:

Bake potatos at 350 for about an hour or until tender, let cool slightly. Slice potatos in half length-wise and scoop out pulp. Mash potato pulp with squash, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, half-&-half and any desired spices. Spoon this mixture back into potato skins (if you have bonus mixture save it for the beer cheese recipe I will soon be posting!) Bake potatoes for 20-30 minutes or until heated through at 350. Enjoy with Catfish Cakes or for a light lunch.

Orangies

Extended Life for: Orange Juice, Eggs, and Orange ZestInspired during my hour spent watching the Food Network while at home with the Harrington's, I was quick to seek out an opportunity to use Paula Deen's Orange Brownie Recipe. Unfortunately, mine did not turn out as brownie like as I would have liked and took entirely too long to cook, the concept still seems amazing and wonderful and worth every attempt to re-create. I simply direct you to Paula's online recipe because I made only two adjustments: more orange juice rather than extract and longer bake time...because of altitude or oven or barametric pressure or....any number of other reasons.