creamy vegetable pasta bake

Creamy vegetable pasta bake

Categories: casseroles · pasta and noodles · vegetarian cooking journalTags: · · · · ·

Lately I’ve become rather hooked on maximizing grocery store savings. It’s like a game, seeing how I can get the most for my money, and it helps that I focus on stocking my pantry with staples that help me cook from scratch. When the grocery store had 1-lb bags of pasta on sale for $.49 each, I stocked up on a variety of shapes and have been brainstorming all the fun ways I can use them. BudgetBytes.com has loads of doable, healthy, and frugal recipes (my Mealtime board is now loaded with pins from this site). It was really hard to…

Italian Vegetable Casserole with Beans and Rice

Italian Veggie Casserole with Beans and Rice

Categories: casseroles · recipes · vegetarian cooking journalTags: · ·

I’ve been in a casserole mood of late. It’s so nice to prepare something once and then enjoy it for several days (especially when I’m keeping busy making things for my shop). There’s a great basic mix and match casserole formula in The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, by Beatrice Ojakangas, that provides guidance with lots of flexibility. I used her formula before with my Whole Wheat Tuna Noodle Casserole. My take on Beatrice’s formula wasn’t originally going to have an Italian theme, since it was starting with rice and beans. But after choosing my veggies, sauce, and topping it started to look like a natural fit. All that…

slice of veggie-packed breakfast casserole

Veggie-packed Breakfast Casserole

Categories: breakfast · casseroles · recipes · vegetarian cooking journalTags: · · · ·

My goal with creating this recipe was to have a hearty breakfast that requires no work to prepare in the morning — just a quick reheating in the microwave and it’s ready to go. I wanted it to be an easy, healthy choice for when time is short in the morning before heading out to work. I started drafting the recipe by listing all of the veggies that I know my husband and I both like and would be especially tasty for a morning meal. And I knew it would include eggs and cheese to tie it all together. I approached it sort of…

avocado roll bowl

Avocado Roll Bowl

Categories: rice · vegetarian cooking journalTags: · ·

In the latest issue of Vegetarian Times there’s a recipe for Sushi Rice Bowls with Tofu Teriyaki that sounded good, but I didn’t have all of the ingredients it called for. But it sounded perfect for the cucumbers, avocado, and carrots in the refrigerator. Recipe Adapted from Sushi Rice Bowls with Tofu Teriyaki by Vegetarian Times Process notes in a saucepan, mixed 1 tsp fresh minced ginger, 2 tbls rice wine, 1 tbls tamari, 1 1/2 tsp sushi vinegar, 1/2 tsp sesame oil and heated over medium heat until it simmered, then removed from heat drizzled some sushi vinegar over the cooked brown rice, then topped with…

Whole wheat sourdough pita with hummus, spicy carrots, and fried eggplant

Middle Eastern Mini Feast

Categories: beans and lentils · breads · recipes · vegetables · vegetarian cooking journalTags: · ·

After finishing Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, I was craving Middle Eastern food. Specifically, I was craving the Middle Eastern food from my favorite restaurant for that sort of thing. They make this fried eggplant dish that is like candy, and these spicy cooked carrots that burn the tastebuds but are soooo tasty. But instead of running over there for takeout, I wanted to try cooking my typical order at home. Recipes Whole Wheat Sourdough Pita adapted from Skillet Baked Whole Wheat Pita (Using Sourdough) Hummus adapted from Lebanese Hummus Recipe From Scratch – Hummus b Tahini Fried Eggplant…