Stuffed mushrooms

 Based on https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/15184/mouth-watering-stuffed-mushrooms/

24 oz mushrooms

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp minced garlic (from a fridge jar)

1 package cream cheese (8 oz), softened

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (maybe also a bit of the powdery Parmesan cheese for texture)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp onion powder

Scant 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Maybe add 1/4 cup bread crumbs next time

3 tbsp butter (optional)

Clean mushrooms; separate steps and caps, lay caps out to dry, mince/chop stems. Sauté oil, minced stems, and garlic until stems stop releasing liquid and start to brown. Put into a small bowl to cool. Put butter into still-warm pan to melt. Mash everything else together (cream cheese through cayenne/bread crumbs). Once mushroom stems have cooked, mix them in as well. Spray baking sheet, lay out mushroom caps, fill with filling. Optionally sprinkle with more bread crumbs. Brush mushrooms with melted butter to keep from drying out (optional — it does help, but they’re still good without it). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, until mushrooms are tender and tops are golden.

Broccoli bites

Based on this recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/broccoli-cheddar-tassies/

They’re like homemade freezer snacks. And it says you can freeze them and reheat.

Crust:

- 1 cup butter, softened

- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened

- 2 cups flour

Filling:

- 16 oz frozen broccoli

- 1 egg

- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

- 1/4 cup milk

- 1/4 cup mayonnaise

- 1/2 cup any shredded cheese

Combine the butter and cream cheese. Then add flour. This dough can be refrigerated for two days before use; if you do, you’ll have to let it warm up enough to be workable.

Put 1 inch balls of dough into a sprayed mini muffin pan. Press into a crust, normal pie crust thickness.

Cook broccoli according to bag (4-6 minutes, covered, with less water than broccoli). Drain and let cool. Combine everything else. If the broccolis are big, break them up so they will fit in the crusts. Mix broccoli with everything else. Scoop into crusts.

Bake at 350 for 22 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and no longer soupy.

This made 24 bites plus a small Pyrex container. The Pyrex container took a lot longer to bake.

Quick vegetable curry

Based on https://www.budgetbytes.com/15-minute-vegetable-curry/ with the curry powder from https://minimalistbaker.com/diy-curry-powder/

Curry

- 16 oz frozen veggies (I used “California style”)

- 1 cup veggie broth

- 1/2 can coconut milk

- 1/2 tbsp curry powder (I’d double this next time)

- 1 tsp garam masala (may not be necessary with the extra curry powder)

- salt to taste

Curry powder (makes way more than you need for this recipe)

- 1 tbsp ground coriander

- 1 tbsp ground cumin

- scant tbsp ground turmeric

- 1 tsp ground ginger

- 1/2 tsp dry mustard

- 1/4 tsp black pepper

- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp cardamom

- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Put frozen veggies and broth into a pot over high heat. While it heats up, mix up the curry powder, and if you’re making microwave rice, start that too. Once it’s boiling, let it go for a minute or two, then add all the other ingredients over low-medium heat. Simmer until the veggies are cooked and the flavors are melded.

For the curry powder, just mix it all together and store the extra for another recipe.

Bran muffins

Bran muffins that aren’t good for you but are delicious. Crispy top, very moist center.  Like the ones I used to eat almost daily.

Based on this recipe; site has ~no ads, definitely worth browsing more.

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sour cream (use less of this or less butter next time, maybe sub in some apple sauce or mashed banana?  moisture was perfect but muffins were too oily/heavy/rich.)
• 1/4 cup molasses (use less next time)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (use more next time)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup bran
• 1/2 cup raisins (or any other mix-ins, this could support 1/2 cup each of 2 mix-ins I think)

Mix together the wet ingredients. Add all the dry ingredients.  Add the raisins.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 12 normal-sized muffins.

Apple Pie Bars

I liked these!  They took a medium-long time to make, but that's nice on a weekend afternoon.  They were also very decadent -- I've made some suggestions in the recipe on how I think I'd change them for next time.

Based on this recipe.

Crust:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Oil if needed

Filling

• 3 apples
• 1 scant tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Crumble

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped (not ground) pecans -- I'd increase this to 3/4 or 1 cup next time
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.  Mix together the butter & sugars, then everything else.  If it's too crumbly, add a bit of oil until it comes together.  Press into pan.  Bake 20 minutes or until just barely golden.

While it's baking, peel, core, and slice the apples (I used roughly 1/4 inch slices).  Mix them with the other filling ingredients.

I put the butter for the crumble topping in an oven-safe bowl & stuck it in the oven while it was preheating/baking to melt, then mixed together all the crumble ingredients.

When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the apples over it evenly.  Then put the crumble over that evenly.  Then bake for 45 minutes, or until the crumble looks done & the apples are soft (poke one with a knife through a gap in the crumble).

Let cool for at least 10 minutes, cut, and enjoy!

BBQ Tofu

Derived from this recipe.

1 package tofu
1 3/4 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Press tofu to dry.  While it's pressing, preheat the oven to 425.  Mix together all the spices in a big mixing bowl.  Add oil & mix into a paste.  Tear tofu into bite-sized pieces, add to spice paste.  Stir until all the tofu has seasoning on it.  Spray a baking sheet with oil, dump tofu onto it, bake for 25 minutes or until you like the texture, stirring every 10 minutes or less.  Dip in BBQ sauce, or toss with sauce.

The spice paste is really tasty & could probably be used for other stuff too (veggies, etc.).

Vegetarian Chili

Here's a rough guess at the chili I made today.  It turned out delicious & exactly how chili is supposed to taste!  Based on some combination of this, this, and whatever I had around the kitchen.

• 1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can great northerrn beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Trader Joe's cajun style black beans, drained but not rinsed
• 2 stalks celery, chopped into bean-sized pieces
• 1 bell pepper (I used half an orange bell pepper and half a red bell pepper)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp vegetarian worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• a few shakes of onion powder
• a little black pepper

Throw everything in the slow cooker & mix it together.  Cook on high for about 2 hours, then leave it on low until you're ready to eat it -- I left it for about an hour.  Stir occasionally.  After the first hour, taste a few beans and add seasonings as needed.