Neat Balls

Last year I discovered an awesome vegan meatloaf recipe from The Engine 2 Diet. It turns out the base "meat" of this recipe is a great meat substitute in lots of other recipes, too. I love Italian sausage with spaghetti, so I decided to make a vegetarian version of it. I serve this with roasted spaghetti squash and our favorite store-bought tomato sauce for a killer veggie dinner. We have dubbed these faux meatballs "Neat Balls." Get it. Neat balls instead of meat balls. Silly, I know. Feel free to make name replacement suggestions in the comments below! Also, please note that these are a little spicy. They were too spicy for my 8 year old step-son. I like spice, but if you don't, just lessen or eliminate the cayenne and crushed red pepper. And, to make this a completely vegan dish you can just cut out the egg.

NEAT BALLS

(makes about 20 2-inch meatballs)

 

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 - 3/4 cup)
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

10 ounces firm tofu, drained
¼ cup walnuts, finely ground
1 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils
1 3/4 cups quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 
4 tablespoons dry red wine

1 teaspoon salt  
2 Tablespoons fennel seed  
1 Tablespoon paprika  
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper  
4 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley  
2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper 

1 chicken egg (or 4 quail eggs)

 

Sauté the celery, onion, garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft. Scrape into a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Form into 2-inch balls. Place balls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for approximately 30 min, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Birdseed Bundles

When I was a kid my mom used to make these amazing chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. When I got older I asked her for the recipe and she said it was just the recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal box with chocolate chips added! Brilliant, Mom!

The original Quaker Oats box top recipe.

 In recent years I have grown an affinity for making healthier versions of my favorite recipes. This was one such attempt that turned out surprisingly well. My goal was to make a breakfast cookie. Something that was a quick easy breakfast solution that I could grab on my way out the door and eat in the car without difficulty. My first few attempts were not good. They were the kind of health food that gives health food a bad rap. Nuts and twigs. Gross. That's when I recalled mom's oatmeal cookies! In my new breakfast version I altered the fats and the flours to contain slightly healthier choices and added in a bunch of high-protein, high-fiber mix-ins. The result was a delicious cookie that any health nut would be happy to eat!

The cookies do, however, have a lot of seeds and nuts, and thus they earned the name "Birdseed Bundles." (Caleb and I came up with several other humorous names for the cookies, including "Prairie Patties." I think you can see why "Birdseed Bundles" won out.) Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Kim’s Birdseed Bundles

7 Tbsp butter
7 Tbsp coconut oil
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated raw sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick OR old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened dried cherries
2 Tbsp. millet
2 Tbsp. flax seeds
½ cup slivered almonds

1.    Heat oven to 350ºF. In large bowl, beat butter, coconut oil and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
2.    Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
3.    In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients. Mix well.
4.    With a wooden spoon, mix in oats, chocolate chips, cherries, millet, flax seeds and almonds. Dough will be quite dry. A spoonful will barely stay together.
5.    Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls on to parchment lined cookie sheets.
6.    Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Kim's Pickles

I made these from a combination of recipes and they turned out awesome. Here's the final amalgamated recipe. More than one person has told me they are the best pickles they have ever had.

Kim’s Pickles
(makes 2 quart jars of pickles) 

12 pickling cucumbers

Cut pickles and place them in 2 quart jars. 

Brine:

½ cup white vinegar
3 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp pickling salt

Warm brine in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir until salt dissolves.

Add the following to each quart jar:

4 cloves of garlic, cut in half
8 sprigs of fresh dill
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp whole peppercorns
¼ tsp red pepper flakes 

Top off cucumbers and spices with the brine. Close jars. Leave jars on the counter anywhere from 3-7 days to naturally ferment. Once they have reached the desired amount of fermentation, keep them in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Updated 11/19/14 from 2 to 4 cloves of garlic and from 4 to 8 sprigs of dill.