Purpose: Simple Menus, Cooking, Housekeeping

[This was posted by JUSTDMARINE.
It was moved over from another thread.]

I have a thrifty recipe... a little bit of a pain to make but it sure spares the food budget! I am vegan so I use vegan ingredients but I will suggest also, the NON vegan ingredients (it was originally an omnivore recipe that I "veganized")

STUFFED HASH BROWNS

Ingredients:

Canola oil for frying

Filling:
2 Tbsp Earth Balance (margarine)
12 oz of TVP, prepared. (or 1/2 lb ground beef)
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chopped fresh spinach (or 10 oz frozen)
¼ cup panko (bread crumbs)
Healthy pinch each of oregano, basil, parsley, and thyme (dried)
*Optional additions*
1 cup sliced mushrooms
½ shredded carrot

Potato Base:
8 peeled and shredded potatoes
1 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
5 tsp powdered egg substitute (1 egg)
Dash each of salt and pepper
Directions:

1.) Prepare the filling first so it can cool a bit - sauté the garlic and onions in the Earth Balance until softened, then add the TVP to heat it through (or brown the ground beef and drain a bit, if you are using meat). Finally, add the spinach and herbs and cover to wilt the spinach. Mix, and take off the heat, then add the panko and toss to moisten it all thoroughly.

2.) Mix the ‘potato base� which is the basic hash brown recipe. It’s easiest to mix this with your hands. It has to be good and pasty to stick together well. Russet potatoes were used in this recipe and they are “wet� so if you use a less “wet� potato, you may need less flour.

3.) Heat enough oil to make about ½ inch worth in the bottom over a decently heavy skillet, over medium heat. When the oil is good and hot, use a good sized soup spoon, and scoop a hearty, rounded spoonful, of the potato mix into the pan. Flatten it a bit with the spoon, and then go on to drop another two or three beside it, flattening as you go, in the pan, for the bottoms of the hash browns. Once the bottoms are in and sizzling, use a similar spoon to scoop a less rounded portion of the filling up, and on each bottom, drop and squash some filling, though not ALL the way to the edges of the bottoms. Once the filling is in place, go ahead and get another hearty, rounded spoonful of the potato mix again, and top each hash brown with it, spreading it over the filling to cover and meet the edges of the bottom.

4.) Brown the one side, uncovered (very very important! Do NOT cover the pan! They won’t crisp up, they will fall apart in a soupy mess!), and then carefully flip the has brown patties. I used a spatula to lift underneath and a fork to brace the top so I could flip without splashing.

5.) While the reverse side is browning, set up a baking pan with a cookie rack, and preheat the oven to 200 if you wish to keep these piping hot while the rest cook. Mine seldom make it to the oven as my family is always “helpfully� standing by with empty plates.

6.) Brown the reverse side nice and golden brown, and then transfer to a paper towel or paper bag lined plate (for soaking up any residual oil) or the hot oven.

7.) I make these about the size of my palm, and I get 10 out of this recipe. For my family this is a meal altogether, and each of us eats 2 (except the adult male who eats 3). Others argue that this is “10 servings� so… you be the judge based on the size and number.

current weight: 140.0

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138

The full title is "Cheap, Healthy, One-Dish Meals With Good Leftover Potential" from The CheapHealthyGood blog. It has links to 65 recipes from various sources:
cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2010/0
9/
saturday-throwback-65-cheap-healthy-R>one.html

Some of their criteria for the inclusion of recipes:
-- The whole meal [vegetables, starch, and meat (if included)] had to come to the table in a single pot, skillet, bowl, or dish.
-- The meal shouldn’t require additional side dishes, breads, rice, or other accompaniment.
-- The meal had to be relatively balanced, meaning no all-vegetable, all-meat, or all-starch dishes.
-- Preparation and dishes had to be kept to a reasonable minimum. Chopping an onion, salting an eggplant, or sautéing a chicken breast was allowed. Creating a from-scratch, two-hour tomato sauce before adding it to a dish: no.
-- If a recipe wouldn’t be any good the next day, it was disqualified. (This ruled out a lot of egg dishes.)

** This is a re-post from last year.

current weight: 140.0

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138

FaveDiets.com has a page of
20 HEALTHY 30-MINUTES MEAL RECIPES
arranged in categories:

-- 30 Minute Recipes for Chicken
-- 30 Minute Vegetarian Meals
-- 30 Minute Dessert Recipes
-- 30 Minute Pork Chop Recipes
-- More 30 Minute Dinner Recipes

www.favediets.com/Editors-Picks/20-H
ea
lthy-30-Minute-Meal-Recipes

current weight: 140.0

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138

Have you ever thought of flavoring soup with cheese rinds?
Or substituting low-fat yogurt in a "cream of" soup recipe?
What about turning left-over soup into dip?
Do you need info on how to save homemade soup for later use?

TheKitchn.com has put together 25 enhancements, techniques, troubleshooting solutions, and how-to articles for the frugal soup chef:
"Make Your Best Soup Ever!
25 Tips for Better Soups"

www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-tec
hn
iques/make-your-best-soup-ever-25-tiR>ps-for-better-soups-136033

current weight: 140.0

150 147 144 141

138

menus : have a side dish of either bread, salad or fruit. Have a main meal of tomatoe based sause, small amount of meat along with some pasta. Freeze left over sause for future use.

current weight: 235.0

242 229.5 217 204.5

192

Don't reply to this thread.

to our new forum.
Feel free to respond to either of the new threads.
One concentrates on cooking and menu planning.
The other concentrates on housekeeping.
Also, feel free to start your own new topics.

Click on the forum title: Simple Menus & Cooking; Simply Housekeeping
and you will see more topics.

I hope you enjoy!

Edited by: 60SIXTY at: 1/12/2011 (16:11)

Pounds lost: 57.4

0 15.25 30.5 45.75

61