baked zucchini fries

I adapted this from this recipe. Basically I didn't use cheese. And I halved the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk (I used soy milk cuz that's all I had, and it was fine)
1/2 cup Japanese Panko bread crumbs*
Salt & pepper

* I actually bought these rather than just saying "eff it, I'll use regular bread crumbs as I might have been tempted to do" and I think it was worth it, they're really light and crispy!

So I preheat the oven to 425 and cut the zucchini into 4-inch spears. I mixed the egg and milk and dipped the zucchini into the liquid mixture, and then into the bread crumbs. At first I misread the recipe and mixed the egg, milk, and bread crumbs all together. Mistake!! It does not work and I had to throw it all away.

After the zucchini pieces were coated, I put them on a olive-oil coated baking sheet. And then I baked them for 15 minutes, flipped them over, and baked the other side for another 15 minutes.

Verdict: I have to be honest; these were not nearly as good as fried zucchini. But I guess they are healthier or whatever. And they were still pretty good. Oh and I have to say that they were not as good the second day when I microwaved, so if you are only making them for one person, maybe only do half the zucchini and dip the other half the next day? Or just eat a whole zucchini in one sitting.

The original recipe also has a recipe for a Greek yogurt dip that probably would have been awesome, but instead I just ate them with ranch dressing.

Thai Tofu Curry

I just made this curry for lunch and it was amaaaazing. And pretty simple, despite the pretty long list of ingredients. I sort of mashed up this recipe and this one and altered it according to what I had on hand.

Sauce:
1 can coconut milk
4 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp Thai chili sauce
Juice of an orange
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cumin powder
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp curry powder

Then I blended it all in the blender and set it aside.

Tastes better than it looks

OK then I cut up:

1 onion (I think next time I make this I would do 2 onions. But the one I had was pretty small so maybe just 1 big onion. Whatev.)

1 yellow pepper

1 tomato

1 portabello mushroom (because it was about to go bad, otherwise I would definitely just use brown mushrooms or something cheaper)

1 pack of cubed tofu

(The recipes I cribbed from suggested: cauliflower, snow peas, chick peas, yams... I think you could put pretty much whatever vegetables you have lying around into this sauce.)

I started cooking the onions and peppers in a little bit of oil and then poured on the sauce and brought it to a boil.

 

Then I let it simmer for a few minutes and then dumped in everything else and simmered it for like ten minutes.

And then I ate it and it was AWESOME.

I ate it with some Minute Rice because I acquired a box of it when we closed down the camp kitchen for the summer. It was fine even though you are supposed to eat Thai food with jasmine rice. Whatevs.

Vegan-ish Chocolate chip Oatmeal Cookies

These are almost vegan except I used regular chocolate chips. If you get vegan ones, or just use raisins instead, they will be vegan! Whoaaa.

I kind of made this recipe up based on the oatmeal cookie recipe that came on the Meijer brand oatmeal package. They are delicious, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:
1 cup applesauce (just the regular kind from a jar. I thought using my homemade applesauce would make it too apple-y and cinnamon-y, but who knows, maybe it would have been awesome)
1/2 cup Smart Balance spread
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups oats
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

So, first I creamed together the sugars, applesauce, and Smart Balance. Then I added the vanilla, flour, salt, and baking soda. Last I stirred in the oats and chocolate chips! I baked them for like fifteen minutes at 350, but I like my cookies crisp and golden brown. Start checking them after 10 minutes if you want them softer.

PS this makes really delicious dough that you can eat without fear of salmonella! Yeah!

applesauce

GUYS I just made applesauce from scratch and it is totally awesome and delicious.

I used this recipe from Simply Recipes.

• 3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. (Make sure you use a good cooking apple like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonathan, Mcintosh, or Gravenstein.)
• 4 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths
• Juice of one lemon, about 3-4 Tbsp
• 3 inches of cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• up to 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

I used a 3-pound bag of Paula Red apples, which I had never heard of before, but which were on sale. Also on the bag it said "perfect for making applesauce" and guess what, they were. Also I didn't peel them because my grandparents used to say that all the best nutrients are in the apple skin and they used to make applesauce with the skin. Also peeling 3 pounds of apples sounded like a lot of work. Whatev.

Also I used lemon juice from a bottle. And a couple good shakes of cinnamon instead of a stick. And no lemon zest. I used the full half-cup of sugar but I think I would recommend less. As is it's not quite too sweet, but pretty sweet.

Anyway, all you do is put everything in a pot together and bring it to a boil. Then take down the heat & simmer it for 20-30 minutes and stir it once in awhile.

Simply Recipes says you can freeze it for up to a year!