Anything but soup.

Sorry the month is half over and I haven't posted anything! Last month was so busy I never felt like cooking and I have been sick for most of November so far, so cooking is mostly limited to heating up soup. I'm so sick of soup at this point that I say you can do whatever you like as long as it's not soup.

Black bean, Rice and Pepper Salad

Soo...I made this weeks ago and didn't get around to posting.  Sauteed red and yellow peppers, onion, scallion, cilantro, broth, Chili Dressing...really good, but it made a ton! This was a recipe that I had written down from forever ago, so I have no idea where I got it.

Black Bean Pumpkin Chili

I'm late! But so are the rest of you so...I don't feel so bad:) I kept trying to find a good time to make this chili and it just wasn't happening so we had it November 1! Part of what was holding me back was that I wanted to use dried beans instead of canned and there is a lot of conflicting information about how this should be handled! I finally settled for soaking overnight, boiling for 10 minutes, rinsing and then putting in the slow cooker with the rest of the chili ingredients. This recipe was really good (pretty standard except for the addition of pumpkin!) but I think next time it could use some extra chili powder. 

October Pick!

I'm choosing black beans!

Garlic Cauliflower Breadsticks

So I tried to avoid these for awhile. I was a skeptic when it started appearing on Pinterest and then I saw this picture and decided if it looked that good how bad could it be? It's not bad at all actually, it's fantastic. The recipe didn't actually make very much so next time I will double it, Pat took one bite and said, "How hard was this to make? Can you make some more?" So basically, you steam cauliflower, throw it in the food processor for a bit, mix it with some cheese, egg and spices and turn it into the "crust." Bake it then throw the toppings on and bake again and you have something amazing. We dipped ours in marinara sauce. (Changes- I made the crust with slightly less cheese but was afraid to change it too much because I wasn't sure how it would hold together. I changed the topping considerably-very light spreading of garlic butter, and a little over half the amount of cheese it suggested.

Cauliflower 2 1/2 ways.

This is Steak with Mushroom Sauce and Cauliflower Puree from real simple magazine.  I've been meaning to try mashed cauliflower for awhile so this seemed like a good idea.  Gardein home style beefless tips, not the greatest, but a tasty dish overall!

Cauliflower soup with toasted garlic
Another Real Simple recipe.
(Am I getting my money's worth of this free subscription or what?)  The highlight of this meal was the addition of little tomato & cheese sliders I made with the leftover bagel bites I had from lunch. They have walnut pesto spread on them which is my new favorite thing.  Seriously, I just made another batch last night. *I used nutritional yeast flakes instead of Romano cheese. Mom said she wanted the recipe, so here you go!

The other 1/2 is another attempt at a mash/puree (in the recipe above I thought it was a bit bland and watery.) I made this just like mashed potatoes and added lemon pepper seasoning and it was great!  The rest of my dinner was my 'go-to' big salad (topped with whatever) if you were wondering. 

Italian Parmesan Corn Cakes!

Corn Cakes aren't supposed to have cauliflower in them but I've added 1/2 cup of cauliflower puree (or broccoli puree) since I started making them. The first time was in 2011 (see here on the other blog, although in that post I didn't add herbs and I'm not sure why! I do now!) and everyone still gets excited when I make these for dinner. I used to make these just for the kids but one day I actually took a bite and realized I was seriously missing out. Now, I make them when I don't have much in the fridge or need a quick dinner!

Paige is working on her zombie stare for Halloween.