In the interest of using up another half-bag of apples, I went a-searching for vegan dishes with both beans and apples in the ingredients list. I found a few chili and baked bean recipes with apples, which was enough to reassure me that a bean/apple combo wasn’t totally bonzo. I wasn’t 100% satisfied with any of the baked bean or chili recipes I found, though, so I decided to cook up this Vegan Baked Beans recipe at allrecipes.com and just toss in some apples as needed.

Initially, I’d planned on making one serving, sans apples, and then sampling it myself before doubling it (if needed) and adding the apples to make dinner with a week’s wroth of leftovers for the dogs.

Alas, I am a dolt.

You see, I started cooking without first reviewing the entire recipe. (Never do this, people. It’s all sorts of st00pid.) When I started the dish, I assumed that it called for 6 cups of water. But, not so much. The water is just for cooking the dry beans - then you drain and discard it, and move on from a pot to a casserole dish. Since I was working with canned beans, I didn’t need any water at all. But I didn’t realize this until I’d mixed 6 cups of water with the tomato paste (”Surely they must mean paste instead of sauce,” I thought. “There’s already too much water in this dish as it is!), sugar, spices, etc. Then I was between a light and dark red kidney bean, as it were. So I pushed on, resolving to give this dish to the dogs and make the recipe properly, a second time, for dinner for the husband and I.

So I guess what I’m saying is that I have two adaptations of this recipe to share - one that’s more like chili, the other which is mostly definitely baked beans as intended. Both dishes are actually quite tasty (and suitable for dogs and people alike), though the chili takes about three hours of cooking to boil down enough so that it looks like chili instead of soup.

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The following is the 2008 Blog Action Day post I wrote for Smite Me! [.net], my non-AR blog. At first, I’d intended to write a post about how to live frugally while also being eco-friendly, but it quickly morphed into a post about veg*n food. Blame it on VeganMoFo!

If I have enough time tonight, I’d also like to blog about the impact of the economic crisis (especially foreclosures) on our animal companions, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, check out this piece at Invisible Voices, in which Deb links Nestle’s exploitation of women and children to that of animals.

Who says animal liberation isn’t a feminist issue?

In the wake of the current credit and banking crises, many pundits have been predicting that the presidential candidates will have to curb their proposed spending plans drastically when the winner takes office in January. With home foreclosures skyrocketing, pumping money towards renewable energy may seem like a luxury. Yet, an investment in these technologies could create jobs and set us on the path to energy independence. Though the initial investment might be high, the cost of feeding our oil addiction may prove much higher.

Aside from voting and petitioning our state and federal representatives, there’s little we can do as individuals to impact federal spending on eco-friendly options. However, on a micro level, we have a chance to save both money and the earth through the many little (and the few big) choices we make on a daily basis. Just as with the federal government’s expenditures, being “green” may cost a little more up front, but could save us money in the long run.

In a recent piece at Grist, Miles Grant observes notes an obvious parallel between tips to help you save money - and tips to help you save the environment:

Who are you to deny me my two-car garage filled with junk, an elegant dining room I’ll never use, and massive heating/cooling bills?

That’s the basic response from critics when greens question McMansions in particular and our consumer culture in general. I mean, isn’t newer, bigger, better the American way? Didn’t President Bush urge us to go shopping more?

But one financial advisor says trying to look rich by buying so much stuff is keeping some Americans from being rich. And while he never once mentions the environment, his prescriptions for building your savings have a lot in common with tips for cutting your environmental impact.

Being green and being frugal aren’t mutually exclusive, you see. Oftentimes, the two go hand in hand.

This year’s Blog Action theme is poverty; because I’m all about intersecting oppressions (such as classism, environmental destruction and the role of the megatheocorporatocracy in each), I thought I might offer some food-related tips for positively impacting your cash flow and your ecological imprint. Since we’re in the midst of the Vegan Month of Foods - for which I’ve been baking, cooking, drying and otherwise experimenting like mad - I’d like to focus on food, specifically, how one can eat green to save green.

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Today I made some yummy mixed berry applesauce (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, oh my!) for fruit leather. Since I was already up to my elbows in apples and apple peels, I decided to try this apple crisp recipe from allrecipes.com.

I modified the recipe a bit, with the intention of cutting out a little of the extra fat and sugar. Overall, I’m happy with how it came out, but next time ’round I think I might try making the topping into a crust and layering the apples on top, so it crisps up a bit more. Also, because all the spices went into the “crisp” part of the mix, the apples themselves are on the boring side. Before you top them off with the crisp mix, I’d recommend tossing the apples with some spices - cinnamon, cloves, maybe some allspice. Can’t hurt, right?

Apple Oat Crisp

Ingredients

10 apples, diced
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups Bisquick (or veg*n all-purpose baking mix)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup margarine, melted

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As you can most likely infer from the post title, today is the Ralphster’s birthday. My little man, my first-born and -adopted, turns a gray old 11 today. He’s like the Wilford Brimley of the doggeh world, minus the dia-beddies.

I have plenty of Ralphie pix after the jump, of course, but first a recipe for Peanut Butter ‘Nilla Biscuits from Yummy for Dogs. If you like what you see, check out the website and/or order a copy of webmistress Veronica Noechel’s Yummy for Dogs: A Cook Book for Canines. Hey, it’s on my wishlist. I mean, Ralphie’s wishlist. Yeah, Ralphie. (Hint, hint, wink, wink!)

Peanut Butter ‘Nilla Biscuits

These smell incredible!

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats

* In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, and oats.

* Stir in oil, peanut butter, vanilla, and water.

* Knead till smooth, adding more flour or water as needed.

* Roll out on a lightly floured surface.

* Cut with cookie cutters.

* Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I stuck to the directions, but added some extra flour and rolled oats, as the dough was initially a little oily. I think I also used more like 5 tablespoons of peanut butter, since my “tablespoons” were heaped to overflowing. The dogs love the pb, though!

I have this cute little bone-shaped cookie cutter that the doggies’ grandmother bought for them/me, so I used that to cut the dough. I rolled the leftover scraps into a faux long rawhide bone with the cute little tied ends (for the birthday boy, natch!), as you can see in the photo. All in all, the recipe produced 53 cookies (40 long bones, 12 short bones and one “rawhide”), which fit on two sheets, no problem.

The dogs loved the treats, but don’t place too much trust in their critique; four out of the five of them eat their own poo! (And the fifth eats the cat’s poo - Rennie, I’m looking at you.) I did try the dough before rolling it into cookies, and it was on a little the bland side (for humans), but edible; and yet, definitely yummy for dogs!

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OK, so I’d wanted to blog a recipe involving watermelon today, since I have 14 or so sitting out in the garage. (That’s one frustrating thing about gardening - some produce seems to come all at once.) But all I could find on the internets were watermelon juice recipes, or recipes that required use of a food mill (don’t have *sigh*), so after a half hour of searching I gave up and changed course.

Instead I decided to look for a bread recipe calling for applesauce and strawberries, so I could use up some of that yummy strawberry applesauce I made yesterday. This recipe for strawberry bread popped up all over the place, so I figured it muse be a sign from the Fruit Fairy. Or something.

With some slight modifications, here’s my recipe for Sweet Strawberry Applesauce Bread.

Sweet Strawberry Applesauce Bread

Ingredients

- Dry -
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar (reduce to 3/4 cup if you’d like a less sugary bread)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice

- Wet -
Egg replacer for two eggs
1/2 to 3/4 cups Sweet Strawberry Applesauce (Or 1/2 cup commercial applesauce)
2 cups strawberries, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Now that the season of the zucchini is winding down, I’m slowly turning my attention to using those 120+ bags of apples I picked in September. (OK, so I gave most of them away; we only have about 20 bags left, not counting the 20 or so that are still on the trees. But I digress.) While hunting around the internets for an apple-heavy recipe this afternoon, I stumbled upon a super-yummy strawberry applesauce recipe from www.recipezaar.com:

Applesauce With Strawberries

Ingredients

3 lbs macintosh apples or apples (about 9 apples)
10 large frozen strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 lemon, juice of
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions

Peel, core and slice apples 1/4-inch thick. Place apple slices in a large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until a sauce consistency, about 45 minutes. Use a potato masher, if necessary, to break up any lumps, but leave slightly chunky.

I more or less stuck to the recipe (I have a difficult time following directions - canyatell?); it’s both easy and insanely delicious. The sauce comes out on the sweet side, so if you prefer your applesauce tasting more like apples and less like candy, you may want to go a little easy on the sugar. If you love strawberries like moi, throw in a few extra berries. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.

This snack is best served warm, but I’m sure it’s quite good cold or at room temp, too.

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This recipe - if you can call it a recipe, it’s really almost too simple to be a “recipe” - is a fun, yummy way to use up some of that extra zucchini that’s sitting in the back of your fridge. (And if you’re like me, all over your garage workbench, too!)

Baked Zucchini Chips

Ingredients

One large zucchini
Cooking spray (Pam or similar)
Salt to taste

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When I first stumbled upon PETA’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Vegan” list of “accidentally vegan” products, I was suitable impressed. All these wonderful staples of American foodie culture! All vegan! And accidentally so!

And people think being vegan equals “deprivation.” Sniff.

After years and years and years of label-reading and aisle-surfing (I’ve been vegetarian for 12 years, vegan for roughly three, and allergic to milk my entire life - scrutinizing ingredient lists is a habit, yo!), I’ve slowly built my own pantry of must-have veg*n staples, of both the accidental and intentional variety. Some of my favorites are new additions (see #5), while others are long-time comfort foods (#2). Some are even old friends, long since forsaken, which were once non-veg*n, but have received veg*n makeovers (#1). (Mmmmm, #1. The tummy is rumbling just thinking about #1!)

In no particular order, my ten most favorite happy vegan “accidents.” Leave your own in the comments - please!

1. Mrs. T’s Potato and Onion Pierogies (food service size)

Back when I was vegetarian, I used to scarf Mrs. T’s Potato & Onion Pierogies like there was no tomorrow. Then I went vegan, and had to give them up. (Damn eggs!) After several years of pining, I was finally able to track down a vegan brand of pierogies. The catch? They’re Mrs. T’s Potato & Onion Pierogies…but in the food service size!

That’s right. For some inexplicable reason, Mrs. T’s “baker’s dozen” packages of pierogies are made with eggs. Yet, the massive 72-count food service bags are vegan. Go figure.

To make matters worse, Mrs. T’s only sells their food service items directly to restaurants, schools and such, with one exception: they’re available in some Wegmans stores. Wegmans of, ahem, Wegmans [egg] Cruelty fame. Coincidentally, Wegmans is located in my hometown of Rochester, NY, and both of my parents work there. So I had Mrs. G. send me some Mrs. T’s ‘rogies last month. She didn’t even have to travel far to find them - just down to the frozen section in her store.

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Last week, I shared a recipe for Herbal Tofu with Apples and Pears, a yummy dish for dogs and people. This week, I decided to try out a slightly different version, sans tofu and with loads of caffeine-laden tea. The result? “Candied” Chai Pears. (”Candied” in scare quotes because they’re candy-esque, not really “candied.”)

“Candied” Chai Pears

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Tonight, I have a somewhat odd DIY recipe to share: Herbal Tofu with Apples and Pears. The title pretty much says it all.

Currently, we’re knee-deep in an obscene amount of home-grown produce. We’ve got a garden with at least six varieties of tomatoes (grape, cherry, roma, beefsteak and some other kinds whose names we’ve long since forgotten); green pepper; jalapenos; green and yellow zucchini; Italian “spaghetti” squash; cantaloupe; watermelon; gourds; pumpkins…and, um, I think that’s it. I could be mistaken, though.

Since summer blossomed, we also discovered that we have four apple and two pear trees, as well as some blackberry bushes that I refuse to harvest, seeing as they share the forest/pasture border with a whole lotta poison ivy. Berries may be yummy, but they’re still not worth it. We also have two trees that appear to be fruit-bearing, but we’ve yet to name that fruit. So, to recap…we have about 45 bags of apples sitting in our garage, along with three bags of overripe pears and two big fat watermelons.

I devised this particular recipe while doing yoga, my wandering mind trying to figure out what the eff to do with all those apples (!). My Herbal Tofu with Apples and Pears dish is technically “dog food,” but like most of my for-canine concoctions, Shane and I loved it too.

This recipe fills two large baking pans (remember, I bake in bulk), but since the produce shrinks during baking, it actually yields a smaller serving than you might think. Maybe….16 cups after cooking? The entire recipe fit in my third-largest Tupperware container, in any case.

Herbal Tofu with Apples and Pears

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