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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LD and I have a tradition. Every year, I ask him what dishes he’d like me to make for his birthday, and every year - without fail - he picks mac salad.** That’s it. Just mac salad. A huge frikkin tub. Which he feasts on for like the next week.

And I have to admit, it’s pretty good. Probably not the healthiest meal I’ve ever blogged, but really effin yummy. Plus it’s a great dish to end the summer with.

Don’t let the photo scare you. I know it looks like some scary radioactive science project, but orange macaroni isn’t all that photogenic. That, and my gourmet food critic photographic isn’t all that gourmet.

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Another zucchini recipe!

I made this dish for the doggehs, but it will work well for humans, too.

Kelly’s Applekin Tofu Soup

Ingredients

Applekin Base:
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 cups apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 talespoons ground cloves

Veggies:
1 pressed brick of firm or extra firm tofu, diced into 1″ x 1″ pieces
1/3 large zucchini (or 2-3 smaller, store-bought zucchinis), diced into 1″ x 1″ pieces
1/3 cup TVP

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My garden is overflowing, so methinks it’s time for more zucchini recipes!

This dish doesn’t call for much zucchini, so it’s actually not all that helpful in tackling my zucchini overload. But…it’s yummy just the same, and I’m jonesing for some bread, so there ya go.

Sweet Cinnamony Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

2 cups grated zucchini
egg replacer for 3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 C. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup raisins (optional)

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Now that the Season of the Zucchini is upon me, I need to find something to do with all these green and yellow zucchinis, and fast. Luckily, I have about a million and one vegan zucchini recipes.

And five hungry canines, all of whom love their veggies. They are like furry, yappy garbage cans, I swear. But I digress.

Sunday night, I tried experimenting with a newish recipe (if I’ve tried it seasons past, I’ve managed to erase it from the noggin): Zucchini and Onion Pancakes.

Behold the yummy veggie goodness!

Here’s the original recipe, snagged from the internets somewhere (probably All Recipes):

Ingredients

3 zucchini
1 large onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter

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I’m hooked on the Near East CousCous - the Roasted Garlic flavor, to be exact.* But it’s not really widely available on local grocery store shelves; doubly so since we moved from 45 minutes south of Kansas City to 45 minutes north. The only store ’round these parts that seems to carry the Near East Line is Whole Foods, and it’s uber-expensive there. I was ordering it by the case from Amazon, but alas! - it’s currently out of stock.

Finding myself with a craving for couscous and couscous-free cupboard (o what a quandary!), I decided to improvise and make my own couscous concoction. After my initial plate of FAIL!, I came up with a totally easy, totally veg*n, totally yummy recipe. And only on my second try. Yay me!

DIY Sundried Tomato CousCous

Ingredients

Plain Couscous
Water
Sundried tomatoes (the semi-dried stuff that comes in a bag or bulk; not the stuff pickled with oil in a jar)
A little dab o’ olive oil
A few dashes each of garlic and onion powder

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