Practice Pie

I'm entering a pie baking contest next week at work (further proving that I am a 90 year-old grandma stuck in a 26 year-old' body). Being that I couldn't figure out what to make and haven't made a pie in years, I decided I needed to practice.

Last night was the first round of practice pie. First up, Gingerbread Apple Pie from Vegan with a Vengeance. I heart apples and gingerbread, plus I thought this could stand out from a traditional apple pie. It turned out really well. I think I may have prebaked the crust a tad too long, but otherwise, it was one of the tastiest things, ever.

I tried it, along with Brian, Jason, and my mom. Everyone gave it two thumbs up, but I don't think this is a contest-winner. It doesn't hold together well, and it's not the prettiest thing ever. Of course, it turned out much better than practice pie #2...

(To be continued...)

Crunch!

Everything I've read recently about not being wasteful and about saving money on food is finally sinking in. I bought corn tortillas last week to make the Mexican "pizzas". I used some of the remaining ones to make enchiladas last night. I still knew I would have a lot leftover, and that's where last night's experiment came from...

Baked corn tortilla chips! I always bring crackers or somesuch thing to work for snacking, so the chips were a healthy (and cheap) alternative to that.

To make them, I first preheated the oven to 350. Then I sprayed two baking sheets with olive oil cooking spray. I sliced each tortilla (in a stack) into six equal pieces. I spread them evenly in one layer onto the baking sheets and sprayed the tops lightly with more cooking spray. I then sprinkled them with sea salt & garlic powder (but you could use any other seasoning).

They went into the oven for 10-15 minutes. Halfway through, I rotated the pans and flipped the chips over. I took them out when they just started to brown and immediately put them on a plate to cool.

And voila! Cheap, easy, healthy chips.

My attempt at Mexican "pizza"

Last night, I made us Mexican pizza for the first time. The "crust" is a fried corn tortilla. The "sauce" is black beans cooked down & smashed up with onions and spices. The toppings include sliced tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, romaine, and sour cream.

They came out pretty well, but I learned a few things to do differently for next time. I'm not the world's best fry-er, so I need to figure out how to make the tortillas crispier (hotter oil, perhaps?). I'm also thinking of making a double-layer crust with the beans within for more stability.

Stay tuned for take two.

Halloween vampire pizza

For this post, we're going back in time...all the way to last Friday. We weren't sure what was happening Halloween night, so I busted out my holiday tricks a little early.

This little guy was a good way to start off Halloween weekend.

His face is a reqdymade pizza crust + whatever sauce we had around + shredded mozzarella and cheddar. His lovely eyes are two button mushroom slices. His spooky mouth is a deseeded tomato slice with white onion fangs. His -do is sliced green pepper in the signature vampire widow's peak style.

That was all baked according to the directions, with sliced sun-dried tomato thrown in at the end for blood. I added some sauteed mushrooms for eating purposes, because while he looked good, his toppings were sparse.

It all made for the tastiest slice of a vampire's face that I've ever had!

Vegan bread (from scratch!)

I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking recently and have decided to document my experiments in food.

I figured the best place to start was with my first venture into (vegan) bread making. Thanks to the magic wisdom of La Dolce Vegan, it was a complete success.

I'm determined to keep our (insane) food costs down, without us starving or eating trash, and this is one more small (delicious) step down that path.