Food Storage Friday: Reuben Pinto Burgers

I found this recipe in the newspaper last Sunday. My burgers don't look as pretty, but they were very tasty, and really that's all that matters. (Ok, they are healthier than a standard burger, and I suppose that matters for something too.) If you are not fan of sauerkraut, you can easily change the toppings to make it whatever burger tickles your fancy.

Reuben Pinto Burgers
Food Storage Ingredients:
2 cans (15.5 oz)  pinto beans, liquid drained, 1 can mashed with a fork
1 can (14.5) sauerkraut, drained
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup light mayonaise or Miracle Whip
2 Tablespoons of chili sauce

Fresh Ingredients:
1 & 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 thin slices Swiss cheese
6 whole wheat hamburger buns

1. Mix beans, bread crumbs, eggs, pepper, and garlic in a bowl. Form into six patties (Roughly 4"). 2.Mix chili sauce and mayo, set aside. 3. Place a slice of cheese on each half bun. Toast at 300 degrees F for about 5 minutes. 4. While toasting buns, heat oil in a large skillet. 5. Cook patties in hot oil until crisp on both sides (8-10 minutes total). 6. Assemble burgers with sauce on each side of bun and sauerkraut on top of patty.

Notes: The recipe I read said to drain and reserve liquid from canned beans, then add it to patty mixture for moisture. I found them to be plenty moist without it. I'll have to try this recipe with cooked dry pinto beans and with various burger toppings. I made my bread crumbs by toasting a couple of smashed freezer burnt Kaiser rolls that I found buried in my freezer and added a dash of Kirkland's organic no-salt seasoning. I highly recommend. I also used Monterrey Jack instead of Swiss, because that is what I had in my fridge. Still good.

Food Storage Friday: Baked Apple Pancakes

I based this recipe off one that I found in a food storage cookbook a few years ago. I know I found it in a food storage cookbook, but that doesn't mean that I would consider a food storage recipe since the only food storage ingredients that it called for were white flour, white sugar and spices. That's not really using your food storage, those are just common baking ingredients. It's like saying that living off Cheetos and breadsticks makes you a vegetarian. All-purpose white wheat flour is not meant for long term storage, it loses it's nutritional value too quickly. This dish is however tasty, and I changed the recipe so that it does actually incorporate food storage ingredients by substituting oat flour. I make my own oat flour by throwing oats in the blender for 10 seconds. Oats have a significantly longer shelf life than white flour. I make this whenever I have apples that have gone a little soft, but haven't gone bad yet. It is a favorite of Thing 1's. As I am currently doing the pantry challenge I used powdered eggs from my food storage. This time I used almond milk, but I have also made this with reconstituted powdered milk and it has worked just fine.

Baked Apple Pancake
Food Storage Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar (optional)
maple syrup (optional)
1 heaping tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)

Fresh Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 apples, cored and diced
1 cup milk
6 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. In a frying pan saute diced apples with butter, cinnamon and sugar until tender. Transfer to a sprayed cooking pan. 3. In a blender whip eggs, flour, milk, salt, nutmeg and flax seed. Pour over cooked apples. 4. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar or top with syrup. Serves 6 and reheats well.

Food Storage Friday: Vegan Pumpkin Waffles

 Lately I haven't been doing much with my food storage because there is so much of it that I can't eat due to the fact it makes my breast-feeding baby scream and vomit. Because of my dietary restrictions, I'm also getting very tired of the things that I can eat. I've gotten to the point where I usually would rather go hungry than have oatmeal for breakfast again. Enter friend Julie, who has also done a stint as a vegetarian. She gave me a recipe for these great pumpkin waffles that are satisfying and were a hit with all family members. Now that's saying something when you're cooking for my crew.  Thanks so much Julie! Of course I made a few changes so I was incorporating food storage and making them a little healthier. They're great with maple syrup or Apple Cider Sauce. Makes 12 waffles.

Vegan Pumpkin Waffles 
Food Storage Ingredients:
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 15 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Fresh Ingredients:
2 cups rice, soy or almond milk*
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed*
1 Tablespoon wheat germ*

1. Thoroughly mix wet ingredients and sugar in a bowl. 2. In a separate (large) bowl, mix dry ingredients. 3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. 4. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and prepare according to waffle iron instructions.

Notes: Currently I can't have soy or dairy, so I made these with almond milk. I imagine that someday when my diet is less restricted and I'm in a pinch, I'll use the powdered milk from my food storage. From what I have read whole flax seed has a shelf life of three to five years, while ground flax seed can go rancid in as little as a week. I generally grind a cup at a time and store it in the fridge. Ground flax seed is great vegan source of Omega 3, 6, & 9 fatty acids as well as fiber. Wheat germ is a good source of fiber and B vitamins. Whenever I make waffles I add both wheat germ and ground flax seed for their health benefits and the fact that you can't taste them. Both these ingredients are optional, but I figure if I can get my family to willingly eat better, why not?

What I've been up to

 I swear I have a dozen blog posts bouncing around in my head, but not enough time to write them. That is, time where I'm in the 'writing zone' plus had enough sleep plus have 2 hands free. I've written a couple in a state of sleep deprivation and come back to proofread them and I'm not quite sure what I was trying to say, so we'll get back to those. So I'll just summarize what I've been doing in list form, because Heather is all about the lists. :)

1. Feeding the baby- She gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks. I spend a lot of time feeding the baby.
2. Chipotle Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas- I found this recipe on Skinny Bovine's Kitchen. I left out the corn, and added 2 tomatoes, 1& 1/2 medium carrots, one Hatch chile and doubled the chipotle (and left in the seeds cause I'm lazy). It was so yummy. Unfortunately baby couldn't handle the spiciness, and the two times I ate it as soon as I fed her she projectile vomited on me. But if you aren't breast-feeding I highly recommend it.
3. Started reading How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. In the introduction he says that he tries to run his pantry dry at least once a year. I thought, I need to do that. So I have been trying to plan all meals around what I have in my pantry. In addition to rotating things, it just makes it easier to organize when I give myself a little space. And in the next few months I know there will be many sales on non-perishable items and I need to make room.
4. In my efforts to clean out the pantry I made Peaches and Cream Oven French Toast, using canned peaches, evaporated milk and powdered eggs. It was pretty yummy and all members of my family or at least those with teeth ate some (Cue angelic chorus). However, I'm pretty sure that I could come up with a healthier version that is just as yummy.
5. Dealing with reflux- A new development in just the past week. I've determined that baby can't handle it when I eat anything remotely spicy, but it seemed like cutting that out wasn't enough. No, no- there is a huge list of things that I have to cut out. And since I have it has made a huge difference. She's happier and sleeps longer through the night. The problem is when I got out beans, dairy and many fruits and vegetables, it makes it hard to find anything to eat, let alone anything vegetarian. (And I had gone weeks without eating meat and was feeling fine!) I may need to go back to being a carnivore for baby's benefit for awhile.
6. Enjoying my oh-so-adorable children who are probably the only people whom I would tolerate such shenanigans from.