Cooking Fun

I have to say, much to my delight (really, who would have thought?), I have been enjoying cooking as of recent. I have never been particularly interested in cooking, but I rather like the feeling of success as a dish I try turns out to be really good! 

I thought I'd share some pictures and recipes of some of the things I made last week, as well as today. 

  ---x---

Scalloped Potatoes.

So delicious, and really easy to make, too! 

Scalloped Potatoes:
Serves 4
- 4 cups thinly sliced raw potatoes, peeled
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup clean, raw cashews
- 1/4 cup chopped onions, or 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika

1. Process cashews in about 1 cup of the water in a blender until very smooth.
2. Add remaining water and other ingredients, except paprika, and continue blending until smooth. 
4. Place a layer of sliced potatoes in the bottom of your sprayed baking dish.
5. Pour a small amount of your blended mix over the potatoes to cover them, and keep layering and pouring until finished.
6. Cover with tin foil and bake at 375 F for 1 hour.
7. Remove cover, sprinkle with paprika, then return to oven and continue baking until browned (about 10-15 minutes). 

Side note: Doubling the recipe will fill a rectangular baking dish like pictured above. 

 ---x---

Vanilla Pudding Pie

I used just a vegan pudding mix we had over here for the filling, but you can probably use anything you like. 

The crust was a graham cracker crust, really easy and quick to make, as well.

Homemade Graham Cracker Crust:

- 1 ½ c. graham crackers – 1 package of 9-10 crackers

- 1/3 c. sugar

- 6 Tbs. butter, melted

- ½ tsp. cinnamon

1. Crush your graham crackers until really fine. You can put them into a sealed plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

2. Mix all the ingredients together. 

3. Using a the back of a spoon, press your mix into a pie pan. Make sure to press it up the edges as well, making it nice and even all across.

4. Bake your pie crust for 7 minutes in a pre-heated oven of 375°.

  ---x---

Same pie, but with a really yummy strawberry sauce! The filling ended up being a little bland, so this was perfect to add to it!

Berry Sauce:

Ingredients:

- Berries of your choice (+/- 3 cups)

- 1/4 cup of sugar

- 1/3 cup of water/juice

- 2 Tbs Corn starch

Defrost berries in a saucepan, and when they are warm, add the sugar. The berries should form their own juice as they defrost, but you can add a little extra juice or water if you wish. Mix the cornstarch in a little bit of water/juice in a separate cup until dissolved, and then add it to the berries once they reach a boil. Stir until thickened and remove immediately from heat to cool. 

  ---x---

Finally, today's quick throw together! Potato Poppers! These things are surprisingly easy to make, considering I had no idea what I was doing initially. They are super yummy though!

Potato Poppers:

- 1 cup mashed potatoes

- 1 cup cooked brown rice

- 1 cup whole grain bread crumbs

- 1/4 cup chopped onion

- 1/2 tsp. salt (or more if potatoes are not salted)

- 1 Tbs. tomato sauce

1. Simmer onion in a small amount of water

2. Combine all ingredience and form into 1.5 inch balls

3. Bake at 375 F until browned--roughly 15 minutes. 

Hope you enjoy!! =)