Vegetarian Enchiladas

Round about last Easter, my husband decided he wanted to be a vegetarian. This from a guy who previously obsessed over cooking the perfect steak and finding the best BBQ spot. I was hoping this phase would pass quickly but, here we are in January and he still eats vegetarian. He has loosened up a little. Mainly he doesn't want other meat-eating men to make fun of him, so he'll eat meat in large manly gatherings. I think it's just an excuse for him to enjoy a big, juicy steak though.
Last night I attempted to make the vegetarian version of a meal I used to make with meat...enchiladas. It turned out pretty well. I started by defrosting vegetarian ground meat aka the stuff they sweep off the floor at the mushroom farm. I cooked it in a pot with 3/4 cup of water and a packet of Ortega Taco Seasoning which I'm not sure is 100% vegetarian, but what hubby doesn't know won't hurt him. I put a scoop of the "meat" on a flour tortilla with some cheddar cheese and refried beans. The beans were actually vegetarian cuz it said it on the can. You would think all beans are vegetarian, but apparently not. Actually I think they usually make refried beans with lard or something gross like that. Anyway, I rolled up the tortillas and put them in a casserole dish that had a little salsa on the bottom to keep they from sticking. I used Great Value medium salsa cuz that's the way we roll in our house, but it you are a real gourmet and prefer something better, you can use that. It would probably actually be good with a brand that had chunks of black bean and corn in it, if such a salsa exists.
After I tranferred all of the enchiladas to the dish I topped it with more salsa, some more refried beans and a little of the remaining meat. Lastly I topped it with cheddar cheese.
I cooked the enchiladas at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.
These enchiladas were extremely eatable. There were a few instances where you could taste the spongey "meat" but I could actually eat these and enjoy them. I will definitely make these again.

Stuffed shells

I hate wasting food, so I'm always looking for ways to use up leftovers. On Mother's Day I grilled some yummy pizzas. One was shrimp, sweet corn and roasted red pepper, and the other was mushroom, spinach and red onion. They were very good, the problem was that I had veggies leftover because I had to buy a big bag of spinach and a whole package of mushrooms, but I only needed a handful of each for my pizza. I started thinking how I could use the leftovers and decided to incorporate them into the stuffed shells I was making for dinner last night. Here's my "recipe":

1/4 large onion
1 clove garlic
handful of spinach
handful of mushrooms
1/2 roasted red pepper
palmful of Parmesan cheese
handful of mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
pinch of black pepper
1/2 lb ricotta cheese
salt to taste
1 egg
12 large shells, cooked al dente
marinara sauce

Throw veggies in food processor and chop until small. Mix in cheeses and beaten egg. Spoon filling into shells. Spoon marinara into the bottom of a baking dish. Place shells in dish. Spoon more marinara on top of shells. Top with mozzarella. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until sauce bubbles.

DISCLAIMER: If you are thrown off by my obscure measurements or undetailed recipe, then you probably shouldn't try making this dish and should just order a pizza.

Enjoy!

Lip Balm

We are entering the time of year when the air is so dry your feel like you could power a Smart car with all of the static electricity that has built up in your hair, and your skin is so dry you feel like you could easily be added to trail mix and no one would notice. Last year I discovered that you can make your own lip balm right in your kitchen. It is really easy and makes a lot. Once you have the ingredients, you can make enough lip balm to last a lifetime. Last year I used it every night before going to bed and every morning when I woke up and I doubt I had chapped lips one time. You see, as with everything else that is mass produced, the makers of lip balm add fragrances and fillers that dilute the ingredients that your lips need to stay hydrated. The lip balm recipe that I am about to share is the real deal. So here it is:

2 Tbsp. petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
1 tsp. beeswax (I bought mine by the ounce at a health food store or in the candlemaking section of the craft store.)

1) Melt the beeswax and petroleum jelly in a double boiler over low heat. I use a small saucepan with about an inch of boiling water in it, with a small mixing bowl on top (see picture*).

2) Mix ingredients thoroughly with a toothpick. At this point you can add several ingredients to enhance your lip balm. Here are a few examples:
*Essential oils: I like peppermint oil. It makes your lips tingly. Essentials oils can be found at most health food stores (Whole Foods Market).
*Color: You can add a little slice of your lipstick if you want your lip balm
to be colored, but don't expect to be able to notice it on your lips.
*Other stuff I can't categorize: I use a few drops of Vitamin E oil and Aloe Oil because they are supposed to be good for your skin. I don't know if it's true.
3) Pour your lip balm into containers. I found little containers at the craft store that are supposed to be used to hold leftover acrylic paint. They fit about 1 oz. I used 4. Make sure they are clean. I put them in boiling water for a few minutes before I fill them.

Yep, that's it. Pretty much it's just melting stuff. Hopefully this will be the year you don't suffer from chapped lips. If it is, you can thank me. :)

*Ignore the stained cooktop and old pot. I told you I was no Martha Stewart.

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

My daughter just loves to cook. Of course she likes to bake cookies, pies and cakes, but she'll help with just about any task I give her. I jokingly call her my sous chef. One project she is especially fond of is making donuts. I'm not especially fond of mixing up a bowl of dough, so I thought it was just brilliant when my husband told me that his Pap used to make donuts using refrigerated biscuit dough. That's pure genius! You get yummy, "homemade" donuts and you don't even have to slave away in the kitchen. Here's how you do it:

Ingredients:

1 tube refrigerated homestyle biscuit dough (Don't get fancy on me, you just need the cheap stuff)
1/4 c. sugar
1 T cinnamon
enough shortening or oil to fill a small saucepan up about 1 in.
itty, bitty cookie cutter (This may require a trip to a specialty store. We use a little heart)

Directions:
1) Heat shortening or oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2) While oil is heating, use cookie cutter to cut out a hole in the center of each biscuit. Save the middles. They can be used to make donut holes. My kids actually fight over the donut holes.
3) Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
4) When a drop of water sizzles in the oil, then it is ready. Toss in your donuts. I usually fry the donut holes first. They need to be constantly turned so they turn a golden brown on all sides. The other donuts will need to be flipped after the first side has turned a golden brown.

5) Remove donuts from the oil and allow some of the excess oil to drain on a paper towel.
6) Toss donuts in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Use a spoon to make sure all sides are coated.

Sometimes we'll get fancy and, instead of coating them in cinnamon-sugar, we'll put icing on then and then add sprinkles. One time I mixed the seeds from a vanilla bean with sugar and made vanilla-sugar donuts. Be creative and have fun!

Turkey Stock

My in laws were visiting this weekend. I usually cook one meal for us to eat together. The other night we usually go out to eat. With a picky father-in-law and finicky kids, it is always a challenge to think of a meal that everyone will enjoy. This time I decided to roast a turkey breast.
Well, it turns out that the in laws left early this morning, so they missed my dinner. I figured since I had already bought the turkey, I would roast it anyway. It turned out very good. The leftover meat will inevitably become a turkey pot pie, but I'm still left with a carcass. Most people would toss it in the garbage, but since I am incredibly cheap, I like to take it one step further. Tomorrow I will submerse that bad boy in pot of water and turn it into turkey noodle soup. It's really not that hard. You just need to put the carcass in water until it is covered, then simmer it (covered) on the stove top for about an hour. I usually strain out all the crap that comes off of the turkey, then put the broth back into the pot with celery, onions, carrots, garlic and a few chicken bouillon cubes. Pick off all of the loose turkey meat from the carcass and throw that into the pot, too. After the vegetables are tender I add a few handfuls of noodles, then boil (uncovered) until the noodles are done. My kids love homemade soup. It will last them for days. If you leave out the noodles, you can even freeze the soup to use when someone comes down with a cold. Nothing like a nice bowl of homemade soup when you are sick.

Gravy

For a short time, after moving to Cleveland, we lived with my Grandmother on her farm. She's a good cook. She makes a lot of home style cuisine. The kind of stuff you would expect from someone in their eighties...roast, pork chops, soups, etc. She also makes some traditional Ukrainian food...borscht (Google it, if you don't know), perogies, and cabbage rolls. One of the most important things I learned from her is how to make gravy. What most people don't realize is that gravy is easy to make. I guarantee once you learn how to make it you won't ever want to buy the canned stuff again.

Basically gravy is just butter, flour, broth and seasoning. Here's a basic recipe:

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1 cup broth

salt and pepper to taste
All you do is melt the butter over medium heat, add the flour and simmer for a minute or so (see pic), then whisk in the broth. Let everything simmer until it thickens, stirring occasionally. Then add salt and pepper to taste. That's it. The end result...gravy that you will want to drink by the gallon.

For dinner we had Beef Stroganoff. I put stew meat and a can of beef broth in the crock pot in the morning, so that it had all day to simmer. At dinnertime I sauteed mushrooms and onions in butter, then added the flour. After it simmered for a minute, I added the strained broth from the crockpot. I also added some additional broth because I tripled the above recipe. Lastly, I threw in the meat from the crockpot. Voila! I served it over noodles with a dollop of sour cream.

Some days, when I feel really motivated, I will make my own broth to use. But that's another post.

Introduction

First an introduction: I'm a 34 year-old mother of two who lives in Louisville, but grew up in Pittsburgh. Thus the name "Hey Yinz! Make this..." I can be found on Twitter offering up my opinions on any number of issues, most of which I know nothing about. I decided to create a blog when I realized that PEOPLE CANNOT DO SHIT FOR THEMSELVES ANYMORE! No one gardens, cooks, sews, knits, crochets, fixes things, etc. Basically, people shop and eat. So, being a helpful person, I asked myself, "What the hell can I do about this?" The resulting answer...help people be more useful.

So you may be asking yourself, "What are this broad's qualifications?" Well, I don't really have any. I consider myself to be a Jack (or Jill, if you're like that) of all trades, master of none. I went to school to teach art, but have stayed home to take care of my kids for the past 5 or so years. During that time I have experimented with cooking, sewing, crafting, gardening, and just about anything you can think of (Not THAT!!). I guess it runs in the genes. My grandmother came from Ukraine. She knows how to make everything. For her it was kind of a necessity. She and my grandfather came to America after WWII and bought a farm in rural OH. My Dad was the oldest of 4. He grew up helping around the farm. He will try just about anything. I've seen him cut down trees, build an addition on the house, fix a car, etc. He's 63 years old and still going strong. My Mom is another story...although she does not appear to be extremely domestic, there was a time when she would sew us play shorts, make crafts and she always had dinner prepared when my Dad came home from work at 5:00. Her catch phrase is "Bite me!" so you can see where I got my personality.

In my blog I will be offering up little pieces of wisdom that I have learned over the years. I do not claim to offer the absolute correct way of doing some of the things that I will demonstrating, so if you want to learn things the right way, go watch Food Network or Martha Stewart.

I'll end by offering this advice: Get off your lazy ass and learn how to do something useful, because the economy sucks right now and you might just need to know some of this stuff in the event we are all left penniless.