Tin Can Cook - Carrot Cake Overnight Oats

I am enjoying reading Jack Monroe’s latest cookbook, Tin Can Cook. This is the first of several recipes I am going to try.

It is always an adventure to try and make a recipe.

BTW, I love the name of the recipe and the fact it is a no bake or cook recipe.

When I was in the states visiting family, going grocery shopping, is often a catch as catch can affair because I use public transit or join family on their trips to the grocery.

After a family event, my sister stopped by a grocery store. As we shopped, I tried to be quick. What did I need to make Jack’s Carrot Cake Overnight Oats?

Besides buying cans of carrots, I had asked my sister to pick up some oats. Back at the house, as I began to gather the ingredients to make this recipe, I realized she had selected quick oats, so I was not sure how they would work.

Note: I converted the metric measurements to ounces.

Tin Can Cook - Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
(No Bake)

Ingredients:

1 can carrots, drained, 200g = 7.05 oz

My can was 14.5 oz, so I used roughly half a can.

Milk 250ml = 8.79 oz
I used Lactose-free milk

Oats 70g = 2.49 oz

Raisins 70g = 2.49 oz

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbspns Sugar, optional

Process:

In a medium-size container with a lid, add carrots.

With a fork, mash carrots.

Add milk.

Mix and mash carrots in the milk

Add oats.

Add raisins.

Add cinnamon and sugar.

Mix well.

Affix lid.

Chill overnight or 8 hours to allow oats to soak up milk and swell up.

Serve with a splash of milk or cream.

The recipe turned out great. Now, I have another oats recipe including the "Worts" recipe.

#GERD-Friendly

Tin Can Cook - Chickpeas with Bread & Spinach

I got Jack Monroe's Tin Can Cook Cookbook!

I love everything about the book, the cover art, the back cover blurb, the layout, the typefaces, the paper, and, of course, the contents.

One thing you can say about Jack is she gets things done.

In the book, Jack explains that when she was on welfare, she often used food banks to feed herself and her son. During those times, she wished she'd had recipes for the items she was given. After Jack found her niche in developing recipes for people living in poverty, she wanted to write a cookbook with recipes for the types canned foods people receive from food banks. She did.

Jack also created a GoFundMe account so her readers could contribute to the fund to purchase cookbooks for the food banks in the UK. Go to @bootstrapcook and see where thousands of Tin Can Cook Cookbooks have gone.

On a recent family visit, I had planned to make several recipes from Jack Monroe’s Tin Can Cook Cookbook. This is one of them.

I would call it Bean and Spinach Goulash.

This is a very forgiving recipe. As Jack notes, you can use a variety of other beans.

In this recipe, I list the ingredients and quantities as Jack has noted but I also include the ingredients and quantities I used where I made substitutions.

I also show the conversion from metric to ounces.


Tin Can Cook - Chickpeas with Bread & Spinach P61


Ingredients:

1 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed or kidney or cannellini beans, 400g = 14.10oz - 
I used a 15oz can
4 Tbspn olive oil
2 Tbspns garlic paste, I used 1 Tspn minced garlic
1 Tbspn paprika
1 Tbspn ground cumin or gram masala
100g bread chunks, 100g = 3.5oz, I used 4 slices from various bread loaves
1 400g can spinach, drained or frozen, 400g = 14.10oz, I used a 15oz bag of frozen spinach.
1 400ml vegetable stock, 400ml = 13.5oz, I used 1 vegetable bouillon cube in 14oz of water.
S/P to taste

Pre-preparation:

Put bouillon cube in 14oz of water.
Heat water for 1 minute in microwave on high.
Tear bread slices into bite-size pieces.
Drain and rinse beans.


Process:

Pour beans into a large sauce pan.
Add oil.
Add garlic and spices.
Stir well.
Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Stir occasionally to avoid ingredients sticking to pan.
I added a bit of the vegetable stock to prevent sticking.
Add bread chunks.
Add spinach.
Stir well.
Add vegetable stock.
Season with s/p to taste.
Stir well.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer.
Simmer 20-30 minutes.
Enjoy hot or cold.

Notes: When I make this again, I will use 1/2 a bouillon cube. I liked the multigrain bread.

#GERD-friendly

Toaster Oven: Toasted Bread Dipping Circles

I had collected several bread ends and they were stored in the freezer. Normally, I would have used the bread ends in a Bread Pudding but this time I craved a snack.

So, I cut out the middle of each bread end with a glass and made a batch of toasted bread circles. Then, I made a dipping sauce. Quite tasty. Necessity is indeed the Mother of Invention.


Toaster Oven: Toasted Bread Dipping Circles


Ingredients:

Bread ends
A round glass

Sauce:

Olive Oil
Oregano, crushed, dry
Ground black pepper, to taste (Optional)


Process:

Place bread ends on a cutting board.
Place glass in the middle of bread slice.
Push down and rotate the glass to cut a circle of bread out of the slice.

Place slices in toaster oven.
Toast until light brown and crisp.

Make sauce.

All I did was pour a bit of olive oil into a bowl and added some ground black pepper and oregano, then I stirred the mixture.

Dip the toasted bread circle into the sauce and enjoy.

I also toasted the edges of the leftover bread circles. I think I will use them to make bread crumbs.

#GERD-friendly

Toaster Oven: Chicken Meatballs

I adapted my own Chicken Meatball Recipe for use in a toaster Oven / Convection Oven.


Toaster Oven: Chicken Meatballs


Pre-preparation:

Pre-heat Toaster Oven to 350 degrees.
Line tin tray with waxed paper.


Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 Lbs ground chicken
1 egg
2 Tspns garlic powder
1 TBspn onion powder
1 TBspn dry parsley, crushed
1/2 Cup parmesan cheese
1 Tspn dry oregano
5 dashes hot pepper sauce (Optional)
1 TBspn imitation bacon bits
1/4 Cup Commercial bread crumbs or saltine crackers, crushed
Additional bread crumbs for cutting board or prep surface when making the balls
Ground black pepper to taste
Milk, if need to moisten


Process:

I realize there is a difference between 1.5 - 2 Lbs of ground chicken. So, adjust use of spices accordingly as you wish.

Add ground chicken to a large bowl.
Add egg and spices.
Add bread crumbs.
Stir, mix and mash ingredients together thoroughly.

Sprinkle some bread crumbs onto a cutting board or other prep surface.
Roll approximately a tablespoon or more between your palms to create a ball.
Roll ball lightly in the bread crumbs to help the ball stay together.
Place the balls onto the tray.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Remove balls, place on plate to cool.

These are regular sized meatballs.
I made 18 meatballs.
I freeze some of the meatballs and save the rest for use during the week.


Various Ways to Use Meatballs:
Microwave the meatball(s) for about 1 minute on high or serve cold.

Make a meatball sandwich.
Make a meatball slider (basically, a mini-sandwich).
Serve as an appetizer accompanied by a curry sauce.
Add them to spaghetti or pasta with a cream sauce.

Note: I have yet to use a meatball as a toast topping but that is an idea.

#GERD-Friendly

Ria's Chia Caviar - Updated

Ria's Chia Caviar Recipe - Updated

I enjoyed creating this recipe.

While it may not have the "bubble" bursts in your mouth like fish caviar, chia does creates a gel-like texture when soaked overnight.

Ingredients:

1 small jar with a lid

2 full TBspns Chia seeds

Water

Salmon liquid or sardine liquid drained from can of salmon or sardines
1 TBspn of Oyster Sauce

1/4 Tspn salt

Suggestion: Serve on toast with olive oil.

Process:

Add Chia seeds to jar.

Add enough water to just cover the seeds.

Add salmon or sardine liquid.
Add Oyster Sauce.

Add salt.

Close jar with lid.

Shake jar to mix ingredients.

Place in frig to cool overnight or longer.

To Serve:

Spread olive oil on toast.

Spread a thin layer of Chia Caviar on the toast.

Cut toast into quarters.

Note: for a more briny taste, add more salt.

#GERD-friendly
 

White Bean Salad

By keeping cooked beans in the frig, a variety of bean salads can be made for various meals. Most recipe sites advise that cooked beans may last a week in the frig.

To cook a batch of white beans, see Blog post: Hotplate Small White Beans:
https://riastoneblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/hotplate-small-white-beans.html


White Bean Salad Recipe
(This recipe was inspired by many recipes, see resources below.)


Single Serving


Ingredients:

4 Heaping TBspns cooked white beans
6-8 Dashes Onion powder
1 Tspn Lemon juice, concentrate (made from a powdered drink mix)
1 Tspn Olive oil
1 Tspn Vinegar
3 Tspns Celery, diced
2 Heaping Tspns Carrots, diced or shredded
1 Heaping Tspn Black olives, sliced and diced
Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan or Feta cheese
5-8 Grinds of black pepper
S/P to taste


Process:

In a medium bowl, add ingredients.
Mix well.

I found the salad had a mild flavor. I liked it but some may want more flavor. To suit your taste, increase or decrease the quantity of ingredients.


See resources below for variations on making a White Bean Salad.


Resources:

Quick and Easy White Bean Salad
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quick_and_easy_white_bean_salad/

Pasta and Bean Picnic Salad
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pasta_and_bean_picnic_salad/

White bean and Tuna Salad
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/white_bean_and_tuna_salad/

How to Cook White Beans
https://emmycooks.com/2012/03/22/how-to-cook-white-beans/

#GERD-friendly

Toaster Oven: Single-Serving Peanut Butter Cookies

Hurray, It’s a Cookie!

This is my first baked cookie in my Toaster Oven.

I am in heaven. I have hard-boiled eggs, Peanut Butter Mousse, Lentils with Garlic and Cookies!


Toaster Oven: Single-Serving Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
(Adapted from: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/07/26/single-serving-peanut-butter-cookies/)

This recipe only make 2 cookies.



Preparations:

Set Toaster Oven on Bake.
Pre-heat Toaster Oven to 350 degrees.
Add a layer of waxed paper to Tin Tray.
Add a dab of olive oil and wipe over waxed paper.


Ingredients:

2 Level TBspns flour
1 Level TBspn Sugar
1/16 Tsp Baking Soda
a dash of salt
1 1/2 TBspns of Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 capful of vanilla flavoring or extract
1 Tspn Applesauce


Process:

In a small bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix well.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Stir and mix well until mixture is smooth.
With a Tablespoon, divide the mixture into two portions.
Scoop up one portion and drop onto tray.
Drop the second portion onto tray.
Use Tablespoon to reshape, if desired. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Unbaked

 

 

 

Baked

#GERD-friendly

Microwave: Peanut Butter Bread Pudding

This blog has grown quite a bit over the years. In the past, I tried cooking several recipes in one day. That worked for awhile.

But, now, I am doing a bit of reorgranization. I am pulling out some of the recipes made on those marathon days and making them individual posts. I am also revising some of the recipes, like making a recipe GERD-friendly and such.



Microwave: Peanut Butter Bread Pudding Recipe 
(Adapted from: my Blueberry Bread Pudding Recipe)

Makes about 6-8 servings


Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 tbspn sugar
1 cup coconut cream or coconut milk
2 cups milk
2 tspns vanilla flavoring
2/3rds of a 16oz jar of peanut butter
6 slices of bread (multigrain), broken into chunks
Cinnamon


Process:

Mix eggs, sugar, cream, milk and vanilla.
Stir thoroughly and set aside.
Spread the peanut butter on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Spread bread chunks in a thick layer over the peanut butter.
Pour egg mixture over bread and peanut butter.
Sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the mixture.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Microwave on high for 15 minutes.
Let casserole rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Caution: pull edge of plastic wrap away from you to avoid steam burns.

Black Bean Salsa

As I post this recipe, I have spent over two weeks researching and trying recipes for the Toaster Oven.

Buying the Toaster Oven threw my entire grocery/preparation/cooking system into chaos and blew a hole in my budget because I had to shop for other ingredients and a few extra cooking vessels, several times.

More chaos occurred when I tried to make bagels, biscuits and a potato croquette recipe where with each one I drown in sticky useless dough that was flung far and wide in my kitchen. I am still finding bits here and there.

I gave up and moved onto other recipes. I will try, again, to bake biscuits, cake and other recipes in the future.

While I was successful making:

DIY Bagel Everything Seasonings Variation
DIY Tartar Sauce
Toaster Oven: Baked Salmon Balls
Toaster Oven: Salmon Muffins
Microwave: Mug O’Oats and Spinach
Toaster Oven: Fruit Tart
Chocolate Frosting
Peanut Butter and Yogurt Mousse

there are plenty of desserts in that group, a few meal dishes, but no vegetable dishes. You can't eat Peanut Butter and Yogurt Mousse all day.

So, after more research, I found I had to fall back on several of my previous recipes in order to have a balanced choice of meals and side dishes.

After making:

Faux Spanish Rice
Carrot, Raisin & Almond Salad
and now Black Bean Salsa

I am getting back on track.

As a single person, it is a struggle to avoid food waste, so I often eat similar meals for days.

So, I hope to use this salsa as a side dish, snack, and quesadilla filling.

While this recipe has a mild flavor, others can beef up the taste by adding additional spices and vegetables.


Black Bean Salsa Recipe
(Adapted from:  USDA Confetti Bean Salsa Recipe)


Ingredients:

1 560g (approx 20oz) Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 220g (approx 8oz) Can Kernel Corn, drained and rinsed
3 Tspns of Canned Salsa
1/2 Capful Lime juice concentrate
10 dashes of Onion powder
S/P to taste


Process:

In a medium bowl, add black beans and corn, stir well.
Add salsa, lime juice and onion powder, stir well.
Add S/P to taste, stir well.

Chill before serving.

#GERD-friendly

Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Mousse

Updated 1/9/21

 

As I peruse the peanut recipes created by George Washington Carver, a noted Botanist, who promoted new agricultural methods and cash crops like the peanut and sweet potato to assist farmers in the South, I found his recipe for Peanut Frappe below which I find similar to my Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Mousse.

 

Source:

 

How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, Seventh Edition, January 1940


By GEORGE W. CARVER, M.S. in AGR., Director

 

"5. Peanut Frappe

Make one pint of good gelatin; set aside to harden.
Stir 1 cup of granulated sugar into one pint of whipped cream;
when the gelatin is just at the point of setting, stir into the whipped cream by beating it with a fork;
add 3/4 cup of peanut meal;
serve in sherbert glasses with fresh or preserved fruit."

 

Slowly, I am discovering the fun and many uses of yogurt and peanut butter in various recipes.

Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Mousse
(Adapted from: https://eatsmartmovemoreva.org/recipes/yogurt-peanut-butter-dip/)

Ingredients:

3 heaping TBspns creamy peanut butter

5 TBspns plain yogurt

1 Capful vanilla flavoring

Optional:

Garnish: fruit slices or berries

Topping: Cinnamon 

 

Process:

 

Add peanut butter into a bowl.

Add yogurt and vanilla. 

Mix well until smooth. 

If a thicker mousse is desired, add more peanut butter. 

If a thinner mousse or dip is desired, add more yogurt.

 

Serve in a small dessert bowl.

Add garnish and cinnamon.

 

 

References: 

 

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/carver-peanut

 

Miami New Times Blogs
Top 5 George Washington Carver Peanut Recipes
(Accessed 2/10/2010)

 

#GERD-friendly

Microwave: Mug O'Hot Oats with Spinach

Microwave: A Mug O’ Hot Oats with Spinach
(Adapted from: Worts Recipe by Jack Monroe from Cooking on a Bootstrap)

As you will see in subsequent posts, getting a Toaster / Convection Oven (TCO) has thrown me into a tizzy trying to find recipes for the TCO.

Anyway, in the midst of my research, I bought a Kindle version of Jack Monroe’s Cooking on a Bootstrap.

Jack has found the secret to writing a good cookbook, include personal and historic stories of life and food with the various recipes.

Jack is clear about how she creates her recipes and where she finds her sources of information and inspiration. So, when I found her Worts recipe, a 200+ year old recipe, they found in British Library, I was intrigued on many levels.

The recipe features oats.

Anyway, as I read the recipe, I thought this might make a good Mug recipe. So, I thought, I’ll cut the recipe in half and make a mug meal.

While I had used an online Metric Converter to translate the grams and milliliters into ounces, when I went to the kitchen, I forgot to halve the recipe, but after some messy maneuvers, I made a mug of hot oats with spinach and spices and it’s pretty good.

I have so few oat recipes, I am happy to add one more to my repertoire.

Because I follow a GERD-friendly diet, I use onion powder instead of onions, for me this works with no acid reflux issues.

Also, hot sauce in a recipe seems ok, but if it’s in a sauce used to top food, that’s hard on my stomach.

But, too much of a good thing may set it off, so I try to use onion powder, hot sauce and ground black pepper and other GERD-Unfriendly ingredients sparingly.

Bouillon, Bullion, Billion… one letter can make a difference. I’d love to have a Billion Bullions but you can’t cook with them like you can with Bouillon.


Ingredients:

Olive oil
1/2 TBspn onion powder
3.5 oz dry oats
1 bouillon cube
13.5 oz of water
3.5 oz or a dessert bowl full - frozen spinach
1 Tsp lime juice
3-5 dashes of hot sauce (To make this #GERD-friendly, do not use hot sauce)
S/P to taste


Process:

Put oil in a 16 oz coffee mug.
Add onion powder.
Microwave 30 seconds on high.

Put water into a microwavable measuring cup.
Add bouillon cube.
Microwave 2 minutes on high to dissolve cube.

Put spinach into a microwavable dish.
Microwave spinach 2 minutes on high to soften.

Add oats to coffee mug.
Add bouillon water.
Stir well.
Add spinach.
Mix and stir well.
Place a saucer under the coffee mug to catch spillover.
Bring to a boil.

Here’s the problem. Because I did not halve the recipe, the mixture overwhelmed the 16 oz mug. I had to remove half the contents and put it into another bowl while I microwaved the rest for 3-5 minutes on high.

Then, I added the bowl of mix back into the mug and microwaved for about 2 minutes. There was some spill over.

By this time, the mixture had thickened.

If necessary, continue microwaving the mixture for a 1 minute or 2 more to thicken.

When done, I added lime juice, hot sauce and some ground black pepper and stirred the mixture thoroughly.

I like it. In the future, if I halve the recipe, I think it will be fairly easy to make.

6 / 1/ 19 Update:

I made another Mug O'Hot Oats and Spinach.

This time I halved the recipe, used chicken bouillon (the previous recipe used tomato bouillon), and less hot sauce. It turned out great. Both recipes are good but I like this one, today.

I can see I am going to make this recipe alot.

#GERD-friendly

Toaster Oven: Fruit Tart

Toaster Oven: Fruit Tart
(Adapted from: DIY Newlyweds http://www.diynewlyweds.com/2010/10/healthy-quick-mini-apple-pie-recipe.html)


Ingredients:

1 Wheat flour or Flour Tortilla
Blueberry pie filling or other fruit
Confectioner sugar (optional)

 

Preparations:

Preheat Toaster Oven 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Place waxed paper on tin tray.
Place tortilla on tray.


Process:

Drop 1-2 TBspns fruit in the middle of the tortilla.
Tri-Fold tortilla.
Sprinkle with confectioner sugar.
Bake in 10-15 minutes until tortilla is crisp.
Remove and slide tart with wax paper onto cooling rack.
Eat when warm not hot.

 

Variation: Use apple slices or other fruit.
Alternative fruit toppings: honey, cinnamon.

#GERD-Friendly

Mug O'Hot Banana

I follow a few recipe websites, regularly.

Jack Monroe's Cooking on a Bootstrap is one of them.

When I saw Jack's Hot Banana Pot recipe, I laughed. What a simple and delightful recipe.

This recipe solved my problem of an excess of overripe bananas. I have several containers of overripe bananas in my freezer. I keep thinking I would use them in a mug cake or a frozen yogurt dessert but somehow that has not happened.

So, after seeing Jack's recipe, I grabbed one of the containers, put the frozen banana into a mug and popped it into the microwave. Then, I microwaved it on high for one minute.

When it was done, I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top and called it Mug O'Hot Banana.

So happy to have a delightful way to use my over-ripe bananas! Thanks, Jack.

Jack Monroe's Hot Banana Pot
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2019/03/16/hot-banana-pot-recipe/

#GERD-Friendly