Day 56 - Veggie Sloppy Joes

This is actually from Tuesday, which was a really busy day. Not only did we have school, but I had my weekly newspaper meeting and a story to cover at the ball fields that evening. I was supposed to drop Steven off at baseball practice, and I had Bunko. So a crockpot meal was in order. While I was waiting to pick Steven up from Jazz Band, I bookmarked a couple of recipes in 2 of my crockpot cookbooks (Lazy Day Cooking and Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes). I figured I could vegetize some of them, although there were a lot there were pretty much already veggie. When Steven got out of band, I let him choose which one before we headed to the store, and of course he chose Sloppy Joes.

I plan on looking for a completely veggie sloppy joe recipe, but this works in a pinch. It might even be better if you rehydrate your own TVP--at the very least it would be cheaper. But I have to travel to Vegas for that, so I am stuck with the veggie crumbles at my local store (and as a side note, the veggie crumbles in the produce section are $1 cheaper than the frozen ones!).

Veggie Sloppy Joes (1)

• 3 (12 oz) pkgs veggie crumbles
• 1(12 oz) pkg leftover veggie breakfast sausage (hey--it was about 8 oz worth, and I knew it wouldn't get used for anything else!)
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 1/4 cups ketchup
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp veggie Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp chili powder
• hamburger buns

1. Spray large (12") pan with cooking spray. Crumble in veggie sausage and cook til brown. Add veggie crumbles and cook until brown.
2. In crockpot, combine ketchup, bell pepper, onion, worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, vinegar, and chili powder. Stir in veggie crumble mixture. Cover and cook on low (ummmm...my crockpot cooks really hot on low, so for 3-4 hours, but crockpots really differ. The original recipe calls for 6-8 hours).
3. Serve on hamburger buns.

This really makes a lot, so don't be afraid to freeze the leftovers. It is really handy to have frozen meals available, especially since veggie frozen meals (convenience type, I mean) are so darned expensive!

Day 41 - Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup

Yum. It was raining yet again, which of course called for some comforting soup. Steven and I spent ALL DAY schooling (because we pretty much ignored Monday) so it needed to be easy, too. This is an adaptation of Mary Herr's Winter Squash and White Bean Stew Recipe in the Fix It and Forget It cookbook (which has a lot of great recipes in it!). I didn't get it started until late, so it never made it to the crockpot, but it was awesome on the stove.

Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 cups peeled butternut squash, cut into cubes
• 2 (15 oz) cans vegetable broth
• 2 (15 oz) cans white beans (great northern, or whatever), rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (10 oz) package fresh baby spinach

1. In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, cumin, salt, and cinnamon and saute until onions are translucent.
2. Add vegetable broth, squash, beans and tomatoes to pot. Simmer over low heat approximately 30 minutes. Right before you are ready to serve, add the spinach. Heat until the spinach wilts.
3. The squash and beans will start to fall apart and really thicken the soup. Yum!

This would be really good with garbanzo beans (chickpeas).

Day 12 - Five Layer Vegetable Stew

This isn't really a stew, but it is too soupy to be a casserole. It has a really good flavor, though, so I suspect with some tweaking, it can be perfect!

Five Layer Vegetable Stew

• 2 cans white beans
• 4 oz pesto
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 small russet potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 2 large zucchini, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, sliced
• salt and pepper 

1. In a food processor or blender, process the beans, pesto, and 3 tbsp olive oil until well blended and creamy.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potato slices and cook until golden brown on both sides. Set aside. Add the onion slices to the same pan, and cook until browned on both sides.
3. Spray the inside of a large crockpot insert with non-stick cooking spray. Lay 1/2 the potato slices in the bottom. Spoon a small amount of bean mixture on top of potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with onion and red pepper slices, bean mixture, salt and pepper. Layer zucchini slices, bean mixture, and salt and pepper, tomatoes. Repeat the layers. If there is any bean mixture left, pour it on top of the final layer of tomatoes. Cover and cook on low 6 hours.