Zucchini Pecan Waffles

So I just have the list of ingredients, we just use the regular instructions of waffles. (Like separating eggs and beating egg whites, and what order things go in.)

Zucchini Waffles
* 3 C Flour
* 2 tsp Cinnamon
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg
* 2/3 C Sugar
* 2 C Zucchini--shredded
* 1/2 C Oil
* 2 eggs
* Peel of 1/2 of an orange--Zested or see helpful hints.
* 1/4 - 1/2 C Pecans (can sub walnuts, but pecans are better)
*1/4 C Milk (this might be different due to altitude. Add slowly till right consistency.

Helpful Hints
--Make sure Waffle Iron is well oiled otherwise it sticks.
--Spread thin on Waffle Iron as these puff like mad. If you use the amount you are used to you'll end up with 2" high waffles.
--Peel an orange with a vegetable peeler, careful not to get too much of the white inner peel. Put in chopper (I use my mini chopper) with nuts. Chop till small (almost granual, like think of grinding your own whole wheat on the biggest setting).
--You can replace the zucchini with just about any squash, but what spices and nuts changes.
--Makes a great breakfast for dinner, a great brunch, a great middle of the night snack, okay really it's great at any time
--Make a double batch. =)

Hamburger Extender

Now I could tell you that this recipe will help save you money. And maybe it does, I haven't priced it out. But my guess is it comes out pretty close.
We like meat in our house. I admit it. We will never be vegetarians. I just start twitching if I think about never having bacon or ham again. But one thing we agree on. We don't need to use as much meat as we do. So I was pretty excited when someone pointed me to the ground beef alternative at Veggie Converter. I've done a few tweaks to make it more what we want.
Anyways now anything that we use ground beef for we use half ground beef and half of this rice/lentil mix. We have even successfully made hamburgers with it. We have changing to buying 80% beef, because this mix does not have much fat, and so if you don't have a higher fat content hamburger you have to add oil of have it stick completely to the pan. So without further ado...

Rice/Lentil ground Beef Extender

• 2 cups Brown rice
• 2 cups Green lentils
• Water
• 4 tablespoons Montreal steak seasoning
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup dehydrated mashed potatoes
• 1 cup rolled oats

Directions:
Boil rice, lentils and steak seasoning in water until slightly soft . Drain any excess water, if necessary. Combine with remaining ingredients. And you're done.


This makes a whole lot. I store it in quart bags in my freezer. then when I make dinner I grab a bag of ground beef and a bag of this mix.


Does it taste the same as just plain ground beef? No. Does it still taste pretty darn good? Yes.


Enjoy!

Technique notes for next attempt:
8 cups water.
Start the rice first and half cook it. Then add the lentils. Slightly overcook. Proceed as normal.

Mmmm...Leftovers

You know the best part of having a roast? Leftovers! You may not agree with me, I used to hate leftover roast. But then we found a few recipes in an old 1950's cookbook that call for leftover roast. One of our favorites is

Meatloaf in a Blanket

• 1 onion chopped
• bacon drippings, or butter, lard, etc.
• 2 cups finely chopped cooked potatoes (right from your crockpot roast)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked beef 
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (of whatever variety, we do Soy with this recipe)
• Salt and Pepper
• Baking Powder Biscuit dough (made with 2 cups flour)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Brown onion in drippings, add potatoes, mix well. Combine everything else in skillet except dough. Heat thoroughly, making sure egg is cooked.
Roll biscuit dough into rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Shape hot meat mixture into a loaf in the middle of the dough. Draw dough up over mixture to form a roll (one big honking roll). Press edges together. Slash top a few times.
Place on baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes.
Serve with a Mushroom Gravy


This takes a few times of making it to start making it look pretty. But it is yummy. We will throw in carrots as well if we have some leftover from our roast.

Yes, we now make roast so that we can have leftovers. We also will double to triple this recipe. The part you cook in a skillet, will look sort of like a very large omelet with not enough eggs. Where the name meatloaf came from I don't know. (Except it is meat, in a loaf, hmmmm.) We also like making this for the missionaries if we are feeding them and sending them home with the leftovers. Without the gravy it travels really well and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.