More Puppy Romps

Romeo, Teddy, Katie and I at the Union Reservoir a few weekends ago.  Romeo is no water dog and mostly just wanted to wade, but after watching Teddy for a while he went swimming!  Video is at the end of the post.

Gluten Pups: Meatless Hotdogs/Sausages

If you are a vegetarian or vegan who isn't a fan of the faux meat available on the shelves but wants to be eating hot dogs from the grill, then this recipe is for you.  It sounds daunting, but it's super easy!  Just takes a little prep work.  I first heard of this recipe from The Vegan Ronin, check out what she has to say about it HERE.  (She found the recipe from Vegan Dad, who I believe found it from someone named Isa?)  I always end up with more than the recipe says it makes, about 8 hot dogs or about 15-20 breakfast links.  And I like to leave the dogs in the steamer for closer to an hour.

I've tried this recipe a few times now and my advice is this: it's crucial that the sausages are wrapped up all snug or you'll end up with seitan lumps that are yummy, but not visually appealing.  And here's how to make sure they're all snuggy:

Take a good handful of dough...

...and make a little log.

Now tuck the tinfoil snuggly around and underneath the dough and roll it up.

Twist the ends of the foil into a tootsie roll shape until it's tightly wrapped and fold the ends up.  Now it's ready for the steamer.

I don't own a steamer and to be honest, my kitchen is so full I'm not interested in getting one.  So I jerry-rigged my own using a frying pan and my lil veggie steamer basket held up by an aluminum pan that I poked full of holes, and I used the lid from my dutch oven.  Ta da!  The only drawback to this design is that I can only fit about four regular sized dogs in it at a time.

One...

Two...

Three!

So now your gluten pups are steamed and ready to eat.  At this stage they can be baked, grilled, or pan fried for extra crispiness but this is a matter of preference.  YuuuuuMEE!

2 Things Challenge: Flat/Flagpole

FLAT (and yummy!): This is a piece of paper thin roasted Korean seaweed snack I got at the Natural Grocer's, comes in a little pack like a bag of potato chips. The type of seaweed itself is called 'kim' in Korean and 'nori' in Japanese. Seaweed chips! I had some in miso soup for lunch and ate the rest as is. They remind me of kale chips my mom makes.

FLAGPOLE: This is the always empty flagpole in the parking lot of the next door K-Mart. Always empty, even on patriotic occasions.

Mouse's Better Than Mac 'n Cheese (Quinoa Risotto)

The following is basically a risotto, but made with quinoa as the grain. (Less starch and higher protein than the rice.) I followed the grain to liquid ratio HERE, but I used olive oil instead of butter, added sage and pine nuts, and used just 2 small garlic cloves. Wish I'd had some mushrooms to throw in. I recommend using a good freshly grated Parmesan because the quality is everything to the flavor, you will miss out if you cheat and use Kraft!

I've also made this recipe spiced with golden raisins, chopped apples, onion, nutmeg, and cinnamon. You can also add millet to the quinoa, just as long as you still use one cup grain to two cups water.

2 Things Challenge: Value/New

I value the people in my life.

Every single one of them.

New clouds coming in behind the storm.

While my sister was visiting in July, we drove up to the Boulder Chautauqua and discovered a new hiking trail and a new view.