Thrifty Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This was a simple recipe I thought up while trying to create a dinner out of what ever ingredients were left at the end of the week. For starters, we always have a few heads of broccoli in the fridge, it's always pretty cheap (at least where I'm from) and if I don't end up using it in any recipes, my family loves it steamed or even raw with some dip. Secondly, we always have some homemade seitan in the house, it's pretty inexpensive and easy to make and freeze.
This recipe makes a ton, it tops off a large casserole dish and weighs more than my 1yr old. I've even divided it between a 9x13 and an 8x8 and it seemed to last longer even though it was technically the same amount of food.


Chicken and Broccoli Casserole


3 heads of broccoli, chopped using only the florets
3 cups of rice
5 chick'n patties
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 can vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk (or vegetable broth)
1 1/2 te salt
1/2 te garlic powder
1/2 te onion powder
Pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper
Shredded cheese (optional)

• Melt butter in a sauce pan then add the flour. Mix until all the flour is absorbed and looks like a clump of dough.
• Turn off heat and slowly add your vegetable broth and soy milk in SMALL batches and fully incorporate before adding the next batch. If you add too much liquid and lumps form, you can whisk them out before continuing. As the gravy gets thinner, you can start adding more liquid per batch.
• Add the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, cayenne, and pepper. You want the gravy slightly salty as it will be flavoring all the rice and broccoli.
• Return to a medium/low heat and stir frequently to avoid lumps, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook for about 15 minutes, if it starts to bubble, reduce heat and simmer.
• While your gravy is heating, cut up your broccoli florets into manageably bite size pieces and steam for 10 minutes until fork tender.
• Cut up the chick'n patties into bite sized pieces.
• Cook your rice last to avoid clumping, I use minute rice, but any rice you have will work fine.
• Once everything is cooked, put the rice, chicken, and broccoli in a large bowl and stir, then add the gravy and mix until it's of uniform consistency. Fill a casserole dish and pat down with a spatula. Top with shredded cheese if you have it.
• Cook the casserole, uncovered, in a preheated 350º oven for 15 minutes.

Thrifty Thursday: Chicken Patties

This is, by far, the most utilized and versatile recipe in my arsenal. It has also saved us the most money. This is a chicken seitan recipe I adapted from an Italian sausage recipe I found at Everyday Dish. It's super easy to make, no kneading required. The possibilities for this chicken is endless, but some of our favorite ways to use it are;

• Chicken patties for a quick burger and fries meal on days I spend the evening at soccer practice. 
• Breaded and fried for chicken parmesan or chicken fingers.
• Cut them into bite sized pieces and put them in casseroles. 
• Toss them in a food processor and get a ground hamburger consistency which works really well in chick'n salad or a filling for things like samosas. 
• Or add different spices to make a more savory flavor and use to replace all your ground hamburger in things like tacos, pizza, meat balls, and meatloaf.

Chicken Patties

15 sheets of foil, about 8in long

2 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour)

2 TB chicken seasoning

2 1/4 cups cold water

2 TB oil

2 TB soy sauce

1/2 TB minced garlic

1 1/2 TB italian seasoning

• Mix all the dry ingredients together
• Mix all the wet ingredients together
• Mix the wet into the dry ingredients just until combined
• You can add another tablespoon of water if the mixture is too dry
• Scoop about 1/2 a cup of dough onto the middle of the foil and pat down to form a patty. Fold the sides of the foil in to form a little package.
• Steam for 30 minutes

You may not get 15 patties the first time you try this recipe, I think I only got 9 on my first try, but the more you do it the better formed your patties will be and you might see that you prefer less "meat" in your patties. We make a batch then reuse the foil for a second batch that we unwrap and throw in tupperware and freeze.

You can also follow the recipe but omit the garlic and italian seasoning for up to 5 tablespoons of your own spices to create a ton of different flavors.

Chicken patties, bacon, vegan mayo

Thrifty Thursday: Sailor's Cake

This is an old recipe handed down to me by my mother-in-law. The recipe came to me vegan with the explanation that sailors who were out to see, far longer than dairy and eggs could stay fresh, came up with a cake that only required shelf stable ingredients so they could have sweets anytime. I don't know if that's true, but it makes sense and it's a cute story.


Sailor Cake


3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 TB cocoa powder
2 te baking soda
1 te salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup oil
2 TB vinegar
2 te vanilla

• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl
• Add in the wet ingredients and stir just until mixed
• Pour the batter into 2 cake pans, a 9x13in pan, or cupcake liners
• Bake for 40 minutes (cook at 315º for 25 minutes for cupcakes)

This is a very moist and chocolaty cake, when I have them on hand I"ll add chocolate chips for an extra shot of chocolate.

Thrifty Thursday: Enchilada Casserole

I know it's not Thursday, but give me a break, I have like a ton of kids. But the one day delay was worth the wait. I love this recipe because it makes so much food and is endlessly customizable depending on what you have on hand. I get 2, 9x13in casserole dishes out of it if I use the larger, 10in size tortillas.

1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2 cup flour
2 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin powder
1 te garlic powder
1 te salt
1/4 te pepper
6 cups water
12 large flour tortillas
4 cups cooked or canned pinto beans


Heat oil in a large 3-4 quart pot over low heat, add onions and cook until soft.
Sprinkle in the flour and spices, stir.
Slowly add the water in small batches, keep stirring to avoid lumps. If you find you're getting lumps, use a whisk to get them out.
Cook over low heat for 20 min, stir occasionally while scraping the bottom to avoid lumps.


Preheat the oven to 350ºF.


To assemble the enchiladas, spread 2 cups of the sauce over the bottom of each 9x13in casserole dish, this will be 4 cups in total.
Heat a pan or griddle to about medium and oil lightly. Cook the tortillas, one at a time, for about 30 seconds on each side until they're golden.
Spread a big spoonful of beans down the middle of the tortilla while it's still warm and pliable. Roll it up and lay in the casserole dish, 6 tortillas to a dish.
Once you have one dish filled up, top the enchiladas with 1/2 of the remaining sauce and cook, uncovered, for 40 minuets while you assemble the second casserole dish, then repeat with the remaining enchiladas.

Variations

• Top with vegan shredded cheese or a cheese sauce
• Once cooked, top with vegan sour cream
• Top with salsa, tomatoes, olives, onions, hot sauce, or any other condiment you may have on hand
• Fill with a variety of beans, I like black and red beans and even add an extra can of beans to stuff the enchiladas if I have some on hand
• Fill with a combination of beans and seitan, chorizo flavor works really well.
• Add corn, cooked rice, or any cooked veg to the filling

Thrifty Thursday: Thai peanut butter noodles

A background on Thrifty Thursday- My husband gets paid every other week, so by the end of that second week, the day before payday, it's time to dig into the darkest nooks of the pantry, dust off those old cans, and defrost what ever frozen brick of food you found hiding behind that box of popsicles. Well as delicious as all that sounds, I quickly discovered that I'm not creative enough to combine frozen peas, a can of carrots, the last drops of BBQ sauce, and the last three lasagna noodles left in the box into a lovely meal for five. So my next course of action was to come up with staples that are shelf stable and inexpensive enough to always have on hand.

Thai Peanut Sauce


1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
 1 package top ramen seasoning 
2 TB lemon juice or vinegar
2 TB sugar
2 TB soy sauce
1 te coriander (I suggest investing in coriander, it really makes a difference in this sauce)
1/2 te red pepper flakes


Place all ingredients in a pot and slowly heat/mix until peanut butter is completely melted and heated through.

Variations: You can use creamy peanut butter, but we use chunky because we like the crunch of the peanuts
If you can't get your hands on vegan top ramen flavor packets, you can use a vegan broth powder or mock chicken flavoring. Or, you can replace the flavor packet and the 1 cup of water for vegetable broth.

How to use the sauce- We always have Top Ramen on hand, at 5/$1 it makes the perfect emergency food that keeps forever. We use the noodles in dishes like this, and keep the packets to flavor seitan. We just cook the noodles as directed on the package (the peanut sauce recipe works well with two packages of ramen noodles), drain completely, and pour on the sauce.
You can also chill this sauce and pour it over salad or brush onto seitan skewers and bake.

If I have tofu on hand I make broiled tofu

Broiled tofu 

• cut tofu into small triangles
• cover a baking sheet with foil
• lay tofu out and spray with cooking spray
• flip tofu over and spray other side
• place under broiler til tofu turns golden
• flip tofu then broil til golden

Then I just toss the tofu in the the noodles and sauce