vegetarianrecipes – Page 4 – Carrie Jones Books

Buckeye Balls of Easy Land

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FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a baker. I’m more of a cook.

Shaun legitimately just said to me today, “I’ve never seen anyone cook like you. You’re so good.”

And I said, “What about your mom and stuff?

And he paused and said, “Yeah. They were good cooks.”

And I said, “What’s different then?”

And he said, “Well, they follow directions.”

He quickly started laughing because he realized how mean that sounded. So, we’re still married.

Anyway. I’m not so good at following directions and baking? Baking usually requires that. So Buckeye Balls are one of my go-to recipes because they are easy.

I actually took a photo! I know! I know! Shocking!

Man Verdict: I LOVE THESE.

Dog Verdict: WE LOVE PEANUT BUTTER. NO CHOCOLATE THOUGH.

Me Verdict: These are good, But my hands feel weird.

WRITING AND OTHER NEWS

ART.

I do art stuff. You can find it and buy a print here.

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TIME STOPPERS!

You can order my middle grade fantasy novel Time Stoppers Escape From the Badlands here or anywhere.

People call it a cross between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson but it’s set in Maine. It’s full of adventure, quirkiness and heart.

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MOE BERG

The Spy Who Played Baseball is a picture book biography about Moe Berg. And… there’s a movie out now about Moe Berg, a major league baseball player who became a spy. How cool is that?

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It’s awesome and quirky and fun.

FLYING AND ENHANCED

Men in Black meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer? You know it. You can buy them here or anywhere.

Flying

OUR PODCAST – DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE

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dogs are smarter than people carrie after dark being relentless to get published

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WRITING BARN

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Stuff that Cauliflower, Baby

Okay. Apparently, I FAILED TO PUBLISH this post yesterday because…. Thanksgiving and I was a little flustered. But here you go… A Thursday cooking post on a Friday. Sorry!

It’s Thanksgiving post. And um…. it’s pretty dialed in, honestly because HE WHO ONLY EATS MEAT is being needy and um… holiday. And Gabby the Dog is barking a lot.

So, in honor of stuffing turkeys, I’m bringing you this SUPER EASY recipe where you take whatever stuffing you have and shove it in a cauliflower. I know! I know! Way to sell it, Carrie.

But it’s good. I promise. And even if it all breaks apart? It’s still really good – it’s just not pretty that way.

I hope you have a lovely day where you are thankful for the shared values that everyone in this country holds, things like togetherness, giving to others, sharing our stories and being grateful for what we have. Remember the stories and narratives we’ve been told about this holiday aren’t exactly true, but maybe we can start creating a new narrative – a story of unity and generosity – and carry that forward. It’s time.

Shout Out – This recipe is adapted from the much better recipe from the Food Network. They mention no uncles and actually make their own stuffing. I know! I know! Amazing.

Stuff that Cauliflower Recipe

Because it’s Thanksgiving and you have to stuff something.

1 big head of cauliflower (2.5 lbs – 3 lbs)
a lot of pre-made stuffing (like you've already made it)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (enough to spread on the cauliflower's outside)
2 TBSP butter

Okay. Look. It’s Thanksgiving. You aren’t supposed to talk politics, but you’re a writer. You don’t know how not to talk politics. Go and find a 1-gallon resealable freezer bag of the plastic kind.
Don’t think about how plastic is bad for the environment. You have enough to deal with right now because…. relatives and politics and Thanksgiving.
Turn on the stove to 400 Fahrenheit. Put the rack in the center of the stove. Find a baking sheet. Put parchment on that sheet.

Don’t get mad at the uncle who says that writers shouldn’t tweet about politics. Okay. Whatever. Get mad.
Look at your cauliflower. It’s so pretty. It’s like a brain. It’s like an uncle’s brain. Imagine this and you take the stem out. Try not to cut ANY STALK or ANY STEMS. Imagine you’re a doctor fixing your uncle’s brain so he’s nice.
Find a pot. Fill the pot with salted water and boil that brain – I mean cauliflower – for about 7 minutes. Don’t cook it too long or it will break when you stuff it with good political thoughts – I mean stuffing.
Take the cauliflower from the pot. Drain. Cool. Ignore your uncle when he says that being a vegetarian is an act of violence against the meat farmers of the country and un-American. Go find the wine.
Wine is not in the recipe but it doesn’t matter. Find the wine. Drink the wine while the cauliflower is cooling. Distract uncle by mentioning football.
Put your already made stuffing into the bag. Cut a hole (3/4-inch) in a corner.

Take that cauliflower and put it stem-side up.

Pipe filling in the holes between the florets. Push it down with your fingers. FILL THE HOLES WITH STUFFING and PRETEND THAT STUFFING IS KNOWLEDGE AND POLITICAL VIEWS THAT AGREE WITH YOUR OWN.

Wonder if you had too much wine.

Fill every single hole with stuffing. Your cauliflower will look weird. Your uncle always says ‘you look weird.’ Don’t care.

Put that cauliflower on the baking sheet, stem side should be down.
Brush butter on outside of the cauliflower brain. Sprinkle with salt.

Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake until the cauliflower about 40 minutes. Cauliflower will be soft. Breadcrumbs will be brown.

Cool 10 minutes.

Slice into wedges. Serve to everyone even your uncle.

The Man’s Verdict – How is this supposed to serve four people?

My Verdict – Normal people aren’t 6-6, buddy and don’t have your caloric needs. Also, this is yummy.

The Dog’s Verdict – It would be better with bones.

Writing News

Time Stoppers!

You can order my middle grade fantasy novel Time Stoppers Escape From the Badlands here or anywhere.

People call it a cross between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson but it’s set in Maine. It’s full of adventure, quirkiness and heart.

I’m WRITING BARN FACULTY AND THERE’S A COURSE YOU CAN TAKE!

I am super psyched to be teaching the six-month long Write. Submit. Support. class at the Writing Barn!

Past Write. Submit. Support. students have gone on to receive representation from literary agents across the country. View one of our most recent success stories here.

Apply Now!

Moe Berg

The Spy Who Played Baseball is a picture book biography about Moe Berg. And… there’s a movie out now about Moe Berg, a major league baseball player who became a spy. How cool is that?

It’s awesome and quirky and fun.

OUR PODCAST – DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE.

Writing Coach

I offer solo writing coach services. For more about my individual coaching, click here.

Cooking With a Writer – Chill out, Mom – Creamy Green Bean Soup

So, my mom was a really big proponent of eating meat with every single meal.

She didn’t like fresh vegetables except for corn on the cob and cucumbers. To be fair, she only like cucumbers when they were thinly sliced and put on a massive caravan of mayonnaise and smooshed in between two slices of white bread.

Wait.

I liked

She was also fine with tomatoes and lettuce (ice berg) on hamburgers.

That was pretty much it.

So, when I had Emily (my kiddo) and I was reverting to my vegetarian ways, my mother FREAKED OUT and would legit drive 2.5 hours to visit us just to cook roasts.

My favorite cookbook was Horn of the Moon, which was a vegetarian cookbook written by Ginny Callan who owned Horn of the Moon restaurant. I didn’t see the cookbooks until after the restaurant closed or I totally would have tromped to Vermont and sobbed, hugging this woman, who I sort of thought as my vegetarian food savior.

Anyway, one afternoon my mom called and asked me what I was cooking.

“Creamy Green Bean Soup,” I said.

And she said, “Sweet Mother of God, Carrie. What is wrong with you? You don’t do that to green beans. Are you trying to die?”

So…. Yeah…

Here’s the recipe adapted from Horn of the Moon.

Yes, You Can Do This With Green Beans – Creamy Soup

Adapted from Horn of the Moon

The calorie estimate is probably high.

5 cups water
1.5 lbs green beans (chopped into 1.5-inch pieces (6 cups))
5 tbsp butter
3 whole onions
1 tsp thyme (dried)
1.5 tsp dill (dried)
2 whole bay leaves (I never have these)
3.5 tbsp white flour
.5 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
dash dashy siracha (to taste. )

Curse out your mother for harshing on your soup as you boil 5 cups of water in a big pot.

Add cut green beans to water once the water boils.

Return the water to boil, cover.

Lower the heat to simmer and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Write a poem about your mother.

Realize that whenever you were little and drew your mother would declare, “Nobody in this family are artists. Not one of us has a lick of artistic ability.”

Realize you would rather be an artist that a writer.
Let this sink in.
While you are despondent over the course of your life as a writer not an artist, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a bit pan.

Once butter is melted, saute the onions and herbs until those onions are a light brown.

Realize you should be drawing this right now instead of writing about it.
Once the onions are done, add the contents of the pan to the green beans and water. Turn the heat off of the green beans and water.

Let everything sit a bit because it’s super hot – much like your temper right now.
Puree about 3/4th of that green bean mix.

Use a blender.
Put the pureed mix back into the soup pot.

Throw in bay leaves.

Bay leaves would be fun to draw, wouldn’t they?
Wonder if your whole life is a lie and you should have been an artist instead of a writer.
Write a poem about it.
Melt the rest of the butter in that pan you’d been using before.

Add flour to melted butter. Use low heat.

Stir it until it gets a light brown color.

Find cream. Whisk that into the butter and flour.

Add one ladle of soup to it.

Do this two more times then pour all of that back into the soup.
Add salt. Add pepper. Add milk. Add hot sauce. Taste it. Adjust it to what you want it to be.

Wish you could adjust your parents’ beliefs about art and family proclivities the way you can adjust soup taste.

Simmer on low heat.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Use this time to sign up for art class.

As you know, these weekly recipes are my attempt to getting the family to eat more food without meat. And I always put down their verdicts.

Man Verdict: You know what would make this perfect? Ham.

My Verdict: Have you been communicating with my mom in the spirit world?

Dogs’ Verdict: Ham or bacon. Either would be okay. You could drop some on the floor, you know. That would be nice.

carriejonesbooks.blog — Sparty: Everything is better with bacon.