Tonight our family enjoyed another vegetarian maindish: Sloppy Lentils, the non-meat version of Sloppy Joes. This recipes was inspired by one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, by Robin Robertson.

Though I’ve made other recipes from her book, this was our first time for Sloppy Lentils. I couldn’t resist modifying the recipe to my family’s tastes. Here’s what I did:

Vegetable oil
1 C. diced onion
1 C. chopped green pepper
2 teaspoons Penzeys Medium Hot Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Penzeys Smoked Spanish Paprika
1 1/2 C. dried brown lentils, rinsed
2 C. petite diced tomatoes
3 C. water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a skillet, saute the onion and green pepper in vegetable oil. Mix in chili powder and paprika.

Empty mixture in a slow cooker. Add lentils, tomatoes, water, soy sauce, mustard, brown sugar, and salt. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the lentils are tender.

Note: The original recipe called for different amounts of onion, pepper, and salt. It also called for freshly ground pepper, which I omitted altogether. Another modification in this version is the Smoked Spanish Paprika, which does a good job of contributing more red color and flavor.

Makes filling for 6-8 sandwiches.

Each of our published recipes is based on a type of meat, but if you or someone you cook for is a vegetarian, you can alter the recipes to suit.

The easiest recipes to adapt are the ones that use cooked, crumbled ground beef. Try replacing the ground beef with textured vegetable protien (TVP). This meat replacement comes dehydrated (it looks a bit like Grape Nuts cereal). Reconstitute 1 cup TVP with 1 cup boiling water to yield 2 cups. One pound of cooked ground beef equals about 2 1/2 cups, so adjust the amount of TVP accordingly. Another option is to replace the ground beef with rice and/or beans of any kind. Freeze the entree as described in the book.

The recipes that use chicken, pork or flank steak in a marinade will be nice with portobello mushrooms, other vegetables, or firm tofu substituted for the meat. Package the marinade in a one quart bag and freeze. When you want to make this meal, thaw the marinade and soak the vegetables or tofu for a few hours before grilling or stir frying. Yum!

Now that you are cooking the Warehouse Gourmet way, you may find that you start to think about all cooking with make-ahead in mind. I’ve been cooking this way so long that it is hard for me not to!

I volunteered to take mashed potatoes to my Kindergarten daughter’s Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. Why make just enough for 11 kids? I boiled up ten pounds of potatoes - enough for tonight’s side dish, the Thanksgiving feast at school tomorrow and a couple side dishes to go in to the freezer.

Potatoes can be a tricky thing to freeze - but not when they are mashed. Mashed potatoes freeze with great results. I added 1/2 cup of butter, 8 ounces of cream cheese, salt and pepper to taste and enough chicken broth to get the consistency we like. (This is how we like them, rich and creamy, but you can mash your potatoes with whatever you like!)

Now I have mashed potatoes for at least two more meals and it was no more work than if I had done enough for one. Who says make-ahead is only for entrees!

Some of you who know me are aware that I am working toward my Master Recycler designation. If you’re familiar with a Master Gardener, you get the idea of what this is: I’ve taken an 8 week course about recycling, waste reducation, composting and the like. The I do volunteer work to earn my certificate. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve been enjoying myself.

This weekend I volunteered at the Fix-it fair in central Portland. I was at the “Greener Cleaners” booth, sharing recipes for homemade cleaners that are more economical and less toxic than commercial alternatives. It was a great time.

To add to the fun, Burgerville was there with Oregon Country Beef family rancher, Dan Barnhart, giving away free burgers and free cookbooks. The recipes in their cookbook were all submitted by ranchers in the Oregon Country Beef cooperative. Not only are there lots of great recipes and photos of the ranch families submitting them, but the whole cookbook is available online. Take a look!

Dan’s family contributed the Ranch House BBQ Muffins which look delicious. I haven’t made them yet, but am 99.9% sure they’ll freeze just fine after you cook them up as directed. I’m also eager to try the homemade jerky recipe and the barbeque sauce on the same page. The recipes, photos of ranch families, and cookbook are definately worth taking the time to check out and savor.

We keep hearing such wonderful things from our customers who own The Warehouse Gourmet. Several readers have been so inspired they’ve already filled their freezers. Below are some excerpts from them. If you’d like to drop us a line, simply click on the Contact Us link at www.warehousegourmet.com. We’ll keep posting as they come in.

Thanks so much. I brought the book home and feel like I got my Christmas early. This is what I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but never seem to find the time to organize myself. This book is perfect for a person like me. It spells everything out – simplifies the process of organizing our meal times.

–Laura

I’m so excited! I spent yesterday afternoon making 4 recipes from your cookbook! I have 12 meals in the freezer! Can’t wait to try them! Thanks so much for the inspiration!

–Lisa

Several of you report taking just one recipe a day and making it. After several days, you’ve got yourself over a dozen meal just waiting in the freezer without having to carve out a bunch of time from your schedules. We’re thrilled that you are already customizing our recipes and method to fit into your own busy lives and families.

I’ve been putting meals up in my freezer from this really cool cookbook!! We had Chicken Broccoli Bake last night and it was devoured by everyone in the family! yea! I have Royal Thai Thighs in there as of yesterday and working on a hamburger recipe this afternoon.
Feels good to slowly fill the freezer…..

–Polly

Keep sending ‘em in and we’ll post them as we can. Happy cooking!