Category Archives: vegetarian

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Why don’t you make me?: Three-Tiered Terra Cotta Planter

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With limited space in my small city yard every inch counts so each Spring I am faced with a decision: do I want pretty flowers or a functioning vegetable garden?  I envision myself having friends over for dinner and quickly running outside with my schears to an adorable, and lovingly attended to, little vegetable garden- I’d grab fresh herbs for the potatoes, pluck some peppers and lettuce for the salad and maybe bring in some grape tomatoes for my friends to snack on before dinner.  They just love that.  Then, after dinner we’d all get in my spaceship and go visit Unitron, the home of the last living unicorn.  In other words, it’s not going to happen.

What did happen however is this- a triple-decker half veggie/half flower tower of compromise.  I’m taking baby steps to becoming the world’s best hostess by growing only the greens to my future salads and I still have room for flowers! 

Here’s how I did it:

First, I invited Liz over who did everything.  (This was an important step because Liz is wicked good at this stuff and because I have a cast on my right arm up to my elbow right now.) 

Next, we took pots from the pot graveyard on the side of my house and selected 3 in decending sizes.  (These don’t have to match perfectly, as you can see.)

Pick a sunny spot in your garden to place the biggest pot- we nestled ours right into this Vinca Minor- and fill with soil until just below the top.

Add a small dowel or bamboo rod into the largest pot and thread themiddle pot onto it burying the pot about an inch into the soil of the largest pot.

Then trim the dowel until about 3-4″ is showing to be inserted into the smallest pot.

Now have Liz thread the smallest pot right over the dowel and press into the dirt on the lower level burying it slightly.  Great job Liz!

And finally, you are ready to plant your Garden of Compromise.  Liz and I decided on some green lettuce, purple lettuce, white & purple flowers, 2 small cascading plants and topped the whole thing off with a ponytail fern.

Now we truly can have our garden…and eat it too.

Thanks Liz!! ❤ ❤ ❤

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Make Me: PDQ Veggie Pot Pie

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Why Don’t You Make Me:
PDQ Veggie Pot Pie
It’s a cold, dreary day in Boston today.  A day that makes you want to slip into some sweatpants, get under a blanket and watch 12-13 hours of daytime TV.  A perfect day for comfort food and I have just the thing, this hearty, meat-free pot pie that takes about 15 minutes to prepare and is muy delicioso! 
Ingredients
  • 2 frozen pie crusts
  • frozen mixed veggies
  • Quorn veggie “chick’n” patties
  • 1/2 an onion
  • mushroom gravy
  • salt n peppa
  • Goya season salt
I got this recipe from my Quick Fix Vegetarian cookbook which is chock full of healthy vegetarian meals that can be ready in under 30 minutes.  In the book this recipe is made in a casserole dish with a pie crust over the top.  The crust is my favorite part of a pot pie so the crust-to-filler ratio isn’t high enough for me that way so I decided to make my pot pie in one pie crust and cover it with a second crust to make a full pie. 
Either way is fine.  (My way just happens to be better is all.)
To begin,  cook your frozen veggies and add them to one of your frozen pie shells.  Leave the 2nd pie crust out to allow it to thaw. 
Cut and saute 1/2 an onion, add to veggies.
Add “meat”- I used 2 frozen “chik’n” patties from Quorn, microwaved, cut into cubes and added to my dish.
Cover with gravy (1 can), salt & pepper to taste, add Goya season salt if you want and gently fold all ingredients together.

Next, gently peel your now unfrozen 2nd pie crust from the pan and place it on top of the pie.  Press sides together with a fork and cut 3 vents in the top to allow steam to escape.

Pop it in your preheated 350 degree oven -on top of a cookie sheet to catch any overflow- and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. 
I’ve never used a store-bought pie crust (God’s honest truth) but they’ve made a believer out of me.  They were flaky, baked up to a perfect golden brown and tasted wonderful.

I shared this pot pie with my non-vegetarian husband and meat eating friend Stephen and were given rave reviews by both!  It’s so hearty and tasty that unless you tell people it’s they probably won’t even know it’s a vegetarian dish. 

So go on, why don’t you make me?
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Phantom Pharm Stands

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For as long as I can remember I’ve always loved the adorable signs found at Farm Stands and cute little side-of-the-road shops.  In fact, a lot of times I stop at farm stands just to check out their signs.

Recently I came across this big piece of plywood in the scrap pile at the Home Depot that was practically begging to have an ear of corn painted on it.  I promptly took it home (then left it in my to-do pile for about a month) and was only too happy to oblige.   
So now I have this big 4″ tall painting of an ear of corn with some Fresh Prince-esque writing on it and no farm stand to speak of…well, except this one that I painted on a window:

Know anybody with a farm stand who could use some sprucing up?  I’d love to paint them some giant pumpkins for the Fall or some big ol’ baskets of apples.  And I’m willing to trade.   
If you know anyone who might be interested have them email me.  Thanks!