Becky's Orangecello

Ingredients:
8 ripe oranges (for Limoncello, use lemons)
750 ml vodka

Directions:
Zest fruit and soak in vodka for 8 days
Dissolve 3/4 c sugar in 750 ml water over low heat
Let it cool and mix with vodka mixtures.
Let it sit for about 5 days

PBJ Oatmeal

Jessie told me about this recipe. Add peanut butter, jelly, and a little salt to your oatmeal, as well as milk or something creamy. I raised my eyebrows at first but when I tasted it: pure satisfaction.

Potato Leek Soup

This is a great soup to make a ton of and have on hand all week. It requires only three ingredients (one of which is butter) so it's a good one to try if you're at the store and don't want to run all over getting ingredients. I like to make as much as I can, using roughly equal parts leeks and potatoes.

Russet Potatoes, peeled and chopped
Leeks, trimmed, washed well, and sliced

Put chopped leeks and potatoes into large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer till potatoes are done (about 45 minutes). Mash with a fork until smooth. Add some big hunks of butter and salt to taste.

Never Run Out of Tacos

Okay, so my sister is always complaining that I never have any food in the house when she comes over. Really she's saying that she never has any food in the house when I come over. This recipe costs almost nothing and it's easy to always have ingredients on hand.

Ingredients (even a few of the following fillings make a good meal):

Pinto Beans
Pepper Jack or other spicy cheese
Potatoes
Corn Tortillas (They are sold even at the stores where all their flour tortillas are gross. They are also inexpensive, come in bulk, and last a long time)
Tapatio, Crystal or other hot sauce
Chopped Onion
Fried plantains (optional)
Red Cabbage (also lasts practically forever!)
Salt

Directions:

Wash and cut up the potatoes, and make enough for leftovers. Put them in the microwave for 4 minutes and heat up canola or other light vegetable oil on a skillet. After the potatoes have been cooked in the microwave, fry them in oil until crispy. (Optional: add vinegar and sugar). Add salt.

Put a can or two of pinto beans in a pot and heat on medium. Add some olive oil and Tapatio and mash them up so they are still kind of whole but more liquid.

Fry up the tortillas until bubbling and a little crispy.

Put cheese on open tortilla, then put beans and potatoes inside, being careful not to overfill. Slide a fresh tortilla underneath and let it heat up so it's steamy and soft. Add cabbage and onions and fold into a taco. Drizzle hot sauce on each bite.

One makes a light meal, two makes a hearty meal.

Sad Sandwich

I made this sandwich today while sad. It tasted good, so I guess I wasn't too too too too sad.

Ingredients:

Sourdough bread
Tapatio or other hot sauce
Mendocino Mustard or other sweet hot mustard
Tofu
Soy sauce
Black Pepper
Red Chili Flakes
Cream Cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese
Sliced Onion


Mix together the soy sauce with a little water, chili flakes, and black pepper.
Cut tofu into very thin strips and soak tofu in mixture. It would probably be good to marinate for a while, but I didn't, and it turned out fine.
Fry tofu until very well cooked, adding extra pepper or chili flakes directly to the tofu in the pan.
Toast Bread
On one side of the toast, spread a very thin layer of cream cheese with some tapatio or other hot sauce sprinkled over it.
On the other side, spread a layer of Mendocino Mustard (or other sweet hot mustard).
Put tofu, cheese, and onions on sandwich. No need to use too much cheese.
Heat the sandwiches up on the pan before eating to melt cheese.

Note: if you make this sandwich vegan, the only really good fake cheese is Vegan Gourmet. "Better than cream cheese" is pretty good for the cream cheese, though I still like real cream cheese better. The sandwich I made today was with fake cheese and it was really good.

Serve with Bloody Marys and beer and a side of Kale and another little side of sliced avocado.