Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Cashew Dill Dip, Coin Update, Pain Update, Vegan Grocery Hauls, Veganized Great Depression Cooking, & Tomato Cakes

I'm really trying to make the most of this crappy weather that we have been experiencing but it's difficult.  Especially when my parents are soaking up the sun in St. Lucia for about a week.  Lucky Stinkers!

I've been testing new recipes, doing research on several topics, and making mini goals for myself.

Yesterday I made this Cashew Dill Dip.  It's made up of 2 C Cashews, 2 C Water, 4 T Lemon Juice, 1 Small Onion, 6 Cloves Garlic, Dill and Black Sea Salt to taste.


Today I had some HAPPY MAIL - about 30 coins from all over the world.  I was VERY excited to add these to my collection.  I'm up to 98 countries now!

I've been trying to tackle ongoing pain issues that seem to mirror Fibromyalgia.  I've upped my intake of Spirulina & Chlorella and hope to up my Vitamin C, B, D, & Magnesium mostly thru foods. 

Today I did 2 mini budget hauls.  This first one was at my local herbs store.  It was unplanned but these items caught my eye because they were on the discount shelf (except for the Hemp Hearts which I needed).  Those were over $8.  Other than that the rest of what you see here was roughly $10.  As an afterthought - I don't think I have ever tried the Kamut Spirals, Spinach Spaghetti, or those Simply Organic flavors before.  The last couple of times I bought Hemp Hearts online they were about $6 so I know they can be found cheaper but since I was already there and it is a small business and locally owned business I thought I would splurge a bit.


As for this other grocery haul - it was 'sort of' planned.  What I mean by that is - I watched The Vegan Zombie's video on Vegan Shopping at Dollar Tree and thought I would see what I could find at ours. I found 2 soups that were clearly marked vegan, Gnocchi, Soy Milk, Bread, Olive Oil, Chickpeas, Black Beans, Sweet Corn, Saltines, and Diced Tomatoes.  The Diced Tomatoes were 2 for $1 and the Corn was 79 cents...other than that the rest was $1 each.  That bought my total to $12.79.



I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I have been doing a lot of research.  I like to call it 'personal enrichment' or throw it in the 'more you know' category.  Regardless...check this out!  One of the many things I have been researching lately is Great Depression Cooking.  I have looked into that topic in the past before but the spark was re-lit the past couple of days.  This also falls into 'Eating on a Budget' that I like to do as much as possible.  What you see here are Tomato Cakes.



Tomato Cakes are made up of 2 ingredients.  Canned, Diced Tomatoes and Saltine Crackers.  All I did was crumble up about 30 Saltines and mixed them in with 1 can of diced tomatoes.  I then made patties out of them and pan-fried them with a little oil.  If you want you can kick it up a notch and use Basil infused oil for a twist.  These turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  I topped them with leftover Cashew Dill Dip.  I will be making these again and soon!  They cost $2 or less for an entire batch.  I easily made 10 patties out of these ingredients!

17 comments:

  1. Tomato cakes, those patties? They look gorgeous. Sounds so very easy to make!!!

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    1. P.S.
      I think I will send you an email so you can reply to give me your mailing address and I can send you some of the coins from here.

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    2. Yup! They are like patties! I have seen other people online make them with different crackers, too! Do you have my current addy? I will see if I have you in my address book still. Thanks!

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  2. Oooh very happy mail indeed! That is so cool, I'm sure it definitely brightened up your day. Great haul and tomato cakes with dill dip sounds amazing!

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    1. Thanks! Let me know if you try them - they are super easy and YUMMY!

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  3. I saw that vegan zombie video too! Also No Egg Craig is doing another vegan on a budget series.
    Those tomato patties look seriously amazing!!

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    1. I have been trying to keep an eye on No Egg Craig, too! I will look for your comments again LOL

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  4. Hey there. I don't know you at all, but I found your blog through Hillary's blog and...over the summer I scored a baggie of foreign coins (and a few bills) from all over the world. I'll try to put together a list in the next few weeks and, if you need any from the countries I have, you can give me your address and I'll send them!

    I saw that Vegan Zombie vid, too. I only just discovered him this past weekend. I really enjoy him. He's so earnest.

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    1. Hi there! I remember you from a while back! Thanks for visiting again and commenting! Thanks so much for the coin offer! I would love to know what you have! I have been looking for your blog but can't find an active one. Do you have it on another platform? The Vegan Zombie guys are awesome! Sooooo nice! I missed seeing them this summer. It would have been my 4th time seeing them at vegfests!

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  5. I'm sorry to hear about the pain you're experiencing. I hope you're able to find some relief.

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    1. Thanks! Today has been pretty good so far eventho it's been brutally cold! I hope to have more days like this in a row and possibly show some progress!

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  6. I would not have guessed that there were only two ingredients in those patties, and had I known, I would not have guessed saltines! Very clever. The dill dip sounds great (I love dill), and I imagine they would have gone very well together.

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    1. I'm sure there are other items you can add such as onion, peppers, corn, etc...might try that down the road!

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  7. The tomato cakes look great. So sorry about the weather, I hope things get better soon!

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    1. I'm exhausted...so tired...literally DRAINED from being cold all the time....sigh...

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  8. I remember making the tempeh helper with the kamut spirals. But they are pretty much just whole wheat pasta (kamut is just a type of wheat)

    Those tomato cakes look really yummy!

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    1. I was thinking Mac & Cheese! I have vegan cheese sauce left so I'm sure I will do at least that with the kamut spirals

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