This is one of my favorite recipes that required very little adaptation for vegeterian (It calls for bacon which I ommitted).

Cheese Soup

Ingredients

1 stick butter
8 T Flour
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups Milk, scalded
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup warm cream
4 slices bacon, diced and cooked (I ommitted the bacon last night for Vegetarian week)
Dash Cayenne Pepper

Melt butter. Add flour, stir til smooth. Add cheese & broth, stirring constantly. Add milk & onions, simmer til cheese is melted. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cream, cayenne pepper and taste for seasoning. Top with bacon.

Beer Bread

Ingredients

3 cups Self Rising Flour
3 T Sugar
1 Can of Beer
Sesame Seeds (optional)

Mix the flour, sugar and beer together. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds (optional). Bake at 350 for 1 hour. After the first 45 minutes pour 1/4 c melted butter over top of loaf and continue baking for last 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack out of the pan.

Since I’ve made this meal plenty of times before, no complaints from Biker Dude. He loves it. :glee:

Big thanks to Larissa Ione, my vegetarian expert, for this recipe! :heart:

And as a side note, my friend Angie pointed out that photography is not one of my awesome skills. If you want gorgeous pictures of food, see The Pioneer Woman’s blog. It’s definitely her forte and will make you drool. You won’t see pretty pictures of food here. But I will put up photos of what I cook and my camera isn’t the best out there. So there you have it. And Angie….. :neener:

Yesterday I fixed Ziti Pasta with Mushrooms and Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Biker Dude loved it and took some leftovers with him to work today. Yay! I loved it too and I’ll be having some leftovers for lunch today as well. Yummm.

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 celery rib, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
2 leeks, white parts only, quartered and sliced thinly
1/4 c. flour
3 c. warmed milk
salt and pepper
1 heaping tblsp mustard
1 pound ziti or macaroni
2 c. grated sharp cheddar (I used 3 cups instead)
1 c fresh bread crumbs

Melt butter in saucepan, add celery, mushrooms, leeks. Cook over med. heat for about 5 min. Stir in flour, cook for 1 min. then quickly whisk in the milk. Simmer 15 min., stirring frequently. Season w/tsp. salt, pepper to taste, and mustard.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cooked past w/ sauce and cheese, then pour into baking dish, cover w/bread crumbs, bake until bubbling and browned, about 30 mins.

Commencing with ugly pictures now:

We started our week of vegetarian cooking Saturday night with a recipe I adapted from Rachael Ray’s magazine. This is actually a Bacon and Egg Caesar Salad, so I just left the bacon out and it still tasted great.

I found this recipe a couple years ago in Rachael Ray’s magazine and fell in love with it. Sometimes I like a salad for dinner. The bacon and egg in it is a unique twist and I love the dressing. Like I said, for Vegetarian Week I left the bacon out but I’ll go ahead and include the full recipe here for those who are interested in the original recipe:

Bacon and Egg Caesar (From Everyday With Rachael Ray Magazine)

4 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes

Ingredients:

6 to 8 strips thick-cut bacon
1 large clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (Note: I omitted the anchovy paste because I don’t like anchovies. It doesn’t seem to affect the dressing at all)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
14 ounces baby romaine leaves or 2 small heads romaine lettuce, cut crosswise 1 inch wide
One 2- to 4-ounce piece parmesan cheese, cut into shavings
4 slices pumpernickel-rye bread, toasted and cut into cubes
4 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-low heat, turning, until crispy, about 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then break into 1-inch pieces.

Rub the inside of a large salad bowl with the garlic; discard the garlic. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and anchovy paste and mix until blended. Mix in the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Add the lettuce and bacon to the bowl and toss gently to coat with the dressing. add the cheese and croutons and toss again. Divide among plates and top with the chopped eggs.

Note: I tend to add a little more Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Dijon and Olive Oil than the recipe calls for, otherwise I find there’s more ‘salad’ than there is dressing and the salad is a little dry. You can experiment and taste for yourself and adjust accordingly.

Biker Dude the meat eater really likes this salad :glee: