Veggie Meat Pies and Fabulous Two Ingredient Brownies

I worked really hard on a Sunday dinner especially for my son, but he couldn’t make it for dinner. I don’t even know how these meat pies taste, but I chronicled the preparation so I’m posting it anyway!

There’s a local restaurant called Boomerang’s that makes traditional Aussie Meat Pies and also offers several vegetarian options, including one with tofu (but also with cheese). Since I’m on an Indian food kick at the moment, the Curry Veggie Pie appealed to me. I contacted the owner and asked if he offered any vegan pies. He said no. I told him I would be making my own vegan version and asked about the proper crust. He shared, and then asked me how to make a vegan pie crust. So maybe I’ll see a vegan option on his menu soon!

I began by making my filling with a package of Lightlife veggie crumbles, onions, sweet peppers (because I have so many), a little tomato sauce, and lots of vegan Worcestershire sauce. I also made the bottom crust, which is a standard 9-inch crust. The top crust is puff pastry. I would make four pies in my giant muffin tins. The tins are 4 inches in diameter, so I used a 6 inch bowl to cut my pastry.




After pressing in the bottom crust, I added the filling.

Then I added the top crust and sealed it.

I cut an X in the top crust before baking them. They baked for 10 minutes at 400, then I reduced the temp to 350 and baked another 20 minutes. All done.

While they were cooling, I began to wonder how I was going to get them out! I couldn’t just pull them out for fear of taking off the top crust. I was able to tip the pan and grab them as they slid out – whew!

I thought they turned out beautifully. Look at that crust!

I was DYING to know if you could really just pick them up and bite into them without the filling running out everywhere. But I didn’t take a bite or cut into it. I did peek though.

They are now in the freezer. I know the puff pastry won’t be any good after it’s thawed. Oh, well.

You MUST have mashers with the pies, so I made that too. I had one giant sweet potato and one smallish white potato, so I cooked both of those. Here are my Bicolor Mashers which I ate with some greens.

I also made gravy, for the pies and mashers, and Celine’s Whole Wheat Rolls. Celine, the rolls turned out perfect!

And now for the fabulous brownies! This recipe is the very first one I gave Chase, along with the ingredients and a muffin pan. I didn’t eat one back then, but he said they were amazing, so I thought they would be an easy treat for the end of this meal. I got this recipe from Hungry Girl, by the way. Here are the ingredients.

That’s it! Chocolate cake mix and pumpkin. I used a gluten free mix Amey gave me. I removed about a cup of the mix because I think the Betty Crocker mixes are 18 ounces and my mix was 25 ounces. Anyway, all you do is stir stir stir until it’s mixed, resisting the urge to add water because it’s seems like it will never come together, then put into your muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I did add a little vanilla because I think it helps take away the box mix taste. But still, that’s only 3 ingredients. So here’s how they look when they’re done.

And here’s the inside, fudgy, but fully cooked. They are wonderful. They definitely satisfy a chocolate craving.

Besides having to eat alone on Sunday evening, I had to find/make room in the freezer for all these leftovers.

I’m actually enjoying leftover Samosa Soup. It just keeps getting better.