Chilly or is it Chili?

This cool weather has me in “hunker down and wear sweaters and eat chili” mode. And much to my delight I have 2 AWESOME chili recipes that will make you feel warm and snuggly from the inside out. One is quick and easy, the other requires a bit more chopping, but is totally worth the effort.

Three Bean Chili
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or one 16-ounce can of tomato sauce)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup of dry quinoa
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Water or tomato juice as needed
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves or fresh parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat up the oil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. You could just use water instead, but I like to add a little fat for flavor.
2. Add the bell peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, and chili powder, cayenne, coriander, and cumin, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and all the beans, and bring to a boil. Add a little water as needed.
4. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, adding water or tomato juice as needed if too much liquid evaporates.
5. While the beans cook make the quinoa. First rinse it several times, until the water runs pretty clear. Then bowl 1 cup water and add the quinoa to it. Put a lid on it and lower the heat (basically do just the same as cooking rice). It should be done in about 20 minutes, but check occasionally and if the water is gone then the quinoa is ready.
6. Stir the cooked quinoa into the bean mixture. Add as much as you want. If you like a more soupy chili, add less, if you like a thick chili, add more. Save any leftovers, you can use them later in the week. Season with salt and black pepper, and stir in the cilantro or parsley. Enjoy.

Serving suggestions and variations:
*You can obviously use any color variation of bell pepper; the more color variety, the prettier the dish is. Same goes for the beans. You can use all black or white (Navy, Great Northern, etc.) instead of pinto. It’s really up to you, your preferences, and what you have on hand.
*Add more cayenne and chili powder to make it hotter.
*Serve with different color tortilla chips: white, red, and black/blue. Or my favorite way which is covered in Fritos and sliced avocado. Yum!

White Chili
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
1 can of black beans
1 can of Navy beans (or Northern beans)
1 veggie bullion cube
2 tsps extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 stalks of chopped celery
1 or 2 chopped carrots (3/4 of a cup, or so)
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups of water
1 small can of chopped green peppers
1 tsp cumin
A shake or 2 of oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Heat up the oil. Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic. Stir until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water and the veggie bullion cube, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and put a lid on it. Let it cook for 5 or 10 minutes, checking occasionally to see if the celery and carrots are softening.
Take a 1 cup measuring cup and dip it into the mixture , scoop about ½ cup of the liquid from the pot (try not to pick up any of the veggies if you can and watch your fingers, it will be hot)
Pour out the rest of the mixture (I just strain it) and add the ½ cup of liquid back to the pot with the veggies.
Add the cumin and oregano
Strain and rise the black beans. Add them to the mixture
Add the Navy beans and the can of green chili’s to the mixture (don’t drain the beans or the chilis)
Bring the mixture to a boil and add salt and pepper as needed
Serving suggestions and variations:
*You can change this up in so many ways. Adding bell peppers or corn or red pepper flakes for more heat.
*Serve with Fritos or tortilla chips and sliced avocado. It is deeelish.

It is 100 degrees outside

Easy Fruit Ice Cream (Adapted from Debra Murray)

2 cups soy milk
1 box instant pudding mix
20 ounces frozen mixed fruit

In a food processor, add soy milk, pudding mix, and frozen fruit.

Pulse 3-4 times and then let run until desired consistency. If you want to have a slightly firmer texture, scoop into another bowl and freeze for about 20 minutes.

The person that made up this recipe is quick to point out that it isn't really ice cream but I think that is what makes it so great. It isn't loaded with all the fat and calories of regular ice cream and it tastes soooo good. Oh, and it takes about 4 minutes to make. I have made this with vanilla pudding and white chocolate pudding and it was great both times. You can use any kind of fruit you like although I have only tried it with berries.

Wednesday

This meal is really a celebration of July in Kansas. I improvised a little because the original recipe has shrimp on top. But I couldn't do that because shrimp is full of cholesterol...oh and it's not vegan. This one is better anyway and there is no risk of finding a poop vein.
Corn Cakes with Black Bean Salad and Mexican Rice
Shit. I will post this one later. I didn't realize that it is already after 11:00. I love you guys but I love sleep more....

Monday

I have several friends that seem almost fascinated by the food we eat. I don't know if it is because it is not typical or if maybe they are not very adventurous with food but whatever the reason a couple of them have asked me to write about our dinners more often. So, I started the week with every intention of posting a photo and recipe every night. Ahem...sorry about that. I need to play a little catch up.
Monday we had General Tao's Tofu and a spring roll. The recipe is here. The photo above is a little deceiving because I forgot to put the sauce on the food before I took the photo. This is what it looks like with the sauce.
This is the perfect recipe for people who are afraid of tofu or haven't really ventured out into making Chinese food at home. I love to fix this because it tastes like take out without all the fat and sugar and MSG. I do make a couple of changes to the recipe though-for starters I double the sauce. I like my rice to be saucy too and so will you. So double it. BUT don't double the sugar. It doesn't need it and neither does your body (or your very energetic 2 year old boy's body). Also you can use any veggies you like and you can put it on rice or noodles. I recommend brown rice because it tastes great and is better for you.
If tofu scares you I have a little advice. If you live in Lawrence buy Central Foods Tofu. They have it at the Merc and HyVee. Squeeze around until you find one that is firm. Take it home and put it in the freezer. The morning of the day that you plan to fix this dish take your tofu out and let it defrost in the sink. That night open up the package and give it a good squeeze. The more water you can get out of your tofu the firmer it will be and firm tofu is a good thing. Don't buy the silken tofu. That is for desserts. Oh speaking of that I have a great silken tofu dessert that I will post about this weekend. Anyway, don't buy the silken or you will never want to cook with tofu again. And that would be a shame.

Walnut-Basil Pesto Day 2

Pesto on sandwiches is really really great. For this I just cut up some of our favorite veggies-zucchini, yellow squash, artichokes, red bell peppers, baby portabella mushrooms, asparagus, spinach and onions-mixed them in a bowl with a little olive oil and sea salt and then cooked them in a hot cast iron skillet until they were nice and brown. Then I took a chiabatta loaf, cut it into sandwich size slices, spread some pesto on the top, filled the bottom with the veggies, put it on a cookie sheet and baked it at 300 for about 10 minutes. Just to warm it all up. After I got it out of the oven I spread some sundried tomato mayo on the bottom slice on the bread and served it up with roasted garlic couscous (from a box). To make the sundried tomato mayo just mix a cup of mayo (I like vegonase) with a few chopped up sundried tomatos and 2 small cloves of finely minced garlic and some salt and pepper. It is great on every kind of sandwich we have tried. Including Faken' Bacon BLT's...but that is a recipe for another day. I hope you try this and enjoy. It is a great way to get all your little green dots, Miss Candy :)

Pesto

I mentioned a few days ago that eating less meat is a great way to do something positive for the environment. Well, a friend of mine emailed me and mentioned that she doesn't know many vegetarian meals and asked for some of my favorites. Of course, I am happy to share them, hopefully you will try them and let me know what you think.

Walnut-Basil Pesto is a favorite in our house. This recipe is based off of one from "The Omega Diet". It is healthy due to all of the "good" fats from the olive oil and walnuts. But more than that it tastes great and is super easy. You don't need much pesto to flavor your pasta so this recipe will make enough for at least two meals. You can freeze whatever you have left and then just leave it on the counter for a few minutes to defrost the next time you want to use it.

Walnut-Basil Pesto

2 cups packed basil leaves

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

2 small cloves of garlic, minced or crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Place basil, walnuts, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times. Once all the ingredients are chopped turn the food processor on and stream in the olive oil. Blend until finely chopped and well combined.

2. Just before serving add about 2 tbsp of hot pasta water from the cooked pasta to the pesto. (Only add the pasta water to the pesto that you plan to eat right away. Separate any pesto that you want to save for later).

3. Mix it with pasta and enjoy. My favorite pasta to eat this with is tortellini but it is also great on whole wheat pastas, the strong flavor of the pesto covers up much of the wheat flavor in the whole wheat pasta (if that bothers you).

I usually serve my pasta with garlic bread and salad and then plan to have roasted veggie sandwiches later that same week because this pesto is great on a sandwich. I will post pictures of the sandwiches later. I hope you like this pesto recipe.

A Chocolate Send Off

I made chocolate cupcakes tonight for my coworker Shawn. Her last day is tomorrow and she loves chocolate. There is a whole lotta chocolate going on here. At first I was thinking I should have made a double batch so that everyone could have 2, but after trying my "test" cupcake I can't imagine that someone could eat more than one. They are fantastically rich.

This is a new recipe. I planned on topping the cupcakes with a chocolate ganache icing. Ganache is the really smooth chocolate in the center of a truffle and it makes a fantastic icing. But I couldn't get it to set up. So I put it in the fridge and threw together a chocolate buttercream. After icing all the cupcakes and wrapping them to store for the night I opened the fridge and found a bowl of perfectly set ganache . So, it looks like I am going to be making some more chocolate cupcakes tomorrow night. Anyone have a birthday this weekend?

An invitation for dinner

When you are on a whole foods diet springtime is the best time of the year. Everything that I want to eat is fresh, available at the farmers market or Rolling Prairie and I get to cook it with my kitchen window open (not really related to whole foods but yay for spring). This is without a doubt our families favorite dinner. I took pictures of it last night because I am trying to get better at macro photography (but there is only so much you can do with a crappy digital camera). And because I couldn't resist, everything looked so fresh and tasty. We like to eat it with a sparkling limeade or clementine sorbet for dessert. Will you come over some time?

On a Saturday

I am a total grump today. Henry woke up very early and I did what I always do when he is up before the sun rises, I brought him into bed with me in the hopes that he was still sleepy enough to drift back to sleep. It never works and in the end little bits of waking and sleeping are almost more annoying then just being up while rest of the neighborhood sleeps. I should have known it was doomed when the he started giving me directions right when we walked in the room. “No Mama, I go on Papa’s pillow and you go over there” (over there being the bottom right corner of the bed). “Henry, I don’t want to go over there, I want to lie on my own pillow in my own spot.” We lay down. “Mama? Let’s play the snoring game. Mama will snore and Henme say WAKE UP” “Baby please,” I say “take it down a notch. It is still night time. Please be quiet and go back to sleep.” A minute passes. “Mama?” Henry whispers “You say wake up?” “No Henry, I don’t want to say wake up. I want to go to sleep, please lay down.” I am begging at this point. He rests just long enough for me to drift off… “Mama?” He yell-whispers about 2 inches from my face. Ugh, it is like falling asleep in calculus class again…up, down, up down. “Mama?” he repeats, “I go look out the window and the sun IS still asleep. It IS still nigh-nigh.” Oh dear he climbed out of bed, walked over to the window and then climbed back into bed and I didn’t even wake up. He could have fallen, tripped, it's dark, there are clothes on the floor. He could have been playing with electrical sockets or eating antibacterial ointment and I would have just been snoring through it...I am a terrible mother! “You cold Mama? You need blankie? You have my blue blankie Mama. Here go.” And a damp blanket goes over my head. It’s damp because Henry likes to chew on his blankets. He takes the blanket off of my face and moves to about one inch from my mouth “You warm now Mama?”……and so it went. For over almost an hour it went. I woke up grumpy and even the shenanigans of the cutest little bean on the planet couldn’t snap me out of it.

After breakfast and some coffee, lots of coffee, I decided to tackle some unfinished business. Yesterday afternoon, before Henry took his nap we were supposed to bake some cookies together. But lunch took what felt like hours to finish and then there was still reading stories and getting into jammies to do. And speaking of lunch he ate 3 servings of applesauce and 2 servings of vegetables plus 2 pita’s with his hummus and probably 25 grapes for lunch. He ate more than I did. And he calls his applesauce “Dappletoss” and his vegetables “Bedgabuls” and I secretly hope that he never learns how to say it correctly. Anyway, we didn’t get around to making cookies. Henry was sad. He doesn’t quite understand how we could buy everything for cookies and yet when we got home there are no cookies. In the car he kept saying “Henme have tookie now Mama?” I just couldn’t get him to make the connection between the ingredients that make up the cookie and the cookies themselves. So we made cookies this morning. It is a challenge to make cookies with a two year old. For starters he is both slightly afraid of the mixer and wanting to stick it into anything that it might fit into at the same time. So he will gladly shove it into the sugar canister but then screams and cries when it makes a loud banging sound as it hits the metal sides of the canister and sugar flies all over the counter. Also, he has yet to get the concept of holding something still and not eating what you are fixing before you have finished fixing it. Being a vegan is good on that end because you don’t have to worry about e-coli in your batter. Anyway we got the job done and 20 minutes later sat down for some cookies and soy milk. Yum….but still grumpy.

I am at work now. Working hard (obviously). Being here on a Saturday doesn’t do much to help the mood. Maybe I will listen to a vegan pod cast or Savage love pod cast or an old Obama speech. Yeah, that’s right I listen to Obama’s speeches for fun. I also have a picture of him above my computer with hearts around it and I have already told my husband that if the time ever came I would totally pull a Monica Lewinsky on him. He seems okay with it.

In other non-Kelly family related news, the fabric for my chairs is still not out which is so bad because it gives me time to change my mind over and over again. Not only am I terrible at making decisions but I always end up wishing I had made a different one after I finally do make the decision. I am the person at the restaurant that takes forever to decide what to order and then wishes I had ordered what you ordered for the rest of the meal. Anyway, now I am thinking of painting my dining room table and chairs a brighter color. Like an distressed teal or a bright red. These bookshelves are such a great color and I love this red bed. Both of these pictures are from Anna Maria Horner’s blog. I love her style. I mean just look at this sofa. It is covered in her fabric. I LOVE IT! This is definitely the fabric I am going to use for the chairs. Any advice? I guess it is hard to say when you haven’t seen the table. Here is the post I did when I painted them months ago. I do really like white furniture. And I want to put in a bright colored chandelier like the one from Heather Bailey's blog I posted about months ago. I am thinking in orange (oh my mother would pass out if I did that...hee hee) which would probably be a little over the top with brightly colored furniture.

Okay, back to work. At least there will be basketball on tonight. I hope Louisville beats NC. I know I know….I am still bitter. And happy trails Miss Lisa. Hope you’re having fun in Chicago. My blog is a lonely place without you ;)

See...I told you

My photos don't even come close.
Tonight for dinner we had potato soup, salad, asparagus and whole wheat drop biscuits.

I am stealing her blog ::Things that make me happy Thursday

I feel like posting today even though I don't have anything to talk about. Oh, who am I kidding, I always have something to talk about but most of the time it isn't anything you would want to read about. There is all kinds of stories from NPR today that I could rant about. Or I could complain about my lack of sleep or tell you all about the books I am reading or pillow I made last week...but truth be told, I don't really feel like talking about that stuff anyway. What I do like is posting pictures of the new meals that I am going to try this week. The photos and recipes are from my favorite vegan site http://veganyumyum.com/ Even if you are not a vegan you might like going there just for the food porn. And besides, for Things that Make me Happy Thursday, this site really fits the bill. Tuesday is Wonton Soup

Saturday is Pan Fried Tofu, Kale and Stir Fried Noodles Sunday is Rutabaga Sweet Potato Soup with Fried Spaghetti Squash and Toasted Pepitas
and Pumpkin Cookies
Monday I am thinking Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing
And Saturday morning I think we'll have Lemon Maple Scones

Tonight I am making a potato soup which I will post pictures of, if you like, but it will pale in comparison to Lolo photos above.

Granola

*Reposting note: I realized this morning that we eat this granola with vanilla soy milk (which is the super best stuff on the planet) so I omit the vanilla from the granola recipe. If you make this and use cow’s milk you may want to add a tsp or 2 of vanilla extract to the liquids before you mix it all together. Also, I have made this is honey and karo syup (I know, I know…not the healthiest stuff on the planet but I had it left over from the home made marshmallows) and it tastes great. Substituting these might be a good option if you are someone that doesn’t like the maple taste in your granola. Okay…let me know what you think and be sure to try Vanilla Silk. You will love it!


I took 2 days off this week and it has been so wonderful. My house is clean. My laundry is done and I got to break up all the things that I usually cram into a 3 hour period on Sunday and actually enjoy them.

There are 3 reasons why I love making my own granola. 1) I get to pick the ingredients, which means I can use walnuts (for omega 3), almonds, and sneak in a little flax seed. 2) There is no high fructose corn syrup. 3) It makes my house smell heavenly. (and 4...it's super easy)

Granola:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 canola oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
In a large bowl mix oats, nuts, coconut, flax seed and brown sugar.
In a small bowl mix maple syrup, oil and salt.
Combine both mixtures and pour into 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a large bowl. Add fruit.

Ice cream

I got an ice cream maker from my little sister last Christmas. So far, my attempts at homemade ice cream have been a little disappointing. It is pretty to look at and tastes good but is really soft and melts in seconds. I am not giving up yet. I have a few more months to figure it out before summer. This batch was a vanilla coconut ice cream. Iwas a little disappointed because you use coconut milk for the "cream" part but it does not have any coconut flavor. Once I get this basic vanilla down I am going to try to make an actual coconut ice cream. I have had a little more success with sorbet. This is a clementine sorbet that you serve in the frozen shells of the clementines. Perfect for summer and so easy (and cute!).

Yeah, that's right

Had kind of a rough few weeks so tonight I decided to do a little cupcake therapy. I did a "cookies and cream" version. They turned out really rich and yummy (the pictures, on the other hand, turned out no so good).

A funny thing happened on the way over here

I don’t intend to be preachy, ever, and I certainly don’t want offend anyone and I feel like I have to say this because I have learned over the past few months that food IS an issue for people. The responses I have gotten to- I don’t eat meat or I am on a plant based diet…etc have been extreme, aggressive, rude, and most of the time totally lame. Here are a few, just for kicks-

It’s too bad that you don’t eat meat. Cows are stupid.
Oh, that’s sad.
So, then you must really like salads.
I wonder how long it will take of kids making fun of Henry before he begs you to go to McDonalds
Not eating meat causes diabetes
But what about killing all those plants?
Eat meat, have a vegetarian
But we are carnivores.
How do you live without protein?
All the vegans I know are angry and tired
And my favorite-
Jesus said we should eat animals.

I have responses to each of these comments, although I have to admit, some of them caught me so off guard that I came up with the response long after the comment was made...probably in the car on the way home while talking to myself...but whatever....I won’t bore you with replaying the entire conversation on my blog. What upsets me the most about all of it is that these comments are that they are not an invitation for a conversation. I would love to have an engaging conversation about why I disagree with the statement “We are carnivores”. Or talk about all the great food there is available to a vegan besides a salad. Or introduce protein sources like legumes and grains to someone that has never really tried them. I love talking about being vegan. I am excited and energized by it. I feel proud of myself and my husband for taking the steps to living in accordance with our beliefs and I think what I have learned and am learning about the typical American diet is not only fascinating but also life changing and in many ways life saving. And sometimes I do feel a little sad that I can't share what I am learning with some people for fear that they will get defensive. But I know it is touchy, oh so touchy….

With those disclaimers out of the way, I would like to mention something that has happened to me over the past few months that I think would be interesting to anyone trying to make a change in their diet, even people who are just planning to shed a few pounds come Jan. 2. And that is that- Given time your taste buds will change. I didn’t believe it, but it’s true. For example, I used to love Sheridan’s Pumpkin Pie Concretes. Mashed up pumpkin pie blended with custard and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar (but it’s eating plants that gives people diabetes, right ? ). They only come around in the fall/winter so I decided that it was okay for me to have one this year and a couple of weeks ago we went. I sat in the back seat so I could share it with Henry. I couldn’t eat it. I used to love it but now the flavor of the milk was WAY too strong. I don’t remember even tasting it before and now all I could taste was whole milk. It was crazy. I have also noticed it with cupcakes made with egg-I can taste the egg now which I couldn’t before and with milk chocolate-the milk taste is so strong I can’t stomach it. Also, I can’t do pizza with lots of cheese on it, it’s too rich and milky tasting. This is huge for me because I used to say “There is no such thing as too much cheese.” SO….what I am saying is that if you are trying to get to a point where you don’t crave that large pepperoni pizza or you are going to try loose a few pounds by giving up sweets, you can do it. Cut yourself off for a couple of months and then try it again. I guarantee your taste buds will change.

Cookies

Took a break from the cupcakes this weekend and make some chocolate chip cookies. This was my first attempt at vegan chocolate chip cookies. I made a recipe from one of my vegan cookbooks, next time I think I will take my Mom's recipe and just subsitute the eggs and butter.

Um...yum!

One of the very wonderful things about eating a plant based diet is that you instantly get more of what all of need to be getting more of....plants. Tonight for dinner I did a vegan take on a chicken noodle soup with dumplings. It had no chicken and no noodles and it was loaded full of veggies and it tasted better than any chicken noodle soup with dumplings I have ever had. This recipe came from a cookbook purchased during a moment of weakness at Amazon. It has leeks, carrots, onions, potatoes and peas, and then me being unable to stick with a recipe even when it is my first time making it...I threw in some kale. I will do anything to sneak some kale into my son's diet. Henry thought it was good at first. That seems to be how it goes lately. The first few bites go down great and then he decides that the peas should not be touching the carrots and the beans should not be touching the dumpling and the whole thing goes array.
Anyway, Kelly, I am making this for you. One batch of this would last you a month :)

Black bean soup, grilled polenta and salad

I know, noodles and beans together...it's weird. But it actually really works. This recipe is super easy too. The only downfall is remembering to soak the beans the night before. Polenta is a piece of cake to make or you can buy it in tubes at the store.

I missed Saturday but that's okay because I didn't really fix anything. We had Amy's veggie burgers, baked beans and broccoli.

Lentil Stew, salad and biscuts

There is no way to make lentil stew look appetizing in a photo so you'll just have to trust me on this one. It was good lovin.

Eh.......almost

I put the recipe together in honor of my friend Lisa. We used to work together and would often run into each other around lunch time in the break room with our matching stuffed shell pasta Amy's meals. One afternoon she told me that that this was the one meal that she could eat every day.

This dinner was oh so close...but not quite. The flavors were great. The spinach puree was a little too smooth for our taste, it needed some body and some crunch. I haven't given up on it yet though...you might see it again soon.