Shredded 'Chicken' Chili

I decided to go with another recipe from The Everything Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook for dinner tonight. But I didn't think of it until late in the day so instead of sitting in the crock pot on low for 5-6 hours, I just tossed it all in a big pot on the stove for about an hour and a half. The kids LOVED it! My 15 year old said it was the best chili he's ever eaten! In his words, "even better than anything Jayden's mom makes and she cooks for a living". ;) I doubled the recipe in the book and there is not a single drop left. They said I definitely need to make this one again, though I think next time I may have to quadruple it!

Personally I thought it was a little spicy, my boys LOVE spicy though so to them it wasn't hot at all. I guess I just have sensitive taste buds.

I try not to use a lot of canned items, fresh is definitely a million times better. But I've been swamped this week and haven't been able to get to the grocery store yet so this was all about convenience. I always drain/rinse my canned goods to get rid of as much excess salt as possible, I also buy low/no salt wherever I can.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup diced bell pepper (I used yellow because it's what I had on hand)
• 1 pkg Gardein Chick'n Strips, shredded by hand
• 4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can no-salt added corn, drained
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel
• 4 cups organic vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I used Himalayan pink salt)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put everything into one large pot, cover and cook on med-low for 1.5 - 2 hours. 

At the end I did mix 3 tablespoons of corn starch with 3 tablespoons of water then dumped it in to thicken things up just a smidge (since I was going for chili and not soup). I served it with Daiya non dairy cheese, Tofutti Sour Supreme and tortilla chips. Super yum!

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup

I checked a new cookbook out at the library a few days ago and immediately marked a bunch of recipes to try. Tonight I decided to go with this one because I had all the ingredients on hand, including a butternut squash sitting on the counter needing to be used. As always, the peeling/chopping part of making soup with a lot of veggies takes some time, but I've always found the taste to be worth it in the end.

I altered this recipe as it was written just a bit because I wanted a heartier soup, to see the original version snag your own copy of The Everything Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 4 small russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 celery stalks, sliced
• 5 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I used Himalayan pink salt, but regular table salt would be fine)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a 4 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for six hours.

Doesn't get much easier than that! Though there was actually another step... just in case you like your soup pureed you can let this cool, remove the bay leaf, then process in a blender until smooth. I like chunks though so I skipped that. 

                

Now, I've never eaten or prepared a squash, so this was all new to me. I had a heck of a time peeling that sucker (partly due to my arthritis, I just couldn't keep hold of it) but also because I have a crappy knife and that skin is TOUGH! I really need to invest in at least one good knife!

If my oven wasn't broken right now I might have roasted my veggies before throwing them all in the crockpot.

In the end I found the finished soup to be rather bland (which I kind of guessed it might be when I looked at the ingredients list, but I'm not super experienced when it comes to spices just yet so I didn't feel confident enough to experiment). If I were to make it again I'd definitely spice it up quite a bit more. As it was, I added a bit of garlic powder and black pepper to our bowls which helped boost the flavor a little. Though this wasn't my favorite soup ever (probably the least so, actually) the leftovers won't be wasted. I'm considering adding some brown rice and maybe some white beans tomorrow when I eat it for lunch.

I'm also planning another first with this squash, and that's roasting the seeds! I've always wanted to roast pumpkin seeds after we carved out jack-o-lanterns, but I never knew how to do it so I just tossed all those icky gooey innards. This time I looked up the instructions/recipe and I'm all over it (borrowing my sisters oven since mine won't be fixed until later this week).

P.S. If you're one of the possibly three clueless people in the universe who knows nothing about butternut squash like me, I found this link extremely helpful: All About Butternut Squash via The Shiksa in the Kitchen

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Lentil and Apple soup

I was a little nervous about this recipe in the beginning for a couple reasons. First, I've never tried lentils before. I know. Seriously! I have an excuse though! I grew up in a single mom household where my sister and I were often on our own for dinner because our mom was a waitress who worked the night shift. That means we ate A LOT of Kraft mac & cheese, Hot Pockets, chicken pot pies and salisbury steak! And even though I've always loved fruit and even some veggies, it's taken me a long time to venture away from those processed foods and to start eating a larger variety of REAL foods! 

So back to the soup (still obsessed with tasty tasty soups)! I've never tried lentils and I've never had something sweet like apple, in a dinner type recipe. As far as I've ever known, apples are for dessert... and horses! ;) BUT I've learned something new today! I really liked the little bit of sweetness that the apple gave this soup. It was perfectly at home mingled in amongst the other flavors in this dish!

As always I made a few changes to the original recipe and added some extra things so it would be a super hearty, filling soup. I was not disappointed!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 apple, peeled cored and chopped (I used honeycrisp because it's what I had)
• 1/2 cup green lentils
• 1 can corn (no salt added)
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 5 cups organic vegetable broth

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the Earth Balance in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, carrots and apple , cook and stir approximately 10 minutes. 
2. Stir the lentils, beans, corn, ginger, pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika and vegetable broth into the pot with the vegetable mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until lentils and vegetables are soft, about 45 minutes.
3. The original recipe calls for you to puree the soup in batches now, but I'm a chunky soup kinda gal, so I skipped this. I did however remove the lid and bump up the heat a smidge to let the broth thicken a bit. 

That's it! Easy-peasy and very tasty if you ask me! My fellow soup loving 13 year old wasn't wild about this one, though he did eat a whole bowl. My 15 year old liked the taste of the soup, and said he was full after finishing his big bowl, but has issues with the texture of beans... and apparently lentils as well. -_- My 17  year old didn't really like it either. Oh well! More leftovers for me I say!

Christmas glitches...

and a delicious meal anyway!

I posted recently about my plan for Christmas dinner. While I was MOSTLY on track with the things I needed to get done in advance, a tiny glitch in the process {my oven broke on Christmas Eve in the middle of my cooking spree} threw things out of whack and some of my dishes had to be sacrificed in the end. :( Here is what I ended up making, and my thoughts on the finished products:

APPETIZERS:

• veggie tray
• black & white bean dip w/chips {it's been WAY too long since I made this tasty dip. I need to remember to make it again soon!}
• hummus w/pita {disappeared in the blink of an eye. multiple people at our get together hadn't even heard of hummus before, let alone tried it. But it was a huge hit!}

MAIN DISHES:

• lasagna
• mac & cheese  {I chose these as my two main dishes because I thought they were basic enough that my picky nieces and nephew would at least try them (and hopefully like them)! I was mostly correct. Almost everyone ate and loved both of these dishes. My oldest son most of all. He went on and on about how much he loved them and he devoured pretty much all the left overs single-handedly in the days following Christmas. I will say, I wasn't totally wild about the lasagna filling, but I think with one small change it will be better so I will probably try it again. The mac & cheese was AMAZING when it was fresh, but by the time everything else was finished cooking it was not nearly as creamy and dreamy. Still good, but not great. I WILL make it again for sure, and we'll eat it right away next time!}

SIDES:

• garlic mashed potatoes with gravy {a big hit with pretty much everyone. I'm not usually a fan of lumpy potatoes myself, but these weren't bad}
• brussel sprouts {I've never eaten them before and since my BIL asked for them I gave it a go. I've discovered I'm not a fan. But said BIL and others loved them}
• garlic mushrooms {HOLY GARLIC BATMAN were these mushrooms garlicky! Very, very good... but powerful!}
• cranberry sauce {delicious and SO super simple to make}

DESSERT:

• double chocolate cookies {I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but I chose these cookies in particular because I figured kids would love them. apparently I know nothing. and the world has flipped upside down because most of the kids DIDN'T like these, but I LOVED THEM! I probably ate far more than my fair share... and multiple kids fair shares as well! The feedback I received was that they were not sweet enough, but frankly I think thats why I liked them. Because I'm not a huge fan of candy or sweets in any form. They were definitely chocolatey, and plenty sweet if you ask me. Pretty easy too so I could definitely make these again if I needed cookies for some grown ups who don't mind a slightly less sweet treat.}
• raspberry bars {so this is what I had JUST put together and popped in the oven when it decided to die on me. :( Unfortunately, because it was 1am at the time I couldn't run them over to put them in my sister's oven. I decided to try and salvage the dish, because what did I have to lose at this point. I covered them and took them to my sister's house the next morning. they definitely didn't turn out right, then bottom was too soft and the top was too crumbly, and somehow they still disappeared. I didn't try any myself, but my dad (who asked for them specifically) said they still tasted good, even with the texture being a bit off.}

Sadly I wasn't able to make any of my pies, the peanut butter cookies, the sweet potatoes or the dinner rolls (but I plan to try them all at a later date). I didn't get to my sister's house the next day until 2pm (because she had another commitment in the morning, which is why we were doing everything at my house to begin with) and I was cooking non stop from 2 until we ate at around 6 or 7 I think. In fact I was SO busy cooking, even with my mothers help all afternoon, I never had a break and I managed to not take a single photo all day of anything! :( Not the food I slaved over, not the kids opening presents, nothing! :( I'm pretty bummed about it. But I suppose there's nothing that can be done now. That's just the way it goes.

The food was great though, 100% completely meat and dairy free! And everyone had a great time.

I'm looking forward to our next vegan holiday!