Guacamole

I recently purchased a few avocados for the first time ever in my life! (why yes, in fact I have been living in a bubble) I decided I wanted to try my hand at making guacamole so we could have an at home version of the Chipotle burrito bowl. My experiment was a huge success and I'm recording the recipe here so I can make it again (and again and again and again)!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 avocados - peeled, pitted and mashed
• 1 lime, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl mash together avocados, lime juice and salt. Mix in cilantro, tomatoes and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor or serve immediately. 

I found the original recipe on All Recipes and altered it just slightly based on personal tastes and the reviews I read. I also add one of the avocado pits to the finished guac, before storing in the fridge (in a sealed container), to keep it from turning brown before we can finish it. Learned that little tip on one of the many cooking shows I love to watch! ;) Though of course we did try it with tortillas chips alone, the whole reason I made it was to add to a bowl with seasoned black beans, brown rice, corn and tomatoes... with tortillas chips for scooping the whole mess up. I left my guac pretty chunky (like I like my soups) because I feel like too smooth of a texture seems way too much like baby food! ;)

Spicy Vegan Chili

This is a combination of two different recipes that I combined/tweaked according to what I had on hand. I originally did a search for veg chili recipes because I'd gotten a large amount of BEAUTIFUL fresh produce at the West Side Market in Cleveland the day before that I couldn't wait to start using! The first recipe I found was from Oh She Glows, the second one I came across was on All Recipes. Both sounded delicious so I just went for it and improvised a little. It could not have been simpler! If I'm being honest, I have a tendency to be a bit of a lazy cook, so I skipped the saute step that both original recipes called for and just tossed everything together and mixed it all up. My kids DEVOURED this, eating 3-4 bowls each! That was AFTER my youngest made faces at it as I was adding things to the pot and my 16 year old announced that he hates chili (because he's not a fan of the texture of beans). Turns out with so many veggies it wasn't too 'bean-y' at all! This made a HUGE amount and everyone has eaten multiple bowls of it reheated the next day (it's even spicer today)! My youngest son even commented that when we ran out he wanted me to make another pot!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1 (12oz) bag frozen corn
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 can (4oz) chopped green chiles
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. chop/dice/mince all of your vegetables.
2. toss ALL ingredients into large pot and stir. 
3. cook over medium heat for approximately 1 hour.
4. simmer on low for at least two hours more, adding more water or vegetable broth if needed.

When I tossed everything into the pot I also added what was left from a box of quinoa I had on hand. I have no idea how much it was since I didn't measure, but I did end up having to add some extra water while this was cooking as it started to get pretty thick. Next time I will add some carrots as well because I love them, and I think zucchini or yellow squash would be great in this! Like I said earlier, my kids LOVED it! Some of us ate this topped with Sour Supreme and/or spooned over brown rice. Definitely a new one for the regular rotation! It would also work well in the crock pot (if you have a BIG one) on days that are too hot to use the stove. 

Baked Macaroni and [NOT] Cheese

I found this recipe in the book Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli. As I was making it the ingredients seemed very familiar to me. I just checked and sure enough this is almost exactly the same recipe I found online (on Chloe's blog) and made as part of my Christmas dinner spread last year! The only differences being the online version calls for broccoli to be added, and the book version is baked after the sauce is mixed into the noodles.

My boys and I enjoyed it even more this time around because we were able to eat it fresh from the oven while it was still deliciously creamy!

The biggest change I made to this recipe was to use Penne pasta in place of the elbow macaroni because it's all I had on hand. I was also out of breadcrumbs so I just skipped those this time.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 cups non dairy milk of your choice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast powder (or 1/2 cup flakes)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons sea salt (I used Himalayan pink salt instead)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon agave

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, make a roux by whisking the Earth Balance and flour over medium heat for a few minutes until it forms a paste. Add non dairy milk, nutritional yeast, tomato paste, salt and garlic powder to the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until the sauce thickens. Stir in lemon juice and agave. 
4. Toss noodles with the sauce and transfer to the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and crisp. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

DELICIOUS!!

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!