Last night we had black bean and corn chili with corny cornbread muffins. Chili is one of those dishes that can be simmered all day or whipped up in a flash. I chose the later because even though I make my meal list every weekend and then do my shopping, I still don’t start thinking about dinner until about 5 or 6 in the evening. I love chili, especially on cold rainy days like yesterday. This meal is also cheap and can be done even more cheaply if you don’t buy canned beans, but dried and cook them from scratch. The recipe follows.

Black Bean and Corn Chili

2 cans black beans (or equivalent cooked)

2 cans tomatoes (I used one can diced and one crushed)

1 cup corn (frozen, canned, or fresh will all work)

1 cup green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Chili powder, ground cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt, and pepper – all to taste.

Olive oil

In large soup pot, sautee onion and green pepper in a small amount of olive oil. Once softened, add tomatoes, beans, and spices. Also add a can or two of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low to simmer for however long (if a while, keep an eye the water level, adding more if too much cooks out). Towards the end, add the corn. Give it a taste to check spices, add more if necessary. Serve in bowls, topped with (vegan) sour cream.

While the chili is simmering, whip up some easy corn bread using this recipe from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook:

Cornbread

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sweetener (sugar, honey, or agave nectar)

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups soymilk or water

1/4 cup oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients well, stir in the milk and oil. Pour into greased muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Serve with Earth Balance Buttery Spread. (I added that last part ). I added some frozen corn to the batter to make them corny corn muffins. If you like, some shredded cheddar cheese can also be added with the corn to make them cheesy and corny.

One word about this meal: Yum!

These are my first recipes tried from How it all Vegan. The sandwiches were made by spreading a mixture of Earth Balance and vegan parmesan on only one side of the slices of bread then grilling them in the skillet. I then let the bread cool and filled the sandwiches with alfalfa sprouts, avocado, and tomato and just enough dijon mustard and Veganaise. This was a seriously good sandwich. Adam really enjoyed it, too.

The carrot soup was good, but I put too much dried dill in it. I was lazy and didn’t measure. The dill over-powered the carrot taste. It didn’t ruin it, but next time I’ll definitely use less.

Oh, and ignore the bites already taken out of the sandwich. I started to eat and then I was like, “Oh! I need to take a picture of this for my blog!”

They are How it all Vegan and The Garden of Vegan.

I’ve taken just a quick glance through these cookbooks and they look great! I can’t wait to start cooking from them.

Thanks, Mom!!

Honey-baked Lentils has got to be one of my favorite things to make and eat. It’s easy, cheap, and oh-so-good!

I’ve seen this recipe in different blogs and forums, so I’m not sure where it originated. Here’s how I make them:

Honey-Baked Lentils

1 lb. green lentils

4 – 6 cups water

4 carrots, diced or sliced

1 onion, sliced

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup tamari (soy sauce)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

In a large soup pot, sautee onion in a tablespoon or two of the olive oil until softened. Add carrots, lentils, honey, tamari, remaining olive oil, ginger, and garlic. Stir. Add water to cover lentils and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Keep an eye on the water level and add more if needed. Cook for an hour or until lentils reach desired tenderness. Serve over cooked quinoa or brown rice, with a green salad on the side.

I also make  this in the crockpot by just throwing all the ingredients in at once and letting it cook on low most of the day. Again, keeping an eye on the water level, though I think 5 or 6 cups should be fine, depending on if you want it more like soup.

Yesterday was the first day I didn’t drink one and I grazed/snacked all day even when I wasn’t feeling hungry. I hadn’t noticed any other benefits to drinking the smoothies for breakfast since I generally eat pretty well. BUT since I’m trying to lose weight, if a green smoothie keeps me from snacking during the day when I’m not hungry then I’ll keep drinking them for breakfast! (I’m not sure *why* it would keep me from snacking, though…)

This was a super-easy dinner and yummy, too! The soup consisted of a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, one onion halved and sliced thin, and a bag of frozen bell peppers and onions – plus chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.

I sauteed the fresh onion first. Once softened I added the frozen peppers and onions, sauteed those for a bit, then added the spices and herbs. I cooked the mixture for a few minutes before adding the black beans and tomatoes. I also added water and maybe a cup of tortilla chip crumbs (t0 thicken the soup and add flavor).

The soup simmered for about 15 minutes while I assembled and made simple cheese quesadillas – cooked in *maybe* a teaspoon of butter (just enough to keep them from sticking in the pan).

This dinner was pretty good and we all enjoyed it. It was a good twist on the traditional soup and sandwich.

I borrowed this movie from the library yesterday and watched it tonight. It was great – and disgusting! Some would say Morgan Spurlock went to the extreme by eating McDonald’s, and only McDonald’s, for every single meal for 30 days and that is why his health deteriorated so quickly. But how many people in this country eat some sort of fast food once a day or more?  They grab breakfast at McD’s on the way to work and then pick something up at Wendy’s for lunch. Maybe even get a pizza and breadsticks for dinner.

The state his body was in after just a week was incredible (in a bad way, of course) but not all that surprising. Most, perhaps all, of what is served at McDonald’s isn’t food. There’s little to no good nutrition in it. It’s filled with fat and sugar. I would even consider it to be toxic to one’s body. In fact, much of what people in this country eat doesn’t nourish or promote health, and is toxic over the long term.

I’ve gotten into the habit of reading labels at the grocery store. We do our shopping at our local co-op, which is awesome, but to keep within our budget we also shop at Kroger. We buy a lot of the same things each week so I know what products are natural or not at Kroger. Though, sometimes I read labels of “food” we would never buy just for fun. The lists of ingredients are filled with words I can barely pronounce and chemicals and preservatives of all kinds. It’s still a little shocking to me to read that! I always think: “People eat this?! Don’t they know this isn’t good for them??” I can’t imagine filling my body with that kind of stuff all day everyday.

The sad thing is, though, many people don’t know enough about nutrition and ingredients to know that most of the foods in a regular grocery store are not good for them. I don’t entirely fault people for not knowing, either. If everyone in their family eats like that and they don’t learn the importance of good nutrition in school or from their doctor, then how would they know? Not everyone has access to the internet at home, or if they do, the desire to obsessively read about healthy food like I do.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie. It raised a lot of good points and was funny at times, too. Watch if you haven’t seen it yet!

These pancakes are a weekend staple in our house. The recipe is from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. Served with a little bit of Earth Balance buttery spread and maple syrup these are a yummy way to start the day. We also love to drink orange juice for breakfast, but the day of the above picture we had “Hulk Juice” (to Jude), also known as Bolthouse Farms’ Green Goodness.

This is so tasty and filling. It’s reminiscent of beef stew … only better , and a great meal to warm up with on a cold winter day. I served this with whole wheat drop biscuits (dropped because I’m too lazy to roll out the dough and cut it into rounds).

I found the recipe on VegWeb.com, which is a great site for finding vegan recipes. The recipes are rated by the users and one can also leave feedback. It’s great to read others’ experiences and modifications before trying a new recipe. Check it out!

I’ve decided to join the Green Smoothie Challenge that Sara over at Happy Foody thought up. It officially starts today, but Adam and I had our first green smoothies last night. And they were good!

Green Smoothie #1 (2/24/08): Kale-Apple-Banana

4 Kale leaves

2 Apples

1 banana

Water

Ice

We had to put the ingredients into the food processor first (because of the apples) then into the blender. We did this twice (once for each of us) and it made 1 quart each time.

Green Smoothie #2 (2/25/08): Kale-Banana-Orange

4 Kale leaves

1 Banana, peeled

1 Orange, peeled

Water

I was able to blend this one up in the blender no problem. I liked this one better than yesterday’s! It was a bit smoother without the apple.