Vegan Chick(en)Pea Salad

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup of diced dill pickles
3 cloves of garlic
Juice of one small lemon
1/2 cup vegan mayo (I use Just Mayo)
1 tablespoon of mustard
Seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, celery seed

Steps:
1. Rinse and roughly mash the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well.
3. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Serve with crackers, on a sandwich/wrap, or top off a salad!

My favorite way to eat this is in a toasted pita and drizzled with balsamic dressing.

Easy Chili Recipe!

Traditional Chili

Serves: A lot! 

What you need: 

Crock pot

1 lb of ground beef (or turkey)

1 large onion

2-3 multi colored bell peppers

2 cans of spicy chili beans

1 can of dark red kidney beans (rinsed)

1 can of light red kidney beans (rinsed)

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 large can of tomato sauce (use enough to reach your desired consistency)

1-2 tbsp of diced pickled jalapeños

Spices: salt, pepper, cumin, chipotle chili pepper

*Don't forget the sour cream and sharp cheddar as a garnish!

Steps: 

1. Brown the meat in a pan, drain, and add the meat to the crockpot. 

2. Saute the chopped veggies in the same pan, then add to the crockpot. 

3. Add all of the beans, diced tomatoes, and jalapeño to the crockpot. 

4. Add tomato sauce to the crockpot until you have your desired consistency. 

5. Season the chili with salt and pepper to taste. add 1 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp of chipotle, mix and taste. Add more to your liking! ( I didn't measure the spices last time I made this chili). 

6. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. 

Enjoy! 

White Bean "Alfredo" over Zucchini Noodles w/Mussels

Week two of our challenge, and Kerri shocks me with this awesome recipe: 

White Bean "Alfredo"

I decided to keep it healthy and served the "Alfredo" over zucchini noodles with sauteed mushrooms and mussels (in a red sauce). Let me start off by saying this vegan "Alfredo" was SO much better than I was imagining it was going to be. The meal took no longer than 20/30 minutes to prep and cook. Loved it! 

Servings: 2

Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 cup of almond milk (or soy)

2-3 cloves of garlic

margarine/butter/vegan margarine

salt/white pepper/crushed red pepper flakes

2 large zucchinis

1 container of sliced mushrooms

Coconut oil

Optional: Seafood (mussels, scallops, shrimp) or blackened chicken

Steps: 

1. Prep the zucchini by rinsing, trimming the edges off, and using a spiralizer to create noodles. 

2. Make the sauce: Saute diced garlic with margarine for 2 minutes (until golden and fragrant). In a Magic Bullet or food processor add garlic mixture, 1 can of rinsed/drained beans, and 1/2 cup of milk. Blend. Add more milk, one splash at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. Transfer sauce into a small sauce pan, season with salt, white pepper, and crushed red pepper (to your liking) and heat over low/medium-low. 

3. In a large pan, heat coconut oil and saute mushrooms for about 4 minutes, until semi-soft. Add the zucchini noodles and toss well to coat them with the coconut oil (I salted the noodles at this point). Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Drain and plate immediately. 

Optional: prepare your seafood of choice (or chicken) separately. 

4. Once the noodles are plated, top with the warm "Alfredo", and enjoy! 

Taco Soup - Vegan/Vegetarian

 Healthy, SPICY, tasty...

We all know what happens every January; people get motivated and decide to challenge themselves to some crazy diet, work-out regime, or fast. I'm not going to lie, I am one of those people THIS year; last year did NOT happen. Well, let me take that back, I'm sort of one of those people; the reason I say that is because I started my "challenge"two days ago, NOT on January 1st! 

Anyway, my sister (in-law) Bekah, is definitely someone you want around or someone who's influencing your eating/workout habits. She runs regularly and eats healthy....exactly what I'm challenging myself to! The other day, I saw a photo of her dinner, 'Vegan Taco Soup'. It looked, OH so delicious, kind of like chili (or the photo above). I just had to try this, and yep, she was right, it was amazingly easy and delicious.

Here's Bekah's recipe, slightly modified:

Ingredients

1 large (28 oz) can of tomato sauce

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of chili beans (pinto), with sauce

1 can of dark red kidney beans

1 can of diced tomatoes (use Rotel if you want spicy, otherwise I suggest fire-roasted tomatoes)

10 oz. of corn (I used 1 can of corn, whole kernels)

1 small onion diced

1 bell pepper diced

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 packet of taco seasoning (I make my own - google the recipe, and double the cumin)

1 quart of vegetable stock

*Optional: additional spices to your liking

*Optional: Fresh spinach, sour cream, jalapenos

Steps

1. Heat up the coconut oil and sizzle the diced onion and bell pepper for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the taco seasoning mix to the veggies and stir until fragrant.

3. Add ALL of the canned goods (and corn if using frozen) and continue cooking on medium-low heat.

4. Pour the vegetable stock until you have reached your desired soup consistency. I like to use the entire quart. 

5. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes. 

6. Salt and pepper to taste. 

*Optional: Line your bowl with fresh spinach, pour the hot soup over it, and enjoy with your favorite toppings. My FAVORITE is sour cream, it literally transforms the soup. 

I had mine topped with cheese and sour cream!

(Most of you will never hear me say this again, but, cheese was not necessary-still delicious, but if you're trying to be healthy, you won't miss it if you decide to skip it. On the other hand, sour cream, is always a must). 

Thanks, Bekah for introducing us to something so delicious and SO easy to make. I didn't even have to go shopping to make this; found everything in my pantry and fridge.

:)

Mexican Masterpiece

Taco bake / Mexican Lasagna

Simple.

Cheap.

Good.



(This picture does NOT do this meal justice)

Ingredients

1 lime

8 flour tortillas

1 lb of ground beef

1 can of chili beans, drained

5 cloves of garlic

1 onion

1/3 jar of salsa (your favorite, I used taco bell brand-medium)

Taco seasoning packet

3 tablespoons of queso (or chili con queso….or shredded cheese)

Shredded cheese (Mexican blend) for topping

Sour cream (optional)

Jalapenos (mandatory)

Hot sauce (I used "Eros Pistas", a hungarian chili paste)

STEPS

1. Preheat oven to 375 f
2. Dice onion and garlic, then sauté (over medium, medium/low) until onion is golden (adding the garlic the last minute).
3. Over medium heat, brown beef in a separate pan, then drain.
4. Add onion, garlic, and beef back into a pan and keep heat setting at low
5. Mix your taco seasoning packet with ½ a cup of water and add to beef.
6. Add queso or cheese into the beef, stir.
7. Add drained beans into the cheesy beef, stir.
8. Turn up the heat for a minute, stirring. This is when you can add your spice factor (hot sauce, crushed red pepper, anything!).
9. Spray PAM or any non-stick agent into a casserole dish.
10. Align two tortillas (side by side) on the bottom.
11. Layer 1/3 of the beef/bean mixture.
12. Add 2^nd layer of tortillas.
13. Layer 1/3 of the beef/bean mixture with the salsa.
14. Add 3^rd layer of tortillas.
15. Layer the rest of the beef/bean mixture, cover with last two tortillas, and sprinkle with cheese and jalapenos.
16. Cook uncovered in oven for about 15 minutes (or until the tortilla edges begin to brown)
17. Squeeze lime over the top before serving with sour cream!