Black Bean Tacos with VEGAN Sour Cream

Ingredients:

For the sour cream:
1 cup of cashews (raw preferred, but regular salted ones you find at the store work fine)
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
(recipe adapted from www.ohsheglows.com)

For the taco filling:
1 can of black beans
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 can of rotel OR 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Steps:

For the vegan sour cream:
1. Soak 1 cup of cashews in water (make sure it's covering the top of the cashews at least an inch) overnight.
2. Place the soaked cashews along with the remaining ingredients in a mixer and blend on high until smooth consistency.
3. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, allow to cool and thicken before serving.
*I noticed this was a little more running that traditional sour cream, you may want to try using less water if you don't like it this runny.

For the taco "meat":
1. Rinse and roughly mash the black beans with a fork.
2. Sautee onions, peppers and garlic with olive oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent.

3. Add the mashed beans, salsa/rotel, along with all seasonings. Stir well to combine and heat for at least 10 minutes.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Serve on corn tortilla and top with cabbage salad, vegan sour cream, and hot sauce!

Smothered Southwestern Beef Burritos - Spicy!

Ingredients:

For the beef:

• 3.5+ pound chunk of beef (chuck, tip, shoulder, rump - anything that will shred/fall apart)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Mexican chile powder
• 1.5 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

For the gravy:

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 can of plain tomato sauce
• 3.5 tablespoons of special seasoning mix (recipe directly below)

For the "Special Seasoning Mix": 

• 3.5 tbsp of Mexican chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp of oregano
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chipotle chile powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

For dinner assembly: 

• Flour tortillas
• Iceberg lettuce shreds
• Fresh grated cheddar
• Fresh jalapeno, sliced
• Spanish rice (I used a boxed rice and added canned tomato)
• Refried beans
• Sour cream
• Hot sauce, for added heat

Instructions: 

Beef: PART 1-

1. Rinse the beef, trim off fat, and cut into 1.5 to 2 inch cubes. Place into crockpot. We used Sirloin Tip because that's the only thing the store had that day...if you're not sure what to do, talk to the butcher. 
2. Dice 1 onion, add to the crockpot.
3. Mix together the remaining ingredients (tomato paste, beef stock, garlic, brown sugar, cumin, chile powder, corn starch, oregano, cayenne, ancho chile powder), and pour into crock pot. 
4. Set the crockpot on HIGH for 5 hours. 

For the gravy-

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.
2. Add flour, a little bit at a time, while whisking. Cook the flour/butter until smooth and lightly golden brown. 
3. Continue whisking and slowly add the beef stock, tomato sauce and spice blend. 
4. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If too thick, add some water. 

Beef: PART 2- 

1. After the beef has cooked for 4 hours, uncover the crockpot, give it a stir and allow the beef to cook the last hour uncovered. 
2. Add the remaining "Special seasoning mix" along with1 tsp salt..... Taste testing is necessary during this step. 
3. Once you're ready to serve dinner, using a slotted spoon, fish out the beef/onion, and roughly shred the beef on a separate dish. Make sure to leave it chunky, you don't want this beef to be a mushy shred-fest in your burrito. 
4. Remove the remaining sauce from the crockpot and set aside. (I used this sauce when packaging up leftover beef (poured it over top). 
5. Once you're done shredding, place the beef/onion mixture back into the crockpot and set it on LOW. Add more of the sauce if needed....you want the beef wet, but not swimming in the sauce. 

Assembly: 

1. Heat the tortilla on a warmed pan/skillet. 
2. Spread refried beans on the tortilla.
3. Add beef and roll it up. 
4. Pour the gravy over the entire burrito and sprinkle with grated cheddar.
5. Serve with Spanish rice (on the side) and a bed of iceberg lettuce shreds (on the side) topped with tomato, cheese and jalapeno. 

Enjoy!

***This is a modified recipe from a few recipes I found online...

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/12/saucy-southwest-shredded-beef/
http://tsgcookin.com/2014/09/enchilada-style-burritos/
http://houseofyumm.com/homemade-refried-beans/

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! 

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.

:)

EZ Chicken Fajita Dinner

Servings: 2-4

Prep: 20

Cook: 30

Ingredients 

2 Chicken breasts (butterflied)
1 can of black beans

1 green pepper

1 onion

Splash of Dale's Steak Seasoning

McCormick's Fiery 5 Pepper spice

Chipotle chili powder

Oregano

Splash of red wine vinegar 

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Lime or lime juice

Hot/taco sauce

Flour tortillas

Steps:
1. Prepare the chicken; once butterflied, cut in half. You will have a total of 4 thin chicken cutlets.
2. Season the cutlets with the chipotle chili powder and the fiery 5 pepper seasoning on both sides and set aside. *If you are sensitive to the heat, take it easy on the chipotle.
3. Cut the onion and green pepper into thin strips.
4. Heat two pans with oil (I used coconut oil) on a medium to medium-low heat.
5. In the smaller pan, saute onion and green pepper for about 10-15 minutes, until the onion is translucent and green pepper cooked to your liking. Add a splash of Dale's during the last few minutes.
6. Add the chicken to the larger pan, flipping after about 5 minutes. Cook thoroughly.
7. Heat up the tortillas; stove-top or microwave (covered with a wet paper towel).
8. Prepare your toppings: cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, hot sauce, salsa, and anything else you like.
9. Finally cut the chicken into thin strips and you're ready to start building these amazing little fajitas!

Fiery deliciousness.