Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Vegetarian Chili

OMG yum! Although the weather has been surprisingly mild for mid-November in Michigan, Husband has been asking for chili. He's still holding on to this 'vegan' plan but I am paranoid about eating too many processed Soy products due to stupid interwebz. So, I modified this recipe I found on allrecipes.com - link here. But mine is way better lol. Plus extra beans are cheaper than the faux beef crumbles so even if you love processed soy products it's a win.  You will be so busy enjoying the chili you won't realize there's no meat.

Now that it's all hyped up I suppose you want to see a picture. Nevermind the dirty plate.



Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
2 stalks celery chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 serrano pepper chopped
1 fresh poblano pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
2, 4 oz cans chopped green chilies drained
3, 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbsp grnd black pepper
1, 15 oz can dark red kidney beans drained
1, 15 oz can black beans NOT drained
1, 15 oz can white beans drained
1, 15 oz can pinto beans drained
1, 15 oz can garbanzo beans drained
1, 15 oz can whole kernel corn drained


Recipe:
Heat olive oil in large stock pot over medium heat. Stir in onion, bay leaves, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender. Then mix in the celery, green/red peppers, serrano pepper, poblano pepper, garlic and green chilies. Cover pot and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, season with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

Stir in corn and cook for 5 minutes. Serve/Enjoy!

You can top it with your favorite chili things - like cheese, sour cream, green onions, etc. - or eat as is.  Let me know what you think.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Visit with Puppy


My Mom and StepDad got an adorable little puppy named Bella Bree. She's a 13 weeks old border collie. We took our dog with us to visit. They got along famously despite her being 1/4 of his size. It didn't stop her from attacking! It was all in good playful fun, Bingo (our dog) definitely recognized the size difference because he was surprisingly gentle.

They live on 8 acres of land so Bingo had a great time running around, and even chased some deer after dinner. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that, but I did take a bunch of pictures. Here are some highlights.

 Isn't she a cutie?!
 Puppy Kisses for EVERYONE!
 Rar - She wanted to get the camera.
 Touching noses - great alternative to shaking hands.


 You can really appreciate the size difference.
 Not that it mattered - she has no fear!


Ended the visit with a shared drink at the local watering hole.