Vegan Quinoa Chili

I simply love this dish and we eat year round - even in the hot summer time!  Why? Because it is fairly simple to make and makes a ton! I always have plenty left over for lunches the next day and then can freeze a good portion for a later dinner. So it saves me time in the long run. My kids eat it too.  They like theirs topped with cheese and I'm definitely ok with that.

Here is What You Need:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped (I forgot this in the pictures but it does add a nice bit to the chili)

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2-3 tablespoons chili powder, depending on your taste (we used 1 because I can't tolerate it!)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Optional:  1 jalapeno pepper, diced

Here's What You Do:

1.  Prep your quinoa by combining with the water in a medium sauce pan and cooking over medium heat until the water is absorbed. This takes about 12-15 minutes. Set aside.

2.  In a large pot (very large), heat your olive oil over high heat. Then add in your onions and cook until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Stir in your garlic, jalapenos (if using), carrots, celery, peppers and zucchini.  Cook all of these until the veggies are nice and tender which takes about 10 minutes or so.

3.  Now add in your black beans, your kidney beans, tomatoes, and tomatoes sauce.  Stir in the quinoa you cooked previously. 

4.  Add in your seasonings and then simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Warm You Up Pumpkin Soup

I will start this post by telling you I do not have a lot of pictures and I promise to take more next time I make this dish.  Honestly? I thought we were going to hate it so there wouldn't be a need to document pictures for a blog post. This is a recipe that has been sitting on my pinterest "to-make" list for a while, but decided to give it a shot this week because we had an extra can of pumpkin.

I was SO SO wrong.  This soup was delicious.  It was tasty, it was easy to make, and super cheap. I figure we probably spent $5 on the whole thing. I will say that the kids did not eat it just because soup is a hard thing for them to handle right now but I will definitely be making this again for the hubby and me!

Mama & Baby Love's Healing Chicken Soup: Freezer Friendly!

We're supposed to get a blizzard tonight.  Yes.  You read that right!  There's just something about the warning of snow that makes me crave soup.  I made this soup from Mama and Baby Love's ecookbook - you can find yours here!  It's the first ecookbook I've ever purchased and I wasn't disappointed.  All of her recipes are freezer friendly and 95% of her recipes are grain-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free.  Annnnnd it's only $9.99.  Totally worth the splurge in my book!

Try this recipe of hers and you'll be hooked.  Although hers called for making it with a whole chicken, I used some cubed frozen chicken breasts I had on hand.  It was hearty, made the house smell heavenly while cooking all afternoon, and most importantly was scrumptious to eat.  Love. 

Mama and Baby Love that is ;)

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder: Pinterest Love ♥

I have been on a freezer cooking frenzy lately.  I've been inspired, thanks to Pinterest.  And I can't advocate enough - one afternoon (or two... with a little one ;)) of cooking has given me enough food to fill my refrigerator's freezer.  We now have meals on the ready - and this month is a crazy one for us!  Follow along - I'll be posting the recipes that are in my freezer.  I hope you can find them useful for the upcoming holiday seasons!

This recipe isn't a freezer meal, but one I found while browsing.  And it was perfect for our first rainy, didn't get out of the 60's kind of day!  I've also read that you can easily adapt this to a crockpot version.  I will be keeping a close eye on this one in the coming months!

Sausage, Peppers & Onions: Freezer Friendly

Another hit for the freezer friendly recipes I've been trying lately!  Even DH agreed that this was one of the best ones yet.  And I'm telling you - it smelt amazing cooking this afternoon.  I'm really glad that I have another one of these sitting in my freezer.  Hope you enjoy this ridiculously easy and incredibly tasty meal :)

Chicken -oops I forgot the noodle - Soup

DH is a little under the weather today.  He stayed home with us today, so we got to enjoy his sweet face, but it makes me realize how much I desperately appreciate his help around with the little one.  He's getting some kind of cold crud and he's been trying to keep his distance.  So, it's just been me and little man.  He sat in the kitchen in his high chair and helped me make the soup today as a matter of fact.  Maybe that's why I forgot the noodles!  Funny story: I didn't even realize I'd forgotten the noodles until I told my DH that I made "chicken noodle soup" for him. Oops.  Hold the noodle.  It was still better than the canned kind!

Crockpot Potato Soup

Dinner!  

Grilled turkey and cheese {stilton with cranberries, oh. my. heavens} sandwiches and potato soup.  

It is snowy today, so it is a take-it-easy kind of day.  Always my favorite.  This originally was on the menu for Friday night, but I decided to fix it today... with a twist!  I turned a recipe from my mother-in-law into a crockpot version.  I'll give you both so you can decide how you want to fix it.

Unstuffed Pepper Soup

This recipe was delicious even with all the substitutions I tried.   So we'll start it off with the original recipe I got out of the cookbook.  I'm sure it would be good as that too.  It's really apparent now that I didn't even make the recipe that was in the cookbook!  But it was yummy and did indeed taste like a stuffed pepper.

This is what it looked like in the cookbook.

Unstuffed Pepper Soup

Taste of Home: Casseroles, Slow Cooker & Soups, Copyright 2008

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)

3 large green peppers, chopped (I used red peppers)

1 large onion, chopped (I had about a half of a red onion and 1/4 white onion left)

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) beef broth (I used 2/3 box, about 22 oz of chicken stock)

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted (I used one can of Healthy Request tomato soup then refilled the can with low sodium V8 juice and poured it in)

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used 1 regular sized can of diced tomatoes - mine had oregano, basil and garlic - I had accidentally picked up)

1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained (I didn't use at all)

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook the beef, green peppers, and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the broth, soup, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add rice and heat through.  Yield: 10 servings

Well I started off in the largest pot I had.  I added the peppers and onions and a little extra virgin olive oil.  But when I added the turkey, the pot quickly got too small.  I know what they mean now when they say "don't crowd the pot." It was just pushing the turkey around the pot without actually cooking it and the turkey started sticking to the side.  I think soon I'm going to treat myself to a nice set of pots and pans.

So I put the cooking contents in the skillet and cooked the meat, peppers, and onion and then returned it to the pot.

Here are the substitutions I used.  It tasted delicious with these!  I had all this stuff on hand and decided it was close enough to the original recipe to get the same idea.  I was worried about the tomatoes, but they did fine.  Don't you hate when you pick up something off the grocery store shelf just to find when you get home it's something totally different?!  Grr.  That's what I had done with these tomatoes. Oh well!

It made a HUGE pot full.  Especially once I added the rice.  I absolutely LOVE this microwavable rice.  I use it all the time!  It's so easy and no mess.  We're going to have this for lunch tomorrow and then I'm thinking about freezing the rest.  I plan on turning leftovers into a chili by adding a can of beans (and maybe corn) to it when I reheat it.

To serve, I added some shredded swiss cheese and it hit the spot on a chilly night!

The verdict:
A great recipe!  Very versatile, as you can see by my many substitutions.  This would be easy to make vegetarian by adding some meat substitute crumbles instead of turkey or beef.  I'm sure it would be delicious with the green peppers.  The red peppers made it sweeter.   And I love the fact that it makes a HUGE amount!  This recipe would also be easily converted to a crockpot recipe.  After you cook the meat with the peppers and onions, transfer to a crockpot with the other liquids and turn on low 4 hours or high for 2.  (The time is my guestimate - so check for yourself after a few hours :))


UPDATE: I added 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed, a splash of low sodium V8 juice, 1/4 envelope of chili seasoning, and the rest of the soup to a pot on the stove.  I cooked it until heated through and bubbly, for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Serve it with cheese and a dolup of sour cream for a hearty, easy round 2 chili.