Easy Veggie Chili

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year because of so many reasons.  The leaves change colors, everyone is in a great mood because the holidays are around the corner, and of course the weather is perfect...which leads me to the other reason why I love the fall; it's the perfect time of the year for soups and stews.  Usually the weather is just nippy enough this time of the year for me to enjoy a nice big hearty bowl of chili.  My recipe for chili is not only easy but it's pretty quick so you can fix a bowl (or two) after work without spending hours in the kitchen. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
1 TBSP EVOO
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
5-6 Baby carrots, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1- 6 oz can of V8 (I use the Hot & Spicy kind)
1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2-1 cup water
3 cans of your favorite beans (I use black, dark red kidney, & pinto)
2 TBSP cayenne pepper
2 TBSP ground cumin
2 dried Adobo chilies
Salt to taste
Hand full of fresh cilantro
Dallop of sour cream (I use fat free)
Corn (optional)

Directions:
1.  Drain and rinse the beans
2.  Heat oil over low to medium heat in a non stick pot
3.  Once the oil is heated (about a minute or two), add bell peppers, carrots, celery and cook until the peppers are bright in color and the celery is translucent (about 3-5 minutes)
4.  Add the can of diced tomatoes, V8, and water
5.  Add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, & beans
6.  In a separate pot, place about 2 cups of water to boil and put the adobo chili peppers in there to rehydrate.  Once the water starts to boil and the peppers have plumped up, place them in a blender or mini food processor, add about a 1/4 of a cup of the boiling water, and blend.
7.  Put the blended up adobo chili peppers in the chili to give it a great smokey flavor.
8.  Bring the chili to a boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for about 30-40 minutes.  If the chili is too thick, add more V8.  If the chili is too runny, let it simmer longer.
9.  Serve in a bowl with cheese on top, sour cream, & fresh cilantro.
10. You can add veggie protein crumbles if you want extra protein.
11. Enjoy!

There are so many ways to enjoy this chili but my hubby & his friends love to eat it on top of corn chips for a delish chili frito pie.  I love it on top of a baked potato or by itself with croutons on top. This dish is even better the next day once the flavors have settled!

Creamy mashed potatoes

With Thanksgiving around the corner I thought it would be appropriate to post this recipe in honor of the holiday! Obviously at my dinner table there isn't a turkey, but we usually do like a savory pie or a tofu dish. Last year we didn't have a main meal but we had a bunch of sides like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, grilled mushrooms and asparagus, dinner rolls, roasted butternut squash and peppers. It was awesome!  So I thought a staple dish for this holiday is definitely mashed potatoes, and one of my family's favorites! It's creamy, rich and yummy! So this holiday whip some up and serve it at your table with your family and friends!

Ingredients

- 3lb Yukon gold potatoes

- 4 TBSP butter at room temperature

- 1/3 cup fat free half and half

- 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese at room temperature.

- Salt and pepper

- Fresh parsley- chopped

Directions

-Peel and cut potatoes in big chunks (try get them to be the same size)

- Fill a large pot with cold water, add potatoes to the pot. Bring to a boil on high heat about cook potatoes 25-30 minutes. They're done when you stick a knife in the potato and the potato slides off the knife easily.

- Drain potatoes. If you have a potato ricer, mash potatoes through the ricer. Or mash potatoes with a masher.

- Add butter, half and half and cream cheese and mix until everything is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve hot!

Serves 4-6

- If potatoes look dry and not creamy enough, add 1 TBSP half and half at a time til you reach desired consistency.

 

Happy Diwali & New Year!!!

Diwali is known as the festival of lights and symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and light over dark.  It is a celebration that is split up into 2 days; Diwali itself is like New Years Eve followed by the New Year the next day.  This is the time for friends and family to come together and celebrate in unity as we say farewell to the old year and welcome the new.  On this auspicious occasion, Krishma and I wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year!!! 

Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches

I absolutely love mint and anything that has anything to do with mint! This includes girls scout Thin Mints cookies, mint chocolate chip ice cream, mint fudge...you get the point.  So this recipe is near and dear to me bc it contains one of my favorite ingredients.  I've made these little sandwiches for all sorts of get togethers and they have been a hit every time.  With the holidays right around the corner, try making these at your next gathering and I promise your guests won't be let down!

Ingredients:
1/2 pack of whole grain or white bread
salted butter - room temperature
1 English cucumber peeled and thinly sliced
2 TBSP + a little more of Salt
10-12 fresh mint leaves
Pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Peel the cucumber and slice them thinly at an angle (diagonally).
2.  In a separate container, mix the cucumber slices and 2 TBSP of salt and let it sit there for 10-15 minutes.  (Here's a little trick I use, I put the cucumber slices in the container, add the salt, cover the container and shake it so that I don't have to mix anything)
3.  In the mean while, using a mini food processor or coffee grinder, grind the mint leaves.
4.  Once the cucumbers are done, squeeze out all the water that was released,  and place the cucumbers on a paper towel and wipe them dry and take off the access salt.
5.  Spread butter on a slice of bread, place cucumbers on top, spread a bit of the ground up mint, sprinkle some salt and pepper, and top with another buttered slice of bread.
6.  Cut off the edges of the bread and cut the sandwich diagonally so that it forms into 4 triangular pieces.  (Because I hate to waste food, I use the discarded edges to make croutons at home - if you want that recipe, leave a comment on this page and I'll put it up for you)

Enjoy with tea, coffee, or your favorite beverage!

Caramel Apples!

I've been wanting to make these for a really long time, they're too good! I was planning to make the caramel from scratch but heard all these horror stories about it...sooo I decided against it, especially since it was my first time making this. Instead I found a really great short cut, using soft caramel candy! It worked! It took me less then 20 minutes to make! It was so easy! I did a coat of chocolate (this obviously takes a little more time) on top of the caramel covered apple for some extra yum, but if you don't want to then that's totally fine! 

Caution- using caramel candy for making caramel can still be dangerous so please use gloves when handling the bowl and keep little children away while making this! 

Ingredients
1 cup unwrapped soft caramel candy
1 tbsp milk
2 medium sized granny smith apples/3 small granny smith apples
1/2 cup whichever chocolate chips you fancy!
popsicle sticks

Directions
- in a microwave safe bowl combine caramel candy and milk and microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Stirring once after a minute. (if caramel isn't completely melted, microwave for additional ten seconds)
- skewer the washed apple with a Popsicle stick and dip into the caramel until apple is coated. Let stand over the bowl for about 10 seconds so extra caramel drips off. 
- set apple on a tray lined with aluminum foil that's been greased with non stick spray. Let the apples set in a cool dry place. (They don't take long to set about 20-30 minutes)
- if coating with chocolate. Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl and after apple has been cooled and has set, dip into chocolate, place apple back on foil and refrigerate until chocolate is firm.
- cut the apple right before serving, or apple will start to brown and oxidize.

We're All Mad Here Tea Party!

Yesterday was a fun filled day for my sister and all of our friends! Since my sister is getting married in less than two months, I thought it would be appropriate to throw her a bridal shower.  With the help of some wonderful ladies as well as one Glenda Bryant, the event coordinator, I came up with the idea of a tea party. BUT, I didn't just want it to be any old tea party, if we were going to go out, I figured, why not go ALL out!!! With that thought in mind, I decided to go with the Mad Hatters Tea Party theme from...Alice in Wonderland.  Now the idea of the Mad Hatters Tea Party includes out of the ordinary elements such as mismatched china, non traditional centerpieces, fabulous finger foods, all while keeping the tea party classy.   Invitations gave guest a hint of what was to come by placing the words "We're All MAD Here" at the top of them followed by the party and venue details.  The food was all prepared from scratch by Krishma, myself, and our great friends Anna, & Ami.  To continue with the theme, food and beverage tags were made as well as party favor bags which consisted of a small jar of honey, a honey dipper, various flavored teas, and home made biscotti (see the Almond Biscotti post for recipe).  Below are some pictures from the party that I wanted to share with y'all.

The Tea Menu

The food display

Beverages included a Pineapple & Guava Punch, Assorted teas, & Refreshing lemon & mint water

                                                Table settings included china & various style tea pots

    Gift table with party favors

                       

And below are some candid shots of guests enjoying themselves.

    And finally a group picture of the girls with the bride to be.

Almond Biscotti

I am not sure if I've told this little bit of information about myself with you guys but one of my favorite things in the world is coffee (and more recently tea)! I simply CANNOT live without that caffeine intake every morning and trust me when I tell you, I have tried.  Anyway, one of the things I love to dip in my coffee or tea is biscotti. Biscotti just puts me in a good mood for some reason and let's just be honest, who isn't happy eating a cookie dipped in their favorite beverage?!  I had been looking for a recipe for a while and stumbled across a few but never made it.  But this week I decided to be brave and make this yummy treat at home to see if I could come up with a great egg free recipe to share with y'all (there are lots of recipes out there and this is one that combined ingredients from several of them).

Before I dive into the recipe, I will warn you of a couple of things...1. this recipe is somewhat time consuming but the end result is worth the time spent; & 2, I baked this 3 times but the batch turned out a bit more crunchy than I was hoping so I would recommend baking it twice instead of the 3 times if you're wanting something a little less crunchy.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (you can also use wheat pastry flour) 

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

Dash of salt 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp anise extract 

1 cup raw almonds, toasted

7 & 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer powder

10 TBSP of warm water

1/2 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Place your almonds on a baking sheet to toast for about 6-7 minutes. Checking to make sure they are not turning too brown or burning every so often (you will know they are done when they look a little brown and smell toasted). Once they're done toasting, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Once they are cooled, pulse in a food processor a few times so that they are roughly chopped. 

3. While the almonds are toasting, combine all of your dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

4. Wisk the Ener-G Egg Replacer powder and warm water together in a bowl until there are no lumps and the liquid is frothy.  Add the vanilla, almond, & anise extract and mix well.

5. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and add the almonds.  Mix until a sticky and dough is formed (you may have to use your hands to kinda kneed it - you can use a little Pam or flour your hands so that it is easier to work with).

6. Once the dough is formed, line your cookie sheet with wax (parchment) paper and form the dough into a log that is about 4-5 inches wide and 8-10 inches long. 

7. Bake the dough for about 40 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

8. Cut the dough using a knife into 1/2 inch thick slices.  The dough will be very hard but remember, it is supposed to be crunchy. (Tip: I used a pizza cutter bc it was easier for me to cut)

9. Place the biscotti sliced side down and bake for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown in color.

10. Pull them out of the oven and on to a cooling rack.

11. In a glass bowl, place chocolate chips in the microwave in increments of 30 seconds and stir in between for about 2 minutes until they have melted completely.  

12. Using a spoon or spatula, spread the chocolate on the bottom of the biscotti and let it finish cooling.

13. Store in an air tight container and enjoy with your favorite beverage.