My Favorite Chili Recipe

Check out my favorite Sweet Potato Chili Recipe here. I have made it multiple times. It's so good. It's pretty spicy, so if you don't like hot, use less of the cayenne pepper.

A few tweaks: I usually use Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes, which I think is delish. I've never added the vegetable broth and I'm not sure I would notice it. I've also made it without the sweet potato when I don't have two hours to let it simmer and it was good without too. I usually use two cans of black beans instead of one can kidney, one can black. I don't love the texture of kidney beans for some reason.

Anyways, this recipe has become a staple in my house this winter!

Try it, you'll like it!

Not Missin' Meat...

Well it's a week later & I haven't been missing meat. In fact, being a veg is going great! Last night we went out to eat & I thought that for the first time, I might be tempted to eat something w/meat in it. But I have to say, I haven't felt like I'm keeping myself from eating something I want yet. I had an awesome grilled veggie foccacia sandwich...it was so yummy!

I've tried some really good veg recipes for dinner & it's been really nice not having to prepare meat! We do have some meat left in the fridge, so this morning I made pancakes and made Gil

eat the bacon that was left. I thought for sure I'd miss having bacon, but...nope, not really. So this tells me that maybe I really am meant to be a veg! It helps that Gil is willing to try all the recipes I've made so far!

I have to say, although I think I'm eating more veggies and fruits lately, I feel like I've been eating extremely badly. Can you say Halloween Candy!?!? Get me away from the chocolate...I can't control myself!!

This week I made sweet potato and lentil chili, using the recipe from Daily Garnish.

It was pretty good! I made it in the pumpkin bowls from this recipe. The pumpkin gets roasted in the oven and you're supposed to be able to eat the insides. Mine didn't go that well, but it was still cute!

On another note, we made our poor pup dress up again this year. Needless to say, her costume does not fit like it did last year. This was Laila last year:

This was Laila this year! She definitely has fluffy Newf elbows and paws now!

We could barely fit her ears through the hat this year. I think she was pretty mad at us again. The trick or treaters thought she was cute though!

P.S. I'm getting prematurely excited about being finished with my Masters program in May. I forgot what it's like to have free time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week!

Healthy Un-Fried Rice from Daily Garnish

Tonight I made this for dinner. It was quick, it was easy, and it was good! I also added diced onion and a red bell pepper. I thought the stir fry needed a little kick...Gil & I always prefer a little spice to our food. I would've added red pepper flakes, but we were out. Next time I make this, I'll be sure to add some spice.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas

dailygarnish.com

I tried this recipe from Daily Garnish today. You can find the recipe here. I also made the enchilada sauce that Emily Malone included. I thought the recipe was great...Gil gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The enchilada filling is a combo of roasted butternut squash, sauteed onions, and black beans. The spices were really great in this recipe, with some nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon. The enchilada sauce was great and had a little zip. You should try it!

In total, this meal probably took about an hour and a half to make. I made it today since I tend to have more time on the weekend. There are also a lot of quick and easy recipes on Daily Garnish that would be easier to make during the week. We will be trying this and this later in the week. I'll let you know how those go!

A Change in Diet

I have had a like-hate relationship with meat for a while. I have long been picky about what meat I eat and I always have a "discard pile" on my plate for meat that looks questionable. When we have meat in the fridge, it usually grosses me out to think of having to prepare it.

I was watching the documentary Forks Over Knives last week and then we went to the movies last night and the movie showed a dead pig. I've toyed with the idea of being a vegetarian here and there, but when the choice to eat meat came up, I always ate it. Something about that dead pig in the movie clicked the "vegetarian button" in my head.

Last night after the movie, we went out to eat and I ate a meatless dinner. This morning we got breakfast sandwiches from Bruegger (yes, we eat out too much) and I didn't get meat on mine.

So I think I have started Day 1 of being a veg. For lunch, I had half of a whole wheat pita with falafel and carrots on the side. And it was delish.

My best friend, Erin, and her husband have been vegetarians for over a year now and she described being a veg as so much less stressful. I have to say, I get what she's saying. I devote a lot of time and energy to worrying over the meat I am eating- if it is questionable, if it looks okay, etc.

Erin told me about the website Daily Garnish for finding veg recipes. I spent some time on the website today planning meals for this week. And I have to say, I found some really yummy looking things that I am looking forward to making!

Now, I tend to get excited about things prematurely and then end up abandoning them (á la the Detroit half-marathon) but I'm hoping this sticks.

Also, I have to say, Gil is totally on board (not that he's becoming a veg) but he has okayed me trying vegetarian recipes for us for dinner & he's okay with me not making meat. We really didn't tend to eat a lot of meat anyways- we mostly ate it when we went out to eat.

I'm also cutting out or at least cutting way down on cheese consumption. I like cheese and mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil is pretty much my favorite flavor combo ever, but I pretty much get a stomachache every time I eat cheese. When we get pizza, we always ask them to go light on the cheese. We don't drink milk from cows anymore either, we always buy almond milk (which is great).

So wish me luck on my new journey as a vegetarian...let's hope it lasts for more than a day!