Paper plate love affair

Its valentines day, and normally I would make some kind of fancy pants 3 course meal, but I have no kitchen :( It sucks washing dishes in the bathtub, kinda gross and hard on the back. We have resorted to paper plates, of course it does not resolve all the dishes but it keeps them at bay.

This is a little something I made on the fly, with a can of re-fried beans and some portobello mushrooms. Not the greatest picture but it was tasty! I hope every ones day was filled with love, and not too many dishes.

The dry wall is up..on to the mud/sanding and then PAINT!!

Black bean & rice enchilada

I can hardly believe it....my daughter is going to be 14 tomorrow! That is crazy. I suppose some of you may wonder why I never post any pictures of her. She is very particular on which pictures I can share with others, and she is a full-fledged teenager :/ Where as my 2 year old couldn't care what photo I post of her, that is until she reaches grade school :P My dad came to visit us too and is here for her birthday.


We are in the middle of week two of Vegan MOFO, and this is what I made for dinner tonight. Everybody gobbled it up :) I am not a fan of spicy food, J said he could of used some jalapenos in his...so if you like it spicy, then do it up.

Filling

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion-small diced
2 tsp cumin powder
2 cloves garlic-minced
1 green pepper-small diced

3 cups cooked black beans
1 tomato- chopped
1 cup water
sea salt

In a pot heat oil, add onions, garlic saute until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 10 minutes, until thickens. (mush some of the beans with a fork).Season and set aside.

2 cups cooked rice


Red sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion-small diced
4 cloves garlic- minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 cups water
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
sea salt
1 tbsp cornstarch-mixed with 2 tsp water

In a pot, heat oil add onion garlic. Saute until soft
Add spices, stir until combined
Add water and tomato paste.
Bring to boil. Add sugar
Season to taste
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add cornstarch to thicken.



Assembly


Using flour tortillas, wrap up the filling and rice. In a baking dish spoon a little of the sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place enchiladas in and spoon over some more of the sauce. Bake at 375 for 20 minute or until bubbling. Save some sauce for spooning on top when you serve it :)

Black bean Tostada

I love Mexican type food. It always seems so fresh and healthy, which is something I strive to feed my family with. I started with some black beans and went from there. The avocado cream is something new and wanted to do a little experiment with.

Speaking of experiments...I got this amazing book at the library. ALINEA. It is a cookbook from the famous Chicago restaurant. I was excited when I checked my email this morning and it said it was ready for me to pick up. This book...the pictures are a work of art! The pictures are SO beautiful, its hard to believe it is food. If you have a good library, I recommend you check this book out. Its not vegan, but man...it is unbelievable where food has come.
 
Back on topic both my blenders are broken. The big glass one broke because I left a fork in it when I turned it on and it broke the glass. My hand blender I broke this evening when I was mushing up the beans I had it plugged into the stove top outlet, and the cord rested on a hot burner. There was a HUGE spark and the lights flickered through out the house. I am mad at myself because both of these "accidents" could of been prevented. ARGH!  I guess I will be mushing beans by hand for now...

This was super simple to make and made the family happy which is always a +.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion- small diced
3 cloves garlic-minced
1 1/2 cups black beans
1 small tomato- chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
3/4 cup water
sea salt

In a medium sized pot heat oil, add onion and garlic. Saute until soft. Add spices stir to coat onions. Add beans, water and tomato. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Puree and season to taste

For the tostada part I used a cast iron pan heated it up and placed a flour tortilla on it. Let it sit on the heat for a minute or two and then flip it.

Pinto Beans in ancho chilies with a Cheeze sauce and fresh salsa

We are back from Quebec...had a great trip. The drive is WAY too long, and I am always happy to be home. There is something about leaving home that makes you appreciate it a bit more when you get back:)

For the past few days I have been catching up on laundry, which always seems to be the thing I always let get out of control. It's not that I don't like it, its just there is always so much of it, that it seems overwhelming. In any case it always gets done, even if the family start to wonder where their socks are...hehe.

I soaked some pinto beans the night before, soaking beans the day before is part of planning out meals, keeps food costs down and dried beans are better for you than canned. I usually soak more then I need, once they are cooked I store them in the freezer. Its a great for when you need some beans and don't have time to soak'm and cook'm.

For this dish I used some dried ancho chilies that I cooked down a few months ago in sauteed onion, garlic, tomatoes, sea salt, and sugar. Blend and stored them in small containers the freezer. When I am ready to use them I just run the container under some hot water and throw the frozen block in the pot. It works well and the flavor can't be replaced.

Pinto beans in ancho chilies

3 cups cooked pinto beans
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion-small diced
3 cloves garlic-minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup ancho chili puree
1 cup water
1 lime-juiced
sea salt
2 tbsp sugar

In a large pot heat oil add onion and garlic saute until soft. Add spices, stir around until combined with onions and garlic. Add tomatoes and the pinto beans and chilies simmer for 20-30 minutes. Adding a little water, if needed. depending on how you like your beans(runny or thick). Add lime juice, sea salt, and sugar. Taste and adjust to your liking.

Cheeze Sauce

3 tbsp earth balance margarine
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 cups non-dairy milk
1 tbsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

In a small pot, melt butter over medium high heat. Add four and yeast. Stir until flour mixture is wet and clumpy. Add garlic and mustard. With a whisk slowly add milk, it will be thick, so you have to adjust the consistency as you go, adding milk, whisking, letting it cook, and adding more milk...etc. Season with sea salt and white pepper.

Fresh Salsa

This is a quick salsa recipe. Not spicy.

1/4 red onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes- chopped into quarters
1 lime-juiced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro-roughly chopped
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar

In a food processor blend the onions and garlic until minced, throw in the tomatoes in the processor and use the pulse button. Pour into a bowl and add the cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste.

Tortilla Soup

One of the most amazing tasting soups ever! I like mine mild, not to spicy, but you could always kick it up a notch with some extra chipotles.

I make my chipotles with dried ones that I soak, cook them with onion and garlic, spices and a blob of tomato paste, blend them up and store it in the freezer in small containers.

I have also switched from canned to dried beans, they are way more economical if you use beans as much as we do. I usually have a bowl of beans soaking in the fridge, even if I am not sure of what I am going to make. Always soak more then you need, freeze what you don't use, that way when you are in a jam you can always grab some from your freezer!

• 2 tbsp veggie oil
• 1 medium onion-small diced
• 3 cloves garlic-minced
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 can crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups water
• 1 cube veggie bullion
• 1/2 red pepper-small diced
• 2 tbsp ground chipotles
• 1 cup pinto beans
• 1/2 lime juiced
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup fried tortillas- chopped into small pieces (about 2 tortillas)

• 3 tortillas-folded in half cut into thin strips
• 1/3 cup veggie oil

In a large pot heat oil, add onions and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add corn and spices.
Add tomato, water, bullion. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add pepper, chipotle, beans.
Season with lime, salt and pepper. Add tortillas and simmer for 5 minutes

In a fry pan ( I like to use a cast iron) heat oil to medium high heat. Add tortillas. Using tongs flip around in pan until golden. Remove and sprinkle with salt.

Optional garnishes: Fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, & avocado (these are super tasty and highly recommended :)

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Beans (mexican style)

I woke up from a nap and felt like eating beans and rice, So I whipped this up with my daughter.
I didn't mention the rice, I figure that people know how to cook a pot of rice:P

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions- chopped
• 3 stalks celery-minced
• 3 cloves garlic-minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 sweet potato
• 5 mushrooms-chopped
• 1 small zucchini-chopped
• 1 can kidney beans-rinsed
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

In a pot, bring oil up to medium to high heat, add onions.
Saute for 3-4 minutes, and celery and garlic. Saute for 3-4 more minutes
Add spices, saute for 2-3 minutes. Add water, potato, mushrooms, beans,zucchini.
Bring to a boil. Add tomato paste, lower heat to simmer.
Add sugar, and vinegars, season, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.