Have you ever made simple vegan chili? I know. Simple sounds very attractive. The two words simple and chili together sounds even better. That’s why I decided to make it.
Photo by Katina Horton
Ingredients
1 small bag of corn
3 cans of low-sodium black beans
3 cans of low-sodium Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 1/2 cans of Diced tomatoes with onions, celery, and green peppers
3/4 cup of quinoa
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3 tablespoons of onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, turmeric, ginger powder, curry, and cumin
5 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 cup of avocado oil
Directions
Dump all of the above ingredients into your slow cooker and let it cook for 4 hours on high. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can put it into a big pot, and it should all be ready within 1 hour.
Enjoy!!
****** I don’t use salt, so if you taste it, and it seems like something is missing, more onion powder always does the trick.
I have been thinking about making some version of lemon cookies for a while.
Finally, I was feeling courageous, and I gave them a try. When my mom came over, I gave her a few to try. I hadn’t revealed the ingredients yet. Then, simultaneously, she asked, “Did you put lemon in these cookies?” right as I was asking, “Did you taste my secret ingredient?” They came out pretty good. Hope you enjoy! God bless!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of oatmeal
1 1/2 cups of almond flour
1 lemon or 3/4 cup of lemon juice or lemonade
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of coconut flakes
2 tablespoons of flax seed meal
1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
1/3 cup of sliced almonds
3/4 cup of almond milk
Directions
Grab a large bowl, mixing all of the above ingredients, making sure that you cut the lemon into four wedges, squeezing all of the juice into the mixture.
Place parchment paper onto two cookie sheets.
Scoop the mixture with a small ice-cream scooper, making sure that you press the sides of the scooper against the bowl in order to drain off excess liquid before placing the scoop on the parchment paper.
With everything going on, it becomes very important to keep a routine, practice wellness/self-care, and continue to let our creativity juices flow. I have been continuing to make my weekly concoctions. For the last month now, Culver’s has been a Friday treat for me. It eliminates me having to cook, and I can immediately begin to enjoy my weekend.
On yesterday, I was talking to my mom, and I decided to look out the window. There were chipmunks chirping, and a bluejay flying mid-air. Before I got a chance to tell my mother about the blue-jay, I noticed a nice-sized animal in the yard. It appeared to get along with the squirrel that was standing there. I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. I ended up sending my mother and son a picture. Then, I sent one to my neighbor next. After tossing ideas back and forth, and googling their responses, I was able to come to the conclusion that what was in my front yard was a ground hog. Of all things! I told my neighbor, “There’s never a dull moment as far as what we will see on this property”. She agreed.
Photo by Katina Horton
Well, here’s the recipe. I hope that you will enjoy it. Have a blessed rest of your Father’s Day!
Eggplant, Lentil, & Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
2 eggplants cut into small chunks
1 cup of black lentils
2 cans of Hunts’s garlic and herb pasta sauce
5 tablespoons of cumin, onion powder, curry, turmeric, garlic powder, parsley, chili powder
2 cups of Mexican cheese
1 cup of rice
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/3 cup of quinoa
1/2 cup of avocado oil
Directions:
Boil your lentils in about 5 to 6 cups of water for about 50 minutes.
While the lentils are boiling, boil your rice and quinoa for about 20 minutes.
Stir-fry the diced tomatoes and eggplant.
Dump all of the above into a wok and stir-fry for about twenty minutes, making sure to add the oil and seasonings.
Grab a casserole pan and dump all of the above ingredients into the pan along with the cheese.
Stir with a wooden spoon.
Pour the cans of pasta sauce on top, garnishing with parsley.
If you know me by now, you know that I love coming up with all kinds of fun food concoctions. And the other day was no exception to the rule.
Before I give you the recipe, I want to talk about some of the benefits of creating a weeknight routine.
Food Photo by Katina Horton
Routines help to center, direct, and structure/stabilize/ground us. They also give us predictability for our minds and our bodies. Weeknight routines give us grounding and investment for a good night’s sleep. When we make time and space for the things that we are gifted/good at, and love to do, we are caring for our souls.
This past week, I decided to be even more intentional in adding some things back to my weeknight routine. One of these things is walking. The benefits of walking are endless. The fresh air, automatic feel good hormones that run through your body, the blood flow, lowering of blood pressure, etc. Walking makes me feel good and keeps my mind creative and flowing with ideas. It also helps me with my writing and allows me to really appreciate nature and how great God is.
Other things that I do for my weeknight routine are listening to podcasts/preaching, dancing, reading books, showering, and drinking tea.
As an exercise tonight, think of all the things that you love to do and are gifted at. Circle all the important things that you wouldn’t want to do without. Make these things a part of your weeknight routine and see how much of a difference that they make in your overall well-being.
Here is the French Fry A La Mode for the Family Recipe
Ingredients
1 bag of french fries
4 Dr. Praeger’s super green veggie burgers
1 container of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce
1 bag of cheese
Directions
Bake a bag of french fries.
While the fries are baking, fry 4 Dr. Praeger’s super green veggie burgers.
Grab bowls and add a couple of servings of fries into each bowl.
Cut up the veggie burgers and evenly spread them on top of the fries in each bowl.
It is amazing how we are all are wired up differently, and with this wiring, we all have different things that take us back to childhood. For the last few nights, I have been taking a quick five minute walk in the neighborhood in order to get a whisp of the slightly cool, fresh air and to hear the sound of the crickets. These two things have been my favorite since I was a kid. They remind me of visiting my relatives in Memphis and hearing the calming effect of the crickets at night.
Photo by Katina Horton
About a week ago, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner. My mind landed on the box of pasta that was still in the cabinet. I decided to jazz it up with my two favorite ingredients for most meals: spinach and diced tomatoes.
Here is the recipe:
Total Prepping and Cooking Time:
45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 box of penne pasta
2 jars of tomato and basil pasta sauce
1 tablespoon of thyme
3 tablespoons of parsley
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of cut-leaf spinach
1/3 cup of quinoa
1/4 cup of oil
Directions:
Boil a pot of water, adding the oil to the water to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Add the pasta and the quinoa once the water has started boiling.
While the pasta and quinoa are cooking, saute the spinach and diced tomatoes.
Drain the pasta and quinoa in a colander and dump them back into the pot.
Dump all the rest of the ingredients into the pot and stir.
Eat and enjoy!
Food for thought:
What foods do you eat, or activities do you participate in that take you back to your childhood? Would love to hear your comments!
With the way that the weather has been within the last few days, it makes one want to snuggle up with a throw and a book, or perhaps a movie, and just relax. Before we get into the black bean recipe, I would like to share a little bit of my reading adventure from the last few months.
I have been reading so many different books within the last few weeks that it’s a wonder that I can keep up with what’s going on in each book.
One book that I am currently reading is entitled, “The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry”. Because of taking four years of french in high school, and enjoying every minute of it, I decided to purchase this book at a rummage sale a few months ago. The main character, Kathleen, decides to leave the corporate world, move to Paris, and attend Le Cordon Bleu to pursue her dreams.
There are several different adventures that she has along the way. Some of which involve the relationships between her and her colleagues, her and her boyfriend, and her and her instructors whom she grows to love. This book is filled with French recipes and tons of laughter. Kathleen quickly finds out that life and recipes have a lot in common. As Christians, we are all too familiar with that as well.
Life Analysis
When it comes to recipes, we can have all the ingredients, make the dish exactly as described, and then everything comes out perfect. And such is the Christian life. But then, there are other times that we follow the recipe to a tee, and it turns out a disaster. Perhaps the oil got too brown, we overcooked the rice, or we ended up with meat that was too dry.
God is driving the bus. And we often forget that. Life isn’t a recipe or a secret formula. And although we think we have it all under control, things may fall apart just like the recipe that we knew we followed the directions to a tee. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)
Here is the the recipe:
Activity: Making Black Bean Mishmash
Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 35 Minutes
Ingredients:
1 onion
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 can of mixed vegetables
2 cans of organic black beans
1 box of Quinoa w/brown rice & Rosemary
1/4 cup of oil
onion powder -2 tablespoons
garlic powder -2 tablespoons
cumin -2 tablespoons
Directions:
Boil the box of quinoa w/brown rice mixture.
While the quinoa mix is boiling, do the following:
Cut up and saute the onion in a skillet.
Boil the mixed vegetables.
Heat up the organic black beans.
Dump all the cooked ingredients into the skillet with the onion, adding the seasonings and nutritional yeast as well.
Enjoy!
Here are other bean recipes in case you’re interested:
God is driving the bus. And we often forget that. Life isn’t a recipe or a secret formula. And although we think we have it all under control, things may fall apart just like the recipe that we knew we followed the directions to a tee. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)
This morning was the Christmas party celebration for my Moms’ Ministry small group. We had a ton of food and a ton of fun. This year has definitely been an eye opener from God to me, in realizing that yes, gifts are nice. They are wonderful. However, the best gifts in life do not come wrapped with a pretty bow. Because of God’s love toward us, we are indeed able to share this gift of love.
There is something about friendship, fellowship, food, and laughs that makes you appreciate all the wonderful blessings that life has to offer. I think the craziest part of the morning was when we played charades, which featured words that centered around winter and Christmas time. The highlights of this game was when I tried acting out Christmas stockings, and did a goofy swirl with my body. Then, we had the other team recreating the nativity scene. What fun!
Last night, it dawned on me that I had signed up to bring cookies and a cold pasta dish to this celebration. What I decided to do was to make spaghetti to eat, and then this morning, my wheels started turning, and that spaghetti transformed into my “Simple Spaghetti Casserole”. You can find the last simple recipe that I made here. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.
God bless!
Activity: Making Simple Spaghetti Casserole
Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 can of corn
1 can of French cut green beans
2 tablespoons of vegan butter
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 box of spaghetti
1 can of pasta sauce
5 tablespoons of parsley
1/2 cup of vegan or non-vegan cheese
2 tablespoons of onion powder
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
Directions:
Boil one box of spaghetti in five cups of water.
Pour the olive oil into the water so that the spaghetti won’t stick.
Saute the corn and french green beans with butter and chili powder.
Rinse the spaghetti when done, then add the pasta sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add all of the rest of the seasonings except for the cheese and parsley.
Cook for 10 ten minutes, and then dump into a large casserole pan, at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, completely covering with the shredded cheese and the parsley on top.
Since Christmas time is approaching, churches, organizations, and families everywhere are squeezing in the last of the shopping, get-togethers, and worship preparations. On Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending the “Women’s Christmas Gathering” at another church. One of my favorite things to do during this season is to sing Christian Christmas carols to help me in reigning in my heart, mind, and soul into the reason for this season: reflecting on that precious baby who was brought into the world to bring hope in a weary land.
My second favorite thing to do is to watch Christmas movies on Lifetime, Hallmark, and Netflix. Because of the fact that my free time is mainly in the evenings, and it is usually when I am tired that I’m trying to watch these movies, I end up falling asleep about a third of the way. And of course, on the following day, I am trying to figure out where I left off. Even so, for some odd reason, just having these movies playing, as I am sitting on the couch with a throw in my comfy corner of the couch is enough for me.
The last recipe that I featured was “Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup. You can find that recipe here. Today, I have included a recipe for chili that I made a few days ago. It’s called “Simple Everything Chili”. Why the name? I literally dumped everything in it to make it work. Send me a line letting me know if you decide to make it.
Activity: Making “Simple Everything Chili”
Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 2 1/2 hours
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of cumin
4 tablespoons of turmeric
4 tablespoons of onion powder
5 tablespoons of chili powder
3 tablespoons of garlic powder
5 tablespoons of parsley
2 cans of vegetable soup
2 cups of pinto beans
1 cup of lentils
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
2 cups of vegetable broth
Directions:
Dump the pinto beans into a pot of water, boiling them for 1 1/2 hours.
Add the lentils to the pot, boiling it for an additional 40 minutes.
Add all the rest of the ingredients plus 2 cans of water, boiling for an additional 20 minutes.
I have been reading Brene Brown’s new book, Dare to Lead for a couple of weeks now. If I was just reading that one book, I would be done by now. However, I am reading about six books at the same time. What I love is that the Holy Spirit has intertwined several themes across the board with all of these books: vulnerability, shame, joy, gratitude, dealing with the unexpected, hustling for self-worth, and filling our thirst.
There are several things that stuck out with me so far in this book. I would like to quote three of them:
Quote #1
“Embodying and practicing gratitude changes everything. It is not a personal construct, it’s a human construct-a unifying part of our existence-and it’s the antidote to foreboding joy, plain and simple. It’s allowing yourself the pleasure of accomplishment, or love, or joy-of really feeling it, of basking in it-by conjuring up gratitude for the moment and for the opportunity”. (Dare to Lead, Brene Brown, pg. 83)
This reminds of last night. I got together with a group of friends. I allowed myself to not dismiss the reality that my life has been filled with lots of drama and trauma within the last six months. However, my heart was full. It was so, so full. I thanked God for my friends, the food, the fellowship, time to decompress, and the laughs from the movie. I thanked him for all his goodness in spite of what my real life problems were.
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Quote #2
“Something as simple as starting or ending meetings with a gratitude check, when everyone shares one thing they’re grateful for, can build trust and connection, serve as container-building, and give your group permission to lean into joy.” (Dare to Lead, Brene Brown, pg. 83)
The second quote was a Holy Spirit moment because just a week ago, I had an accident. I allowed myself to sink in anger about all the inconveniences, but then quickly gave myself a gratitude check. That post can be found here. The funny thing about it is that I titled the post “Gratitude Check” prior to reading page 83 of Dare to Lead. God knows how to bring all things together.
Quote #3
The last quote is from page 97, which was another Holy Spirit moment. It reminded me of my IT job from years ago, where I sought to prove that I could sit at the table with others who made a certain salary, instead of being discriminated against. I didn’t realize that the only table that I needed to have recognition at is the table of Christ. The “Heavenly Places” blog post can be found here.
“When people don’t understand where they’re strong and where they deliver value for the organization or even for a single effort, they hustle. The kind that’s hard to be around because we are jumping in everywhere, including where we’re not strong or not needed, to prove that we deserve a seat at the table.” (Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown, page 97)
A few days ago, I decided to try my hands at a simple spaghetti recipe. There were very few ingredients. It turned out pretty good. The only problem was that I put too many red pepper flakes. I would take a bite to eat, then feel flames at the back of my throat. This cycle repeated itself until the bowl was empty. Enjoy!
Here is the recipe:
Activity: Making Simple Spaghetti
Total cooking and Prepping Time: 40 minutes
Servings: about 12
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons of onion powder
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of basil
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1 box of spaghetti
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 small can of tomato soup (low-sodium)
basil or spinach leaves (for garnish and eating)
Valley of Grace Cutting Board-Shopify Store
Directions:
Boil six cups of water with olive oil or butter so that the spaghetti won’t stick.
Add the spaghetti to the boiling water.
Drain the spaghetti.
Dump the pasta sauce and tomato soup into the pot.
This is a super quick and easy recipe to make for lunch or dinner. Depending on how many pounds of black lentils that you buy, you can have this to last for 5 to 7 days, even with a large family. As I mentioned in one of my more recent posts, you are going to see a lot of recipes where I use cut-leaf spinach and fire-roasted salsa style diced tomatoes. This is also one of them. They are inexpensive, and I love the combination. The tomatoes give just the right kick without being overwhelming.
It would be too much like right if I could just give the recipe without a background story or some drama behind an ingredient. My friend and I went into Whole Foods about a month ago. When we got in the store, we both went our separate ways. I was happily pouring items into bags and weighing them over in the bulk session. My friend and her daughter were in bliss over in the bakery section. I was just finishing up on grabbing the black lentils, when I decided that I would purchase some split green peas. I pulled the lever down, and the lever got stuck. Literally six to seven pounds of split green peas went all over the floor, and inside the squares into between the bulk items. A worker came over to sweep up the mess. I tried to explain what happened, but I don’t think it was any comfort. She gave me grace by not saying anything and grabbing the broom and dustpan to take care of the clean-up job. At this point, I was thinking, maybe I should grab the almond flour and head to the front.
Black Lentil Soup with Rice
By the time that I got to the register, my friend and her daughter were there. I tell her about what happened, and how I had an embarrassing moment in the bulk section. She proceeded to tell me about her embarrassing moment in the bakery section. What’s an adventure to the grocery store without a little bit of drama? Here’s the recipe:
Activity:
Making Black Lentil Soup with Rice
Total Prepping and Cooking Time:
70 minutes
Ingredients:
garlic powder
onion powder
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
paprika
cumin
curry
turmeric
italian seasoning
Imagine low sodium vegan broth
2 pds. of black lentils
1 can of cut leaf spinach
2 cans of fire-roasted salsa style diced tomatoes
Directions:
Boil two cups of white rice.
While the white rice is bowling, boil 8 cups of water, and add two pounds of black lentils after the water starts boiling.
The lentils need to cook for about 35 minutes.
Saute the spinach and tomatoes with oil or vegan butter.
After the lentils are ready, add the broth and all the rest of the ingredients, except the rice.
Cook for another 15 minutes.
I kept the rice on the side and poured the black lentil soup on top.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
