These muffins are great fresh or even frozen(reheated). They have a nice lemon snap followed by the sweet tang of blueberry and then cake-y goodness. I usually use organic ingredients to make these, but when the items are out of season and the wife wants a batch, I settle for the best quality I can find.
I’ve decided recently to focus more on healthier cooking, and with the number of vegetarians and light meat eaters around me have been trying to focus on vegetarian recipes (rather, I should say trying to make them vegetarian or as meatless as possible, but vegetarian first…then add meat back in next time if I feel it needs it). In this chili, I didn’t miss the meat at all (I think I always say that 
). I also experimented with adding carrots to the recipe, maybe next time I’ll do potatoes too.
This is a nice set it up and let it go for awhile recipe, making extensive use of the crockpot and slow cook speed. (more…)
I make this Honey Wheat bread as our normal bread loaf for everyday use. I generally put it into the bread maker on the dough cycle, then pull it out, split it into 2 loaves and proof it again before baking. I could bake it in the bread maker, but I don’t like the shape of the loaf that comes out, it’s not terribly practical for use. (more…)
I’ve made this chili a few times for friends and family, and even taken it to the wife’s work, as well as mine for a chili cook off. Unfortunately, at my office it lost the chili contest (though not a reflection on the recipe). Here are the basic ingredients(based on what I can get at my local grocery store, HEB):
* 2 x 28 oz. Cans of Crushed Tomatoes (sometimes I use the ones with garlic included, sometimes not. Usually I get organic)
* 2 x 15 oz. Can of Bush’s Chili Beans (Medium or Mild). Or make your own.
* 2 Green Bell Peppers (more…)
I hadn’t intended to turn this into a food blog, but it appears I don’t have much to say during the week (probably because work and school occupy so much of my time). Since I really want to keep in the habit of posting articles, I’ve decided to try and fill the gaps with food posts, soon to have pictures!
Tonight’s dinner was Asparagus Carbonara, or as I believe it would be in Italian: Asparagi alla Carbonara. I’ve scribed the recipe the way I did it, which was to blanch the asparagus in the pasta water before I added the fettucine. This allows you to use less pots (always a winner!). I think I might have used too many eggs (so you might be able to cut back to 2).
Asparagi alla Carbonara
- serves 6 -
1 lb asparagus spears
1 lb fettucine
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz bacon, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pasta water
fresh ground pepper
container with ice water large enough to put the asparagus for a few seconds.
Black Bean Soup
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder, or more to taste
2 15 oz cans black beans, or 4 cups cooked from dry
4 cups vegetable stock
Tobasco Chipotle pepper sauce (if desired)
Salt
Course ground Black Pepper
Garnish
1 lime cut in 8ths
Sour cream or plain yogurt to garnish, or 1 egg
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Steps
Phil’s Vegetarian Lentil Chili
I was inspired to make this after reading Willi’s recipe at digginfood.com. I took her basic recipe and adjusted it to be more to my liking. I made sure to honor the spirit of it by keeping it vegetarian (at least one of the spirits). Next time I will try it using fresh vegetables that I fire roast myself, but it’s nice to know you can throw together ingredients from your pantry. The total cost for the entire pot of chili was under $5 for raw ingredients (spices were already on hand and some ingredients were organic, so cost a little more).
Ingredients:
1 pound lentils, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, finely chopped (go ½ if you like less)
1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted tomatoes (or two cups stewed tomatoes) finely diced
1 can (4 oz.) green chiles (or ½ cup chopped fire roasted chiles) finely diced
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste (more or less depending on desired thickness)
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
2 teaspoons chile powder (up to 4 tsp to taste)
2 teaspoons cumin (up to 4 tsp to taste)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon course ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne
5 dashes of chipotle tabasco (to taste)
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (for flavor and aroma)
Instructions:
Combine lentils, broth and water in a large pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes partially covered. Watch closely for water level, add in small increments if needed to keep lentils in water while cooking.
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, chiles, chile powder, cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix the lentils and onion/tomato/peppers mix. Add the tomato paste to desired thickness. Add the liquid smoke, and stir in. Taste. This is where I added more chili powder (+2 tsp) and cumin(+2 tsp) to kick it up a notch (BAM!). Add the chipotle tabasco to taste (for me that was 5 healthy dashes). Simmer 20 to 30 minutes more, or until the lentils are tender. Add a bit more water if the lentils become too thick.
Serve with rice if desired.
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