Tacos and Chili

I made tacos last night.  That means tonight is chili - with the leftover taco meat.  And we always have leftover taco meat because our grass fed beef is packaged in 2 lb sections.  Who really eats 2 pounds of hamburger in one meal?  Not us.
So, I made tacos.  Since I'm eating hardly any meat these days, I filled my corn tortillas with garbanzo beans heated with a little water and taco seasoning instead of beef.  The rest of the family ate theirs with beef, but they snacked on the rest of my garbanzo beans.  So that's progress.
Tonight though, I will be eating meat.  I'm making chili and corn bread.  Sometimes I hesitate to post recipes because people come here looking for healthy recipes right?  And sugar is not healthy. There is sugar in my corn bread. There's butter in there too.  But remember the 80/20 rule?  I eat healthy food most of the time and that works for me.  So if you're looking for 100%, this is not the blog for you.
Here's the chili I'm making tonight:

Crockpot Chili  -or Slow Cooker Chili if you want to be politically correct
2-3 stalks celery chopped
1 carrot chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 lb ground beef (optional)
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp cumin
1 large clove garlic
2  (8 oz) cans of tomato sauce
1 or 2 cans* diced tomatoes (15 oz)
1 or 2 cans* of beans, rinsed and drained (I used Great Northern and Black Eye Peas)
1 cup water
1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
A little salt and pepper

*When I make this for my family of 7, I do 2 cans each of beans and tomatoes.  Otherwise, just go with 1 can.

Fry up the beef, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. (If you're using leftover taco meat, or omitting beef altogether, then stir-fry the vegetables and seasonings.)  Pour into slow cooker and add remaining ingredients.  Cook on high at least 3-4 hours.  Or on low for longer.

And, if you feel like making some really good Corn Bread.  Try this recipe, but substitute whole wheat flour for the white.  It's my favorite.

E-book Winner!

Congratulations Tarynn!  You're the winner of the Good and Easy Eats e-book.  Please send me your E-mail address at GoodrealfoodBlog at gmail dot com.  (If I don't hear from Tarynn by Sunday night, I'll pick another winner.)

If you didn't win and would like to purchase Good and Easy Eats, you can buy it here for only $4.99.  It will also be available on Amazon.com in the next couple weeks as a Kindle book.

e-book Giveaway: Good and Easy Eats

It's give away time!  Good and Easy Eats, an e-book by Kim Wilson, is a collection of simple, family pleasing recipes that are actually good for you.  I chose a few recipes to try this week: Potato Corn Chowder, Seasoned Popcorn, Carmel Corn, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Meltaways, and Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I also followed her instruction on how to cook beans from dry to put in my chili.  It's true, I've never cooked beans before.  I never even liked beans until this year, so I needed instructions on how to cook them.


The Seasoned Popcorn was delicious.  That one will be a favorite for Friday movie nights at our house.  The best recipe I tried was the Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  I didn't think it was possible to make a cookies without sugar or eggs and have them turn out good.  I hesitated to try them because I didn't want to waste my honey on a batch I'd be throwing away, but they were delicious!  I'll make them again and again.

Good and Easy Eats is not just a recipe book. It is filled with helpful information on stocking a basic pantry, menu planning, making the transition to wholesome foods, how to decide what to buy organic, baking tips, salad making tips, how to cook beans from dry and other useful information.  There are also links throughout the book for more ideas and recipes.  For those of you who avoid wheat, all of Kim's recipes are gluten free, but she gives you an alternative if you don't have gluten issues.

If you would like to enter to win a free copy of the e-book Good and Easy Eats by Kim Wilson, please leave me a comment.  One winner will be announced on December 9th. The e-book will be available for purchase on December 10th.

Quinoa. It's What's For Lunch

Mexican Quinoa Salad from mygreendiet.com

My lunch was good today, so I thought I'd share it. It's Mexican Quinoa Salad from Mygreendiet.com.  You can find the recipe here.  I followed her recipe, except that I used regular tomatoes, cut down the cumin, and then I added a cup of frozen corn. Next time I think I'll add some red wine vinegar or something.  I'm not a fan of cumin, so when I cut that down it needed a little something else. If you like my Cowboy Caviar recipe, you'll like this salad.

I want to try some more quinoa recipes, so if you have any favorites, send them my way please.
 

What's Wrong With People??!

I wish someone could explain to me why people get so bothered when someone chooses to eat differently than they do.

I buy my bread at a bakery outlet. I've been going there maybe twice a month for more than a year. They lady who works there has always been polite and sometimes even friendly. Lately I've been bringing my 4 year old Grace with me.  She's always made it a point to talk to her and last month she gave Grace a small package of expired Zingers.  When we got in the car we talked about healthy food and "sometimes" food.  The thing that made the biggest impression on Grace was the lady's stained crooked teeth.  She made the connection in her mind that treats from the bakery outlet make your teeth brown and rotten.

And just so you know, we'd already been to the credit union and the pharmacy that morning and they'd given her suckers at both places.  I know they're just trying to be nice.

The next time we went to the bakery outlet, the lady offered her some donuts.  Grace politely said "No, thank you."  And the lady was saying "It's ok! You can have them.  You can eat them later!"  Grace again said "No thank you".  Then the lady said "Why!?"  And Grace said "I want to be healthy."  The lady did not handle it well. It was weird.  Like she'd been personally offended.  (side note: I should be grateful she didn't say anything about the teeth!)

So this week when we went the lady was smug and snotty.  She didn't say a word to Grace or even look at her. When she rang up my purchases said in a real snotty voice "Do you want a Ding Dong?", holding out 2 of them in her hand.  She didn't even look up.  It was so rude!

This kind of thing from strangers is one thing, but sometimes I get it worse from people who are supposed to be my friends.  It's not like I go around making comments on what everyone else eats.  I eat the way I want to and teach my kids what I know and hope one day that it will catch on. 

'Just a Little Heart Attack'

Have you seen this? Love this video. Thanks Amy for sharing.

Healthy Fudge

       Each time I go to the health food store I've been buying a few things to try. Lately I've tried Larabars, coconut butter, lentils, chopped dates, almond milk, collard greens, carob powder and beets.  All things I've never eaten in my life!

       The collard greens, chopped dates, almond milk and beets went in various smoothies.  The lentils were for this yummy Sloppy Joe recipe. The coconut butter and the carob powder (along with some other things) all went into this tasty fudge.  I'm having so much fun finding new things that I like and that my family likes as well.

  

If you want to try something tasty and good for you, try this healthy fudge recipe.  That said, Fudge is not a vegetable.  Show some restraint.

 Healthy Fudge Recipe

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups if you cook your own beans)

1/2 cup coconut butter or coconut spread (I used Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread)

1/2 cup plus 2 TB honey

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup carob powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup chopped cashews

Put everything but the cashews into a food processor and process until smooth.  (I don't have a food processor, so I used my BlendTec blender to mash up the beans and then I scooped them into my Kitchen Aid mixer to combine.)

Stir in the cashews.  Spread into a 8x8 pan and refrigerate for one hour.

Cut into pieces.

If you're not going to eat it all within a few days. (And I hope you don't!) Then wrap fudge pieces in freezer wrap and store individually in freezer. 

Guaranteed to satisfy a chocolate craving!

Find the  original recipe and more healthy recipes here at simplynaturalhealth.com.

A little something about coconut oil: 
Coconut oil is very useful in reducing weight.  It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and enzyme systems. Further, it increases the body's metabolism by removing stress on the pancreas, thereby burning out more energy and helping obese and overweight people reduce their weight. Hence, people living in tropical coastal areas, who eat coconut oil daily as their primary cooking oil, are normally not fat, obese or overweight.