Chili on a cold rainy night.

 It's rather nasty out tonight so I decided to have some chili and relax on the couch. I researched a few recipes, and I saw most called for canned beans that are rinsed. The issue with rinsing canned beans is that it doesn't take away all the preservatives and sodium. I opted to just create my own recipe and see how it turned out.


Recipe: Three bean turkey chili with some veggies!!!!

Ingredients:

2 TBSP of olive oil

Crushed red pepper to your liking

Sea salt to your liking

3 cloves of garlic

2 carrots

1 bell pepper

1 Onion

1 Jalapeño (or more if you like it extra hot)

1 TBSP Cumin

1TBSP chili powder

1 TBSP Mexican oregano

1lb of ground turkey (or beef if your prefer)

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (I like the central market one)

2 home made beef stock (I like to save the stock that I have left over from roasting beef)

1 cup of red beans

1 cup of black beans

1 cup of pinto beans

Since I'm not using canned beans I boiled these a head of time.

Of course you can always adapt this recipe to make it as hot or mild as you like.



1. Chop up all your veggies

2. Heat up oil in a large pot

3. Once hot add all the veggies and crushed red pepper and cook for about 5 minutes then ass turkey and brown till no longer pink.

4. Add all of your seasonings. Stir to combine, and let cook for 1 more minute.

5. Add the tomatoes and beef stock cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

7. Add in your beans and continue to simmer for 10 more minutes.

At this point I would taste it to see if it needs some sea salt (which it will since this virtually has no sodium in it). Season it to taste and voila yummy chili!!! I served mine over rice, and of course feel free to top with some grated cheese.

Verdict: I loved it, hubby loved it, and I haven't felt so cozy and warm after a delicious bowl of chili in a long time! I plan on freezing the left overs, and hubby may see this reappear in a future lunch.

Buying organic food

I admit I don't buy everything organic, but who can afford that? I like to follow the "dirty dozen" list of produce that contain more pesticides. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737389/page/2/#storyContinued
Stick with just buying organics from the dirty dozen list, and you will keep your grocery bill down!

A quick lunch for hubby

Hubby and I have been looking into reinventing the lunch after eliminating most processed foods from our diets. After taking a good hard look at the things we put into our lunches I almost had a heart attack. TONS of sodium and preservatives not to mention an unbalanced meal. Sorry folks but a well balanced lunch does not include a sandwich, chips, cookies, and apple sauce. I would like to challenge you to really read the labels of the items you are putting in your families lunches, and I bet you would find your selves shocked.


Now that we are over the shock lets look at how to reinvent your lunches. After much reading I personally loved the Japanese Bento lunch system. The theory behind the Bento lunches is to provide a midday meal that is filled with colorful healthy foods. You can buy a bento system such a this http://www.laptoplunches.com/ but I personally made my own "bento system" with BPA free containers from The Container Store. Using reusable containers won't create waste, and keeps plastic out of our landfills. You want to make sure your containers are BPA free though... VERY IMPORTANT!! Lets get to the lunch now!

Meal contents: Oven "fried" wings in buffalo sauce, carrot sticks, veggie dip, organic strawberries (on the "dirty dozen" please buy organic), and bulk central market animal crackers.

Method: To oven fry my wings I preheated the oven to 425 and tossed the wings in olive oil and laid them out on my stoneware bar pan. I cooked them for about 10 min then took them out and flipped them over and continued to cook them on the other side till done and crispy. You can toss them in a store bought sauce or make your own. I would recommend making you own because I found that the store bought ones have way to much sodium in it. You could even just toss them in a hot sauce like Tabasco, or Louisiana Hot Sauce. Then I just cut up the carrots and fruit.

Packing: I separated the carrots and strawberries with the container of dipping sauce, and the wings are on the other compartment of the container. I put the whole container in a lead free lunch box, and to keep it chilled I put in a non toxic ice pack.

And the verdict is: Hubby loved it. Says the wings were crispy and delish!

Introducing ME!

First and foremost welcome to my new blog, and thank you for stopping by! My mission in doing this blog is to take you on my journey to make ECO friendly, healthy, well balanced meals, and on a budget. Hopefully while you follow me on my journey you will find your self inspired to try new things, or to give me new ideas! I originally decided to set sail on this endeavour while trying to find healthy lunch ideas for my husband, but to my disappointment all I found were things like sushi and tofu burger. Um... I don't know about your family, but my husband isn't eating tofu burgers. Here you will find great fresh food that I make everyday to share with you! Please feel free to share any questions, comments, or ideas with me.