Black & White Super Chili

Onion - 1 or 2 of your choice - chopped -cook first until translucent, then add the next 14 ingredients.
Black beans - 1 or two cans (You can drain/rinse if you want, I don't.)
White beans - 1 or two cans (You can drain/rinse if you want.)
Diced tomato - largish can
Tomato Paste - tiny can
Tomato Sauce - regular can (I prefer crushed tomatoes, didn't have any.)
2 Carrots - peeled, chopped or diced
1 Celery stalk - diced
Parsley - handful fresh, finely chopped
Water - as much as there is chili. Or to top of pot. It will cook down. (I've used organic vegetable broth many times. So yummy, but didn't have any on hand.)
1 can V8 vegetable juice - (Optional, but I add it for the extra sodium and delicious flavours.)
Cayenne pepper - to taste
Chili powder - to taste
Cumin - to taste
Salt (optional as beans are salty)
Pepper - to taste
*Quinoa - 1/2c dry, I used red, regular would be good, too.
*Spinach - as much as you can chop. Or frozen is fine, too!

*Add dry quinoa near the end, about an hourish left to cook. Making sure there is enough liquid left to be absorbed. (1c or so).
-May use already cooked/leftover quinoa. Add at very end so it doesn't get mushy.

*Spinach - add at the very end! =)

Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 hours. Stirring every 10-15 min so nothing burns/sticks to the bottom. I'm sure you could use a crockpot, too!

Usually takes me about 3-4 hours.

Quinoa Beanoa Salad

Black beans. Crushed red proper flakes. Cumin. Salt(optional). Cilantro chopped.
1/4c uncooked quinoa prepare as usual.
Juice from lemon slice
Spring mix, romaine mix, spinach
Tomato


The only thing I would add is an avocado, but sadly mine aren't ripe yet!

Makes a LARGE meal!

Black & White chili

• 1/2 Onion chopped
• 1 Shallot diced
• 2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 box Veggie Broth
• 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
• 28 oz can Diced Tomatoes
• 15 oz can Black Beans (I didn't drain, I need the extra sodium)
• 15 oz can White Beans (Drained-they looked slimey)
• 2 Carrots peeled diced
• 1 Celery stalk diced
• Chili powder to taste (a lot)
• Cayenne to taste (a lot)
• Cumin 1/2t
• Parsley 1/8t
• Pink himalayan salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

*I'm not good at measurements because I just shake, shake, shake, ...shake shake, shake, ...cook, taste, repeat.

**All this junk is natural or organic to the best of my wallet's ability. =)

I've made this twice thrice now because it is just so yummy, and comforting! The second time I made this, I used 3 cans of beans! Black, white, and kidney, thinking the kidney beans would give it more of a 'chili taste', but to be honest, I preferred it 'as-is'. But, hey, don't let me stop you from experimenting! Go bean crazy!

P.S. I very rarely make it 3 days with a whole pot of chili. I tell myself, "Oh, I'll freeze some for next week, when I don't feel like cooking." Welp, that doesn't happen. Once I know it's available to nom, I NOM.

iNom?

DetoxMay!

DetoxMay*

Black Bean Hummus w/ GF "Chips"

GF "Chips" w/ Guac & Salsa

So, it's been 11 days now of DetoxMay! I've been free of gluten and dairy since May 2nd and completely vegetarian since March 14, 2013, that's two months! I have to admit I definitely see this as a life-change rather than a "hip and trendy" fad. I think the main deciding factor is that I recognize the consequences I have to deal with when I make bad decisions.

Eggplant "Parmigiana" w/ GF Pasta

GF Pasta w/ Veggies & Herbs

Surprisingly, I've also recently (just today in fact) realized some positive effects of being gluten-free, dairy-free, and meat-free! (I should add that I'm also egg-free, soy-free, and corn-free for a while now.)

Here's what I've noticed throughout the past few weeks/months/year since I've changed my eating habits:

•Obvious large amounts of weight-loss (exercise included).

•*Huge* loss of bloating (face and stomach) This is a dairy thing. I have hip bones!? ...and a waist! Also, ribs/breast chest bone things?

Massive Veggie Stir-fry/Curry

•For some odd reason I've been waking up early. I'm attributing this to the lack of gluten. If you're gluten intolerant or have wheat allergies (or allergies of any sort), they physically wear your body down. Maybe now that my body is rid of gluten, dairy and meat it doesn't need as much sleep? Who knows. (I am, however, still chronically fatigued with everything else medically and physically going on, but I've been working on that as well!)

•I mentioned before that my mood directly correlates to what I eat. This continues to be proven by DetoxMay!!!

Green Smoothie

You might be wondering why I only write recipes for juices and smoothies, and if that's all I consume...Well, I'm here to tell you: I eat. A lot.

Here are a few staples in my diet as of recent.

Hummus
Black bean hummus homemade chips
Curry
Stir fries
Green smoothies
Eggplant pasta
Salsa
Guac
Big Salads
Teas
Lemon honey water
Horchata
Etc.,
Etc.,

*My "Detox" from a wide variety of foods. I'm on the Road to Recovery!