Beans!

Before I was vegan, I avoided beans. I didn't like the gas and a bout of food poisoning in my childhood from baked beans fueled my distaste. In my efforts to create more complete meals since turning vegan, I've found that if I don't have beans in the cupboard, I panic just a little. They've stolen my heart and made a home in my dishes. However, I still refuse to touch baked beans. The smell alone-ok, I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it.

Jeff and I decided to try out a chili the other night. Now, in recent years I've always skipped over chili recipes, uninterested in the beans and the heat. However, this particular night, a cold and depressing night, chili sounded awesome. I remembered a cookbook that was given to me by a very thoughtful coworker that had a whole chapter on chili. Come to find it's by Robin Robertson, author of Vegan Planet and other awesome books. My excitement was almost too much. I will admit to never cooking out of it and being naive to the author until the cookbook challenge on the PPK. What, you want the name of the cookbook? One Dish Vegetarian Meals (but all recipes have vegan alternatives...)

We chose the Louisiana Bayou Chili after debating for a long while. There will be more chilis in my future, dear readers, as the recipe was easy and the result was amazing. We devoured it along with quinoa and sweet potato fries. It made a ginormous amount, so I have plenty of freezer chili to go around which is PERFECT at this point in my life.

On another note, I can't believe I forgot to write about this already, but I finally made the New Farm Mac & Cheez, ala the lower fat version by Get Sconed! Husband gives it a million thumbs up, which is huge. I have had the mac made personally by Jess, but now I can make it at home. Bwa ha ha!

MAKE IT!

ETA bake sales for the Haiti disaster are going on right now. Please check the PPK blog and see if your city is included. I will be making something as I have a hell of a lot of time on my hands now.