Smoothies, Hummus, Vegan Chili, and Coconut Mango Muffins

Lots of good food today. No new recipes yesterday because we finished up the last of the leftovers for dinner. Not a lot of new recipes these days. My hubby has been traveling a LOT this year (8 trips), which means not a lot of time to try new things PLUS only 1.5 of us left at home to eat all the food, so leftovers last longer.

So let's start with the smoothie - been using my new blender every day this week. Today's was spinach, ice, strawberries, banana, peach, yogurt, milk, and flax. Yum!

Next, I made vegan chili. I actually made this yesterday, using a combo of the pressure cooker and slow cooker. I am working my way through a 10-lb bag of pinto beans. I generally buy (in addition to the pintos) 2 kinds of beans/lentils for the month. This next month (July) will be pintos, green lentils, and chickpeas. I cooked up 1.5 lbs of dried beans (3 cups), and used 2/3 of those in the soup. Froze the rest for later, gonna make veggie burgers. This time, Bittman's recipe.

Then I tossed whatever I had in the crockpot, cooked on high, and stuck it in the fridge. I have taken to not salting my food while cooking, and doing it only on eating.

Vegan Chili:

4-5 c. cooked pinto beans, and some of the cooking liquid: 0.67

1/2 lb frozen corn: 0.60

14-oz can diced tomatoes: 0.56

1/2 can tomato paste: 0.16

2 carrots, diced: 0.20

1 onion, diced: 0.15

1 red bell pepper, diced: 1.25

chili powder, garlic powder, cumin to taste: 0.20

1/2 small chipotle "cube" (puree a can of chipotle in adobo, freeze in ice cube trays): 0.10

3 T diced roasted poblanos (from last summer): 0.20

3 small summer squash, diced: 1.00

oregano and one bay leaf: 0.10

2 old corn tortillas from the freezer (for thickening): free

Makes 12 c. for $5.99, or 0.50 per cup

Soak pinto beans. Drain and rinse. Cook pinto beans. Put everything in crockpot. Cook on high 4 hrs or low 8-10. Top with stale tortilla chips, which really aren't good for anything else.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

3/4 c. dried garbanzo beans: 0.48

3 T. tahini: 0.61

2 T olive oil: 0.22

1 clove garlic: 0.05

1 roasted bell pepper: 0.57

juice of 1 lemon: 0.25

1/2 tsp cumin: 0.05

1/2 tsp salt: 0.02

pinch cayenne: 0.01

Total: $2.26 for 2 cups, or 0.28 for 1/4 cup serving

Soak the chickpeas for 6 hours. Drain, rinse. Cover with water and cook (I used pressure cooker for 15 min). Cool.

Puree chickpeas, roasted pepper, garlic, spices, lemon juice, and a couple of Tbsp of water in the food processor. Pulse for about 15 sec. Scrape down sides and puree for 1 min.

Mix tahini and olive oil in a small bowl.

Start processor again. While running, pour in tahini and olive oil mixture. Puree one more minute, scraping sides again if necessary. We ate this with carrot sticks.

Toddler's Lunch:

Salad with fresh figs, toasted walnuts, gorgonzola, and balsamic vinaigrette.

The secret to keeping it healthy is using a small amt (1 Tbsp) of cheese and nuts, and using only about 1 tsp to 2 tsp of oil for the whole bowl of salad, which serves 2.

Coconut Mango Muffins (Vegan)

No recipe here, just a picture. These are delicious, and I followed the recipe to a T. It's from my new birthday present Vegan Brunch (a big thank you to my mother-in-law!)

These came out at $0.27 per muffin (recipe made 12), and used dried mango and dried toasted coconut.