Vegetarian Chili & Cornbread

Day 365

Vegetarian Chili & Cornbread

Vegetarian Chili

I wasn't actually home when Laura made this so there aren't a lot of pics of the process, except the beans, which were soaking before I left. However, we've made chili one other time in the past year of doing this blog so there are lots of pics on that page.

Beans cooking

Last Time We Made Chili

If asked, I would have guess we had chili 4 or 5 times in the past year. Nope. Only once. I find that weird. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2014

Pot of chili

Directions

(As provided by Laura)
Quick soak and cook different types of dried beans, total of 2.5 cups dry. Drain and set aside.
Saute one onion and one red pepper in stew pot.
Add 2 cups cherry tomatoes and 1 can Italian diced tomatoes and half can crushed tomatoes.
Add 2 cups veggie broth and simmer until you can pop cherry tomatoes.
Add 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tbsp. chili powder, 2 tsp chipotle powder, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 c. brown sugar and 7 cloves garlic, minced.
Simmer for 1/2 hour, add beans until heated through and serve.

Cornbread

Original recipe
Laura's cornbread tonight was super good. I had good cornbread at work earlier this week too, brought to our potluck by Caroline Davidson. Laura doesn't always use the same recipe, but the one she used tonight was a good one. Cornbread is good with chili. And I just realized that I used "good" four times in this paragraph. Good writing, there.

Cornbread

Reviews/Comments

This is about as awesome as it gets for comfort food with tons of flavor and a bit of kick. I love chili! I give it a 10.

Laura rates it a:"Hmmmm really good chili....9!"

Last Day of This Blog

This is the last entry for this particular blog. I committed to doing it for one year, and followed through! There were times I had to dig deep to keep going and times when I allowed myself a break (like most of the summer). There were also days when it just didn't seem worth it because we were having the same leftovers for a third night or just ate sporadic things throughout the evening rather than a proper meal and I allowed myself a pass sometimes. But altogether there are 272 posts, and that is 75% of the year.

I want to thank my most avid followers: Carrie Weeks, Missy Savoy, Devin DeGray, Stephanie Watson, Kenzie Connelly & Caroline Davidson who actually went in and read many (if not all) of my entries. Your comments, feedback and support were everything to me and if not for you I may have quit last November once the realization of what I had committed to set in. Missy actually tried some of our meals and would always give honest feedback for the blog. I'm sure Devin is super jealous of that since he wants us to adopt him. Carrie tried something Mexican we made not too long ago.Thank you all so much for the part you played in this project. It's more than you even know.

Honorable mentions to:  Molly Westcoat, Lisa Lyon, Robert Frenette & Gisele McClafferty for liking my posts on FB; your support was very much felt and appreciated.

Most of all, I want to thank Laura, who made many of these meals, clicked that link I tagged her in every night and proofread and helped make corrections to errors and omissions, and kept me encouraged throughout the life of the project. Thank you, Laur!

Final Thoughts

It was a fun project, looking back, and most times it was an enjoyable task. I had a lot of laughs at myself (because I'm hilarious) and enjoyed the feedback and comments very much. The blog was never about what a great cook I am (actually, Laura's pretty darn good) or how healthy we eat (I've proven that to be false). It was meant to track what we're eating for our own records, as well as show anyone who was wondering what vegetarians eat since people would ask me. As can be seen by the blog, we eat pretty much what you do, but either without meat or with a substitute. I think it will be a resource I will refer to sometimes, when I'm trying to think of something to have for supper, or remember how something was made.

I will continue to post all the best stuff on my Favorite Recipes blog.

UPDATE: New blog: E&L's Vegan Favorites