Simple Homemade Guacamole

In my everyday cooking I like to keep things as simple as possible to cut down on cost and keep all the preparation a little less involved (since cooking from scratch is already so involved!).  So if I can ax an ingredient and end up with a result that tastes just about as good, I do it!  That said, our guacamole is a very simplified version of what most entail.  It’s just avocados, jalapeño, and sea salt.  It may not be the fancy kind of guacamole you'd serve to guests, but we actually really love it.  It's our favorite quick-and-easy treat to throw together as an appetizer when we're cooking a late night dinner on the weekend :)

Simple Homemade Guacamole

INGREDIENTS:
3 avocados
1 jalapeño
½ tsp sea salt (use more or less to taste)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Slice the avocados in half, remove core, scoop out the flesh and use a fork to mash it up.  
2. In a small food processor or blender, mince the jalapeño into tiny pieces.  If you decide to cut up the jalapeño by hand, be careful not to touch the seeds because they can leave behind a nasty burn.  Trust me, I learned the hard way!

3. Stir the minced jalapeño and sea salt into the mashed avocados.  I always have to taste test on a chip at the end or I'll get the salt ratio too high. 

4.  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.  

NOTE:

Guacamole turns icky brown after it's been sitting out for a while, and it doesn't keep well in the fridge.  I recommend making only what you'll eat at one sitting.  For two of us wanting a dinner appetizer, I do 1 avocado and about 1/3 of the minced jalapeño.  For a hefty afternoon snack while we're watching a basketball game on TV, I'll do 2 avocados and about 1/2 or more of the jalapeño.     

Chicken Curry over Rice

I grew up eating chicken curry and it was always one of my favorite meals my mom cooked.  So when we got married and found this curry recipe in our beloved More-With-Less cookbook, it quickly became a regular in our nightly meal rotation.  I've played with the recipe a little bit over time, including a substitute for the milk since I don't like to use a lot of dairy.  I decided to try it out with coconut milk instead, and it was quite good!  If you don't like coconut though, don't worry, it doesn't turn out tasting like it.  But because coconut milk is thicker and creamier than most other non-dairy milks, it's a great choice for this recipe.  And of course, you can use regular cow's milk if you wish!

Chicken Curry over Rice

adapted from More-With-Less

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. chicken, boiled and shredded

3 large carrots, sliced

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 cup water

1 Tbsp curry powder

2 tsp sea salt

1½ tsp black pepper

1/2 cup coconut milk or regular milk

2 Tbsp corn starch

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Boil and shred 1 lb. chicken.

2. Saute diced onion and carrot in a few tablespoons of coconut or olive oil.  Add curry powder, sea salt, black pepper, and water.  Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, to allow carrots to soften.

3.  Add shredded chicken and diced green pepper and let simmer while you work on the next step.

4. In a bowl, whisk together milk and corn starch until well combined.  Pour mixture into the pan and quickly stir together to avoid clumping of the cornstarch.

5.  Let simmer for another couple minutes, until the green pepper is cooked according to your liking.  I like my green pepper to stay a little crunchy, but Steven likes it softer.  You can decide what works for you!

6.  Serve over brown rice.  I usually cook about 1 1/2 cups dry rice and it is sufficient for us.

SPECIAL NOTES:

1.  Coconut milk can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store or purchased online at Amazon.  The full-fat version is preferable for this recipe because it tastes better and thickens the sauce better.  But know this too - the fat in coconut milk is quite healthy for you!  Due in large part to its medium chain fatty acids, it's been touted to boost your immune system, prevent heart disease, and increase your metabolism.

2.  Use the leftover coconut milk from the recipe for a non-dairy latte or add it to fruit smoothies!  Or use an ice cube tray to freeze, transfer to a ziploc bag or container, and store for later use.

Beef & Black Bean Taco Salad

This is a big favorite around here right now, and that's a good thing because between the red meat and black beans it's a nice little boost to my iron stores that are currently deficient.  We really like to buy grass-fed beef because it's so much healthier for you (particularly for the lower levels of omega-6s and higher levels of omega-3s, but also because pasture-raised animals tend to have higher nutrient densities as well as no added hormones).  So to keep cost down I turned the typical taco meat "filling" into an equal mix of meat and beans.  Of course, if you are trying to save the most money, you could omit the meat all together and use just beans.  However, we like the compromise.  We get the benefits of the red meat (both the nutrients and the taste!) and save a little bit of money in the process.  And an extra bonus is that by having your tacos as a salad, you can get a lot more green into your body.  Enjoy!  

Black Bean Taco Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic

2 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 3/4 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 - 3/4 tsp ground red pepper (go for less if you don't like it spicy!)

4 cups cooked black beans (or three 14oz cans)

2 green peppers, diced

1 lb. fresh tomatoes, diced

1 bunch green leaf lettuce or romaine hearts

16oz bag of tortilla chips

avocado (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Over medium to high heat, saute meat along with diced onion, garlic, spices, and sea salt until meat is browned through.  Add the beans to the meat mixture and stir for a few minutes until beans are warmed through.

Remove pan from heat and begin building the salads.  Start with a bed of torn lettuce leaves, topped with crushed tortilla chips, then the meat and bean mixture, and finally tomatoes, green peppers, and additional toppings of choice.

SERVINGS

Makes about 8- 9 servings for us.

Homemade Peanut Butter Larabars

One of the biggest problems I've faced since switching to a whole foods diet is portable snacks.  I've found myself in a blood sugar crash without a snack on a few too many occasions.  Most recently, I had been shopping at an outlet mall and was in desperate need of a snack before making the 45 minute drive home.  My only option?  A candy-bar-only vending machine.  That's a pretty big disaster for a girl that can't tolerate much sugar or caffeine!  So, it was time to get serious about stocking up on some portable, not-too-perishable snacks.  

These little guys are a great, grain-free, no added sugar bar and so easy to take with you on the go.  Big bonus - they keep in the fridge or freezer for a very long time!  This means, you can whip up a whole bunch in one sitting and keep them on hand in the freezer for several months (I'm still testing out how long they actually keep).  So there you go - an easy, healthy, portable snack that doesn't requires hours each week to make!

Homemade Peanut Butter Larabars

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups pitted dates

1 cup salted peanuts

1/4 cup natural peanut butter (salted, unsweetened)

2 Tbsp water

DIRECTIONS

Add peanuts and dates to a food processor and blend until a fine, sticky texture is achieved.  Add peanut butter and water to the mixture and blend again until well-combined.  Press "dough" into a flat, square shape between two pieces of parchment paper.  Place in the fridge to harden a bit, then cut into small rectangular bars.  Wrap bars individually or store in a container in the fridge or freezer.

SERVINGS

Makes the equivalent of about 10 store-bought Larabars.

Three Bean Beer Chili {no cans required!}

We've been making this chili since our very first months as a married couple.  It was an especially appealing dish for us in those early days when frugal meals that could fill us up were high in demand.  We stripped out the meat, upped the beans, and adapted the ingredient list so that we could have a chili recipe that didn't require the use of any canned items.  We avoid cans as much as possible because of the BPA.  We aren't sticklers on this rule 100% percent of the time, but we like to avoid them most of the time.  So, this has no tomato sauce and no tomato paste like most recipes call for...and a pretty simple ingredient list to boot, another reason why we love it.  Cooking dry beans takes some advanced planning, but is certainly the cheaper option.  If you're in a pinch or just don't have the time in your life to cook your own beans, we just discovered Trader Joe's and Eden Organics are two brands that have BPA-free beans.  So enough talk about beans!  Here it is, a Fall staple at our house that will surely make it's appearance on our dinner table for many years to come.

Three-Bean Beer Chili {no cans required, BPA-free}

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups cooked red kidney beans

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans

1 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans 

2 cups tomato, diced 

1 small onion, diced

12-oz beer*

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground red pepper

optional: cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Gather and prepare all your ingredient (i.e. cook your beans, dice your tomatoes and onions...)
2. Dump everything together in a large stock pot, cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes (go longer for better flavor, but 30 minutes will do it if you're in a hurry!).
3. Stir frequently during simmering.  Add a little water if it's too chunky.  Leave the lid off and let some liquid boil off if it's too soupy.
4. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese or other toppings as desired.    

SPECIAL NOTES:
*Choose and gluten-free beer and this is a gluten-free dish!

1. If you cook your own beans, you may want to add about 1 cup of water to the pot for some extra liquid.  If you use canned beans, dump everything, included the liquid, into the pot.

2. If you are using canned tomatoes that have salt added, I would taste your chili before adding all the salt!

3. You can easily use canned beans and canned tomatoes for this recipe.  Just substitute one 14oz can for each 1 1/2 cup beans, and one 14oz can for the 2 cups of fresh diced tomatoes.