Taco Night!

Taco night!

Probably one of my favorite meals, but I don't make it a lot because I can't stop myself from eating 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 tacos! They're too good to stop at one, and my diet definitely can't handle that ;-)

I know what you're thinking..Jess, what the heck do you put in a taco? Fake meat? No! Just veggies? Kinda! But are they flavorful? Heck yes!
Instead of meat, or any fake meat products, I use lentils! Trust me on this, you don't miss the meat when you eat these tacos.

Michael doesn't mind eating lentils in his tacos, but he prefers ground turkey, so we make two different fillings!

In order to make your lentils taste awesome and get that "taco meat" flavor, you must prepare them with delicious taco seasoning. I'm lazy, so I buy the pre-measured baggies. I also up the lazy factor by buying ready to eat lentils from Trader Joe's.

Basically what I do is pour my ready-to-eat lentils in the pan, toss in 1/4 water, and taco seasoning. In this case, I had 1 lb of lentils, so I used the whole packet. After the water and seasoning coated the lentils, I heated them in the pan until a "gravy" started to form and thicken.

My Lentils

While I'm doing that, I also cook Michael's turkey. Just saute it with taco seasoning and water (follow the directions on the taco seasoning packet). Ooh yeah, the house is smelling good!

Michael's Turkey

 Now heat up some beans, chop your veggies of choice (we do avocado, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce), and additional toppings (shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, salsa).

I know you don't need a pic of this, but come on, look at those colors! 

 And assemble! I always put beans, lentils, tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce on mine :) Michael likes his piled high with everything- cheese, onions, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and more. I don't like cheese on my tacos. C'est la vie.

Now whose taco is whose?

Turkey!

Lentils!

And what does Michelle eat when we have tacos? Our feisty toddler eats a deconstructed taco with both sets of fillings, and a little cottage cheese on the side.

Viva el taco!

Vegetarian Chili

Chili, need I say more? I made this pot of chili for my family while we watched the San Francisco 49ers defeat Green Bay last weekend. We had it with hot dogs (veggie for me!) and baked potatoes. Mmm, I still have a cup in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. 

One of the reasons I love this meal is because it's so easy, and it's so delicious! Being a vegetarian can be hard if you don't have good versions of mainstream meals. I usually come across chili with corn in it, and I despise corn in chili, so I'm glad this pot is so easy to throw together.

Oh so good!

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can black beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 small can (4 oz) tomato paste
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (fire roasted if available)
• 1 jumbo can (26 oz?)  crushed tomatoes, fire roasted
• 1 packet chili seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 pepper (diced) from a small can (8 oz) of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Either one pepper diced, or 1/3 of the adobo sauce in the can

Instructions

• saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic
• add of of the ingredients and cook on medium high until everything starts to bubble. Lower heat to low/medium-low.
• simmer in pot (at least 20 minutes works best for us, but it can stay on the stove for a while if cooked on low) 

Serve with cheese, sour cream, raw chopped onions, chips, hot dogs, baked potatoes, or any other dish that's screaming for some delicious chili. Mmm, chili.

Chili dog with mustard!