Crockpot Quinoa Red Lentil Soup; Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

I just discovered a new website this weekend called Savvy Vegetarian while searching for vegan crockpot recipes. There were so many interesting recipes. They even sell downloadable recipe books. I decided on Crockpot Quinoa Red Lentil Soup since I am trying to incorporate more quinoa into my diet. This soup used practically every spice I had on the shelf! Sadly, I did not have fennel seed which may have impacted the flavor a bit. It needed a little salt infusion in my opinion so I added a TB of veggie bouillon. The flavor was better the second day I am discovering. The recipe did not indicate when to add the veggies so I just threw everything into the crockpot and it worked just fine. I used my favorite butternut squash, of course!

I got "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" for my husband for the holidays and had to try these Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows. They look a lot more difficult than they were. They are delicious. Sort of wishing I had not made them since I am still home with the baby and seriously lack self-control around cookies.

Good Night!

P.S. 1/14/11 Just Found an online link for the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows. Hooray!

Chili and Cornbread

On Sunday I was very busy so I decided to adapt a favorite chili recipe for my crock pot. It worked well with a few modifications. My husband noted that it would have only taken 40 minutes to cook on the stove yet I decided to let it cook for 5 hours instead. At least I did not have to babysit the chili and I was able to get my errands completed while it cooked. I found this chili recipe in one of the Hannaford's Fresh magazines that they give you free if you spend $25. I seem to find a lot of little gems in this little known publication-Thank you Hannaford's! Anyhow, I discovered in writing this blog today that they have the recipes on their website so I will no longer need to cut them out and save in my very messy Recipe Book.

Vegetarian Three-Bean Chipotle Chili is very yummy although I reduced the amount of chili powder and chipotle since last time I made it the family thought it was too hot. I disagree but I am not the only one eating it so I adjusted it this time and added my own Chipotle Tabasco to my portion. To cook in the Crockpot, you will need to reduce the broth to about 2 cups instead of three. I did not have enough bulgur which may have made the difference too. I added some cooked brown rice at the end to absorb the excess liquid. I bet you could simply add 1/2 cup or so of uncooked rice to the recipe instead of the bulgur which can be harder to find. This would also make it a gluten free recipe as far I can see.

I also made Grandma's Cornbread Made Vegan from Vegweb.com. I've made this several times and it always comes out great!

I am really enjoying writing this blog. Great Idea Anu!

I plan to make one last burger tonight if I have time. This is the one I am considering-Get Your Groove on Veggie Burgers