Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart, Corn Chowder, Pumpkin chickpea and Red Lentil Stew

I haven't made this yet but I think this is my husband's ultimate dream so I am going to try to make it for Christmas.....Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart. I borrowed their picture which I hope is legal! Too bad I don't have a tart pan. Wonder if a springform pan will work?

I have been making soups recently. One is an old favorite: Scrumptious Corn Chowder to which I added too much red bell pepper so no one would eat it (except me, of course). I think some fake bacon bits would be a nice touch to this soup. I always add Chipotle in some shape or form and some smoked paprika. I also use half Roasted frozen corn from trader Joe's since it adds a smoky flavor to the soup.


I also discovered this recipe on Amazon while searching for a slow cooker cookbook for my sister: Pumpkin, Chickpea and Red Lentil Stew from the Ultimate Slow Cooker Book. I used Butternut Squash instead of Pumpkin. It was a good stew but I always add some hot sauce to my soups/stews, so that is what I did. I did not add the peanuts or cilantro at the end since I did not have any. They may have given it a little bit more flavor. Ooh..some curry powder may have been good too!

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!!!

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