here we have a food blog

Well folks, the mister and I have been busy moving and I have not had a lot of time to cook delicious vegetarian meals.  We've been eating out a lot, and that's been cutting into our ever tightening budget.  Now that we have gotten our kitchen stuff unpacked in our new house, we will be eating out hopefully only a couple times per week.  Hopefully meaning we still want to eat out all the time because we're in a new city with delicious dining fare, so we will eat out whenever we can :)  

Back to the idea of eating at home...With the recent revelation that I have so many stomach problems because I'm very lactose intolerant, I've been eating mostly vegan fare.  This has been super easy in Portland (wiki says it's the most veggie friendly city in the US).  The groceries have tons of tofu and fresh veggies *swoon* - it's been easier than ever to be vegan.  

With the time crunch on meal preparing, I've been simply throwing together whatever is left over in the fridge and cabinets - this particular dish turned out really delicious, so I had to share.  I'm calling this Dark and Lovely Chili:

Ingredients: 

8 oz super firm tofu (cut into cubes)

2 cans black beans

1 can tomato paste

1 pack chili mix

2 cups water

2 cups uncooked rice

Dollop of your favorite vegan sour cream

Start cooking the two cups of rice in whatever way you want - package instructions or in a rice cooker.  I'm lazy and like to not worry about the rice while it's cooking, so the rice cooker is for me!

Now, put a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in whatever pan will hold all the remaining ingredients (I used a 4 qt).  Over medium heat, saute the tofu cubes until all sides are light brown.  Throw a little salt on that shit.   

While the tofu is sauteing, drain and rinse the two cans of black beans, because no one likes the taste of that nasty liquid starch they use to pack the beans in the can.  

Time to just throw stuff in the pan!  Plop the rest of the ingredients right down on top of the cooking tofu - black beans, tomato paste, chili packet, and water.  

Mix the ingredients up in the pan and bring to boiling.  As soon as the entire mixture is boiling, turn down the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 10 minutes (until desired consistency is reached).  I generally just simmer until the rice is finished.....lazzzyyy.

 Finished!!!!  Now, just slop that chili in a bowl with some rice and a dollop of vegan sour cream and viola! You have an easy, yummy, filling meal for cheapies!

LOVE!