Fajita Bowl Recipe

These recipes came about after spending lots of time and money at Chipotle over the past few months. It's not a copy cat recipe because it doesn't taste the same but I love our version. Most of these recipes are made up of multiple different ones all put together for the best flavors. This meal can also be rolled up into a tortilla but we prefer it in a bowl. The leftovers are awesome!

Sweet Corn Salsa

1/2 red onion, petite diced

1 can sweet corn (or 2 cup frozen)

2 T lime juice

3 shakes garlic pepper sauce

2 t sugar (or agave syrup)

1 med tomato, seeded and diced

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

-Mix all together and flavors meld together even better after an hour but can be eaten immediately.

Fajita Peppers & Onions 

(*can also add cooked shredded chicken/strips of meat for non-vegan option)

1/2 cup oil

2 T liquid smoke

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1/4 t black pepper

1/2 t salt

3/4 t paprika

       Heat in hot pan and then cook the following in pan until tender:

1 sliced medium onion

3/4 cup peppers, thinly sliced (prefer red)

*Add 1.5 cups cooked shredded chicken at end or can cook thinly sliced flank steak with onions/peppers.

Seasoned Black Beans

1 can black beans, rinsed well

1/4 t oregano

1/4 t lime juice

-Mix all together and heat up slowly.

Lime Rice

Add the following to prepared rice:

2 T lime juice

1/2 t salt

2 T vegan butter

Guacamole

1 diced avocado

1/2 tsp salt

1 T lime juice

4 shakes chili powder

2 large spoonfuls finely diced onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

-Mush the above ingredients with a meat tenderizer mallet and then add 2 large spoonfuls of diced seeded tomatoes and mix with a spoon. Be sure to taste test and add more lime/salt/chili powder as needed.

We put the following layers in a bowl:

Lime Rice

Seasoned Black Beans

Fajita Peppers/Onions (meat) Mixture

Corn Salsa

and top it with Vegan sour cream and/or Guacamole.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Needs some tweaking but I want to remember the basics

2 cups pre-cooked quinoa (chilled)
1/2 cup corn kernals
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced (broiled until skin burnt, then cooled in closed tupperware and then skin removed)
1/2 cup pinto beans (need to try different bean-didnt really like)
1/4 cup diced onion (one large onion slice, diced)
   
Mix with following blended dressing
  2 T lime juice
  2 T EVOO
  2 T red vinegar
  2 garlic cloves, pressed
  1/4 tsp cumin
  pinch chilli powder
  pinch cayenne pepper

Non-religious Lent

I was raised a Catholic and went to Catholic school for 9 years. I still consider myself spiritual but not religious. I wanted to get this out there first because this is not a religious thing for me, if it was...I'd probably fail. I never ever successfully gave up anything for Lent when I was younger. I need to do it for me... not for a religion. I have wanted to get healthier for awhile now, especially when I see 35 looming large just 2 months away. So when everyone started talking about what to give up for Lent... I decided that 40 days was the perfect time frame to try to change some eating habits.

One of my big issues is the ease of which I could get in my car and drive down the street to McD's or W*ndys or without really thinking about it. The other issue being that I am trying very hard to be very environmentally aware...and one of the worst environmental issues out there....is the amount of red meat that is produced and eaten. Now I'm from Kansas City and love my steak so I dont ever see myself as becoming a vegetarian but I do need to find a way to lessen the amount that I eat...for my health as well as for the environment. So this brings us back to Lent....I decided that I would give up eating red meat and visits to any fast food location for 40 days. My one caveat being that I could eat any red meat that I had already prepared or had bought, as to not waste food. I only have one roll of frozen ground beef, some prepared spaghetti sauce and a few pieces of leftover sandwich meat so it won't last long.

So I am now on my 3rd day and am cooking the 1 lb of frozen lean beef to make some taco soup tonight. One of the ingredients is tomato sauce and I realized that I didnt have any so I tried to cook some.

2 cans of organic chopped tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic pressed into 2tbsp of olive oil
pinches of parsley, salt, white pepper, italian seasonings, splenda, oregano, thyme and a bay leaf.
lots of shakes of dried minced onion (because I didnt have any fresh onion)

Brought to a boil and then let simmer for 1 hour with cover...then 30 minutes without cover.. then I used an immersion blender to mix it in the pot and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

I added this to my browned ground beef...added 1 more can of organic chopped tomatoes, 2 cans of rinsed pinto beans, 1/2 pkg taco seasonings and 1/2 can water. I'm letting that simmer for 30min. I'll see how it turns out.

So far, I've lost 7 lbs in 2 weeks by just eating a little better...although I'm sure some of it is water weight.