Veggie Dogs.

There is something really satisfying about a chili dog. I grew up eating them all the time. At the time of course, we'd open up a can of meat chili, plop it into a pot to heat up and served it over a Farmer John weiner in a bun. It was really good and comforting. Now as a vegan, I can still enjoy a good ol' chili dog. I made my chili from scratch because veggie chili from a can is horrible. The dogs I like are Lightlife Smart Dogs. They are the same brand used by Dodger Stadium, except they use the Jumbo style. They are wonderful. Here's to baseball season which has already begun!

One chili dog and one regular dog with all the fixin's.

On the side: Pickled onion made by our friend Gary. They are GOOD!

Long time no blog!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been eating lots but not cooking as much as I want to. I am addicted to Domino's cheeseless thin crust pizza with mushrooms, olives, onions and green peppers and extra sauce, help! I really do want to cook from scratch at home. I have lists that I keep of foods I want to cook. Here are a few things that I've made recently.

I made another cashew cheese from the Vegetarian Times recipe, this time with a black pepper crust. So good.

Here is our spread along with goodies from the much too expensive antipasti bar at Whole Foods. $8 for the container on the right - what?

Nosh nosh!

This was a delicious grilled portobello burger along with grilled potato that I made last weekend.

Monday's chili made into chili dogs on Tuesday with chopped onions and kraut!

Chili Dogs and Chinese Chicken Salad with No Chicken.

Yesterday's chili made fantastic meaty chili dogs! YUM! Veggie dogs are Lightlife Smart Dog brand which I found at Albertson's.


Didn't really go with my chili theme but I've been craving a good asian slaw with a spicy peanut sauce which had peanut butter, cayenne pepper, sesame oil, rice vinegar, cider vinegar, agave and soy sauce. I made the salad with napa cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, cilantro, cashews, mandarin oranges and fried chow mein noodles. It was so fresh and tasty.

Chili Dog Craving.

Was craving chili dogs today so instead of buying one of those high sodium vegetarian chilis in a can, I made it from scratch which is sooo much better.


A Lightlife Smart Dog covered in chili, chopped onion and Daiya vegan cheese. This was so sloppy, it had to be eaten with a knife and fork. It was really good and satisfied the craving. I now have lots of chili leftovers that I can use for chili fries or taco salad or a baked potato topping.


Vegetarian Chili

3 TB olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 TB ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup water (or more)
1/3 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (you can find TVP at health food stores or latin markets. It's called "carne de soya")
2 TB tomato paste
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onions, bell pepper and garlic in olive oil over medium high heat until soft. Add spices and tomatoes and stir. Add water and bring to a boil. Then add dry TVP and stir. The hot water will re-hydrate the TVP and it will look like ground beef. Add tomato paste and stir to dissolve the tomato paste. If the chili looks too thick, you can add a little more water. Turn heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add kidney beans and simmer for another 20-30 minutes. The longer the better. Season with salt and pepper.

Chili Dog.

This was my dinner tonight. I made a small pot of kidney bean and red lentil chili this morning and poured some of it on my veggie dog along with wine sauerkraut. It was very delicious.

Cooking out of the pantry: Kidney Bean and Lentil Chili Dogs

I was in the mood for chili dogs today and I knew that I would have to go out and buy the veggie dogs but I didn't mind because the chili part was all coming out of my pantry. I didn't really follow a recipe, just threw a bunch of stuff in a pot and called it chili. I didn't use a lot of lentils only 1/4 cup or so for a bit of a different texture. I had one for lunch and it was really yummy with sauerkraut and a bit of ketchup. I'll have another for dinner.

Pantry staples used:
brown/green lentils
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
herbs/spices: cumin, chili powder, oregano, smoked paprika
hot dog buns (my husband bought these yesterday. Score!)
sauerkraut
ketchup

Other items from fridge:
red bell pepper
onion
garlic
jalapeno

Items I needed to purchase:
1 pack Lightlife Smart Dogs

Chili Dogs! + Bonus Sparky Pic.

There are days when I crave good old comfort foods like soups, stews, casseroles and chili. Today was that day. I almost made a Thai noodle dish but decided to give in to the craving and also use up some hot dog buns I have along with a package of Smart Dog veggie hot dogs. Chili dogs were what I had in mind. I based my chili off of the "East Coast Chili" in Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet but added some stuff, namely green pepper, jalapeno, carrots, cumin, a bit of bbq sauce and omitted the veggie burger crumbles. Great tasting chili on hot dogs bring me back to my childhood in the summer when my cousins and I sat around a table at lunch time stuffing our faces and not talking (my aunt who babysat us never allowed talking at the table). Good times!


I should post more photos of my animals here as they are one of the reasons why I'm veggie. Here's Sparky hanging out outside his cage. He was strangely attracted to these framed tarot cards hanging on our bedroom wall. He's ready to read your fortune! Isn't he just a beauty?

The Crockpot Chili That Went Wrong and Then Was Saved.

This was the first time using my crockpot to make chili. I don't know what it was but after cooking for 7 hours, I tasted it and it was really sour and had a "tinny" flavor. Not good at all. I tried to save it by transferring it to the stovetop in a normal pot and letting it simmer for a while longer, after adding brown sugar, more salt and pepper, cumin and chili powder. It made it much more palatable but still not the best chili ever. I've made excellent stovetop chili with the same ingredients so I don't know why it was so off. Could it be the crockpot's fault? Well, I'll probably not make chili in it again...


It tasted good in a veggie hot dog. So all was not lost. What really made it all better was this....


The most delicious cornbread EVER.


With some margarine and agave syrup. Yummmmmm.... You can find the recipe here. I added 1/4 cup sugar to my batter because I happen to like a sweeter cornbread.