Comfort Food and Part-Time Vegetarianism

'Tis the season for sharing home-cooked meals! After Thanksgiving weekend's indulgences, including turkey, I decided to cook up some vegan chili to share with my boyfriend on Top Chef night (Go Kevin!).

I threw together some chili and opted to serve it on top of polenta. I never really thought to do this with chili, as it's always been a bit of a standalone meal for me. The addition, however. added another dimension of texture and flavor to the meal. Being nutrient-dense, comforting, and quick I suggest this meal after a long, cold day.

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
2 T olive oil
2 t chili powder
1 t salt
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
15 oz can of kidney beans, drained
15 oz cooked lentils
1 c corn
1/2 c vegetable stock
1 c diced cilantro

Directions:
In a large lidded pot, saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add salt and chili powder and cook for an additional minute. Add tomatoes, kidney beans, lentils and corn and let simmer until hot (about ten minutes). Add vegetable stock as needed if it's too thick for your liking. Stir in cilantro and serve over prepared polenta.

I ate leftovers for lunch the next day and it was even better so make sure you save some!

Sidenote: On the subject of vegetarianism—or, in my case, pescetarianism—I've fallen of the wagon. I still do not consume any beef products, but have slowly been re-introducing other meat into my diet when dining out or eating with family. I still cook vegetarian at home and would say that I eat a vegetarian diet about 90% of the time, but am no longer restricting myself from the occasional slice of bacon here or Thanksgiving turkey there. I lost all of my weight while consuming lean meats regularly, so don't think this will affect my maintenance. It might even be a good thing as it'll add a little more protein and perhaps prevent me for over-doing it on carbs. I don't feel like I need to justify my decision, but I do feel like I should make it known that I am no longer able to be labeled (which is a relief!).

Sweet Success

Is it really fair to devote my first entry in a supposed weight loss maintenance blog to decadent (albeit vegan) dark chocolate, cookie-filled, buttercream-topped cupcakes?

No. Not at all.

But there is a method to my madness. You see, when I started my weight loss venture back in October 2007 I couldn't even successfully prepare brownies from a box. In fact, I think a big part of how I got to be 270 lbs was because I didn't know how to cook real food. And the lovely little cupcake up there is (just about) as real as it gets. Much of the food I'd down in front of the television or hunched over my computer doing school work was from a box or a bag. The produce aisle was a colorful, mysterious jungle to me. And baking? With all the patience and precision involved, I just didn't understand why one wouldn't just run out to Sheetz and buy a package of Tastykakes.

So, I guess a big part of this blog is to depict and promote progress. The me that weighs 150 lbs and can run a 5k also knows how to bake and cook dinner that was not once frozen, stuffed into a pastry pocket, or delivered magically to my front door. I'm learning to love the process of making something from nothing and being able to enjoy eating it as well.

That being said, I only ate one of these cupcakes and maybe a few spoonfuls of batter (shh!). Thankfully, when I do try my hand at baking, I have hungry friends and family eager to consume my experimental sugary snacks. We can all enjoy a pretty little cupcake every once in a while, but one key thing I've picked up throughout the past two or so years is that moderation is key to successful weight loss and maintenance.

Now, onto the cupcakes!

Vegan Oreo Mint Cupcakes
with butter cream frosting

I baked these after a busy day. Half the batch went to my very busy boyfriend and half went to my very pregnant sister-in-law. It's the basic vegan chocolate cupcake recipe from Chow with the addition of some chopped up fresh mint leaves and crushed 365 Sandwich Cremes mixed into the batter.

I hand mixed a vegan butter cream frosting (recipe). It could probably be logged as exercise of some sort. Then I piped on some frosting with a Wilton 104 petal tip, dusted them with cookies that I crushed up with the bottom of a shot glass (ha!), and topped them with mint leaves from my little window herb garden.