BlogHers ACT Canada: Day One: Dear Diary, pass the Beano

posted by motherbumper

This morning, over in my little corner of the 'sphere, I bragged ~~to the reader, scratch that world~~ that I was going to be all organized like and tackle NoMeatPoWeek with zeal. Yet here I am, having to go the grocery store tomorrow because I forgot about tomorrow night (and the night after that). I just dove in, with ingredients for one meal and forgot the meaning of "Week" in NoMeatPoWeek.

Regardless, doing veggie all day wasn't difficult. No Italian subs for SB and I didn't crave anything (except for a meatball sub - I crave those every day of my life. In fact I'm surprised I didn't give birth to a 7lb6oz meatball because while pregnant I ate those often for my "late afternoon snack" aka: lassy - a new meal I created between lunch and dinner).

Bumper had her daily repertoire of cheerios, pancakes, veggie nuggets, mac&cheese with veg/fruit ~~thrown on the floor~~. Honestly, she didn't actually have the meal I made for dinner because she proclaimed it to be yucky after one spoonful.

Personally I think she was wrong.

The rejected dinner offering was a (mildly) spicy bean dish served with warm whole grain rolls. The recipe is a modified version of a recipe from a magazine found at my Mom's place. My cook books are usually ignored but that file folder full of ripped out, photocopied, hand written recipes is well exercised.

Now forgive me for the boring photo but for some strange reason, I took pictures of the ingredients with full intention of taking pictures of the entire process up to the dinner table, but I completely forgot after capturing the ingredients.

Graphics aside, here is my recipe:

Motherbumper's Easy Slow Cooker Spicy Bean Thingy

1 can of red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 medium onion chopped
1 red pepper (or green) chopped
1 cup of frozen corn
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 or 2 Tbsp hot sauce
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup / bottle of taco sauce
@ 1 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar is nice but so is marble)

So throw everything except for the cheese in a slow cooker, set it and forget it! (warning: set it on the Low setting for three to four hours and then remember it - OK? Promise?). Before you serve, throw the cheese on the top for a few minutes, let it melt and serve. Spices blend nicely, and it's a nice filling and healthy dish.

Does it get any easier? I didn't think so.

Oh and if you want to spice it up: add one chopped jalepeno. Oh and if you feel like making a cornbread topping: mix up a box of cornbread mix and pour over the top of the cheese layer. Put the cover back on and set on High for 30 mins (or when the bread is done in the centre).

So on the vegetarian side of things: we did vegetarian all day and consumed no meat (that I'm aware of... not sure about the ~~seven~~ brownies I ate). But on the organized side, bleck. Oh well, perfection will come as the week progresses and I become ~~a smart ass know-it-all veggie freak~~ more experienced in the meat-free living.