Adjusted Tina Bars & Acorn Squash and Bean Chili

Hi guys! How are you? I am doing well and have been having a fun week in the kitchen so far! Given this, I wanted to share two recipes with you.

First off, we have the Body Attack launch tonight, so I wanted to make up a granola-ish, cookie-ish type of bar to give out to all of the instructors. I decided to tweak Tina's original recipe for her Oatmeal Raisin bars. Every time I make these, they get rave reviews. I made a few adjustments to the ingredients but otherwise followed her directions:

Ingredients:
2 cups dry oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (you could also use applesauce)
2 eggs or ½ cup egg substitute (or equivalent- check your egg substitute container)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup chocolate chips



Second, a wonderful Itzy's Kitchen reader (hi Pam!!) sent me a delicious recipe from the PCC Natural Foods Market News Letter (from Seattle) for Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili. I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a half batch. This resulted in 3 good sized servings. Here is the full recipe (~6 servings):

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups butternut or acorn squash in a 1-inch dice
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used tomato sauce as Josh isn’t a fan of tomato chunks)
• 2 25-ounce cans black beans (about 5 cups) (I used a combination of black and pinto beans)
• 1-4 cups vegetable stock (I used less because I used tomato sauce vs. diced tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• ¾ cup frozen corn
• Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and squash cubes. Sauté until onions are translucent, 7 to 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes(or tomato sauce), beans, corn, and vegetable stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper and tomato paste. Let simmer for at least 25 to 30 minutes, until squash can be pierced easily with a fork.

Taste and add more cayenne pepper and/ or salt, if desired.

Serve with a squeeze of lime and garnish with cilantro and a dollop of whole-milk yogurt.

Recipe by Alicia Guy, PCC Cooks instructor (ingredients slightly adjusted)
Source: Sound Consumer, January 2010

I made a side of ground turkey with chili powder and mixed it into Josh's chili:

Do you have a favorite chili recipe (Links welcome!!)?? I'm off to teach Body Attack! Have a good night :)

Long Point Grill & Chocolate Almond Milk

Happy weekend! Hope you all are enjoying it and getting in lots of relaxing, like Frank...

Our weekend has been really nice so far. Josh and I had a date night in on Friday night. We ate some dinner and watched Funny People. The movie was ok, but probably 30 minutes too long. Saturday morning, I taught Step and Pump, went grocery shopping, and then relaxed for the remainder of the day (so fabulous).

Saturday night, we went to dinner with friends at Long Point Grill, which is owned by the Dine With Sal Restaurant Group. The atmosphere is wonderful, very homey. The servers are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The kitchen is open to the restaurant so you can see your food being prepared. They also have a ridiculous dessert menu, which is filled with treats from their sister restaurant Village Bakery. Although they do not have a wide variety of vegetarian selections on the menu, they were willing to make me up something special if I wanted it. Instead I choose to go with the soup of the day (which is going to be added to their regular menu), butternut squash topped with candied walnuts. It was even more amazing than it sounds. I ate about half (very rich!) and had to share it with the rest of the table:

I also got the Long Point Grill house salad:

And a side of grilled asparagus

Josh got the pistachio crusted chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes. He loved it.

All in all, a great dinner!

I also tried a great little treat this weekend as recommended by HEAB. I heated up a cup of unsweetened almond milk:

and added just a touch of sweetener- totally delicious!

Today, I am going to focus on learning the new Body Attack Choreography. I also am taking CPR training to get re-certified and may meet a friend for some coffee. What are you up to?