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 :)