One Pot Beer Chili Mac

I was finally able to locate the photo of the Thug Kitchen 101's Skillet Beer Chili Mac attempt.  Here is my version with the changes I made below...mostly because I didn't have a few things on hand and tweaked based on what was in my pantry.

1 T of Grapeseed Oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Carrot, chopped

1 Orange Bell Pepper

Pinch Cayenne Powder

2 t Cumin

2 t of Smoked Paprika

Black Sea Salt to taste

2 T Tomato Paste

1 can of unseasoned Tomato Sauce

1 C Beer

3 C Water

3 C Kamut Pasta

1 can Chickpeas 

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

1 T Maple Syrup

1 T Lemon Juice

Garlic Powder to taste

Last Week - sometime - I made a simple Buffalo Chickpea Wrap.  This is what the inside looked like.  The Buffalo Chickpeas were SO YUMMY.  I will have to see if I can recreate them and NOT lose the recipe I did in the near future

Another quick photo of a recipe I made and lost the actually recipe for...Cheaters Tomato Soup.  I used Canned Diced Tomatoes for the base...that's why I named it Cheaters Tomato Soup!

This is one of the many coins I have gotten recently!  The reason I was interested in it so much is because it said Trinity on it!

And...speaking of Trinity...here are some photos of her!  She's already hit the 8 month mark!  I can't believe it!  I also can't get over her smile, here!

And this one makes me laugh every time!  She was trying to eat those veggie puffs that are in the shape of Cheerio's and it ended up on her nose and stayed there for at least 5 minutes!  

We took a day trip today and found some really awesome places and I will be sharing those places and items within the next couple of weeks - so do check back often!

Now I'm off to catch up on YOUR blogs!  Sorry for not stopping by much lately!

Vegan Mac & Cheese & Peas with Buffalo Bread Crumbs, Thug Kitchen 101, and Booking It!

The last couple of days we had our first snow storm of the year.  It's still in the process of hitting us.  Today I used up one of my vacation days that I had left and didn't even leave the house.  Driving was tricky and I didn't want to chance it.  I was able to get some stuff done around the house and online.  Because I had some extra time I decided to try the dish you see here.  It's inspired by Thug Kitchen 101's Creamy Squash Mac & Cheese with Hot Sauce Bread Crumbs.

I tweaked the recipe quite a bit so I guess I could say that it was inspired by that recipe?  For the bread crumbs you see here I used pita bread that I needed to hurry up and use.  I coated it with Frank's Hot Sauce, Almond Milk, and Garlic Grapeseed Oil - mixed and baked at 425 for 20 minutes.

As for the pasta - I have a few different partial boxes of various noodles that I wanted to get rid of, too.

For the cheese sauce -  all in a blender:
1/2 Small Onion, diced, pan fried
2 Potatoes, cubed, pan fried
1 C Water
2 T Lemon Juice
1 t Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 C Almond Milk
1 T Wildtree Garlic Garlore
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
1 t Smoked Paprika
1 t Turmeric
Canned Diced Red Sweet Peppers*
Sea Salt & More Nutritional Yeast to taste

* The canned, diced sweet red bell peppers I threw in for color and because I didn't have any carrots.  The original recipe called for them.  I also added and changed a few things from their recipe based on what I had on hand and to taste.

I added about 1 C frozen peas to the pasta, drained, added the 'cheese' sauce, stirred, and added the Buffalo Bread Crumbs.

I had a lot of the sauce left over.  I had quite a few of the bread crumbs left over.  I didn't add the squash that the original recipe called for because I didn't have it.  This dish was all about a variety of textures.  It was just the right amount of creamy and the right about of spicy.  I'm totally hooked on adding homemade bread crumbs or croutons to Mac & Cheese now!

As for Thug Kitchen 101 - I totally LOVE it!  I can't wait to purchase the other ones they offer.  YES...it's very colorful with the language.  It doesn't bother me but if you aren't thrilled with swearing and cussing you might want to skip this one.  I don't think there is a page that goes by where they don't drop the F Bomb in some way, shape, or form.

But the recipes are very creative, the factoids are fun and make you think, the artwork and pop culture references are neat, and the inspiration to cook for yourself is spot on!

Another thing I did today was re-arrange by Book Shelf...my actual book shelf...and work towards adding to my virtual book shelf, too!

Do you have any of the Thug Kitchen Books?  If so - which one(s)?  What are some of your favorite recipes in them?