meatless monday Archives - Simply Happenstance

:: Black Bean Chili ::

Can you believe that Halloween is this week? We are still waiting on costumes {delivery takes a bit longer now that we are living in the mountains}. It looks like we have a super girl, batman, a werewolf, and obi wan kenobi! Ha! An eclectic bunch, for sure!

I thought I’d share with you one of our favorite Halloween traditions…. chili! I don’t think we are alone in this one. I have lots of friends that make a big pot of warm chili for a quick and easy dinner on Halloween night! This recipe is one of my favorites, as it is loaded with healthy vegetables and hearty black beans. I also like that it’s hard to mess up. Measurements aren’t really a necessity {as long as you don’t go overboard with the optional hot peppers and spices}. Also, you can adjust the recipe as needed to suit your own taste… even adding in ground turkey or beef, if you’d like. The best part about this recipe is that it’s ALL IN ONE POT! That’s right! Way less clean up, my friends! With four kids… I am completely over the clean up process…. plus less time cleaning up, means more time enjoying your sweet littles!

So, without further ado, here is the dream dish…. easy, healthy, and completely delish! [Read more…]

:: Perfectly Homemade Pizza Dough ::

Believe it or not… I actually went about two years without eating pizza {Gasp! I know!}. During my first pregnancy, I didn’t experience food cravings as much as I experienced food aversions. Unfortunately, pizza… was the enemy. I couldn’t handle the taste, smell, or even the word P-I-Z-Z-A. Thankfully with time, the aversion passed {I think Husby was especially grateful for that}! Now… like most of you, I completely savor a good slice of pizza… especially if it’s homemade. Typically my husby picks up some of Trader Joe’s premade pizza dough, on his stop at the market before making his way up the mountain to our home. However, this week, he was home from the fire station for a few days and we didn’t have any dough on hand. I decided to mix up an easy homemade pizza dough {from one of my faves… The Pioneer Woman}, and top it with fresh, organic veggies from my mom’s garden. Yum!

The best part about making homemade pizza dough, is that there are literally only a few key ingredients needed…. flour, salt, olive oil, water and yeast. It honestly took me less than 5 minutes to make, and only an hour to let rise.

[Read more…]