Don’t Let Anyone Judge You For Drinking Iced Hot Chocolate

iced-hot-chocolate

This evening we decided to make iced hot chocolate. It was absolutely delicious, but also not very healthy due to the cocoa powder, sugar, and chocolate chips.

I try to eat as healthy as possible at all times but sometimes I have to give myself a break and just say “screw it, I’m going to eat this junk food and I’m going to enjoy it.”

I don’t need to do this all the time. Hell, I probably only cave in to my cravings maybe once or twice a month, if that, but it’s a liberating feeling to do what I want to do and to make that decision that I’m not going to care what anyone thinks about it.

You should try it sometime.

And if you’d like to try it with iced hot chocolate, here’s the recipe:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 7 oz. hot chocolate mix (about 5 packets)
  • 4 cups of ice
  • 2 tbs. organic cane sugar
  • 1 cup coconut cream
  • Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top

All you have to do is throw the milk, water, and cocoa powder into a blender. Then add the ice and blend some more. Use an electric hand mixer to make a whipped topping out of the coconut cream and cane sugar, then pour the chocolate into a glass and top with the whipped topping and a few chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowls

homemade-chipotle

Chipotle has always been one of my favorite fast-food restaurants. When my wife and I decided to start eating meat again, we thought Chipotle would be a good entry food. It was ok, but not great.

The first thing we tried was the steak bowl. Their steak has a great flavor, but the meat just doesn’t seem high quality. The next time we tried a carnitas bowl. We felt the same way we did about the steak. So now when we get Chipotle, we just order the vegan option like we have for years ๐Ÿ˜‰

But this got me thinking that it would be better to make my own Chipotle at home with grass-fed beef. It’s fast, it’s tasty and my ingredients are higher quality.

Let me start by saying that no, my burrito bowls don’t taste like Chipotle’s. I only used them as inspiration. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t delicious!

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

  • Cooked rice, organic white or brown (1 cup per person)
  • Pinto beans, cooked
  • Grass-fed ground beef, 1 lb.
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. sea salt

I throw two cups of rice and 4 cups of water into the rice cooker and forget about it for 30 minutes. While that’s cooking, I brown a pound of ground beef in a pan and finish that off with cumin and sea salt. I usually have beans already prepared and frozen so I just grab a container of beans, put them in a small pot and add cumin, sea salt, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder – I just toss it in, no measurements.

Toppings

  • Shredded lettuce
  • Tomato, chopped
  • Cilantro, chopped
  • Onion, chopped
  • Shredded cheese, grass-fed and raw

Use whatever toppings you want. The above are what I usually use, minus the cheese. I just happened to have that on hand this time.

Guacamole

  • 1 avocado
  • tsp lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
  • 1 tbsp. MCT oil (optional)

You can use any guacamole recipe you want, but this is usually how I make it. I only make enough for me and my wife for dinner, which is why I only use one avocado. You can make more if you want. Mash it all up until it creamy and it’s done!

Putting It All Together

This is the easy part. Put the shredded lettuce on the bottom of your plate or bowl, add rice, sprinkle with a little ground beef, add beans if you’re using them, add your toppings of choice and top with guacamole.

I love this meal. It’s fresh and tasty and it only takes about 30 minutes, which is about how long it would take for me to drive to Chipotle, wait in line and drive home.

Vegan Green Chile With Steamed White Seitan

Green chile is my absolute most favorite food ever. I go to Mexican restaurants for the sole reason to try their green chile. I started cooking around the age of 12-13 years old and since then, I’ve tried lots of green chile recipes, but I could never find one similar to the restaurant style that I love. That is until a couple weeks ago. I came across this one via a coworker of my brother, who gave him the recipe just a few months ago. My brother knows, and shares, my addiction of green chile so he sent it to me.

The original recipe had pork, but because I’m vegan, I used the delicious steamed white seitan recipe from the Viva Vegan! cookbook by Terry Hope Romero instead. I don’t know if the seitan added flavor, but I thought it would at least make it heartier. You can use whatever seitan recipe you want or you can probably do without it all-together.

Steamed White Seitan

1.5 cups cold veg broth or โ€œchickenโ€ flavoured broth
4 cloves garlic (grated)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chickpea flour (aka garbanzo flour)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt or more to taste

In a bowl, whisk together broth, garlic, and olive oil. In a large bowl combine vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, thyme, paprika, cumin, and salt. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the well and stir with a rubber spatula until dough leaves side of the bowl.

Knead for 2-3 mins to develop gluten, the let sit for 10 min. Knead again for 30 seconds.

Place dough on cutting board and cut into 4 equal pieces

Tear off four 12×12 inch pieces of foil and place one piece of dough in center of foil, fold the short sides of the foil over the loaf, then fold over the ends. It should be secure but loose enough to allow seitan to expand. Place in steamer basket and steam for 30 mins. Allow the dough to cool to the touch before chilling in fridge or overnight.

Store seitan in the fridge tightly sealed in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks or freeze, defrost before use. For the green chile recipe, you’ll need to dice one or two loaves.

Green Chile Recipe

2 mini-loafs of steamed white seitan diced
Diced roasted green chile peppers (5-6 large peppers)
1 small can of diced jalapenos (or a few fresh jalapenos)
1 16oz can diced peeled tomatoes
2 tbsp. corn starch
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. salt
2 cups water
2 tbsp. vegetable broth

In a large pot, on medium heat, warm oil. Add seitan and cook in oil for approx. 5 minutes. Add garlic powder, pepper and salt as per measurements or to taste.

If you haven’t already diced your green chiles, do it now!

Add green chile and jalapenos, stir and cook for about 5 minutes.

In blender, add tomato, corn starch, vegetable broth and water. Blend for a few seconds, then add to the pot. Simmer until thick. 20 minutes is probably fine, but I simmered for 45 min.

And you’re done! Put it in some tacos or smother your burritos. ๐Ÿ˜€

Recipe: Northern Beans and Chard

Chard is a leafy green vegetable that has a slightly bitter taste. It’s funny because I’ve never heard of it before today until a coworker of mine, Mike, asked if I wanted some.

Mike has been growing vegetables in the community garden at work and it seems he has planted more than he can eat because he’s giving it away to everyone in the office. Works for me!

Since Mike is familiar with chard and I know that his wife has a (mostly) vegetarian blog, I asked if he had any good recipes I could use it in. He did and it’s super-simple.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups chard leaves and stems chopped
1-2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 medium onion chopped (I used yellow onion)
16oz can northern beans
2 tbsp. olive oil

Mike only gave me the ingredient list, so all measurements are my own. You can experiment if you’d like.

Here’s how I did it.

Heat the olive oil on high for about a minute. Add the onion and garlic cloves and turn the heat down to medium. Let the onions cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the beans and chard. Let the whole mix cook for 3-4 more minutes.

This would’ve been great with some dinner rolls, be we didn’t have any so I made some garlic bread toast instead. Mmmm.