Sweet & Spicy Lentil Chili ... Tomato Soup

Another quick post... have been so busy with unpacking from the move and the upcoming holidays, but I really want to make the effort to post and get back into a blogging groove. Please bear with me with these briefs posts I've done lately.

Both of these dishes were crockpot meals from the book, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I really enjoyed the Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chili... my hubby, not so much. He didn't care for the lentils. He said he preferred my regular vegetarian chili. I would make this again though, even if I'm the only one who eats it... more for me, more for me! Muhahahahah! ;-p The Tomato Soup was supposed to be pureed and poured over Israeli couscous. I had the couscous but I'm such a sucker for elbow macaroni noodles in tomato soup that we chose to add those instead. And, my hubby wanted it chunky, not pureed. So, there you go. We both enjoyed this recipe though. Both dishes were perfect this week during the cold weather we've been having lately... winter is definitely here in my neck of the woods!

Easy creamy pasta sauce

Here's a little something I cooked up in the kitchen last night. I didn't follow a recipe. I just experimented and mixed things together!

I started with whole wheat shell-shaped pasta. While that was cooking, I opened up a pre-made marinara sauce--I chose Corelli's marinara, which is made with Tuscan red wine and extra virgin olive oil. I added in about three spoonfuls of Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese to the sauce. I also tossed in 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. I stirred the sauce, btcc and nutritional yeast together until it was well blended and hot. When the pasta was done, I mixed some of it in with the sauce and topped it with fresh basil, tomato slices and sunflower seeds. 'Twas good! And easy!

I haven't participated in Ruth's Presto Past Night in awhile. The parade of great pasta recipes is held over at her blog each week. But I think this entry qualifies! :)

Veggie BLT

Fast and easy was the name of the game last night. Just didn't really feel like cooking. Plus, I felt like something 'light' after all the good birthday food I've been eating the past week. I had some Rosemary Olive Oil bread left over from Monday's Barley 'Risotto' with Mushrooms dinner, so I decided to use the bread for a veggie BLT sandwich. :)

Yummy rosemary olive oil bread; Smart Beat nonfat mayo; roma tomato; spring mix greens; and Lightlife's Smart Bacon.

It was my first time trying the veggie bacon... it was pretty good. Kinda dry and hard after being cooked, but maybe I cooked it too long. Overall, a yummy light dinner!