Homemaker Monday: Quick Vegetarian Posole

Welcome to the 102nd weekly edition of...

Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.

YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to The Harried Homemaker at Frantic Antics of a Harried Homemaker! I just had to pick her post because she teaches us how to make freezer biscuits. I love this idea because so often I would love to pop biscuits right from the freezer to the oven, but I am always remiss to buy frozen pastries from the grocery store as they are usually laden with unhealthy ingredients, such as hydrogenated oils, preservatives, MSG, and the like. With The Harried Homemaker's recipe, however, you can make these delicious-looking rolls at home, pop them in your freezer, then bake them when the urge strikes you!

Thank you so much, Harried Homemaker, for your link and we'll look forward to hearing much more from you in the future! For the recipe, go HERE.

MINE: One of the things I love most about my mother-in-law is that she prides herself on finding the quickest, easiest and most efficient way to do something. When she attended a class on how to make posole, a Mexican soup made of different types of meat, hominy and other vegetables and spices, she was shocked to learn that from start to finish, this soup takes about 11 hours to prepare. She realized that this soup was not for her, but once she pondered upon it, she realized that she could come up with a quick version... and she did.... and it is beautiful and wonderful.... and something I, myself, would be proud to serve guests. Her version contains chicken broth and canned chicken (she bottled hers herself), so I made some vegetarian substitutions and found this version of quick vegetarian posole to be something worth making many more times. I used chick peas as the meat substitute, so you still get the protein, but none of the bad fat. Here is it, and thanks, Mom, for your fantastic, easy recipe!

Vegetarian Posole

(And thank you, Mom who raised me, for the lovely bowl you bought for me to use especially for my blogging photos!)

Ingredients:
3 32 oz. boxes of vegetable broth
4 10 oz. can of Rotel tomatoes and chili
4 large cans of hominy (not the number ten cans, the smaller size, but not the smallest)
6 vegetarian bouillon cubes
1 package dry chick peas (or 3 cans cooked chick peas)
2 tablespoons onion powder
3 avocados, diced
A large bag of tortilla chips
Chopped cilantro
Lime halves

Directions:
Step 1: If you are cooking your own chick peas, start by soaking them overnight. In the morning, drain off the soak water and cook them in a pot with twice as much water as beans for about 3 hours. During the last fifteen minutes of cooking, add 2 of the vegetarian bouillon cubes to the pot and stir until dissolved. Let simmer for a few more minutes.

Step 2: Pour off most of the water from the chick peas, leaving just enough to cover them. In a large stock pot, pour all ingredients, including the juice of the hominy, and tomatoes. Bring to simmer and simmer until bouillon cubes are dissolved, about 10 minutes.

Step 3: Place diced avocado, chopped cilantro, limes and tortillas chips in serving dishes and use to garnish.

And I have to tell you that the 18-year-old boy...

...who shuns all things vegetarian, wrote as his Facebook status, regarding the meal... "POSOLE!!! The more the better!" And then he "liked" his own comment.

OURS: Okay, I'm excited to see what wonderful tips, recipes, and how-to's you got for us today on Homemaker Monday! Thanks so much for visiting and linking up and I hope you have a great week!