Vegan Corn and Tomato Sauce 15-Bean Soup

This is a variation of my original 15-bean soup recipe. For more info on the health benefits of 15-bean soup, go HERE.

Vegan Corn and Tomato Sauce 15-Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 package 15-bean soup mix
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped, or 1/4 cup dehydrated onions
1 vegetarian bouillon cube
1 can corn
2 tsp salt

For garnish:
3 avocados, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cup chopped cilantro
Tortilla chips

Directions:

Step 1: Open package of 15-bean soup into a large bowl and fill bowl with water.  There will be a seasoning packet along with it. Throw it away, as it is full of MSG. Soak beans overnight to decrease the gas-producing properties.

Step 2: In the morning, drain soak water off, then pour beans into a large pot and cover with 2 quarts of water. Add tomato sauce, onions, and vegan vegetable bouillon cube and bring to boil. (Here's the brand of vegan vegetable bouillon I use...)

Step 3: Decrease heat to medium-low and let simmer for 4 to 5 hours, adding more water if necessary, or until tender.

Step 4: Add in drained corn and salt and cook 5 minutes longer.

Step 5: Garnish with fresh tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chips and serve.

(This is actually a photo of my original 15-bean soup, but they both pretty much look the same, except for the corn.)

Enjoy!

MSG-Free Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

MSG. It's one of my arch nemesis, and now that I'm pregnant, something to vehemently shun. During some of my pregnancies, I have suffered from "restless leg syndrome". The symptoms are exactly as the name describes...the uncontrollable urge to move ones legs, especially while trying to relax or fall asleep. This is a most disconcerting problem...to be lying in bed and to have to begin kicking your legs violently in a effort to relieve the sensation. Sometimes it would become so severe that I would have to get out of bed and exercise, then take a hot shower. I remember even bringing it up to my obstetrition and saying that I had read that taking extra iron might help. He said, well, yes, then, you should try that. So helpful.

Over the years, I have become more familiar with the causes of restless leg syndrome. It turns out that the comsumption of MSG is believed to be one of the underlying factors. Recently, I was an unwitting participant in a tiny scientific experiment and now I am exponentially more motivated to stay away from the poison.

I am a fan of hummus and it has become a staple in my diet since I've become a vegan. I love to make my own, but while I was visiting my mother in the states, I decided to buy the pre-made roasted red pepper hummus at Walmart. It was rich. It was delicious. It was addictive, and I ate the whole tub in one day. I didn't feel all too guilty, however, because it only totaled about 800 calories, had no animal products, very little sugar and virtually no fat. That night however, I realized that it probably contained much more MSG than I had bargained for. As I lay in bed between the twins, my legs began to tingle and feel the uncontrollable need to move. Because it would have been counter-productive to my sleep had I viciously kicked my legs back and forth as the twins were fast asleep on either side of me, I found myself flexing my feet and calves over and over and over again until I fell asleep.

After careful consideration, I truly believe that the prepared hummus, with it's perservatives and "natural flavors" was the culprit of my difficult night's sleep. MSG is tricky because manufacturers now know that consumers are trying to stay away from it, so they have given it different names. Here are some examples...

MSG
Gelatin
Calcium Caseinate
Monosodium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
Textured Protein
Monopotassium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)
Yeast Extract
Glutamate
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Yeast food or nutrient
Glutamic Acid
Sodium Caseinate
Autolyzed Yeast
Vegetable Protein
Extract Senomyx (wheat extract labeled as artificial flavor)

And believe it or not, there are TONS of other names, too! For a complete list, click HERE .

In order to avoid eating hummus with MSG ever again, I looked up an easy roasted red pepper hummus recipe, and here is what I found!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked chick peas/garbanzo beans (To cook dry beans, soak overnight, drain, and boil for several hours until tenderl)
2/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste, found in health food stores)
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup - 1 1/2 cup roasted red peppers (purchased fresh or from a can)
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender, preferrably a Vitamix, until smooth.
Serve with pita bread or pita chips, or, in our case, tortillas, and garnish with parsley and olive oil poured into a well dug out of the center of the serving.

Now, honestly, hummus isn't something the whole fam loves. It's more of a personal treat, but I have found two members of the family who love it as much as I do. Take a look-see...






Hope you enjoy this as much as the twins and I do! Thanks for coming by!

I am pleased to list this post @ Biblical Womanhood's "Frugal Friday". Check out her blog for TONS for great money-saving tips!
I am also pleased to list this post at...
-Kelly's "Real Food Wednesday",
-Tip Junkie's "Talk to me Tuesday",
-5 Minutes for Mom's "Tackle It Tuesday",
-Tammy's Recipe's "Kitchen Tip Tuesday",
-Blessed With Grace's "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday",
-Mary's "Tightwad Tuesday",
-Jen's "Tasty Tuesday",
Gollum's...


and a newly discovered carnival...


If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe

(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the "Add This" button below... Thank you for your visit!

Vegan Calico Beans

Vegan Calico Beans (Serves 16)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegan butter spread
4 medium onions, chopped
1 can green beans
1 can white beans
1 can baked beans
1 can kidney beans
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Step 1: Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
Step 2: In a frying pan, saute onions in in vegan butter spread. Thoroughly drain onions
Step 3: Drain green beans and white beans.
Step 4: Combine green beans, white beans, baked beans and their liquid, kidney beans and their liquid, and onions.
Step 5: In small bowl combine brown sugar, vinegar, garlic salt, mustard powder and pepper.
Step 6: Pour over beans and mix well.
Step 7: Pour into a 3-quart casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
Freezes well either before or after it has been cooked.

(Vegan adaptation of a recipe by Debra Call)

Enjoy!

If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe

(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the "Add This" button below... Thank you for your visit!

Homemaker Monday: How to Can Dry Beans Without Precooking

Welcome to the 45th 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. (By the way, if you have been featured on Homemaker Monday in the past, your name is on my left sidebar. Check it out!)

YOURS: This week's "YOUR" goes to The Newlyweds for their recipe for easy refrigerator pickles! I loved this because you can make pickles without having to use a hot bath or a pressure cooker. I'm so excited to try this! I hope mine turn out as delicious-looking as The Newlywed's did...


Thank you so much, Newlyweds, for this inspiration and I look forward to reporting on this next week. For their entire post, click HERE.

MINE: In the small Mexican farm town in which I live, bottling garden produce is a way of life. It's just what you do in the summer and since I've moved here, I've felt like somewhat of a bottling outcast as I have never bottled anything in my life. About two weeks ago, however, I was able to attend a very well-done, inspiration bottling class given by a friend and I feel that my life will now improve dramatically as I can now feel more a sense of self-worth, frugality and industry, and, to be honest, fit in better with my peers in our village. During the class, I was literally awestruck when I learned how one can bottle dry beans without pre-soaking or cooking them. If you know me, you know I love to fix beans, such as in this recipe...


(Click the photo for the recipe)

...but it takes a lot of pre-planning, something which, as I've admitted in earlier posts, is not one of my fortes. Thus you can see why I was twitter-pated when I learned of this method. I will post the recipe as it was taught to me, but personally, I believe it was a bit too salty, so the next time I will half the amount of salt. Here it is

Bottling Dry Beans

Ingredients:

1 cup beans (I used a 15-bean mix)
1 teaspoon salt
Water
Any other spices desired, such as garlic or onion powder (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Pour the beans, salt and optional ingredients into a one-quart mason jar.
Step 2: Fill the jar to the rim with water.
Step 3: Screw on the lid and process in a pressure cooker as per the manufacturer's instructions.

When you are finished, make sure to carefully lift out the jars with a tool designed specifically for this purpose...


...and place overnight on your counter, undisturbed. I can't remember why this step is important, but it is, so just do it. (L., if you are reading this post, perhaps you can enlighten us?)


When we served up the beans for lunch the next day, I spooned them out into a pot, added more water to give it the soup consistency I was looking for, and simply heated it up 'til it was good and warm. This was so surprisingly easy and I am so grateful for smart people like L. who open my mind and make my world a better place!

OURS: Okay, now it's your turn! Let's see what wonderful ideas you homemakers have for us today. If you have any canning or bottling tips, I'd sure love to see some of that! Thanks for visiting and/or linking up today. I hope you have a great Homemaker Monday!




If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe

(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the "Add This" button below... Thank you for your visit!

Homemaker Monday: Dried Pinto Beans to "Refried" Beans in 5 Minutes!

Welcome to...

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. (By the way, if you have been featured on Homemaker Monday in the past, your name is on my left sidebar. Check it out!)

YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to Dusty over at To the Moon and Back. As most of you know, I'm a HUGE fan of whole wheat recipes, being that I'm mormon and have, literally, half a ton of wheat in storage, as we are counseled to store a year's supply of food for our families. Really, there's half a ton. I'm not joking. Sooooo....when I came across Dusty's post on soft whole wheat pretzels, I HAD to choose her for the the "YOURS" feature because I've actually been looking for a good pretzel recipe like this for a long time. If everything goes as planned, here's what you're going to get if you follow her recipe...


Thank you so much, Dusty, for your awesome addition to Homemaker Monday! For Dusty's entire post, click HERE!

MINE: Today I would like to share a recipe with you that can come in handy if you are in a pinch. Have you ever been in need of refried beans in the case of an emergency, but didn't have time to soak the dried pinto beans, cook them for several hours, and smash them? Let me share my solution here with you today. Recently I was introduced by a dear friend to a book called...


This is an amazing book! You can't imagine the ways one can use beans! They can be ground up into flour to use as soup or sauce bases, as a healthy substitute for white flour, or, as I am about to show you, as an instant "refried" beans mix to have on hand.

Now the honest report on this recipe is this: The texture, color and taste of these "refried" beans was a little off (I ate them with tortilla chips), but they would make a great ingredient if you came across a recipe calling for mashed or refried beans. That being said, the nine-year-old boy chowed down on a whole bowl of chips with these beans right before bed and LOVED them! And he's my pickiest eater, so go figure! I plan on giving the leftovers to the babies later today (they won't know the difference), so these have definitely come in handy over the last 12 hours. This is fun to try, so if you'd like to, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup pinto or black bean flour (ground in a grain grinder)
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 t instant minced onions (optional)

Directions to make the mix:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients with a whisk. Now your mix is finished. You can store it in an airtight container until your refried bean emergency arises. Here's what it looks like...


To make the instant "refried" beans:
Whisk 3/4 cup of instant "refried" bean mix with 2 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium heat for two more minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring constantly. If there are lumps, don't worry, it just adds to the character of the beans.


Eat with chips, mix with salsa or guacamole or add to any of your favorite recipes calling for refried beans. If you try this let me know what you think!

OURS: All righty then, let's see what all of you homemakers have for us today! Thanks so much for visiting or linking up and I hope you have a wonderful Homemaker Monday!



If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe

(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the little beauty below... Thank you for your visit!