For Christmas, I asked for and received from my older sister (thank you, Catie!) a slow cooker. Especially during marathon training, it's hard to have energy left for cooking after going from a full day of work to a run or workout that usually lasts over an hour long. So I figured this would help solve some of my problems.
I pinned a bunch of gluten-free, vegan recipes from Pinterest, and this is the first one I tried.
From www.thesweetlife.com:
Outcome: I found this particular recipe to be a little on the sweet side, with the addition of sweet potatoes and cinnamon, so I added more salt and pepper to try to balance it out. That, along with chopped onions and vegetarian cheese (which Tim did not hate) made it just right! And I had leftovers three times. Bonus!
I can't wait to try another recipe. This week Tim and I were lucky to have his mom prepare meals for us, as we were still recovering from the marathon (spoiled, I know). But I'm excited to get back into meal prep next week. I'll let you know how the next one turns out!
I'll admit that, while the slow-cooking part is great, about 15-20 mins prep time was still required for this particular recipe (I know, I know--that's not a very long time). I haven't quite figured out when to do the prep--night before? morning of? But how lovely it was to come home after my workout, take a quick shower, and have a warm meal just waiting for me. Granted, I have to look for the recipes that take 8-10 hours in the cooker to make this possible (on a weekday, anyway), but that doesn't seem hard to do so far.
From www.thesweetlife.com:
Ingredients: -1 tbsp olive oil -1 onion, chopped -1 bell pepper, chopped -4 garlic cloves, chopped -1 tbsp chili powder -1 tbsp ground cumin -2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder -1/4 tsp ground cinnamon -kosher salt & black pepper -1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes -1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes -1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed -1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed -2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces -sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chips, for serving
Directions: 1. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add chopped onion and pepper. Saute until mostly soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute. 2. Transfer peppers and onions to slow cooker. Add chili powder, gumin, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper. Add cans of tomatoes (with their liquid) and beans. followed by the sweet potatoes. 3. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours, until sweet potatoes are tender and chili is thick. 4. Serve chili with sour cream, avocado, cheese, cilantro, and chips, or desired toppings.
I made a few adjustments: I forwent the cocoa, kept the peeling on the potatoes, and decided to add some frozen corn I had because there weren't a lot of vegetables--plus it looked prettier with it.
 |
| Starting to prep. |
 |
| All ingredients are in--just need to turn it on low for 8 hours! |
 |
| My delicious bowl of chili awaiting my spoon. |
Outcome: I found this particular recipe to be a little on the sweet side, with the addition of sweet potatoes and cinnamon, so I added more salt and pepper to try to balance it out. That, along with chopped onions and vegetarian cheese (which Tim did not hate) made it just right! And I had leftovers three times. Bonus!
I can't wait to try another recipe. This week Tim and I were lucky to have his mom prepare meals for us, as we were still recovering from the marathon (spoiled, I know). But I'm excited to get back into meal prep next week. I'll let you know how the next one turns out!
Comments