Tuesday, November 16, 2010

cheesy chili nachos with homemade gaucamole (and salsa!!!)

Happy Tuesday,

               Sorry I haven't been around too much in the sphere as I'm busy training a new girl at work, my boss is away, and homework has been creeping up on me!!

Good news is I'm halfway through the course as so that's keeping me motivated! I'm doing much better than I did in university too so that has me feeling pretty good. I really just needed to believe in myself and not let fear get the best of me.

You really CAN do anything you put your mind to!!

So, now that we can do anything, why not a home workout with a broomstick and some 2x4's?

Yep, I really wanted to do Zuzana's Sexy Beast workout but I didn't have a dip station so a broomstick, a table, and a couple of 2x4's did the trick.

How can you tell my hubby works with wood? Ha!
It's a little scary pulling yourself up on that thin, plastic rod as all you can think about is it breaking and you crashing to the ground! But it held up and I was able to do the workout! It felt good to do some "pulling" exercises as lately I've been doing a lot of "pushing" exercises (push ups, dive bombers etc)

After that good sweat session, I made a delicious juice with fresh cranberries




 Mmm local cranberries!! Love that deep red!

add in some celery, cucumber, carrot, beet tops, beets, and you've got yourself some amazing plant blood!!!

This juice packs a punch, both flavor and nutrient wise!! 
The cranberries alone have some amazing benefits, according to WHFoods:

Good source of Vitamin C
antioxidant
anti-inflammatory
anti-cancer
protection against urinary tract infections
optimizes the balance of bacteria in digestive tract


Yesterday I was at Silver Hills picking up some sprouted bread and since I haven't been in there for a while I cruised the other food stuffs they were selling. It was then that the corner of my eye caught this....

YES!!! I found it. I couldn't believe it! I thought I was going to have to go to Vancouver to pick some up but now I only have a 10 minute drive. I'm excited to have this option available as the soy cheese is pretty gross ( in my opinion). I won't be stocking my fridge every week with it but I'll definitely be picking some up as a treat.




Mmmm!! I actually really like it. It's a little greasy but the flavor is the best of the fake cheeses I've tried so far!

Have you tried Daiya? What's your favorite?

Since I already have some amazing homemade salsa, it wasn't too hard to put together some tasty nachos!
I love LOADED nachos so I decided to make some chili spiced beans to layer in!

Spicy chili beans
I can kidney beans
1 cup pureed tomatoes
2 tbs chili powder
pinch cayenne
salt as desired

Add all ingredients in a pot and cook until the pureed tomatoes reduces down a bit. Adjust spice as desired!

In my opinion, nachos just aren't complete without some delicious guacamole!





Spice it up guacamole

3 very ripe avocados
2 tomatoes
1 small onion
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste


But before we get to the main attraction, you have to make sure you get in a good serving of veggies!

Kale, tomato, yellow bell pepper, cabbage, green onion, and cucumber salad with figgy balsamic dressing


Alright it's layering time!


Start with a good base of chips. Then add some of the spiced chili beans and top that with some Daiya!

Then add some jalapeno peppers (take the seeds out!!), tomatoes, and green onions. 
Then add another layer of chips and repeat the toppings


Stick the plate in the oven at 350 degrees on broil. 
When all the cheese looks melted take the plate out as the cheese will burn pretty quickly after this point

Then start dipping! The cheese actually melted pretty well and it maintained it's flavor too. 
Next time I would add more veggies and probably more beans too as they added great flavor!

What a great way to end a Monday!! Then to top it off we caught up on the latest Dexter. 
Oh they are so good at keeping the suspense..love it! 
PS did you know that the guy who plays Dexter is married to the girl who plays his sister (Deb) on the show? Just found that out at the latest family dinner. Crazy!

Speaking of crazy! Check out the harvest we collected today at my work garden...

There is rosemary, a couple varieties of lettuce, beets, turnips, kale, parsley, chard, celery, and beans (drying them out to save the seeds). Amazing for the middle of November!!

Have yourself a great night!!








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