Chickpea and Mushroom Masala

Serve this over cooked brown rice.

Chickpeas - 1 14.5oz can; drain, retaining the liquid for cooking
2 medium to large tomatoes, seeded, OR 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 medium to large clove of garlic, mashed, or 1.5 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger powder
4 tsp garam masala powder
3 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp Chili powder (or up to 1 tsp, to taste for hot spice)
Water
Fresh mushrooms - 8 oz.
(Here you can substitute or add just about anything--cooked chunked potatoes, peas, green beans, red bell pepper, large pieces of onion, lima beans, tofu, seitan...)

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat about 1/4 cup of chickpea water in a pan, just below medium heat.

When the water is hot, add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and ginger. Sweat the vegetables until the tomatoes break down. Add more chickpea water as needed to keep it all moist and break down the vegetables.

With a wooden spoon, crush the mixture in the pan to make a thick sauce. Add a little chickpea water if needed to moisten the sauce.

Add garam masala and coriander powder and stir. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little chickpea water or plain water.

When the spices are nicely cooked, add mushrooms and chickpeas and enough water to make a medium-consistency sauce. Stir to cover all the mushrooms and chickpeas. Cook over a medium-low heat. Check and stir occasionally, until you have a nice sauce and vegetables are cooked through.

Salt if needed. (Don’t oversalt!)

Serve over cooked rice.

CHILI

2 big onions(chopped coarsely)
1/4 cup of chopped garlic
4 big bell peppers chopped coarsely
4-5 cans (8oz. cans) of beans of your choice
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
chili powder
cayenne pepper
cumin or coriander

Brown lightly onions and garlic in fat-free vegetable broth.

After that has cooked down add: peppers.

Add a little more broth if necessary.

Don't over cook the peppers so they stay crunchy.

Open and rinse beans, then add the beans with tomatoes.

Check labels carefully, don't buy tomatoes with additives like sugar and salt.

Add tomato paste.

Mix this all up and keep it on a rapid simmer.

After about 30 minutes check the consistency, if too thin for your taste, you can add cooked brown rice to thicken (this makes a complete protein)

Season at the end with chili powder (be aware it has salt in it) and cayenne pepper to taste.

Also good with a little cumin or coriander in it.

The chili without the rice is great on top of whole wheat pasta with grated cheese for kids.

Weekly weigh-in

I meant to post this yesterday, but I forgot. Sorry. I did well this week. Certainly much better than the previous week. After all my trips into town last week, I didn't even weigh in, I knew it would be bad and depressing and I didn't want to face the scales. But yesterday when I weighed in, I was 6.2 lbs lighter than I was at my last weigh-in! Woohoo! I am going to do this. A little at a time, one slip back and then two big steps forward, I will get to where I want to be.

I guess my routine of having regular foods I eat so that there is no thinking involved is working for me. When I get bored, I can change it up, but for now it is working for me.