Slightly Psychic Paper…

So a couple of Mondays ago was my first real day of vacation. Since then, I’ve vacationed, visited family, moved and gotten back to work. This is the recipe that I intended to put up during the Christmas week as we prepped for the move and travel. So here it is…

The snowfall allowed me an extra day, though I was working from home. Not having to log-in and check emails and my phone constantly, I really had no idea what to do. After I managed to delete a large portion of my iTunes library (2000+ songs deleted) I decided that I’d just leave that be and work on a web design I’ve been hired to do. Dreamweaver is not in the mood to pen and keeps crashing. It crashes after like 4 restarts and several troubleshooting trials. I give up, resigned that I now have to finally break down and get the Adobe suite. After this little succession of computer woes I decided that a nap was in order. Upon waking up I was completely at a loss as to what I should do afterward. My computer was off limits, which limited me to watching TV, an activity that I take no real pleasure in, playing on the 360 and sleeping again. At some point it dawned on me that I could rummage through the kitchen and cook something.

I settled on making a carrot cake. It was a semi disaster :/ It tastes great, but aesthetically, not so much. Still full of energy I decided that I’d cook lentils for the boys tonight. Not really sure how to cook them, I just kind of threw them in a pot and decided that they’d be chili.

What You’ll Need

• 2 c of washed/sorted lentils (sometimes lentils have little sticks and rocks left over in them, also some of the lentils are all gross and shriveled up so you’ll want to pull thos out as well)
• 32 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 16 oz black beans/kidney beans
• 1/2 a diced onion
• 3 cloves diced garlic
• 1/3 c Chili Spice** ( I use the spice mix that my grandmother gave me. We mix it up in bulk and then use it in small bits as we need it. I’ll give the spice mixture first and then go on to the rest of the chili)

Chili Spice Mix

• 3/4 cup chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic

Instructions

• Saute the garlic and onions until they’re tender.
• Add your spices and let them cook for a few moments.
• Now you’ll boil the lentils. I covered the lentils with water, about an inch or so higher than the lentils. Get the lentils boiling and let them cook for about 20 minutes or so. I let the lentils cook until they’re a bit mushy.
• Mix the beans, tomatoes, onions and spices in to the lentils and let it simmer.
• Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Chili’s super easy to make and super hearty. I love making it and it’s great to take for lunches throughout the week.