Spicy Chickpea Potato Stew

So yummy! And I love the spiciness of it.

Ingredients:

2 15-oz. cans chickpeas
2 cups water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1-2 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric
12 oz tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 lb yellow potatoes, cut into cubes
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
1 small cucumber, sliced
chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Place 3/4 cup of chickpeas and 3/4 cup water in a blender and process until smooth, set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno, and saute until the onion is lightly browned on the edges. Add cumin and turmeric and stir to distribute evenly.
3. Transfer to a stockpot or crockpot, add tomatoes and chickpea puree, bring to a boil.
4. Add potatoes and remaining water, simmer covered until potatoes are nearly done.
5. Add the remaining chickpeas. Simmer covered until the potatoes are tender but not mushy.
6. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Garnish with cucumber slices and cilantro, and enjoy!

Black Bean Salsa

Again, modified from a recipe on allrecipes.com. I've been looking for recipes with specific ingredients I've had around the house this summer, and the website has been a good go to for easy to modify recipes. This was originally a salad, but is way better as a salsa served with blue corn tortilla chips!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can white hominy, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 diced white onion
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced green onions
• 2 seeded and chopped jalapeno peppers
• 1 (24 ounce) jar salsa
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, gently stir together all ingredients. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Spicy Beef

This is my dad's recipe, who served a LDS mission in Thailand. He lived there for 2 years and he is a wonderful Thai chef, if I do say so myself. As little kiddo's my brother, sisters, and I grew up eating the spiciest foods. My baby sister had a higher tolerance for spicy food at 18 months than most adults do. :) Anyways . . . I LOVE Thai food. I am learning more about Thai cooking and loving it to death - it does take a while to master. So with that being said . . .

If you don't like this . . .you might not want to try this recipe.
It called Fish Sauce and my husband HATES it. For those of you who don't know, since moving to our new home in August, he is still commuting to his old job 3 days at a time, an hour and a half away. It really sucks. The only benefit is that I can make this while he is gone. Hee Hee. That is why my menu varies so much. Half the week it is my kids and I, so I can have this and pancakes for dinner and get away with it. The other half of the week he is home and we make more comfort foods.
Anyways . . . here is the recipe:Spicy Beef* (All you need is this:)1 lb ground beef
1 medium sized diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
3 T fish sauce
2 1/2 T lemon juice
2 T basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if desired - my dad adds like 2 T)

Brown hamburger with oninons. Add fish sauce, lemon juice, garlic, basil, and flakes. Stir, cover, and simmer for 7-10 minutes.

Serve over rice and with fresh grilled pineapple.*You have to add more basil, fish sauce, or lemon juice depending on personal preference. If it's too salty, reduce fish sauce. If it's too lemony, reduce juice, etc.
*I LOVE THIS MEAL!!!!!
* You will love it too if you try it and it tastes right. :) Good luck. I can't wait to hear how it goes - let me know. All of the family and friends I have made it for (or my Daddy) have loved it!

Spicy Vegi Meatloaf

So this recipe started out as my dad's, but I have tweaked it a bit and I have to say it's a family favorite. We have this almost once a week - even Madison likes it, which is saying A LOT. I made this a couple nights ago, so there aren't any good pics, but you get it.

Spicy Vegi Meatloaf*

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 C instant oats
1 egg
1 small minced onion
1/2 C milk
1 tsp Worts sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/2 C Hot Vegi mix in food processor

Mince onion and process vegi's - set aside. Combine all ingredients with beef, take off any jewelry, and get your hands dirty. :) Mix well. Transfer meat into 9x9 dish.

Spicy Topping
3 T ketchup
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1 T juice from vegi mix (or bottled jalapeno's)

Combine all ingredients and whisk with fork. Evenly spread over meatloaf.
Bake at 350, uncovered, for 45 min - 1 hour. Or until meatloaf reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Enjoy!

* I have so many different variations to this recipe. If you aren't feeling "spicy" leave out the spicy vegi's and add carrots and green/red peppers chopped in food processor. My kids never even know the vegi's are in there, it's great. You can leave the spicy juice our of the topping too.
* I also like to add cheddar cheese, bread crumbs, and bacon. Just mix grated cheese and bread crumbs in with meatloaf and spread uncooked bacon strips over top of meatloaf to cook instead of the ketchup topping. This way is Bryan's favorite!
*I NEVER measure anything for this recipe. I eyeball everything, FYI.
*(last one I promise) For a fun kid friendly meatloaf, mold meat into mini meatloaf's the size of your palm and bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment. Makes for fun, individual servings.