Easy Vegan Frito Casserole

This one is a throwback (and how can it not be, with a name like Frito casserole). My mom used to make this for us when we were little, only with ground beef. I tweaked the recipe just a bit to make it vegan. I know this sounds silly, but seriously, it's so good!

Ingredients
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 chopped pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
1/3 cup almond milk
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cilantro (optional)
Fritos (lightly salted, if you can find them!)

Optional toppings
avocado
jalapenos
cheese
sour cream

Now all you need to do is combine all the ingredients in a big bowl until mixed...

And then transfer to your 1.5 quart round casserole dish...

Top with however many Fritos you feel like topping with, and cook for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

After patiently waiting half an hour, add a few toppings and enjoy!

Note: The dish on the left does have dairy cheese on it - but mine on the right is sans dairy! One thing I want to try making this year is vegan cheese...intimidating!

What are some of your so-easy-you-can't-believe-it's-vegan favorites?

3 Easy Vegetarian Dinners

I think I set a new record, because I have made myself and Andrew dinner THREE nights in a row! I am just now regretting not take photos, because I want to share my simple vegetarian meals with you, but I will do my best to share them anyway. FYI, the average time (besides oven preheating) for these meals is just 15 minutes! Each meal serves two and costs about $5 total.

Night 1

I had a coupon for any frozen item from Alexia, and it happened to be on sale! Woo! Anyway, I sauteed this up and added some red pepper and spinach to bulk it up, since I used this as a main dish and not a side. The oil is included in the package and it only takes about 12 minutes, like the package says. Before I put it in the bowl to serve, I added some goat cheese at the bottom and then stirred that together with my veggies. It was delicious, easy, affordable, and pretty healthy!

Night 2

Andrew and I love these MorningStar Mushroom Lover's Burgers. I had a coupon for these too, huzzah! Anyway, they do not take long to make at all on the stove. Just a few minutes on each side, but do not forget to add some swiss cheese when you have a couple minutes to go. I served it on a bun with spicy mustard, spinach, onion, and tomatoes. I also baked some Ore Ida crinkle fries and cut up a Honeycrisp apple for sides. We had coffee for dessert. Andrew said it was the best meal he'd had in a long time! (The fries took much longer than the veggie burger, so keep that in mind if you make this!)

Night 3

I don't know why I have never bought this pizza crust mix before, because you just have to add water. Thanks, Betty! We have bought the premade crusts before, but this is so much cheaper and tastes way more homemade! All you need to do is combine the mix and water, let it sit for five minutes, and then spread it on your pizza pan and add the toppings. I added tomato sauce (didn't have any pizza sauce but this worked just fine), minced garlic, fresh basil leaves, tomato, Italian shredded cheese, and goat cheese, yum! I thought it turned out really well and Andrew was 3-3, loving this as well.

I feel so accomplished and like we saved so much money! We tend to go out too much because we don't have time or we're too hungry and we'll spend anywhere between $10 and $20 even for takeout! So crazy. What are your favorite quick vegetarian meals? I'd love to know because I need more ideas! 

Fresh From the Farmer's Market!

tonight i actually made a real dinner, which i feel like i haven't done in a super long time! anyway, the theme of the evening was "farmer's market" because andrew and i did a ton of shopping there on saturday. i really hate wasting food, and lots of times we buy things and then forget about them or are too lazy to cook, so i was determined not to let that happen! i should have taken more pictures, but i made a stuffed eggplant dish with spaghetti on the side for dinner, with the eggplant and tomatoes from the market. while i was preparing everything, i asked andrew to grab some vanilla ice cream for dessert. we never buy/eat plain vanilla, so he wasn't convinced that this was a good idea until he received his sweets. i made...

peach and blackberry crisp! he loved it. and he's hard to impress when it comes to sweet things, for some reason.

i also should have taken a "before" picture of this, but a "during" really delves you into our dessert-eating experience, i think; )

this is about when andrew asked for more ice cream. guess the vanilla was a good choice!

yum!

i feel confident that i can share this easy recipe and you will follow it and your mouth will be so happy afterwards!

Peach Blackberry Crisp

Ingredients: 

at least 3 peaches, peeled and sliced

big handful of blackberries (raspberries work great as well)

for the crisp:

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with oil. Place peaches and blackberries in pan. Stir your crisp together and evenly distribute on top of fruit. Bake for appx 30 minutes and do yourself a favor and top with vanilla ice cream! Enjoy!

see? super easy! and really delicious. i can't wait to go to the farmer's market again this saturday so we can have this again! please feel free to share your favorite recipes with me! i am always looking for something easy yet delicious and healthy (more or less) to make.