HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today happens to be my parents' 50^Th anniversary. Yes, folks, they managed to get through fifty years together without killing each other.  This is indeed a milestone; according to my aunts only two other couples in our entire family have reached this momentous occasion.  I don't know why they keep track of facts like these, but they do, and they never fail to share the information with everyone in a fifty mile radius. 

HAPPY 50^TH

ANNIVERSARY

MADELINE & MIKE.

Where has time gone? Twenty-seven years with Irwin accounted for a big part of my life; in fact, more than half of my life was spent with him, either as his wife or his girlfriend.  Life without him has been a learning process for me; things which you used to do for two people you now only have to do for one.  It was actually funny after he died - I am going to explain.  Irwin had two jobs in the house: taking out the garbage was the first one, and he also had to make the bed in the morning because he was the last one out of bed every day. Everything else was left to me (nothing new about that, women always do more, it’s just how life works). 

As I slowly came back to reality and started to function again, I did chores that I was used to doing, not thinking about anything he used to do, thus his chores (namely the garbage) started to pile up. The bed didn’t matter because I never go into the bedroom, not even to sleep. Finally someone who was a regular visitor said to me, "Are you ever going to empty your garbage again," and then it hit me.  I had to readjust everything I did in the house and his chores became mine.

This is especially true with cooking, I was so used to cooking for a man who not only loved to eat, but meat and mashed potatoes could have sustained him for his entire life.  Add a side of spaghetti and meatballs and he was a happy camper. This was a creature of habit; he ate the same breakfast the entire time I lived with him and knew him, and he had coffee and doughnuts the same time every day (eleven), ate lunch at one every single day, came home and ate dinner, then two hours later had his milk and cookies. You could set your watch by what Irwin Green was eating.

One of the most important things I have learned since he has died is that unless you have someone to share things in life with, it does not mean anything at all.  Without having to cook for him it took me a long time to get back into the kitchen, but when I finally did I decided I wanted to change the way I cook and eat.  I wanted to include more grains, less meat, and eat mostly vegetables. I also wanted to start buying organic produce and wild caught fish while really cutting out the meat in order to develop a healthier lifestyle.

Cleaning out my kitchen cabinets was an experience in itself.  I never realized how many places there are in a kitchen to hide cookies and chocolate in his emergency stash.  He could have lived a year off of what I found for a year.  I also found notes he left me; there were notes all over the apartment, not just in the kitchen.  Most of his notes made me laugh - the man should have been a comedian - and definitely made moving on a little easier. His handwritten notes really expressed his true feelings and I will always treasure them.

I am going to start sharing some of the new recipes I have started to include into my repertoire over the last year. A lot of the e-mails I receive are asking for vegetarian dishes or otherwise healthy versions of what you are already cooking. Let’s not forget about breaking the bank.  Keeping this in mind, I am going to start to post recipes to get everyone off to a healthy new year.

This is a recipe that I usually make at the beginning of the week so I can have it for lunches and another dinner.  If I am in a rush, and I am not going to be home all day, I put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook it on low for six hours.  When I get home I have a meal ready. You can also change the beans in this chili and use any canned beans you happen to have on hand or any beans that you like.
 

 VEGETARIAN CHILI

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large bell peppers (1 green, 1 red), chopped
• 3 medium carrots, finely chopped
• Kosher salt
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 to 1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 cup brewed coffee
• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus torn leaves for topping (optional)
• Shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, sliced scallions and/ or plain low-fat Greek yogurt, for topping (optional)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, carrots and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, chipotle; tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is brick red, about 4 minutes (add a splash of water if the mixture begins to stick).

Add the coffee and simmer until almost completely reduced, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, beans and 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chili thickens slightly, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim the large stems off the cauliflower and coarsely grate the florets on a box grater. About 10 minutes before the chili is done cooking, stir in the grated cauliflower. Cook 10 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in the chopped cilantro and season