Multi Bean Garlicky Vegan Chili.

Multi Bean Garlicky Vegan Chili.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with family and friends.  I can’t believe how long it takes to prepare and how quickly it seems to flash by.  Our Christmas was filled with a faith, family and lots of good food.  Today was my official first day back in the kitchen post 4th finger surgery.  I’m healing well and back to running. More on that below.  Today started out quite rainy and dismal.  Did my longest recovery run this morning, which was quite a feat.  Errands with my husband.  Then home to make a big pot of chili.  My youngest was sick over Christmas and has shared her sore throat with me. I’m bound and determined to fight this so this chili is packed with lots of garlic.  My Italian girl remedy for everything that ails me!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of oil for the bottom of your Dutch oven (I used avocado but olive oil will work well too)
2 green peppers, diced
1/2 of a medium sized red onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded or not then diced (if you like it spicy leave the seeds intact)
1 head of garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (use less if you prefer)
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder)
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 14 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 ounce can of dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (I used Bragg’s)
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
1 cup of water

Directions:

Over medium heat, add your oil and get that nice and hot.  Add your peppers and onions to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then add your garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the remaining ingredients and give a good stir. Cover and lower the heat.  I cooked this for about 2 hours over very low heat.  Add salt if you desire.

 I top with cilantro, sliced jalapeños and diced up avocado.

On the fitness front:

Monday afternoon I got my stitches out.  X-rays done.  And clearance to get back to running and training.  I have to admit, that appointment was a gift from my doctor.  I was pretty much bedridden for the past week and half with the anesthesia knocking me out.  I’ve missed cooking and all the holiday prep.  Since clearance, I’ve been running ever since… it hasn’t been pretty but I’m not complaining.  My largest obstacle has been my lung capacity, which doesn’t seem to be quite there yet.

Tuesday:  Ran 4 miles
Wednesday:  Treadmill 4 miles and weight-lifted
Thursday: Christmas
Friday: Ran 5 miles
Saturday:  Ran 6 miles
Sunday: Ran 7 rainy miles with a sore throat

I’m working hard to get my December miles in and finish the year out hitting my goal.  I have it in sight.  Today my husband opted to run and not ride getting in the first few initial miles with me and then I carried on to finish out my 7.  We both got new sneakers, which we were happy to break-in.  Santa gets our love of fitness!

I also wanted to share a few pics from Christmas.  It was so much fun keeping up with our traditions – family church service.  Dinners.  And hosting our ugly cookie decorating contest.  This year we had new winners.

Christmas Eve Santa had arrived.

Earlier in the day… My family headed out bright and early on Christmas Eve to build food boxes for the less fortunate.  I sadly wasn’t able to do that with my finger/wrist healing.  But post workout, I did prep the sugar cookies and icing for our annual contest.

The end result that we left out for Santa…

Hard to believe our little Dasher (who looks to be smiling below) arrived one year ago on Christmas Eve.

I’m so looking forward to 2015 and many new fun and tasty recipes to share along with new fitness mountains to conquer!

— Knead to Cook