Lose weight with Vegetarian Chilli, Wild Herb and Mushroom Texmati Rice

/hihi!! My swelling from my wisdom teeth removal is finally going down! Yay! I've enjoyed my time off work though, its been relaxing!

 I discovered a wealth of health and beauty info on YouTube (a zillion years after everyone else, I know I know lol) and used some tips to do my own French Manicure, check it out:

DIY French Manicure

Last night I went to the gym for the first time since my surgery. I went late at night because my face is still swollen and I'm self conscious. It felt great though! My sore neck and back melted away- they were probably a result of too much bed rest! I went again today, and did an hour of cardio and twenty minutes of strength training! I was famished afterwards and had this for lunch:

Two bean mexican chilli with wild herb and mushroom brown rice and gucamole, with a cranberry seltzer water on the side. It only took me five minutes to put together! (those strawberries are my salt and pepper shakers, I discoverd a lovely Himalayan pink salt at my local store the other day!)

I call this my weight loss chilli because I've lost even more weight while eating it over the past few days! I have a big protien/fruit/spinach smoothie for breakfast, and a cup of chilli+ a cup of rice+ half an avacado+ hummus + seltzer water+ cranberry juice for lunch and then am so full I only need a yogurt and some fruit for dinner! Its so hearty and filling :)

How to make the Chilli (adapted/modified from Cooking Light,  Vegan)

Ingredients

2 Red Bell Peppers (I didnt have any on hand so I replaced them with two yellow squash for color)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
half a teaspoon salt
4 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
2 cups organic vegetable broth
1 and a half cups peeled butternut squash ( replaced this with several purple organic potatoes)
1 (28) ounce can no-salt added tomatoes
1 (15) ounce can pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 (15) ounce can red beans rinsed and drained
half a cup thinly sliced green onions
2 cups TVP chunks (textured vegetable protein, available in health food stores, ads meat like chunks to the chilli)

1 cup TVP crumbles

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler

2. Soak all the TVP (chunks and crumbles) in a bowl of hot water. If the TVP absorbs all the water, add some more after 10 minutes.

3. Cut bell peppers (or squash) into pieces. Broil the peppers. If using squash skip this step, it will boil in step three.

Yellow squash and purple potatoes

4. Heat a Dutch oven (heavy pot) over medium-low heat. Add oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add onion, cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in cumin and add next five ingredients, cook two minutes, stirring frequently.. Add drained TVP. Add bell peppers/squash, broth, squash/or potatoes and tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.Add beans, simmer 25 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with green onions. 

Yields 6 Servings (serving size: about 1 and a half cups)
Calories - about three hundred a serving - high protien


This chilli is delightfully earthy and tasty, my man raved about it! Its not too spicy either which I like :)

My rice wasnt any magical recipe, it was this magical product:

The herbs that come with it smell SOOOOOOOOO good, if you make this rice your house will smell GREAT! 


Tip: I made the chilli in a big batch and froze half of it, and I made the rice in a batch to and tupperwared it. So today when I got back from the gym all I had to do was warm up the rice and chilli, melt some spinach into the chilli and make my fresh gucamole. I only used half an avocado as they are high in fat, I covered the other half in lemon juice and put it in a ziplock bag for lunch tomorrow!

Mmm Seltzer Water! Is it better than diet soda for health? What do you guys think?