Cappello Chili Recipe + Bean Benefits + Q's First Foray into Political Commentary + Tone & Purpose

Like all my recipes: consider this the framework. You may have noticed that we eat things in bowls with all sorts of additional fixings. :-) As such, I don’t tend to throw a lot of extra things into the chili base, because I know I’ll be changing up the bowl toppings with each serving. (<— this is a good way to get a wide variety of plant diversity, and also keep those options available for other dishes).

Looking for extra things to throw into this because you don’t like the bowl approach? Try peppers, roasted corn, carrots, green onions, etc. :-)

Substitutions & Notes: don’t have pickled peppers? You could try subbing in apple cider vinegar. Don’t have berbere? Add in smoked paprika. (<—sometimes I also use smoked instead of regular or do 1TB of each.)

**those are cooked lentils and cooked beans**

Just like the peanut sauce and refried beans have changed many times over the years (as we’ve grown toward plant-based foods and then toward eating as whole-food as possible) my chili recipe has morphed and morphed as we’ve stumbled forward. The old batches needed to simmer away for more than half a day to tenderize that cardiovascular-calamitous cow carcass, and they started with a base of rendered carcinogenic pig fat.

Guess which version tastes a thousandfold better and cooks quicker? This plant-based whole-food version. Guess which version is kinder to the environment and is overflowing with health benefits instead of increasing our risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes? This plant-based whole-food version. It’s so delicious, it’s even meat-eater approved.

Continue for: our Cappello Chili Recipe; the many benefits of beans; Q’s first foray into political commentary (and subsequent discussions on how to redirect that anger); and three full days of this family thriving off the kindest/cheapest/healthiest diet there is.

Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward!

Ingredients:

tomatoes (we buy whole and puree them ourselves)

pickled jalapeno brine ( you could sub in apple cider vinegar if you want)

paprika (use regular or smoked. Smoked can bring it a good smoked carcass flavor without the disease)

medium onion, black beans, garlic, cumin, berbere (sub in smoked paprika if you don’t want to buy this, but I highly recommend getting yourself some), lentils, and salt per taste.

We caramelize onions without oil by using water, because the nutritionally-focused, whole-food docs are harking that we need to limit our processed oil intake and this chili tastes great without it.
Why isn’t there oil in this? Because “oils contain no fiber [like you get if you instead ate nuts, seeds, avocados, etc], no minerals and are 100% fat calories. Both the mono unsaturated and saturated fat contained in oils is harmful to the endothelium, the innermost lining of the artery, and that injury is the gateway to vascular disease.” .
Which docs are advising against oil? Dr Caldwell Esselstyn (gold medalist turned cardiologist/heart surgeon, who was the first to prove that you can reverse and prevent heart disease through no medications, just plant-based whole-foods), Dr Dean Ornish (another doc who proved the same reversal and prevention, and is now showing all sorts of other diseases one can avoid following a plant-based whole-food diet), Dr Neal Barnard (who showed all of the above and that plant-based whole-foods can reverse Diabetes or completely prevent you from getting it), the list goes on and on.

What you’ll do is pour 1/2 cup of water over the onions, salt it, cover it with a lid, and simmer on medium until the water has evaporated. Then you’ll add in more water, stir, and repeat the process until the onions have caramelized.

What they look like when they are ready for adding in all the other delicious items.

Voila!
We serve soups, chili, strews, just about everything in a bowl with an array of varied vegetables, and that’s the only reason this chili doesn’t have more things thrown into it. Again: add whatever else you love into this (as long as it’s not heart-harming/earth-ruining animal products!)

It also tastes great on tacos in lieu of where you’d usually put meat or re-fried beans and topped with cashew queso.

The above is from Fiber Fueled by gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz.

What else do beans have going for them?

• Like all healthy foods: they are full of fiber. I’ll say it again, and again, and even some more times: fiber is essential to the proper functioning of your body. While the air is full of folks fretting about protein (which none of us are lacking in), what you may not know is that 97% of y’all are lacking in fiber. What does fiber do again? It regulates your blood sugar, lowers your cholesterol, aids in digestion, and reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Speaking of protein: beans are full of plant-based protein. Unlike animal products, beans will fill you up without ruining the earth or your endothelial system (or your kin’s).

• There are even clinical studies showing that consuming beans can prevent/protect you from colorectal cancer and intestinal cancer.

• Beans have antioxidants that’ll help prevent a feast of diseases.

• Beans have the ability to drastically reduce our emissions if we swap them out for the animal products that are (again and again) harming your body and harming the earth.

And what are lentils bringing to the party? “Though different types of lentils may vary slightly in their nutrient contents, one cup (198 grams) of cooked lentils generally provides about”:

• Calories: 230

• Carbs: 39.9 grams

• Protein: 17.9 grams

• Fat: 0.8 grams

• Fiber: 15.6 grams

• Thiamine: 22% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)

• Niacin: 10% of the RDI

• Vitamin B6: 18% of the RDI

• Folate: 90% of the RDI

• Pantothenic acid: 13% of the RDI

• Iron: 37% of the RDI

• Magnesium: 18% of the RDI

• Phosphorous: 36% of the RDI

• Potassium: 21% of the RDI

• Zinc: 17% of the RDI (<—important in pandemic times)

• Copper: 25% of the RDI

• Manganese: 49% of the RDI

• They are also pumped with polyphenols (What are they? "Polyphenols have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could have preventive and/or therapeutic effects for cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and obesity.”)

• all around nutritional and mineral powerhouse

• consumption of lentils is tied to heart health

What are those 4 cups of tomato doing (aside from being delicious)? They are loading you up with:

• Vitamin C , Vitamin A, and Vitamin K

• Lycopene which “has been linked to health benefits ranging from heart health to protection against sunburns and certain types of cancers.”

• Promote eye health

• Protective properties for folks with diabetes (also plant-based diets can prevent/reverse Type 2, BTW)

Even the onion and garlic are helping you with their allium powers:

“Eating vegetables of the Allium genus like garlic and onions has been linked to a lower risk of certain cancers, including stomach and colorectal.

A review of 26 studies showed that people who consumed the highest amount of allium vegetables were 22% less likely to be diagnosed with stomach cancer than those who consumed the least amount (17).

Moreover, a review of 16 studies in 13,333 people demonstrated that participants with the highest onion intake had a 15% reduced risk of colorectal cancer compared to those with the lowest intake (18).

These cancer-fighting properties have been linked to the sulfur compounds and flavonoid antioxidants found in allium vegetables.

For example, onions provide onionin A, a sulfur-containing compound that has been shown to decrease tumor development and slow the spread of ovarian and lung cancer in test-tube studies (19, 20).

Onions also contain fisetin and quercetin, flavonoid antioxidants that may inhibit tumor growth.”

Remember that passionate David Barber essay and how I found my voice to move forward? Here’s another picture from that retirement party. At this moment in time, I was deep in the weeds of cheese and meat love (this party was at a BBQ joint and I was the person who planned this party!) and I had no idea that this sweet soul’s chronic ear infections and sinus infections were because of what he was getting from my breastmilk. Those infections would increase, and he'd eventually have failure-to-thrive despite the fact that we were feeding him grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, and meals flush with vegetables.

I woke up to the science with a compassionate clap upside my head. I healed my son, I healed myself, my husband joined us, we became collectively healthier/stronger than ever; and we stopped participating in environmental destruction.

We all could. It’s as easy as choosing even-more delicious food and stepping away from the cruel/harmful stuff.

If I can cut the carnivorous cord, anyone can.

What he eats (and LOVES) these days. (<—Spoiler in case you’re new: once we shifted to plant-based whole-foods he skyrocketed in growth and no longer has failure-to-thrive.)

Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast: black bean brownie sandwich with cashew cream and peanut butter, kiwi, and some apple.

Lunch: berbere black rice, summer squash, green beans, quick pickled cabbage, quick-pickled beets (made the same way), and topped with green onions.

Dessert: black bean brownie, cashew cream, cherries, mango, and almond butter.

Sunday Soul-Lift with Grandma Tara: grandma came over and sculpted this Audrey 2 with Q. He made the Lego version too. :-)

Dinner: Cappello Chili, Queso, Squash, Fresh Greens (romaine and swiss chard), green onions, and diced pickled jalapeno… and Ian still intermittent fasts for a longer spell that Q and me, so his is loaded up with heaps of other things from our meal-prepped CSA stocked fridge. :-)

Movie Night Popcorn. (We watched Pan)

Did you know you can pop kernals right on your stove without oil or anything? Once they’re all popped you can throw the into a bowl and season them to your heart’s delight. (We do nutritional yeast, paprika, pepper, garlic, salt, and a little canola.)

Nightly Reading.

He’s been asking for black bean brownie sandwiches every morning now, and given that there are no refined sugars or flours, and they are packed to the gills with beneficial fiber (including black beans and whole oats), I happily oblige. Served with kiwi and half a peach.

The special Q-nique flare my dear Q brings to his summer homeschooling. He coulda just colored in those jackets, but instead one got a detailed sandworm design and the other is his attempt at a Spiderman jacket. <3 (I’d totally buy that sandworm jacket!)

He sure does! :-D
“It’s a sandworm, a ghost kraken, an Audrey 2, and a grabboid.”.

“Ok, so up above there is a man in a meadow of rocks and cactuses [sic], and one cactus is staring at him because it’s alive. And there is a scorpion climbing up a rock because baby grabboids are a scorpion’s main predator, and it knows there is a grabboid afoot. Now get on your suits! We’re going under the sand! And now we’re under the sand where there is a fully grown grabboid (and I’ve shown what they look like inside). And there’s a sand sub with a man in it, and he accidentally rain into the roots of that weird cactus. And the teenager grabboid is checking out the sub’s camera, and the Papa grabboid is using his mouths to check out the man above, and the baby…well, he’s just looking around.”

Lunch: Cappello Chili, easy avocado, squash, romaine, roasted corn.

Dessert: brownie, cashew cream, cherries.

Dinner: sweet potato, fresh greens (romaine, swiss chard, kale), balsamic tomatoes, quick pickled cabbage, quick-pickled beets (made the same way), green onions, furikake,

Nightly Reading

Breakfast: brownie sandwiches for dayyyyys :-), with half an orange and some cherries.

Woke up to this heart-swoony surprise from Ian. He had ordered me business cards for my site because it is coming up all the dang time while we are out and about. I was content to just tell people “It’s like Sasquatch, but with a J”, but Ian knew better and decided to make cards.

He even designed this logo. <3

Ian frequently likens this whole mission as spreading light and illuminating (though I get a fair amount of standstill souls calling it “bullying”), he’s also the person who gave my voice the description of “klaxon” instead of “harpy” (<—my original word for it) because he had the keen-minded sense to know that a “warning siren” was an apt description for the purposeful passion behind the howl.

Several years ago, we were on a completely different environmental and nutritional path. Our choices were reckless, selfish, destructive, and lacking compassion.

We moved forward together toward plant-based whole-foods (<— and remember, he was the first person I turned this howl toward, and he was reticent at first) and are now healthier, stronger, keener of mind, full of compassion (with the added awareness that we're all connected and this perception of hierarchy is a farce), and more in love than we've been in our whole 15 years together.

We could all grow forward, folks.

Post-breakfast homeschooling.

This one shocked me for several reasons.
1) His artistic skills are ramping up each day. He’s already a better draftsman than I am (<—though that is admittedly not difficult :-D ), but he’s also taking in everything Ian teaches him.
2) The story behind this one involved a long discussion and unpacking.

j- “Wow! What’s going on in this one? And is that person about to get eaten?!”

Q- “Ok, so there is baby grabboid under the sand, and now we're above the sand where there is a giant grabboid with Papa riding it and waving his hat, and in front of Papa's grabboid the grabboid is about to eat President Trump, and in the sky there is me riding a jumping grabboid, and these letters are what it sounds like when it talks...and that is what is happening.”

j - “Wow! Well…I love the humor in this, and the hilarious joy of Papa waving his hat, but we shouldn’t really be drawing folks getting eaten, Sweet Pea.”

Q - But Trump doesn’t think that David should have the same rights as everyone else, and thinks it’s bad that he has a husband. And that makes me mad. That kind of thinking isn’t loving.”

j - “Wow…well…fair point, but let’s draw that anger in a different direction next time…like maybe sandworms protecting David and Jim?”

Q - “Ok, good idea!”

First: understand that I’ll always teach Q that we don’t want anyone to be eaten by an imaginary creature.

Second: understand that I’ll always be illuminating Q to the ways that our president is spewing hateful rhetoric through our land in a way that harms souls that mean the absolute world to us, and rolling back their protections for reasons that can only be described as myopic and heartless.

Q’s going to be a protective world shaker for all the souls and species he loves, and he’ll have me backing him up all along his path.

Taco Tuesday Lunch: Cappello Chili tacos with queso, quick pickled cabbage, green onions, queso, romaine.

Again, my serious Bear asked for “one taco to be really special, and the other without queso. It tastes better when there’s only one with queso and you can end on a high note.” <3 (<—blows my mind!)

Dessert: black bean brownie, cashew cream, almond butter, cherries, mango, and banana.

I spent the afternoon doing another run of a cornbread recipe that’ll be coming up soon. As usual, it’s flush with whole-oat flour. :-)

Another Board of Education night, so another dinner eaten while bobbing behind my mobile standing desk.

Salad: romaine, green onions, quick-pickled cabbage, sweet potato, roasted chickpeas, furikake, and Q’s Sesame Dressing.

Dessert: more brownie, cheery, cashew cream, and banana. :-) (<—eat plant-based whole-foods and you can gobble up deliciousness all day every day and feel GREAT.)

Board Views in Pandemic Times and the stomach-rolling nausea of remote meetings while planning for in-person classes. We have appealed to start meeting IN-PERSON and will start doing so for the August meetings.

Nightly Reading

We finally finished Dune and have moved on to the Harry Potter series.

Me - I’ll heft the book up here, Bear, it’s probably too heavy for you.

Q (lifting it over his head) - Nope! It’s light as a feather! <3

Plant-Strong Kiddo.

What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️

Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕  

Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥

Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎

Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️‍🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️

What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health,  Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health,  American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.

We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️

Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️

If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕

We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖