And compliments of the season! I hope the festive days were happy and fun with time for family, best friends, and everyone you haven't seen in a year but got to catch up! I had a lovely Christmas day. Midnight Mass was beautiful, especially the sermon where we were told to open our hearts, be generous and accept people into our lives. Just like when Mary and Joseph went searching for a place to stay and they could find no place except a barnyard. Farmers are kind and generous people. They opened up their place and welcomed the holy family. God has been kind and generous to me too and I take away from this year, that in spite of hardships, God is still watching over us!
At the end of my beautiful Christmas day, gifts, good food, family, drinks, nice telly. We heard on the news that George Michael had passed away. You don't expect people to die in their 50's or 60's. George was such an inspiration, he was a big part of my pop culture growing up. His song writing genius and his beautiful singing voice. Yes, I was a big fan! George was more spiritual than I realized as I reheard all his albums in one sitting I seemed to notice a lot of times he put Jesus, Jesus Christ into his songs. Heaven has a special place for him. 2016 didn't let up. Hardly two days and Carrie Fisher left this Earth at only 60. Much too young. Do we really need to keep working 'till we get so old and possibly die before pension? Carrie spoke a lot about mental health issues, she suffered and battled almost all her life. We all at some point find the burden of our lives hard to handle. Speak up about it and don't be embarrassed. You will find someone you can talk to about it. Find something to do to take your mind off your pain. Even if it means getting lost in books, watching telly, or sports. Just get some fresh air and keep a journal of your thoughts. It helps.
So with all the Christmas indulgence, if you ate too much, a nice way to detox eat a light meal for the next two days. So you can over-indulge again for New Year's Eve and New Year's day. Go vegan and eat some delicious tacos with veggies.. Yum! Here's my favorite recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
200g/7oz portobello/shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
100g/3½oz tomato purée
1 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
150ml/5fl oz vegetable stock
2 x 400g tinned kidney beans, or mixed beans, rinsed and drained
salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 ready-made taco shells, warmed
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (optional)
vegan cheese (optional)
Instructions
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion, garlic and celery until soft.
2. Add the mushrooms and chillies and cook for one minute.Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. When the mushrooms are soft, add the cocoa powder (if using) and stock and bring to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, then add the beans and cook for a further 10-12 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced and the beans are all heated through.
4. To serve, place 2-3 tablespoonfuls of the bean chilli in each taco shell. Top with grated vegan cheese (optional), chopped coriander (if using), and put on plates.
Have an awesome day and keep smiling!
Love & Peace.
That is a great idea and they look yummy!
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