Easy Black Bean Dip

This is a super easy recipe and I was surprised out good it turned out! You can opt for canned or fresh beans but I 100% suggest making them fresh. It is not that hard to cook beans people! I used to be a canned girl until I realized how much better they taste fresh. Just soak them all day and simmer for a few hours. I will probably share my bean cooking method in another post.
This bean dip is quite tangy and is good to serve with chips or add it to nachos!

A helpful tip - if you are using home-grown jalapenos like I did, do NOT touch the insides with your bare hands! I made this mistake and my hands were burning for 3 days. Please wear gloves =)


You will need:

Food processor
2 cups cooked black beans
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1/2 a bunch of cilantro
1 tbsp cumin
1 lime (juiced)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 jalapenos (more if you like a little extra spice) - seeded
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1/2 a small red onion (chopped)
Salt (to taste)

1. Fry onion with a little oil in a medium frying pan. Cook them on medium heat, stirring occasionally until caramelized.
2. Stir in the cooked beans and cumin and let simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat.
4. In food processor, add cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, garlic and jalapenos.
5. Add bean mixture and process until smooth. Add salt to taste.
6. That's it! Top with tomatoes and onion.
7. Enjoy =)

Review: Gardein Meat-Free BBQ Pulled Pork Shreds

Let me start of this review by saying I was very excited to try this brand of fake meat! I had heard many good things about it and even Oprah jumped on the veggie bandwagon there for a second because this brand was allegedly delicious. Allegedly.

To put it quite simply, I was repulsed. I made a delicious (looking) pulled pork sandwich on a sesame bun with lettuce and onion. The first bite was a bit disappointing to put it mildly, but I decided to keep eating it anyway. Well, that lasted about 2 more bites before I couldn't stomach it anymore. It has no flavor whatsoever except for that "fakeness" flavor that is almost always present in fake meats. I usually ignore that flavor for the sake of the other flavors present, but unfortunately there IS no other flavor in this meat. I was hopeful that drowning it in salt would at least help because I'm a salt fiend but it only made the problem worse. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the texture. It was slimy and soft. 'Nuff said.

Wow, Oprah. I will never trust your taste in food again.

Gluten Free Vegan Frozen Pizza

"Glutino" gluten free spinach and soy cheese pizza with brown rice crust


Doesn't sound that great, right? How can a pizza that doesn't have MEAT be good?! Let alone one that doesn't even have "normal" flour in the crust?! Woah, it has VEGAN cheese...scary, is that even legal?....And it's frozen?!?!?!

This was a dream come true for Marc when he found it in Whole Foods. He wasn't expecting much, but he was pleasantly surprised! Doesn't taste exactly like regular pizza, and sure as hell doesn't look like the picture on the box, but it's pretty darn tasty in it's own right. Now, if only Whole Foods could find a way to sell this dinky thing for less than $6! Either that, or make it a bit larger than 2 inches in diameter? Kthx.


☮♥♫ Audrey