Easy Black Bean Tacos Recipe and Flexitarian-ism

This post is a long time coming but--guess what?  We're not vegetarian anymore.  I told you it was just a short-time thing, right?  So when that arbitrary agreed-upon day arrived, my husband and I reconvened to decide what the new plan of action was.  We've loosened up on the rules a bit so that now weekends, restaurants, and social situations are meat optional.  I still don't cook meat at home unless a special weekend meal requires it.  Basically, we're lazy vegetarians.  And, as it turns out, there's a name for that: flexitarian.  I'm kind of liking the sound of that.

During these last few months I've had a few people ask about my experience being vegetarian, so I thought I would talk a little bit about it.  And please let me know if you have questions that I don't answer.

What did we eat?  Basically the same kind of meals that we always did, just not the ones that are meat-centered.  Soups, curries, and pastas are really easy to make meatless.

Did I ever get sick of eating the same thing all the time?  Well, I tend to get into food ruts whether we're eating meat or not.  As in, I start making a lot of curries, and then a lot of soups, etc.  So when I would find a new vegetarian dish that I really enjoyed, I found myself making it a little too often.  That said, vegetarian options at your typical dining establishments are pretty limited and, since we love eating out, that put a damper on things.  I did get sick of being forced to order salads.  I also got sick of the raised eye brows from the restaurant servers when we ordered the veggie burger or the salad without chicken.

How did you like being a vegetarian?  Honestly, it was pretty good.  I don't feel like we were eating that much meat before, so it wasn't that big of an adjustment for me.  But it did make me more aware of what we were eating in general, and it also made me stretch my cooking skills a bit and try new ingredients.  And, as a bonus, I think my husband and I both lost a few pounds (although, even though we're only eating meat occasionally, it was quick to come back).  I will say, as well, I was incredibly impressed by my husband's expanded palate during this time.  Because of his job, he eats out a lot more than I do and he really developed a love for tofu that I appreciate, although I do not share.  Props to you, honey!

Did you use Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)?  How was it?  Ugh.  We did buy a few TVP products.  We tried some TVP "chicken" nuggets that I thought were disgusting; they tasted sort of like fish sticks.  We also bought some "ground beef" TVP (there's still some in the freezer if anyone wants it!) and tried using it for tacos.  Not that good.  It was just a little bit off in a way that I couldn't identify and didn't like.

But my husband loves tacos, so we had to find a good substitute for meat.  Solution?  Black Bean Tacos.  In fact, Black Bean Tacos were on the regular rotation while we were vegetarian and even now that we're flexitarian.  These come together so quickly and are so delicious that I have no qualms with making them on a regular basis.

Easy Black Bean Tacos
Printable Recipe
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup water

Directions
1) Using a large pan, saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper in the vegetable oil until onion is translucent.
2)  Add black beans, taco seasoning and water and bring to a simmer.  Cook 15 minutes or until mixture has thickened.  Additionally, you may smash some of the beans with the back side of your serving spoon to make a thicker consistency.  Serve as filling for tacos and garnish with your favorite taco fixings.  Enjoy!

Ace of Cakes!

I can't believe I forgot to post this! Several weeks ago, we went to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium. Of course, knowing that Charm City Cakes was there, we had to go see it. I kept hoping Duff would come out the door, but no such luck. Ah well.

I'm Still Here

I looked at the calender today and realized that it's been a month since I've posted anything, for which I apologize. Between moving back to the States, looking for an apartment, flying across the country to visit family, coming back and actually moving into our new apartment, and then all of us catching some nasty American flu, there hasn't been a lot of interesting recipes.

But I went to the grocery store today and stocked up on all those goodies that I missed while we were living abroad and I'm anxious to use them. You know, things like cilantro, canned green chilies, and Cheetos. Ok, the Cheetos are my own guilty pleasure, but I plan on making good use of the other ingredients very soon. Just give me a couple more days.

A Change in Plans

When we found out that we would be spending almost a year and a half living abroad, most of that time in Bosnia, we discussed what scenarios could occur that would cause us to come home earlier than expected. The reasons that we considered most often were:

1. Financial: Either we misbudget, misspend, or a large unforeseeable expense occurs.
2. Physical Well-being: One of us gets sick, hurt, or (gasp!) I become pregnant.
   
3. Personal Safety: A war starts. Because we are in Bosnia, after all.
   
4. Immigration Issues: We get kicked out of the country because their bureaucratic process is so ridiculous that we couldn't get a resident visa without someone's boss calling someone else's boss. Not that we have any experience with that.
   

Little did we know that the actual reason for us going home early (yes, you read that correctly) wouldn't be any of those things.

In a nutshell: my husband's firm wanted him back five months early. Sounds pretty anti-climatic, but there you go. We are suddenly headed back to the States much, much sooner than expected. It's a little bittersweet to be leaving Bosnia so early, but we're also excited to start something new. Again.

What does this move mean for my blog? To be honest, I'm not really sure yet. I will definitely be taking a hiatus for a few weeks until we have time to see family and get settled. And I can't tell you how excited I am to have brown sugar and cilantro again! But the Skimpy Pantry has really motivated me to challenge myself in my cooking and I don't think that will change, so there's no doubt in my mind that this blog will continue in some way. I have a suspicion that it's going to be good.

The Ex-Pat Diet

Without trying, I am consistently five or more pounds lighter than my usual weight when living abroad. Since I'm not exercising any more than I usually do or avoiding junk food of any kind, I have thought about how losing this extra weight is possible.

Here is what I've come up with--The Ex-Pat Diet* :

• Walk--Get rid of your car. Walking for half an hour to go to baby group or the museum is not that long. If you have a car at your disposal, limit its use to once or twice a week for things like stocking up on groceries or going to church when you're wearing high-heels.
  
• Stairs--Use the stairs instead of the elevator or, better yet, live in an apartment building that doesn't even have an elevator. Make sure you live on at least the third floor and carry a bag of groceries or a wiggly two-year old whenever you go up.
• Limit Processed Foods--No canned soups, frozen chicken nuggets, microwavable meals or any other ready-to-eat items that you can buy off the shelf in the grocery store. You never miss these things when they're not available, so don't buy them when they are.
  
• Limit Restaurants and Take-Out--Enjoy the international dishes at your disposal, but don't go overboard. Eating out should only happen on occasion, because it takes a major toll on your waistline. And you can't afford the restaurant life-style.

Pretty simple, right? Now, let's see if I keep up the Ex-Pat Diet when I get back to the States . . . .

*I'm no doctor, dietitian, or expert in any way; these are just my recommendations.

A Measured Confession

My husband is not in the military. He's not working for the government. We're actually living in Bosnia right now on our own dime. (Long story--contact me if you want to know.) As a result, we didn't ship anything to ourselves overseas or have help moving here in any way. We brought a few belongings with us in our suitcases and we use whatever else is provided in our furnished apartments.

As a result, up until a week ago, this was the extent of my measuring implements:



This is actually one measuring cup more than we had when we lived in Germany a few months ago. And both measuring cups are in metric units.

Pretty pathetic.

Through inexplicable thoughtlessness when we were packing our suitcases before leaving the US, I neglected to pack measuring cup. An ex-pat friend of ours heard of our sad state and sent for a set of measuring cups for us. I am now a proud owner of my very own set of measuring cups! No more conversions and guesswork.

That is, unless I'm trying to measure 1/4 teaspoon.

All Chocolate is Not Created Equal

I briefly mentioned that the Bosnian cocoa powder, at least the cocoa powder I've tried, is less than effective. It has sadly created a damper on my chocolate recipe capabilities.

But in this household, we like our chocolate and we like to try new chocolate. It's a perk of moving around so much. During our first few days here in BiH, we happened to try a chocolate bar with crushed bits of short bread cookie in it which we both loved and, consequently, have continued to buy.

After living in country two months, I was perusing the chocolate section in our local grocery store (as usual) when I noticed three other brands of chocolate bars with crushed bits of short bread that we had never tried! And two of the three were less expensive than our go-to chocolate bar. Obviously, I bought all three chocolate bars, as well as our usual chocolate bar, for comparison's sake. That night, my husband and I had a rigorous round of chocolate taste-testing.

Verdict?

The least expensive of the four was gag-inducing.

The second least expensive was only slightly better. Think chocolate-flavored wax.

Of the remaining two, our regular chocolate bar beat out the challenger by a small margin.

So in the end we're continuing to buy the same old chocolate bar as before, but now we're doing so with the peace of mind that it really is the best of the bars available in Sarajevo.