Inspiralized Chili Boss Bowl Goodness

Hello friends! I made this chili bowl today from the Body Boss method cookbook and it seems a lot of my friends and family on social media are interested to know how it's done. So here I am blogging to share how I made it + the spiralizing part. (It really is quite easy to do) Hope you'll like it! :)

Whenever there are recipes from fitness sources, I would apply caution and not expect too much because they are usually not so tasty. Healthy, yes but the tasty part is still up for debate. Before deciding to make this, I checked first from the community page for reviews. And what do you know, it seems that this is one of the fan faves in the group! Of course I had to make it! Aside from the fact that it is included in the Week 1 menu plan. Hah! :p

INGREDIENTS:

2 onions, finely diced

2 large carrots, grated -- in my version, I spiralized it, it looks like carrot pasta - see video below

4 sticks of celery, sliced

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp smoked paprika

500 g lean beef mince

4 Tbsp tomato paste

800 g tomato puree -- I just use Spaghetti sauce

2 red bell pepper, deseeded & chopped

800 g red kidney beans, drained

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

a bunch of cilantro, chopped

200 g baby spinach leaves

1000 ml water

salt & pepper to taste

1 avocado, chopped

1 lime, juice only

2 Tbsp nut oil of choice -- I use almond oil because it's what's available now 

The "Trinity" of Cajun Cooking -- Onions, Celery and Red Bell Pepper

PROCEDURE:

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of your nut oil and saute the onion, carrot & celery for approximately 3 minutes, until softened. 

Obviously, I forgot to add the carrots during this step teehee... :D

2. Add cumin, paprika, beef mince and cook until meat has browned for approx. 5 minutes.

It looks so *EXTRA* hahaha..

3. Add bell pepper, beans, tomato paste and puree (or spaghetti sauce). Pour in 4 cups of water and let it simmer for about 30 minutes until thick.

4. Season with salt & pepper and add in the cherry tomatoes. Since I made a big batch, I didn't add the tomatoes right away for the entire thing..just for the portion I will.

5. Before serving, fold in the cilantro (love this!!) and spinach.

6. Divvy into bowls, add some chopped chili or chili flakes and avocado. Also a squeeze of lime juice if you so prefer.

7. Heap on top of veggies or brown rice. I prefer quinoa :)

That's it!!! :) You can refrigerate or freeze to be consumed for later. Or otherwise, feel free to halve the recipe :)

I love it, I've had 3 bowls today and it's really filling. Eat with steamed quinoa or veggies, or even toasted bread...ahhhhh, heaven! :)

About the Spiralizer

I'm using Cuisinart's CTG-00-SPI Food Spiralizer which I purchased from Lander's Otis. When I was still shopping around, I would much have preferred the Paderno spiralizer as it has more blades / spiralizing options but it was a few thousands more expensive and I was not willing to shell out more money that time for a device I wasn't sure I'd get to use often.

I learned to love Cuinart's spiralizer version because it's simple to use and not too cumbersome to clean up. Plus it also has a "catching bowl", if that's what it's called haha. The only thing is that it only has 3 spiralizing options - thick julienne, thin julienne, and ribbon. That's okay though because it covers what I need to do. 

I usually make "Zoodles" or zucchini noodles and use that as the "veggie pasta" for spaghetti or even simple pesto pasta concoctions. You can also spiralize cucumbers for an interesting looking salad. What I'd love to do next and I hope I get to do it correctly, is to spiralize a potato, similar to how they do it during parties, and then air fry it. But, no luck for now hahaha :)

Cuisinart Spiralizer

See how I do it in this short video. I used my phone's front camera so this video is showing the mirror image. 

Spiralized carrots using the thin julienne setting. It does look like pasta, right?

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In order for me to support my blogging and social media activities, I may receive monetary compensation for links to products from this post, at absolutely no cost to you. However, I only recommend products that I personally love and use myself.

What's your favorite activity? Here's mine..

So I've been asked this question - "What's your favorite activity"? 

I know it's really simple to answer... I mean it's almost a tie between cooking and *ahem* eating *ahem* but this question has got me thinking. You see, there's a lot and a whole new facet to marriage & motherhood and the many things we moms must do that sometimes, in the sea of parenting, work and other adult responsibilities, we lose the sense of our personal hobbies and activities that brings us joy.

Riding the cable car -- Family time in Tagaytay Highlands

So after thinking long and hard, I guess preferences for certain activities indeed change with the passing of time and the changes in one's life. Speaking for myself, I guess it's not just in the physical act of cooking or eating out -- it's in sharing not only meals, but also time, stories and adventures with family and friends alike. 

And not only that, I realize that it's also become a favorite activity of mine to document these dining and out of town trips through blogs and vlogs - wherein the calories may have long gone, but the memories still remain! That's a win in my book! Hahaha pak, ganern! :D

Seriously, I know how they say that this season of life where the kids are still small are all so fleeting? I completely agree! That's why whenever I have the time, I make sure to always bring my camera so I can always document whatever small, big or even silly milestone we are privileged to witness.

Me, documenting my girls who are also co-brokers :) Taken at La Cocina de Tita Moning

I'll be sharing some of the vlogs I've made, memories of which I still hold dearly and often reminisce about :)

Our trip to Real, Quezon with the family. The kids really enjoyed the sun, sand, and waves

A nice staycation in Zambales. It's not as roughed up as when I was still single (camping, trekking, etc.) but still a nice way to spend time with family (minus the traffic)

This time with friends. We were wrapping up a short beach vacation in Batangas and decided to have our meals in Twin Lakes Tagaytay. Special time with my friends and their kids too!

The first ever vlog I made using my videocam. The longest time I spent editing as well! :) I was still learning the editing software but still had fun when I produced this output :p

I hope you enjoyed my vlogs! When I sit and edit these on my computer? I don't actually notice how long I've been there, except when my little baby calls out for his mommy :D 

I'm happy to share these with you because vlogging captures the real me. If you have the time and a nice phone camera especially with Expert & Ultra HD features like #OPPOF5, please try vlogging to document your trips because I'm very sure that it will definitely, also #CaptureTheRealYou :)