Lasasgne And Meaty Beany Chili

Amy did something wonderful:  she cleaned the kitchen Saturday.  I hate cooking in a filthy kitchen, and sometimes, especially if we make something pan- and bowl-intensive during the week, stuff gets piled up in the sink and on the counters, until you cannot navigate the place at all.  But Amy rose to the occasion - she cleans the kitchen and cleans and refills the cat boxes in exchange for gas money, so it works out great.  I had quite a bit of cooking I wanted to do, so it felt good to pull out my chopping knife and cutting board in a clean kitchen.  I also have The New Farm Cookbook, which I had made the melty cheeze recipe from a few nights ago and had some left over.  I was feeling lasagne, so...

I took the vegan lasagne recipe from The New Farm Cookbook, and messed with it a little bit.  In addition to the melty cheeze, I added some mozzarella flavored Daiya, which really enhanced the mouth-feel of the lasagne.  I made this last night, but since no one has been home for dinner besides me, and Amy doesn't like lasagne anyway, I have dined on it two nights in a row.  And I plan on taking some of it to lunch this week.  I'm still not so sure about the melty cheeze recipe from that cookbook - I think the nooch flavor is too heavy, and for some reason, it doesn't taste cheesy to me, even though Amy says it tastes cheesy to her.

For the church pot luck this afternoon, I made Meaty Beany Chili and Corn Muffins.  People ate up the corn muffins.  The chili was pretty good, I think I will make it again, and not use quite so much chili powder, and use green peppers instead of the golden pepper I used.  Maybe even add an extra jalapeño or two, though I really don't like my chili all that hot.  This tasted a bit too tomatoe-ey for my taste.  Maybe I should have added two TBSP maple syrup instead of just one.  I am not sure.  I did use diced tomatoes instead of tomato purée.The lentils make it "meaty" just like ICM says they will.  So, a definite keeper.  I do know one thing - the house sure smelled wonderful when we woke up this morning. (I cooked it overnight because the pot luck luncheon was directly after church at 1115.)  The corn muffins turned out practically perfect.  I just wish I had a larger lidded box to carry them in.  I will definitely make those again as well.