Vegetarian Chili

Sunday's I spend the day with friends and we all bring something to eat. My plan was to bring something I knew the calorie count of and that I liked. So I made a pot of vegetarian chili. I changed up my regular recipe and the result was delicious. It averaged about 160 calories for a cup, and I worked it into my calorie plan for the day so that I could eat 2 cups with cheese. Yummy! I thought I'd share the recipe with you all:

Vegetarian Chili

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans
  
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

My total calorie count yesterday came to 1,084! On a day when I could of eaten lasagna and cookies and cream for dessert. But planning ahead helped me feel satisfied and I didn't even think about eating the other stuff. That's half of the battle. Have a plan. Know what you will eat before you're hungry and it will help you over the hurdles.

Today's Weight: 134.8