Tempeh chili

I have a tainted memory of tempeh...the first and only time I ever tried it was when I was in my first trimester pregnant with Lola. Kinda around the time that everything smells and tastes nauseating. Anyway, let's just say that tempeh didn't go over very well, not just for the barfy pregnant girl, but for Dan either. I haven't been able to get over that since. But last night I thought I would give it another try so I make a chili and, taking the advice of veganmomma, I pulsed the tempeh into tiny bits in my processor first, then sauteed it along with my onion and garlic. I used a chili recipe from vegnews magazine that included chocolate and coffee. I really thought I would have a hit on my hands....I actually really liked it, but Dan and Lola didn't care for it too much. They ate some but without much enthusiasm.

My "goat" cheese was definitely not successful either. It was a blend of pine nuts, lemon, garlic and nutritional yeast. I'm bummed it didn't taste better because pine nuts are ridiculously expensive! They are over $14 a lb! You have to be kidding me!
So the end result tastes ok, but definitely nothing like cheese, never mind goat. I just don't know where and how I'll use it. It was kind of like a really expensive hummus. Maybe I can add more garlic and olive oil to it and use it like a veggie dip.

Back to the drawing board for me!