Posted: October 10th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Fall Soup Plan, Food and Drink, Recipes | Tags: Fall, soup | No Comments »
If you know it, sing along!
http://youtu.be/lI-_CHUmehg
I used to LOVE that show! Now that we’ve taken a walk down memory lane, let’s talk soup. About 2 weeks ago the weather started to change here in Richmond. Chilly nights, and now even some chilly days, put me in the mood for soup. If you do any type of meal planning or want to start, adding a soup to your weekly rotation during the Fall and Winter can be a life saver. Soups usually aren’t very time or labor intensive (I know some would say chopping is laborious, but I disagree – I find it therapeutic), can be a good reducer of food waste (no need to waste those veggies – throw ‘em in a pot with some liquid!), and can be stretched across many meals or even frozen for those weeks when you really don’t have time.
In the past my soup making as been sporadic. Last year one of my favorite magazines, Mary Jane’s Farm, ran a great article on soup recipes and included 13 hearty soups. My thought was that’s a soup for each week of Fall, and if I freeze some of each recipe, that could easily get me through most of the Winter. Unfortunately I don’t still have that article, but I can easily come up with a different plant-based soup each week for the next 3 months. Plus I hope soup-making will help me waste less food.
My new vegan-ish diet has me attacking my meal planning like its my job and I’m going to start posting the weekly plan again on Sundays. It will include 1 soup and I’ll share the recipe later in the week. If you are a soup maker or want to get started with meal planning, will you join me? I’m always up for sharing tips and on the lookout for new recipes!
Fall soup week 1 – Vegetable soup
This basic tomato-based soup can use fresh or frozen vegetables and the spice can be adjusted to your liking.
Vegetable soup
Yield 6 serving, approximately 1 1/2 cups each
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 cup green beans
1 cup diced potato (1-2 medium potatoes)
1 cup corn
3/4 cup peas
11.5 oz original V8 juice
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 cup water
14 oz broth (I’m working through a case of Pacific Low-Sodium Chicken broth)
salt & pepper to taste*
Creole seasoning to taste*
*Note: I season soups as I layer in ingredients. I measured out 1/2 teaspoon of salt to start, used 1/2 of it to season my vegetables as they cooked then used the remainder to taste at the end. We are watching our sodium intake. Additionally, I found out the hard way that creole seasoning is VERY SPICY once it cooks. I used way too much (1 tablespoon) and had to actually pour off some of the soup liquor and replace it with plain water and broth. Lesson learned: go lightly with the creole seasoning while cooking. You can always add more at the end.
Directions: Add oil to soup/stock pot and head over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until onion is translucent. Add celery and cook until vegetables are tender. Add in green beans, potato, corn, peas, V8 juice, diced tomatoes, water and broth. Stir well to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring soup to a boil. Add salt, pepper and creole seasoning to taste. Cover, reduce heat to whatever temperature keeps soup at a simmer (mine was medium-low). Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Posted: October 9th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink, Recipes | Tags: food, spice | No Comments »
Now that I’m cooking more again I’m finding myself in need of some spice combinations on a pretty regular basis. Way back when I was first stocking my newlywed kitchen I had the good sense to heed the advice of several older women in my life and invest in some Tupperware. The real deal stuff. The stuff that lasts for GENERATIONS (I know I’m not the only one who has at least one piece of their mother’s Tupperware). It was an investment, but after 12 years I still have every piece and they all are in great condition. One thing I purchased that I never used that much were a set of small spice holders. They hold about 1 ounce’ish and are coming in very handy as I rock my own spice mixes. So far I have a garlic powder blend and Pumpkin Pie spice. I’m made salt-free Taco Seasoning tonight and planning on doing a Creole Seasoning mix later this week. No need for those seasoning packets from the store anymore!
Salt-free Taco Seasoning (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Yields approximately 3 Tablespoons
3/4 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 Tablespoon ground ancho chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (can use 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
NOTE: if you want a more “authentic” seasoning packet replacement feel free to add 1 teaspoon salt to this mix.
Add all ingredients to a small mixing bowl. Mix well. Store in an air tight container for up to 1 year.
Do you keep a well stocked spice cabinet? Are you a user of pre-made spice mixes or do you make your own?
Posted: October 7th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink | Tags: food, frugal, waste | No Comments »
Okay, again not on Friday but I’m being accountable nonetheless.
Leftover salad that was way bitter, about 1/2 cup yogurt, fried okra, green pepper slices, and the last square of a new baked oatmeal recipe (recipe coming!)
Carrots and peppers
Sadly this week was back to my old ways. I purchased way too many vegetables last week and ended up throwing out 2 bunches of kale, 2 cups of leftover rice, 4 apples and 3 leeks. I’m meal planning right now, taking stock of what we have and making a grocery list for this week. It WILL be less waste this week!
Posted: September 29th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink | Tags: food, frugal | 1 Comment »
Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it?! Sorry to be a day late, but this week was very weird for me. I was very busy at work (I’m even going in this weekend for a few hours), I had a low energy level all week, and I ended up getting sick-ish at the end of the week. I say sick-ish because I’m hoping its just allergy/sinus congestion and not a cold! I haven’t cleaned out the fridge yet and that won’t happen until later today. I don’t *think* that I’ll be wasting anything that’s in there but if so I’ll add it to next weeks totals. This week was pretty good. Waste included about 3/4 lb of very fuzzy green grapes and 1 chicken breasts worth of BBQ I made up for Craig that he didn’t eat.
How was your week?
Posted: September 21st, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink | Tags: food, frugal | 3 Comments »
I’m participating in hopes that it helps me to reduce what we waste as well. Nothing like putting yourself on full blast to motivate change, right?!
This week wasn’t too bad (not great by any means but not as bad as weeks past):
an almost full container of chicken broth, a leek I totally forgot about (its quite petrified), some sautéed spinach & two different lunch meats (I blame the hubs for these), a lime, and some leftover smoked pork (this one was painful because it was so good!)
Everything else left in the fridge will get used up this weekend. If it doesn’t I’ll include it in next weeks installment. I’m off to see what others are posting today for FWF. How much food are you wasting on a regular basis?
Posted: September 17th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink, Recipes | Tags: Beans, nachos, vegan | No Comments »
I left work early today to get somethings done around the house. Unfortunately my energy level over the past week has been low so not everything that needs to be done as been getting done 
Anyway, I was starving heading home today and almost stopped to get something already prepared. I’m really trying to stick to a tighter budget and since I did get grocery shopping done this weekend, I headed home to the kitchen. I needed quick, filling, and somewhat balanced.
Enter a simple can of dark red kidney beans. It was the first thing I saw when I opened the pull-out pantry. Right underneath them – tortilla chips. Lunch became 10 minute nachos: a layer of chips, topped with 1 cup of beans (1/2 mashed, the other left whole), a serious sprinkling of Daiya shreds and a couple of dashes of Frank’s Hot sauce (no jalapeños in the house). Baked in a 350 degree oven for a little over 5 minutes then topped with shredded lettuce and salsa. Warm, gooey and delicious!
Now the trick will be not to lay down for a nap!
Posted: September 8th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Books, Food and Drink, Health & Happiness | Tags: book, cooking, Library, vegan | No Comments »
I went a wee bit crazy at the library yesterday. Even the librarian was impressed with my arm load of books! I’m really enjoying The China Study (this was a renewal and I am a researcher by trade so I’m diggin’ the solid science) and hoping to gleam some good recipe and menu ideas from the rest. With my dairy intolerance, egg issue and just generally trying to eat more plants I’m down to one serving of meat a day so I need some ideas!
What are your favorite meat- and dairy-free recipes?
Posted: July 24th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink, Health & Happiness | Tags: food allergies, IBS | 1 Comment »
I am proud to report that I’m feeling better than I have in a really long time. Since March really. The tiredness that was March through May is seeming to be related to my anemic status. I’ve been downing B12 and iron supplements religiously since May and they seem to be helping. That coupled with the fact that I’m actually eating a normal amount of calories daily. This last IBS flare (if that was what it REALLY was, I’m still not 100% convinced) was brutal. On average I was only getting about 500 – 700 calories in a day for about a 2 week period which is not good. I started feeling better the first week of July and it’s only been uphill since then. One down side to being on a somewhat structured weight management program while having GI issues is that I’m never really sure if I’m experiencing ‘unexplainable weight loss’ which is an indicator to some serious GI issues. I loss 6 lbs in about a 2 week period, but not eating or drinking due to terrible nausea and stomach pain can cause that. Now that I have both hunger and an appetite, I get to eat like a crazy woman to see if I can move the scale back up! Okay, maybe not a crazy woman, but definitely more than my normal 1500 – 1600 calories-a-day to see if I can add 1-2 lbs and to make sure my gut is actually working.
During the tummy craziness, my GI specialist decided to run another blood test to see if I had a wheat gluten allergy. Luckily, I do not. He also ran the RAST test at the same time just to see if anything would show up there re: wheat or gluten. I had the food allergy skin test series done several years back with no positive results so I wasn’t really expecting anything to pan out. Welp, color me SURPRISED when I started to receive calls from the doctor’s office. The first was around 5:30 pm and I hadn’t gotten home from work yet. Then, they called back at around 9:00 am the next morning. In today’s medical environment, I knew this could not be good. Doctor’s office don’t really call you for “normal” results so I knew something was up. I called back and of course the nurse was unavailable until later that afternoon. Once I got her on the phone she let me have it – “stop eating peanuts and eggs. Your food allergy test came back positive for those two items. No eggs. No peanuts.” What.the.fuck? I’ve enjoyed both of these items my entire life with no ill (or so I thought) effects. PLUS those who know me know that I LOVE peanut butter! It’s my chocolate! It’s the I Ching! It is the answer to all that is wrong with the world! Plus, I live with someone who has a serious tree nut allergy and can only have peanuts. And now I can’t have any? Surely the lab was mistaken…
I had already eliminated dairy from my diet (for about 2 weeks) and was really trying to stick to an anti-inflammatory eating plan, so it only took Craig about a day and a half to convinced me to give eliminating those items from my diet a try. It’s only been a week and so far so good. As I said, I was already on the mend from tummy-hell so I’m not sure if it is helping. I did have a Cliff bar on Sunday that had peanuts (on accident, I swear!) and my tummy was not happy Sunday evening. I’m chalking that apparent correlation up to a coincidence.
Posted: July 8th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink, Health & Happiness | Tags: budget, food, meal plan, money | 2 Comments »
Well as quickly as it came on whatever funk my body has been in for the past 7 weeks has started to subside. I have a little energy and am trying to get back on track. I got in 3 cardio workouts and 1 strength training session last week (woot-woot)! The plan is to get back to at least 3 for both each week by the end of the month.
It has been hot as Hades here in Richmond lately and yesterday was no exception – a “balmy” 104 degrees. That drove me to the gym in the morning for a run (2.3 miles) and afterwards I decided to be a good friend and help a friend get some retail therapy. By the time I got home, I was beat and sat comatose on the sofa all evening. In between channel surfing between Harry Potter, Star Wars and Tangled (don’t judge) I eeked out a dinner meal plan for the week:
Sunday – Slow Cooker Honey Chicken (trying tofu for me), rice, broccoli
Monday – Turkey/Portabello burgers, strawberry & apple salad
Tuesday – Citrus glazed salmon, couscous, grilled squash
Wednesday – Curry scallops & shrimp, cilantro rice, roasted carrots
Thursday – every person for themselves!
Friday – Beef & Bean Chili Verde, baked potatoes, salad
Saturday – pasta pesto and the 1st tomatoes from my garden!
Since I had a plan before heading to the store this week, I had a firm list that I shopped from. There are only two of us in this house, however I feel as though I spend way too much money on food! I’m sharing what I bought, from where, and how much I spent in the hopes that the 3 of you who read my blog will chime in to share what your weekly (or monthly) food bill looks like. I only got a few items that will carry over for a few weeks (staples like flour, cereal, lemonade, breads) but damn – $128 spent and I still need to purchase 1/2 the salmon I need for the recipe, scallops & shrimp, and more fruit for the week. Easily another $40. I’m pretty firm in my need for organics and sustainable meats. If I’m going to have it or feed it to my family it needs to be as clean as possible. Is that where my money problem is? I’m open to hear what you guys have to share.
Purchases this week:
Martin’s = $45
Canola oil
Cereal (3 boxes, on sale + coupon)
Applesauce
Deli meat (brand name for low sodium content)
Bananas
Scallions (organic only $.30 more than conventional)
Russet potatoes
Vadalia onion
Garlic
Jalapeño pepper
Spinach (large clam shell)
Chicken breast (natural, 1.5 lb)
English muffins
Wheat bread (natural)
Whole Foods = $55
Ground beef (93% lean, 1 lb)
Ground turkey (1.5 lb, enough to freeze half for another week)
Silken tofu
Tomatillo salsa
Spring mix (large clam shell)
Coconut milk x 2
Hamburger rolls (whole wheat)
Squash x 4
Orange (organic)
Sweet potatoes
Lemonade (case for rest of the summer)
Ellwood Thompson’s (local natural food store) = $28
Nutritional yeast (bulk)
Spelt flour (bulk)
Whole wheat pastry flour (bulk)
Granny smith apple
Lilliput cantelope
Curry powder (bulk)
Crystallized ginger (bulk)
Pitted dates (bulk)
Portabellos
Broccoli (organic, this was waaaay to expensive!!)
Kale (organic)
So y’all, help me out here…what do you spend? Is it the “foodie” in me that has the bill so high?
Posted: June 4th, 2012 | Author: admin | Filed under: Food and Drink, Recipes | Tags: magazine, Salad, times, vegetarian | No Comments »
Well my salad-a-day challenge is off to a slow start but I’m on it today! Starting with a simple spinach salad. Two words people: homemade croutons!
Pictured 2 cups of spinach, 1 1/2 Tbs. vinaigrette
Spinach Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette (Vegetarian Times, April/May 2012)
Serves 6
Croutons
1/2 baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes (3 cups)
2 Tbs. oil from jarred sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbs. olive oil
Salad
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
4 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. honey
5 oz baby spinach (4 cups)
To make Croutons: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray (I skipped this step due to the amount of oil in the croutons already). Toss together bread cubes, oil from tomatoes, and olive oil until bread is well coated; place on baking sheet in single layer. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until croutons are crisp and golden-brown.
To make Salad: Blend garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, vinegars, oil, and honey in food processor until mostly smooth (I used my food processor which was too big; using the blender next time). Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Toss spinach with vinaigrette in bowl. Top with croutons.
Per 1-cup serving: 249 cal; 4 g protein; 18 g total fat (3 g saturated fat); 19 g carbohydrate; 0 mg cholesterol; 211 mg sodium; 2 g fiber; <1 g sugars
