Last night the weather was cold and damp, and so I was in the mood for soup. Never mind that it's June, this is definitely soup weather.
I turned to my favorite WW cookbook, "Ultimate Flex & Core" (what a dull name for a book that actually has delicious recipes), and found this recipe. It's great!
Broiled Cheese, Bread, and Bean Soup
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: About 15 minutes
Serves: 4
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 teapsoon freshly ground pepper
2 15.5 ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces Italian bread, cut into chunks
1/2 cup shredded manchengo cheese
1. Heat the oil in an ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, cook, stirring requently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, spinach, and pepper, bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occassionally. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the flavors are blended, about 2 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook until hot, about 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Stir the bread chunks into the soup, sprinkle iwth the cheese. Stand the Dutch oven on the oven rack and broil 4 inches from the heat until the cheese and bread are lightly browned, 1-2 minutes.
Per serving (1 3/4 cups):
401 calories
8 g fat
14 g fiber
Points value: 8
My notes:
I didn't have vegetable broth, so I used beef broth. My assumption is that any kind would work.
I didn't have herbed tomatoes, so I used plain ones, and added fresh basil and oregano from our garden, and doubled the garlic.
I would have preferred fresh spinach, but our garden spinach isn't doing well, and 10 ounces owuld hve been $6 fresh (organic), so I stuck with frozen (organic for $3.49). I chose not to drain it, as that green water is full of nutrition and hey, it's soup! A little extra liquid wasn't noticable.
The notes said that other types of cheese could be used as well, and since the Manchengo at Thriftway was $10 for a small-ish chunk, I used standard Tillamook cheddar, which we already had. It was great. (Trader Joe's sells Manchengo for a reasonable price...next time I make this I'll plan ahead and get some there, because the stronger flavor woudl be good.)
I added a chopped fresh carrot, and I think that just about any additional veggies would be great, too.
And finally, I didn't stir in the bread, I placed it on top, with the cheese on top of it, so that it made a nice crust like a French Onion Soup. Looked much better, and when served it got stirred in and soaked up the good liquid anyway.
This served our family's dinner last night, and Tessa and I had it for lunch today as well. Ryan and Tessa, who are not on WW, supplemented theirs with additional slices of bread with some sliced cheese....I managed to hold off, which was tough for me, but the soup WAS filling so it was worth it.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Deep thoughts about "Deep Economy"
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by Bill McKibben (2007)
I have been struggling with this book for a couple of weeks, and just finished it this morning (I woke up early to do so, and Tessa is obliging me by sleeping in!).
I recommend it highly. HIGHLY.
The book is about global markets, personal economies, the environment, communities, and happiness. Well, that's my take on it, anyway. The book jacket reads:
In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better" - indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think abouut the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all.
The animating idea of Deep Economy is that we need to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction....
Every page is filled with data, statistics, and anecdotal information about the world we live in, with suggestions of how to use this data in useful ways to change our lives for the better.
Of course, this is right up my alley. I am convinced that the current way in which we live our lives doesn't make us happy. I want to be happy - I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Pretty much everything I want in the world (peace, compassion, health, love, joy) can be summed up in that word: happiness.
And it's pretty clear that as Americans, as a whole, we are NOT happy. It's also clear that in our desire for more, we are becoming less happy. More and better are not the same thing.
Look at the country of Bhuton, which has replaced GNP with a happiness index. This tiny, poor nation has managed to "increase life expectancy by nineteen years since the mid-1980s, and it spends what money it has on education, health care, and the environment..." (p. 217)
But bringing it back home, the book talks about simple examples. The Scandanavian countries have an incredibly high standard of living (unemployment, health care, literacy, humanitarian work, poverty rates....). But Americans don't "get it." Here's another excerpt from the book:
For Americans caught up in the orthodoxy of getting and spending.... A writer based in Oslo, for instance, recently wrote a piece for the New York Times with the lovely title, "We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story." He pointed out that while Americans had $32,900 per person to devote to "private consumption," the European averages ranged between $13,850 and $23,500. That is inedeed a big difference; the Europeans were definitely "poorer" than we, and the writer delighted in listing the ways. "They hang on to old appliances and furniture that we would throw out," for instance. And this: "One image in particular sticks in my mind. In a Norwegian language class, my teacher illustrated the meaning of the word matpakke - 'packed lunch' - by reaching into her backpack and pulling out a hero sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It was her lunch. She held it up for all to see. Yes, teachers are underpaid everywhere. But in Norway the matpakke is ubiquitous, from classroom to boardroom. In New York, an office worker might pop out at lunchtime to a deli....In Norway she will sit at her desk with a sandwich from home." (pp. 223-224)
But Europeans work, on average, 40 weeks per year, and Americans work 46 weeks per year. (This statistic is quoted somewhere in the book; I've heard it before this, as well. Sorry for being too lazy to look it up to cite here - this isn't an academic article, it's my un-edited blog.)And I would gladly trade in six weeks at the office for a whole year of home made sandwiches.
The metaphor of the sandwich is quite clear to me. I would rather make my own sandwich (out of local, fresh, organic ingredients when possible) than spend an extra six weeks in an office. I would rather play on the beach with my family (we're fortunate in that it's walking distance from home, as long as we have a bit of extra time) and have old furniture than I would spend time in an office preparing to buy new furniture.
Tessa is up and asking for breakfast now, so it's time for me to get on with the day. I hope you do something today to add to your own personal happiness, and that these thoughts encourage you to do something about your own path to happiness.
Love,
Kristina
PS Tessa's favorite breakfast is now "Mama's Oatmeal."
- organic whole grain oats from PCC's bulk bins (Bob's Red Mill, from Milwalkie, OR)
- organic non-fat plain yogurt (from Trader Joe's)
- organic frozen berries (also from Trader Joe's; we'll do fresh when they're in season)
- organic maple syrup (also Trader Joe's)
Cook oatmeal according to directions. About 1-2 minutes before it is finished cooking, when not quite all of the water is absorbed, add the frozen berries and finish cooking until the berries are defrosted and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, and add yogurt and maple syrup. Serve immediately. (When the berries are fresh, we'll cook the oatmeal, then add the berries with the yogurt and syrup.)
Total cost: less than $1 (pennies worth of oatmeal, perhaps $.25 worth of yogurt, $.40 of berries and $.20 worth of maple syrup)
Preservatives and artificial ingredients: Zero
Nutrition: Oodles! (no, I'm not going to look it up)
by Bill McKibben (2007)
I have been struggling with this book for a couple of weeks, and just finished it this morning (I woke up early to do so, and Tessa is obliging me by sleeping in!).
I recommend it highly. HIGHLY.
The book is about global markets, personal economies, the environment, communities, and happiness. Well, that's my take on it, anyway. The book jacket reads:
In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better" - indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think abouut the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all.
The animating idea of Deep Economy is that we need to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction....
Every page is filled with data, statistics, and anecdotal information about the world we live in, with suggestions of how to use this data in useful ways to change our lives for the better.
Of course, this is right up my alley. I am convinced that the current way in which we live our lives doesn't make us happy. I want to be happy - I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Pretty much everything I want in the world (peace, compassion, health, love, joy) can be summed up in that word: happiness.
And it's pretty clear that as Americans, as a whole, we are NOT happy. It's also clear that in our desire for more, we are becoming less happy. More and better are not the same thing.
Look at the country of Bhuton, which has replaced GNP with a happiness index. This tiny, poor nation has managed to "increase life expectancy by nineteen years since the mid-1980s, and it spends what money it has on education, health care, and the environment..." (p. 217)
But bringing it back home, the book talks about simple examples. The Scandanavian countries have an incredibly high standard of living (unemployment, health care, literacy, humanitarian work, poverty rates....). But Americans don't "get it." Here's another excerpt from the book:
For Americans caught up in the orthodoxy of getting and spending.... A writer based in Oslo, for instance, recently wrote a piece for the New York Times with the lovely title, "We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story." He pointed out that while Americans had $32,900 per person to devote to "private consumption," the European averages ranged between $13,850 and $23,500. That is inedeed a big difference; the Europeans were definitely "poorer" than we, and the writer delighted in listing the ways. "They hang on to old appliances and furniture that we would throw out," for instance. And this: "One image in particular sticks in my mind. In a Norwegian language class, my teacher illustrated the meaning of the word matpakke - 'packed lunch' - by reaching into her backpack and pulling out a hero sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It was her lunch. She held it up for all to see. Yes, teachers are underpaid everywhere. But in Norway the matpakke is ubiquitous, from classroom to boardroom. In New York, an office worker might pop out at lunchtime to a deli....In Norway she will sit at her desk with a sandwich from home." (pp. 223-224)
But Europeans work, on average, 40 weeks per year, and Americans work 46 weeks per year. (This statistic is quoted somewhere in the book; I've heard it before this, as well. Sorry for being too lazy to look it up to cite here - this isn't an academic article, it's my un-edited blog.)And I would gladly trade in six weeks at the office for a whole year of home made sandwiches.
The metaphor of the sandwich is quite clear to me. I would rather make my own sandwich (out of local, fresh, organic ingredients when possible) than spend an extra six weeks in an office. I would rather play on the beach with my family (we're fortunate in that it's walking distance from home, as long as we have a bit of extra time) and have old furniture than I would spend time in an office preparing to buy new furniture.
Tessa is up and asking for breakfast now, so it's time for me to get on with the day. I hope you do something today to add to your own personal happiness, and that these thoughts encourage you to do something about your own path to happiness.
Love,
Kristina
PS Tessa's favorite breakfast is now "Mama's Oatmeal."
- organic whole grain oats from PCC's bulk bins (Bob's Red Mill, from Milwalkie, OR)
- organic non-fat plain yogurt (from Trader Joe's)
- organic frozen berries (also from Trader Joe's; we'll do fresh when they're in season)
- organic maple syrup (also Trader Joe's)
Cook oatmeal according to directions. About 1-2 minutes before it is finished cooking, when not quite all of the water is absorbed, add the frozen berries and finish cooking until the berries are defrosted and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, and add yogurt and maple syrup. Serve immediately. (When the berries are fresh, we'll cook the oatmeal, then add the berries with the yogurt and syrup.)
Total cost: less than $1 (pennies worth of oatmeal, perhaps $.25 worth of yogurt, $.40 of berries and $.20 worth of maple syrup)
Preservatives and artificial ingredients: Zero
Nutrition: Oodles! (no, I'm not going to look it up)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Frugality
I haven't forgotten all the frugal stuff I'd been blogging about, I've just been distracted.
Plus, I fell off the wagon a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. We ordered out a couple of times. I didn't use everything in my fridge.
But I'm vowing to be on top of it again.
Right now, the French Canadian Split Pea soup is bubbling on the stove. This uses the bone (with some meat on it, but no longer the right dimensions for slicing for sandwiches, etc.) and wastes nothing, and I'm pleased with that. This is the soup my mom made when I was a kid, and I love it. I soaked the split peas overnight last night, and today the hambone/ham, split peas, onion, bay leaf, celery, and water are bubbling away on my stove, simmering for 2-3 hours before I add carrots and seasonings and serve with a side of bread.
Speaking of bread, still making my own. Mostly, it's delicious.
I shopped for the split peas. First, went to the aisle with that stuff, scoped out the prices. Then went to bulk foods, and double checked. Definitely a better deal bulk - $.89/pound instead of $1.49/pound. I don't know how a $.60 savings is going to change much, but it's something. Perhaps more important is that the meal itself is so economical and healthy. (Okay, maybe honey baked ham isn't healthy. Okay, so it's not. But with the split peas and other veggies....?)
I ditched my Swiffer mop and got a washable one. That was the last disposable product in the house, so that will save money long term and be better for the environment. (I got rid of the Swiffer one on Freecycle.)
I'm remembering to carpool more. To drink coffee at home more. To consolidate more errands. To stay out of shops (though I've been thrift shopping a bit).
I'm FAR from perfect. But I'm on a path, and trying to find comfort in that.
Plus, I fell off the wagon a little bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. We ordered out a couple of times. I didn't use everything in my fridge.
But I'm vowing to be on top of it again.
Right now, the French Canadian Split Pea soup is bubbling on the stove. This uses the bone (with some meat on it, but no longer the right dimensions for slicing for sandwiches, etc.) and wastes nothing, and I'm pleased with that. This is the soup my mom made when I was a kid, and I love it. I soaked the split peas overnight last night, and today the hambone/ham, split peas, onion, bay leaf, celery, and water are bubbling away on my stove, simmering for 2-3 hours before I add carrots and seasonings and serve with a side of bread.
Speaking of bread, still making my own. Mostly, it's delicious.
I shopped for the split peas. First, went to the aisle with that stuff, scoped out the prices. Then went to bulk foods, and double checked. Definitely a better deal bulk - $.89/pound instead of $1.49/pound. I don't know how a $.60 savings is going to change much, but it's something. Perhaps more important is that the meal itself is so economical and healthy. (Okay, maybe honey baked ham isn't healthy. Okay, so it's not. But with the split peas and other veggies....?)
I ditched my Swiffer mop and got a washable one. That was the last disposable product in the house, so that will save money long term and be better for the environment. (I got rid of the Swiffer one on Freecycle.)
I'm remembering to carpool more. To drink coffee at home more. To consolidate more errands. To stay out of shops (though I've been thrift shopping a bit).
I'm FAR from perfect. But I'm on a path, and trying to find comfort in that.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Simple Supper
Okay, so I don't feel like cooking, but I had some chicken (boneless, skinless thighs from Costco, puchased in bulk and then seperated into plastic sacks, some of which I froze for later use) and a bunch of veggies that needed using. I don't feel creative today and we have some chores to do and I promised Tessa a good snuggle/reading session, so here's what I've made for tonight's dinner (simmering on the stove now):
Chicken Vegetable Soup
------------------------
1 container organic chicken broth
cut up chicken (bite sized pieces)
misc. vegetables -
-kale
-chard
-onion
-carrots
garlic
salt
pepper
dried thyme (I'd use fresh when it was growing in season in my garden!)
water
splash of white wine (optional)
Chop up all ingredients, throw in one big pot, season. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer. About 10 minutes before serving, add a small pasta of your choice. Serve with salad, home made bread.
DONE. This meal took less than 10 minutes. I'll simmer it for a while, then stick it in the fridge, reheating it for dinner. Ryan will take some to work for lunch tomorrow, and we'll have it then, too. I could have skipped the pre-made broth, but since I had it, I used it for the extra flavor.
It's not a funky meal. It's not ethnic. But it's good, basic comfort food. If I'd had celery in stock I would have added that, and parsnips would be good too, but since I didn't have them, I didn't go out to buy them (unnecessary). But this reminds me - I had a yam that needed to be used. Gotta go - I'll cut that up and add it too.
If I'm lazy I'll skip the salad. We're getting plenty of veggies - even greens - in this one pot meal.
Edited to add: I realized that I had a yam and a sweet potato, so I chopped those and added them in as well. I think Ryan is less enthusiastic about the greens (kale and chard) but Tessa and I liked the whole thing.
As part of not wasting, I'm using up some other fridge ingredients today, too. I had some pre-shredded cheese from another recipe, and I had some herbs that Heather shared with me when she left for Hawaii, and these were both needing to be used (or they'd go to waste soon). My solution? Cheesy herb bread. I've really focused on making healthful, high fiber, whole grain breads, but this loaf has some butter, two kinds of cheese (the other is parmigiano reggiano), and 3 of the 4 cups of flour are white flour. If I'm still awake when it's finished, I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself from having a hot slice! I do have a weakness for cheese, and the fresh herbs smelled so good when I added them.
Chicken Vegetable Soup
------------------------
1 container organic chicken broth
cut up chicken (bite sized pieces)
misc. vegetables -
-kale
-chard
-onion
-carrots
garlic
salt
pepper
dried thyme (I'd use fresh when it was growing in season in my garden!)
water
splash of white wine (optional)
Chop up all ingredients, throw in one big pot, season. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer. About 10 minutes before serving, add a small pasta of your choice. Serve with salad, home made bread.
DONE. This meal took less than 10 minutes. I'll simmer it for a while, then stick it in the fridge, reheating it for dinner. Ryan will take some to work for lunch tomorrow, and we'll have it then, too. I could have skipped the pre-made broth, but since I had it, I used it for the extra flavor.
It's not a funky meal. It's not ethnic. But it's good, basic comfort food. If I'd had celery in stock I would have added that, and parsnips would be good too, but since I didn't have them, I didn't go out to buy them (unnecessary). But this reminds me - I had a yam that needed to be used. Gotta go - I'll cut that up and add it too.
If I'm lazy I'll skip the salad. We're getting plenty of veggies - even greens - in this one pot meal.
Edited to add: I realized that I had a yam and a sweet potato, so I chopped those and added them in as well. I think Ryan is less enthusiastic about the greens (kale and chard) but Tessa and I liked the whole thing.
As part of not wasting, I'm using up some other fridge ingredients today, too. I had some pre-shredded cheese from another recipe, and I had some herbs that Heather shared with me when she left for Hawaii, and these were both needing to be used (or they'd go to waste soon). My solution? Cheesy herb bread. I've really focused on making healthful, high fiber, whole grain breads, but this loaf has some butter, two kinds of cheese (the other is parmigiano reggiano), and 3 of the 4 cups of flour are white flour. If I'm still awake when it's finished, I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself from having a hot slice! I do have a weakness for cheese, and the fresh herbs smelled so good when I added them.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Dinner - Spanish Fritatta
Onion (organic, Farmer's Market)
Olive Oil (organic, TJ's)
Potatoes (organic, PCC)
Eggs (organic, PCC)
Simple, simple food, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and topped with salsa - yum. I'll serve some fruit on the side, and I think I'll steam some broccoli, as we had salad at lunch and Tessa prefers broccoli. We had some light sour cream and salsa left over from something else, so we're topping the dish with this combo.
I estimate the entire meal, with apple slices on the side, to be about $8, or $2 per serving (Ryan will take leftovers for lunch tomorrow). This doesn't make me the most frugal person in the world, but for healthy, pesticide free, hormone free, organic, responsibly farmed food, I think it's impressive.
This diet is providing more than our share of fruits and vegetables per day. For the first time in a while, I'm very certain that I'm hitting my minimum five servings per day without trying. I'm serving fruit at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we're having veggies with lunch and dinner (usually one serving at lunch, two or more at dinner; in a soup like yesterday's, there might have been four servings of veggies included, all simmered down).
Speaking of yesterday's soup, it's gone. Ryan had his for lunch today, and I took the rest to my parents, to share with them and also with my brother. Today Tessa wouldn't touch it - strange kid. Mom, Dad and Mike seemed to like it, though. Mom is doing well, walking much more than last time I saw her, and in seemingly good spirits. She is anxious to be doing more, and to be up and about, and to get rid of pain meds, but all things considered, I think she's making excellent progress. I have been enjoying our visits together. Today I was able to help by prepping the crock pot dinner my mom had planned, and it made me happy to help her in this small way (I didn't like the image of her up on the leg for two long as she cooked, but she wanted to help my dad out, as he's been doing a fantastic job of playing chef AND caring for her AND working).
Speaking of cooking, I feel like my whole life is revolving around food right now. I pray that this is temporary. The planning is not automatic, the ideas are not automatic, the style of cooking isn't yet familiar, the budget constraints feel tight, and I have a lot to learn. I'm forging ahead, though, and we're hitting some good notes.
As a routine, I'm trying to do one egg dish a week (that was tonight), one vegetarian or close-to-vegetarian dish per week (this week it's Granny's baked beans....with bacon...breaking my family in slowly), one roast per week (I'm lazy this week and I'm replicating last week's chicken), and Friday night pizza (Ryan & Tessa's favorite. The roast gets stretched for a couple of meals - chicken on top of salads, soup stock, etc. Most of the meals make leftovers for lunches, but I'm also roasting turkey for sandwiches because it's easy, cheap, and done without weird processing like other deli meats. I imagine a lot of stir frys - I'd better get some beef in this menu soon or Ryan is sure to rebel. ;-)
Okay, off to fill out Tessa's school paperwork. Time to sign up for kindergarten....
I have another loaf of bread baking, as I left the rest of ours with Mom & Dad, too.
Olive Oil (organic, TJ's)
Potatoes (organic, PCC)
Eggs (organic, PCC)
Simple, simple food, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and topped with salsa - yum. I'll serve some fruit on the side, and I think I'll steam some broccoli, as we had salad at lunch and Tessa prefers broccoli. We had some light sour cream and salsa left over from something else, so we're topping the dish with this combo.
I estimate the entire meal, with apple slices on the side, to be about $8, or $2 per serving (Ryan will take leftovers for lunch tomorrow). This doesn't make me the most frugal person in the world, but for healthy, pesticide free, hormone free, organic, responsibly farmed food, I think it's impressive.
This diet is providing more than our share of fruits and vegetables per day. For the first time in a while, I'm very certain that I'm hitting my minimum five servings per day without trying. I'm serving fruit at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we're having veggies with lunch and dinner (usually one serving at lunch, two or more at dinner; in a soup like yesterday's, there might have been four servings of veggies included, all simmered down).
Speaking of yesterday's soup, it's gone. Ryan had his for lunch today, and I took the rest to my parents, to share with them and also with my brother. Today Tessa wouldn't touch it - strange kid. Mom, Dad and Mike seemed to like it, though. Mom is doing well, walking much more than last time I saw her, and in seemingly good spirits. She is anxious to be doing more, and to be up and about, and to get rid of pain meds, but all things considered, I think she's making excellent progress. I have been enjoying our visits together. Today I was able to help by prepping the crock pot dinner my mom had planned, and it made me happy to help her in this small way (I didn't like the image of her up on the leg for two long as she cooked, but she wanted to help my dad out, as he's been doing a fantastic job of playing chef AND caring for her AND working).
Speaking of cooking, I feel like my whole life is revolving around food right now. I pray that this is temporary. The planning is not automatic, the ideas are not automatic, the style of cooking isn't yet familiar, the budget constraints feel tight, and I have a lot to learn. I'm forging ahead, though, and we're hitting some good notes.
As a routine, I'm trying to do one egg dish a week (that was tonight), one vegetarian or close-to-vegetarian dish per week (this week it's Granny's baked beans....with bacon...breaking my family in slowly), one roast per week (I'm lazy this week and I'm replicating last week's chicken), and Friday night pizza (Ryan & Tessa's favorite. The roast gets stretched for a couple of meals - chicken on top of salads, soup stock, etc. Most of the meals make leftovers for lunches, but I'm also roasting turkey for sandwiches because it's easy, cheap, and done without weird processing like other deli meats. I imagine a lot of stir frys - I'd better get some beef in this menu soon or Ryan is sure to rebel. ;-)
Okay, off to fill out Tessa's school paperwork. Time to sign up for kindergarten....
I have another loaf of bread baking, as I left the rest of ours with Mom & Dad, too.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Lentil Soup
I don't usually cook with beans...or lentils. I'm trying both. Healthy, inexpensive, and very good for the environment; a great source of protein and fiber. Diversity in our diet.
Today when shopping at PCC while Tessa was at gymnastics, I was talking to a lady in the produce section (she was wondering how I was going to cook "all those leeks"). She, in turn, told me about a lentil soup recipe that she swears makes "people who can't stand lentils start to love lentils."
She said....
A couple of turns of olive oil in the pan; add chopped onion and garlic. Add chopped leeks, and saute until softened; season with salt and pepper. Add "french blue-green lentils" (the type, apparently, being very important), and chopped potatoes, and simmer in chicken broth for 20 minutes. Finally, add carrots or other vegetables, simmer an additional 10-20 minutes, and serve.
I'm adding more farmer's market sausage from Sea Breeze Farms on Vashon, because Ryan and Tessa aren't quite ready for hard core lentils. The amount of sausage is quite small compared to the total quantity prepared, but hopefully will add the zing that they seek.
From the farmer's market:
Onion
Garlic
Sausage
Kale (which I'm adding as well...it cooks down beautifully in soups and adds a green element)
Potatoes (Peruvian Blue, at Tessa's request)
Carrots (Nantes sweet)
The chicken broth is home made from farmer's market ingredients.
From PCC, organic:
blue-green lentils
leeks
It's simmering away right now. I'll serve it with some fresh fruit slices, and some home made bread. I ran out of honey so I substituted molasses in my last batch, and it's quite good...the molasses was an acceptable substitute.
Speaking of honey, it was really expensive at the Farmer's Market, so I got it at PCC. Maybe next time I'll break down and get the Farmer's Market stuff, but right now budget is more important.
I bought MOST of my groceries at the FM this week, and I'm happy with that...
Since writing my last post I've had some anxiety about what a negative Nellie I am, and how people will perceive my whining. I'm trying to come to terms with those thoughts, hoping that nobody will judge me too harshly. I'm still working on all fo this positive stuff. I'm still trying to be a good little homemaker, feeding my family nutritious, delicious, organic, healthy home cooked meals. I'm trying to find pleasure in it. I'm trying to remember the slow foods movement. I'm trying not to remember that Tessa is watching a Clifford movie so that I can cook.
(In my own defense, she played with Jessie all morning, then I picked her up and went straight to Anna's to pick up Anna. Beth arrived her to pick up Anna, and they went out the front door and we went out the back door to gymnastics. I shopped while Tessa was at gymnastics, and then we came home. It's not great 1:1 time with Tessa but she's beenhaving a fabulous, kid-focused day anyway. Tomorrow we're going to visit my mom, and so I'll get lots of 1:1 with Tessa and I'll take her swimming.)
Edited to add: I just tasted the soup; I'm letting it simmer for a few more minutes, but it's done. YUM! I hope Tessa doesn't complain about the texture, because I don't have a backup plan. I'm serving it with the bread, but also fruit - blood oranges were on sale, and Braeburn apples, so that's what we're having. Tessa will like bread and fruit, at least, and worst case scenerio she can dip her bread or eat just the carrots from the soup or....?
Also...we discovered "real" baby carrots at the Farmer's Market. Not those weird machine processed ones that pass as baby carrots all over America, but real honest to goodness ones, with tops and roots and such. And the best part? They taste GREAT. Tessa loves them, and took pride in telling Anna today that they were "real" carrots. I love sharing this journey with a child who is (mostly) open to the process. Now, wish me luck with lentil soup....
Tessa Soup Update: First comment was "Ewww I'm not eating that." Then, minor fits. Then, she started eating it. Then, she cleaned her plate until "Look Mommy, I can't eat more, I can't even pull in my stomach any more!" Funny enough, the part she wouldn't/couldn't eat was the sausage, because it was "too spicy," but the rest got gobbled up. Next time, I will make the soup minus the sausage, and see how the family likes it. If it didn't have sausage, it would be healthier AND cheaper, and though it's made with chicken broth I'd still count it as a vegetarian meal for our purposes. (If you're a vegetarian friend of ours, never fear, I'd never pull that stunt on you and I'm capable of "real" vegetarian food, but since we're not trying to become vegetarians, it's close enough for us.)
And here's a diet tip. My home made bread is rather large and square, so a regular thickness slice is much larger than a slice of store bought bread. So, for dinner tonight, I cut two pieces, quartered them, and put them on a plate for sharing. There were three pieces left at the end of the meal, meaning that the three of us shared a mere 1.25 slices of bread, and walked away sated. Go figure! I think that the trick of piling it up on a plate was what did it - we could reach for more than one piece and not feel deprived.
And it is a good thing that we like the soup; we'll be eating it for days. It made 8 portions.
(I like the fact that it's dinner in one pot. There were a LOT of veggies in that pot, so I didn't even make a side salad, which would have been a nice fresh complement, but I didn't fee, l like it, and it wasn't nutritionally necessary.)
Today when shopping at PCC while Tessa was at gymnastics, I was talking to a lady in the produce section (she was wondering how I was going to cook "all those leeks"). She, in turn, told me about a lentil soup recipe that she swears makes "people who can't stand lentils start to love lentils."
She said....
A couple of turns of olive oil in the pan; add chopped onion and garlic. Add chopped leeks, and saute until softened; season with salt and pepper. Add "french blue-green lentils" (the type, apparently, being very important), and chopped potatoes, and simmer in chicken broth for 20 minutes. Finally, add carrots or other vegetables, simmer an additional 10-20 minutes, and serve.
I'm adding more farmer's market sausage from Sea Breeze Farms on Vashon, because Ryan and Tessa aren't quite ready for hard core lentils. The amount of sausage is quite small compared to the total quantity prepared, but hopefully will add the zing that they seek.
From the farmer's market:
Onion
Garlic
Sausage
Kale (which I'm adding as well...it cooks down beautifully in soups and adds a green element)
Potatoes (Peruvian Blue, at Tessa's request)
Carrots (Nantes sweet)
The chicken broth is home made from farmer's market ingredients.
From PCC, organic:
blue-green lentils
leeks
It's simmering away right now. I'll serve it with some fresh fruit slices, and some home made bread. I ran out of honey so I substituted molasses in my last batch, and it's quite good...the molasses was an acceptable substitute.
Speaking of honey, it was really expensive at the Farmer's Market, so I got it at PCC. Maybe next time I'll break down and get the Farmer's Market stuff, but right now budget is more important.
I bought MOST of my groceries at the FM this week, and I'm happy with that...
Since writing my last post I've had some anxiety about what a negative Nellie I am, and how people will perceive my whining. I'm trying to come to terms with those thoughts, hoping that nobody will judge me too harshly. I'm still working on all fo this positive stuff. I'm still trying to be a good little homemaker, feeding my family nutritious, delicious, organic, healthy home cooked meals. I'm trying to find pleasure in it. I'm trying to remember the slow foods movement. I'm trying not to remember that Tessa is watching a Clifford movie so that I can cook.
(In my own defense, she played with Jessie all morning, then I picked her up and went straight to Anna's to pick up Anna. Beth arrived her to pick up Anna, and they went out the front door and we went out the back door to gymnastics. I shopped while Tessa was at gymnastics, and then we came home. It's not great 1:1 time with Tessa but she's beenhaving a fabulous, kid-focused day anyway. Tomorrow we're going to visit my mom, and so I'll get lots of 1:1 with Tessa and I'll take her swimming.)
Edited to add: I just tasted the soup; I'm letting it simmer for a few more minutes, but it's done. YUM! I hope Tessa doesn't complain about the texture, because I don't have a backup plan. I'm serving it with the bread, but also fruit - blood oranges were on sale, and Braeburn apples, so that's what we're having. Tessa will like bread and fruit, at least, and worst case scenerio she can dip her bread or eat just the carrots from the soup or....?
Also...we discovered "real" baby carrots at the Farmer's Market. Not those weird machine processed ones that pass as baby carrots all over America, but real honest to goodness ones, with tops and roots and such. And the best part? They taste GREAT. Tessa loves them, and took pride in telling Anna today that they were "real" carrots. I love sharing this journey with a child who is (mostly) open to the process. Now, wish me luck with lentil soup....
Tessa Soup Update: First comment was "Ewww I'm not eating that." Then, minor fits. Then, she started eating it. Then, she cleaned her plate until "Look Mommy, I can't eat more, I can't even pull in my stomach any more!" Funny enough, the part she wouldn't/couldn't eat was the sausage, because it was "too spicy," but the rest got gobbled up. Next time, I will make the soup minus the sausage, and see how the family likes it. If it didn't have sausage, it would be healthier AND cheaper, and though it's made with chicken broth I'd still count it as a vegetarian meal for our purposes. (If you're a vegetarian friend of ours, never fear, I'd never pull that stunt on you and I'm capable of "real" vegetarian food, but since we're not trying to become vegetarians, it's close enough for us.)
And here's a diet tip. My home made bread is rather large and square, so a regular thickness slice is much larger than a slice of store bought bread. So, for dinner tonight, I cut two pieces, quartered them, and put them on a plate for sharing. There were three pieces left at the end of the meal, meaning that the three of us shared a mere 1.25 slices of bread, and walked away sated. Go figure! I think that the trick of piling it up on a plate was what did it - we could reach for more than one piece and not feel deprived.
And it is a good thing that we like the soup; we'll be eating it for days. It made 8 portions.
(I like the fact that it's dinner in one pot. There were a LOT of veggies in that pot, so I didn't even make a side salad, which would have been a nice fresh complement, but I didn't fee, l like it, and it wasn't nutritionally necessary.)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Dinner
Take one whole, free range chicken, rinse and pat dry.
Sprinkle dried thyme (the recipe called for fresh, but I didn't have any, so I used dry as a substitute) inside the cavity, and then stuff with lemons (leftover from the crab feast), rosemary (from our garden), and onion and garlic cloves(sitting on my countertop as a part of my usual stock of goods).
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, then add chicken broth (from my pantry) and lemon juice (used up another fresh lemon); baste regularly until done (about another hour).
To make gravy, use pantry ingredients (water, cornstarch, shallot, garlic); mix well, stir constantly.
To this recipe, I decided to add vegetables. I chopped up potatoes from the farmer's market, as well as some carrots, zuchinni, and bok choy that I happened to have in my fridge, and placed these around the chicken at appropriate times as the bird was cooking (first just chicken, then add potatoes, then carrots, etc.).
Dinner tonight was excellent. It's amazing how different a whole chicken tastes than just a piece. I'm used to buying boneless, skinless breasts, but they're more expensive and more processed, so I bought a whole bird. I wasn't prepared for the major difference in tenderness and flavor - it was much, much better than if I'd done a similar recipe with boneless/skinless. I did remove the skin before carving; I still want to watch my weight, and this plan doesn't change that. The whole dinner was 7 points but tasted ridiculously rich.
Okay, so I'm boasting, and this kind of thing doesn't make good reading. If anyone's actually reading this, I apologize; my intent is more to remind myself than anyone else that my goals of not wasting food, eating locally, etc. are not punishments. The meal was not all local, but it was a step in the right direction. The ingredients were not all seasonal (lemons? in Seattle? in FEBRUARY?). But I didn't waste stuff. My refrigerator is starting to look (gasp! can it be?) bare. (My fridge is never bare. My fridge is always stuffed to the gills.) This delights me. Usually, food gets wasted and thrown away as new food replaces it. (Again, there's an embarassment factor...I hope nobody is here to judge.) Not today. Today, I had this little success, a little move in the right direction. And the results were beautiful, successful, delicious, flavorful.
And I haven't even mentioned yet that the carcass is bubbling away on my stove, turning into stock. I wasn't well prepared for that step - out of onions, I used green onions including the whites. No celery, so I chopped up the last fresh zuchinni. Soon, I will cool it, strain it, and put it into a container to freeze, and next time a recipe calls for stock I'll have homemade stock at home. Next time I'll be better prepared for the stock part, as this one is sure to be a little bland, but I'll figure out a good way to use it anyway.
I'm planning tomorrow's main meal around spinach because I've got loads of it. Maybe a simple spinach salad with leftover chicken diced into it....and the last couple avocados, and I'll make a couple hard-boiled eggs....
This is a lot of work. Mostly, it's a lot of planning, because I'm not used to it. That's okay. I'm adjusting. My hope and thought is that after doing this for a while, it will come easier, because I'll have thought it through before.
Also, we eat a lot of international cuisines - Japanse, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Thai...and the stuff I'm finding on local food/seasonal food seems to be more traditional (roasted veggies and meats). I'll have to work on that. I like big flavors.
Sprinkle dried thyme (the recipe called for fresh, but I didn't have any, so I used dry as a substitute) inside the cavity, and then stuff with lemons (leftover from the crab feast), rosemary (from our garden), and onion and garlic cloves(sitting on my countertop as a part of my usual stock of goods).
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, then add chicken broth (from my pantry) and lemon juice (used up another fresh lemon); baste regularly until done (about another hour).
To make gravy, use pantry ingredients (water, cornstarch, shallot, garlic); mix well, stir constantly.
To this recipe, I decided to add vegetables. I chopped up potatoes from the farmer's market, as well as some carrots, zuchinni, and bok choy that I happened to have in my fridge, and placed these around the chicken at appropriate times as the bird was cooking (first just chicken, then add potatoes, then carrots, etc.).
Dinner tonight was excellent. It's amazing how different a whole chicken tastes than just a piece. I'm used to buying boneless, skinless breasts, but they're more expensive and more processed, so I bought a whole bird. I wasn't prepared for the major difference in tenderness and flavor - it was much, much better than if I'd done a similar recipe with boneless/skinless. I did remove the skin before carving; I still want to watch my weight, and this plan doesn't change that. The whole dinner was 7 points but tasted ridiculously rich.
Okay, so I'm boasting, and this kind of thing doesn't make good reading. If anyone's actually reading this, I apologize; my intent is more to remind myself than anyone else that my goals of not wasting food, eating locally, etc. are not punishments. The meal was not all local, but it was a step in the right direction. The ingredients were not all seasonal (lemons? in Seattle? in FEBRUARY?). But I didn't waste stuff. My refrigerator is starting to look (gasp! can it be?) bare. (My fridge is never bare. My fridge is always stuffed to the gills.) This delights me. Usually, food gets wasted and thrown away as new food replaces it. (Again, there's an embarassment factor...I hope nobody is here to judge.) Not today. Today, I had this little success, a little move in the right direction. And the results were beautiful, successful, delicious, flavorful.
And I haven't even mentioned yet that the carcass is bubbling away on my stove, turning into stock. I wasn't well prepared for that step - out of onions, I used green onions including the whites. No celery, so I chopped up the last fresh zuchinni. Soon, I will cool it, strain it, and put it into a container to freeze, and next time a recipe calls for stock I'll have homemade stock at home. Next time I'll be better prepared for the stock part, as this one is sure to be a little bland, but I'll figure out a good way to use it anyway.
I'm planning tomorrow's main meal around spinach because I've got loads of it. Maybe a simple spinach salad with leftover chicken diced into it....and the last couple avocados, and I'll make a couple hard-boiled eggs....
This is a lot of work. Mostly, it's a lot of planning, because I'm not used to it. That's okay. I'm adjusting. My hope and thought is that after doing this for a while, it will come easier, because I'll have thought it through before.
Also, we eat a lot of international cuisines - Japanse, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Thai...and the stuff I'm finding on local food/seasonal food seems to be more traditional (roasted veggies and meats). I'll have to work on that. I like big flavors.
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