Tis the Season for Soup and Head Colds

3 hours of sleep, a morning of work/running errands with the babies, and the beginnings of a cold call for soup. We make a LOT of soup here (outside of summer months), so that's your warning. I'll try to pick different varieties to share with you, though. :)

I remember the first time I got sick after eating vegan and thought I was doomed without chicken noodle soup (check out my previous post Sick Day ). This particular soup was just 'throw what you have together and get it in the pot'. I like to think of it as a type of 'white trash'  if you will (in good humor of course. Because if you aren't white trash, you just cringed and if you are white trash, you just got a little proud).

Now - off the eat, put the babies down for naps and get some sleep.

PS - Do you like seeing 'real time' cooking or would you rather I had everything prepped and washed ahead of time? Please let me know!

Ingredients (approx.) - Remember you can play with your ingredients! Anything that is a 'must have' I have put an asterisk next to. However, you can adjust the portions as available.

• 3/4 of leftover onion*
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 large carrots*
• 3 mushrooms
• 2 roma tomatoes
• kale
• chickpeas - or whatever beans you have on hand. I don't typically use chickpeas in soups because they are so hearty the sort of mess with the texture, but today they were calling out to me)
• salt
• water

Peanut Butter Time!!!

I LOOOOVVVVEEE peanut butter. My family loves peanut butter. So much so that I have a working relationship with our local health food store that I can buy a 30lb box at a 10% discount whenever needed (5 people eating pb every day adds up fast).

What's wrong with store bought? Even the kind that says 'Natural' usually has additional ingredients like palm oil (why?) and sugar (again...why?). Not to mention, it's SOOOOOOOO much better at home.

I always get raised eyebrows when I tell people I make this. If you can pour water into a pot and press a button, you can make peanut butter. Now - do it! :)

PS - I forgot to mention this in the video, but refrigerate after you jar it. Also, I make several batches at once so I don't have to make more every other day.



Intro to the Video Blog!

So, come to find out some of you actually are still reading this?! I am so happy - and sad that I haven't kept up better! But have no fear - I'm switching direction a bit to make things easier on everyone. I'm a slow writer - and a fast talker. Introduce: the video blog. I hope you like this, but by all means, let me know! This site is for you guys. And I apologize upfront, I swear I tried to keep this short. I really did. Hm...maybe I *should* rethink the writing thing...

 

The Taste of Spring

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR!!!!

Our CSA basket has been ordered. May can't get here soon enough! As if giving up the beautiful southern Georgia weather wasn't hard, leaving our favorite farm was pretty bad, too.

Having said that, it's at least in the 70's here and snowing elsewhere. So...I'm ok with the compromise.

Sweet Potato

 

Sweet Potato Nachos

Salads That Don't Wilt: #1

It's all about throwing together whatever you have!

 

Wheat berries, collards, chick peas, walnuts, sundried tomatoes, green olives, onion, carrots, artichokes, fresh basil, olive oil, salt and pepper

Let Them Eat Veggie Stock

Eating fresh food not only opens up a world of new meals to make, but I also find myself wasting less of the food by trying to use every last bite I can get out of an ingredient. I get that cooking may not be on everyone’s ‘passion’ list but some things really are more simple to make from scratch than making boxed macaroni and ‘cheese’. (Gag. Excuse me.)

I use veggie stock a lot in my meals for many reasons. Yes, I have plenty of boxed stock on hand but I also make my own quite a bit. Because I already use the basics on a regular basis (onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, and friends) I wind up with little end pieces here and there that aren’t used in the main meal itself but seem like a waste to throw away.

For those little bits, I keep a bag in the freezer where I throw pieces in over time. When the bag fills up, it’s stock time!

Let’s cover the steps needed in this horribly daunting task:

Throw bits into a bag, located in freezer.

Because I assume you were going to throw these into a trash bag or some container *anyway*, I’m not even going to count this as a step.  

1. Remove bag from freezer, dump in pot
2. Cover with water to tops of veggies
3. Simmer for one hour. Possibly go get your nails done in the meantime
4. Let cool and strain liquid into appropriate container

 

Add salt, bay leaves, thyme or whatever else you want if you’d like it seasoned differently. It’s all optional (though I do at the very least recommend the salt).

Use in: rice, sautéed veggies, thinning out pesto for pasta, etc.

“But you still wind up with the chunks of veggies, except cooked!”

If you’re a hot kitchen mess like me, then you throw all the leftover cooked bits into your homemade marinara sauce as your ‘secret ingredient’. Best marinara sauce EVER.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnddddd……you’rewelcomeverymuch.

UPDATE: If you have bought your veggies from a grocery store, ***MAKE SURE*** to remove ALL stickers applied BEFORE cooking. Sometimes one sneaks by the best of us :(

 

 

Are Your Hormones Out of Wack or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

It’s clearly been too long since my last post, which in a way is good – I’ve been keeping myself busy with a number of little ‘projects’ and with my eating habits becoming second nature, I’ve had a little break from my food obsession (even obsessions deserve a break now and then).

Recently I celebrated my 6 month Vegan milestone. I envisioned coming up to this point that it would feel like such a huge deal, such a huge accomplishment. But the fact is, it just felt like a normal day. I was a little surprised by my own reaction and realized the bigger accomplishment: I’ve settled so well into my eating habits that it no longer feels like a project in itself.

Another food journey has begun, however; when I had my blood tested several weeks ago, I found out I have Hypothyroidism. Even though it’s not a huge deal, I was thrown off by the news and it took a long time to wrap my head around what it meant (I honestly had no idea what it was or that it was apparently so common). Being so unfamiliar with this disease, I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t something I could ‘eat’ my way out of. Two doctors and a nutritionist later, I have a better grasp on it all and categorize it in a similar manner as allergies or depression; Some things you feed your body can certainly hurt the ailment but as much as you try, food may not provide all the relief needed.

The biggest shock I found was learning that some of my daily, beloved veggies could actually be causing my levels to spike even more (who knew that kale and I would have such a forbidden love affair?). While I’m not sure that all the foods listed as ‘problematic’ affect me in a negative way or that they need to be completely avoided altogether, it’s a slight curveball in my long term eating plan. The biggest kicker seems to be soy products, which thankfully I don’t consume much of since I already noticed feeling horrible after eating too much of (just another reason to trim down the processed foods!).

So, onward and upward. If anything, I need to get back to my obsession and find new recipes as it is. This just gives me a good excuse!

 

 

Hummus, Collards, Tomato, and Walnut Wrap