Snow Day Crock Pot Soup

By ellen on December 20, 2009

I LOVE snow! We got a good bit of it here in NYC – I think the official measurement in Central Park was 11″. Husbo and I went to an Xmas party last night and left early to make sure we could get home in the event that the subways were delayed. They weren’t, but I was glad to come home pretty early. The highlight of the night was probably walking home with him in all the snow anyway :)

So after waking up this morning to beautiful snowiness, we went for a walk in the park across the street and it was GORGEOUS! We were walking for at least an hour. I love how quiet and calm everything is in the snow.

When we got back, I threw this crock pot soup together in preparation for a late lunch/early dinner.

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Snow Day Crock Pot Soup

  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 cartoon chicken broth (or vegetable would work)
  • 3 cans of beans (I used black beans, chick peas, and kidney beans)
  • any random veggies you have on hand (I had half a bag of a pepper/onion stir fry blend that I tossed in)
  • Spices
    • about 1 tbsp each: cumin, cayenne, chili powder
    • about 2 tbsp cinnamon
    • about 2.5 tbsp cocoa (this was my secret ingredient :) )
    • a dash of Worcestshire sauce (I love the depth of flavor this lends)

Toss it all in the crock pot and leave it alone for a while. I set mine for 4 hours on low, and we wound up eating it after about 3 hours. It was soooo delishy. And disgustingly easy. It left me hands-free to make cookie dough all day – woohoo!

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Enjoy!

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Double Dose of Lunch

By ellen on November 19, 2009

I was pretty hungry around 11. I usually have oatmeal in the morning (in addition to banana) and for some reason I didn’t today. So around that time, I did this:

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Om-nom-nom-nom: oats, splash of almond milk, glob of almond butter, nuked apple, cinnamon, flax/hemp/chia seeds. Sooo tasty (and vegan)!

Oatmeal like this usually keeps me full for a good 3-4 hours… but since it seems I’m a ravenous beastie today, I was hungry again around 1. Lunch Part Deux:

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A deconstructed burrito of sorts: brown rice, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and red bean mash-up. Vegan again! Score!

So far, the Vegan 4 A Day Challenge (created by Eating Journey and Silly Tater Tot) is going swimmingly. For someone who is always either thinking about food or eating food, I find that I don’t have to put too much more effort into eating vegan – just focus a little differently.

I plan to have some carrots and hummus for a snack this afternoon, and some sort of giant salad for dinner. Oh, and that workout is still going to happen today… at some point :)

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Yoga & some inspiration in the kitchen

By ellen on October 18, 2009

GREAT yoga class. I signed up for an unlimited new student pass for the week and will try to get there every day this week (or almost every day). I was really challenged, and it made me realized how much flexibilty I’ve lost (from the scant amount I had before) by not practicing or stretching more regularly. I’ve always stretched well after workouts, but otherwise it’s something I overlook. A bit more stretching to either begin or end my day would be really beneficial.

I have a bit of work to do this afternoon, and am debating whether or not to venture back out for a run. It’s reeeeeally windy/cold/rainy. My initial thought is no way in hell, but I know I’d feel pretty awesome afterwards… and I saw some runners out on my way to yoga… we shall see.

Lunch is a big ol mess. It’s a combo steel cut oats w/ pumpkin, vanilla Chobani yogurt, maple syrup, flax/hemp/chia blend, almond butter, semi-sweet cho

colate chips, and a honey crisp apple (not pictured) on the side. Mmmm.

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After spending two weeks without cable and internet, I really liked the opportunity to catch up on my podcasts (my faves are This American Life, and NPR’s Fresh Air). Now that I have tv, I find I’m still listening to the podcasts at home – especially in the kitchen when I’m cooking or cleaning.

This morning when I was getting breakfast together, I was listening to Friday’s Fresh Air podcast, which featured host Terry Gross interviewing the now-former editor of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl. It was a fascinating interview (as Terry Gross does so well), and it talked a bit about her life as a foodie, an editor, a home cook, as well as food as politics and roles of women in the twentieth century – BIG interview, I know! Click here to listen on NPR.

The NYTimes has an interview with Ruth Reichl as well. I really like her beliefs about sustainability and viewing food as a means of connecting us to the earth.

I listen to podcasts and public radio… what do you watch/listen to when getting things done in the kitchen?

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CSA Pick-Up and Menu Planning

By ellen on September 4, 2009

Yesterday was the weekly CSA veggie pick-up. This week’s bounty included:

  • Lettuce
  • Swiss chard
  • 2 squash (I’m not sure what kind yet – I’ll post pics soon)
  • Potatoes
  • Onions
  • Celery
  • Basil

Today I ate all the lettuce for lunch in a salad. I made a vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, and garlic – yum. I threw some parmesan cheese on top and had a Dr. Praeger California veggie burger with it.

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It was delicious. I have found that the lettuce tends to wilt very very quickly so I try to eat all of it as soon as possible. For the rest of the items, I sauteed the chard in onions, garlic, and olive oil so I’ll have a veggie side dish ready for the week – I have a feeling that this first week of school is going to be very busy. I’ll use all the basil for pesto and have a few pasta meals this week. I’ve cleaned and cut the celery and bagged for lunch snacks. Not sure about the potatoes yet, but they’re easy and versatile. I’m looking forward to figure out the squash. I think I’ll do that on Sunday or so… I’ll let you know what I come up with!

Check out some of these articles that may be of interest…

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

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Lunchtime and King Corn

By ellen on August 28, 2009

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Here’s this week’s CSA veggies. I knew that the prep work would take a while, so I had a banana to hold me over before I got started.

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After my little ‘naner snack, I took on the corn. The corn is the biggest job – you have to peel, then cut all the kernels off. It kinda takes a while. I do have a trick for de-kernel-ing the cob: in a large mixing bowl, stand a cereal bowl upside-down inside to use as a stand. As the kernels fall off, they fall into the bowl. Check it out:

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So cool, right? I wish I could take credit for such simple brilliance, but I’m pretty sure I saw someone on a cooking show do this at some point.

Anyhow, with all this corn taken care of, I reserved one cup of the kernels for the black bean enchilada bake, and made corn salad with the rest. For the corn salad, I finely chop a small onion, and toss it with the corn, a splash of red wine vinegar and some salt and pepper. Today I chopped up some fresh basil and threw that in too because I had some on hand. It’s simple, fresh, and really delicious. Some pics:

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Whew! After all that corn work, I had quite a spread for lunch: black bean soup, a green pepper, some of the corn salad, and a few baked tortilla chips with some leftover monterey jack cheese from the enchilada bake.

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I’m going to relax a bit, then figure out when/what workout I’m going to fit in today, then get back to the cooking and baking extravaganza!

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