Thai-Style Chili

As much as I hate to say it, winter is definitely here. Ice-crusted cars, snow, wind and highs in the teens. Fun.

Every year at this time I start swearing I'll do one of two things:

1. I'm moving closer to work.
2. I'm going to stop renting and buy a house with a garage.

I do neither. Instead I hole up in my apartment as much as possible and eat soup.

The other night I tried this Thai Chili from Clean Eating Magazine. I liked that it was meatless and used some of the red curry paste I still have sitting in my fridge door. I also liked the addition of bulgur.

The recipe still needed a bit of work, in my opinion. I added a bit of salt, hot sauce and needed to thicken it up in the end. It came out WAY too soupy to be a decent chili. It's amazing how just three simple things turned a chili that was just so-so into something delicious and filling.

Thai-Style Chili
Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Serves 4

1 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potato
2 cups chopped bell pepper (any color)
2 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup light coconut milk
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
About 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Hot sauce (such as sriracha) to taste
Chopped scallions for garnish

In a large dutch oven, add curry paste, cumin, salt and pepper and dissolve in a bit of broth until it's no longer lumpy. Add the rest of the broth, bulgur, sweet potatoes and bell pepper. Bring to a boil.

Cover tightly and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add beans, coconut milk and crushed tomatoes; cook uncovered for 7 minutes or until the bulgur is tender.

If the chili isn't thick enough at this point (mine wasn't) dissolve the cornstarch in a couple tablespoons of water to created a slurry. Add the slurry to the chili and stir. Let simmer a few minutes or so until the chili thickens up. Add hot sauce to taste and garnish with chopped scallions.

Chicken and Whole Wheat Dumplings

Ugh. I'm still sick, but feeling a bit better at least.

I took yesterday off work to rest up a bit after being up through the night several times. My stuffed up nose kept waking me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. Plus, I sound worse than I was on Tuesday and people give you the stink eye if you come to work with a cold.

Since I was feeling a bit better last night, I decided to make myself some soup. Nothing better than chicken soup for a cold, right?

I've made this soup before, but haven't made it in a couple of years. This time, I experimented a little by using whole wheat pastry flour to make the dumplings. The texture was fine. Very similar to the all-purpose flour I used the first time.

But, the flour gave the dumplings a nuttier flavor that I'm not sure I liked all that much. I'll think I'll definitely stick with white flour in the future.

I followed the recipe otherwise, but it's an easy soup to experiment. Use different fresh herbs in the dumplings. Switch chicken breast meat for the chicken thighs (although the dark meat does give it richer flavor), or even use up some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

"All-American" Chili

I’m taking part in a chili cook-off tonight for charity with a chili recipe I’ve never made before.

Lord help me.

I volunteered months ago to help with the charity cook-off not realizing that I’d actually be the one to make the chili.

I don’t mind helping out. I do love food after all and it benefits a food pantry in Athens — which is a good cause.

But, here’s the thing: I don’t have a great chili recipe.

I’ll make this vegetarian black bean version a lot when I’m craving vegetables but the thought of zucchini simmering in a slow cooker makes me want to gag.

This lighter version would fare well in a slow cooker, but it’s honestly nothing special. It squelches a chili craving and it’s decent for what it is… but it’s not something I’d enter into any type of competition (even one for charity).

I was planning to go with the Turkey White Bean Chili I made a while back, until this All-American Chili from Cooking Light caught my eye.

It has some unique ingredients, a five-star rating and 145 comments. Probably the most I’ve seen on one of their recipes.

Plus, one of the reviewers won a chili contest with it? I’m sold.

Start with the usual suspects:


Then add a little twist:



Brown up the veggies with the meat and add spices and tomato paste:


Then the “secret ingredient” aka booze. I know no authentic American chili has red wine, but what the heck. Sounded good to me!


And some tomatoes and beans. Then let it simmer away.

Obviously, I decided not to go the “light” route. For one, it was cheaper to buy fattier cuts of meat. Plus, who takes a low fat chili to a cook off? I’d rather go big or go home.

Once it was done, I had a small bowl for dinner, just to taste test and it’s pretty good if I do say so myself. Wish me luck!

“All-American” Chili
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 links hot Italian sausage
1 pound ground chuck
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups Merlot
1 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
Additional salt/pepper to taste, plus a healthy dash or five of hot sauce

Remove casings from sausage. Brown up the sausage and beef in a dutch oven over medium-high heat with the next 3 ingredients (though jalapeno). Cook 8 minutes, breaking up the meat as you go, until the sausage and beef is browned.

Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in the wine and tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add beans and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more salt pepper and hot sauce as needed. Discard the bay leaves.

Rerun: Harvest Soup with Apples and Bacon

Sometimes, I love a good rerun. Even if you read about this one the first time I posted it, it's worth repeating. It's delicious, comforting and tastes like fall in a bowl.

Actually, it's EXACTLY what I needed after a day like today. It's like when I woke up this morning, I just knew what kind of day I was going to have, you know?

First, I think I should explain I meal plan. Each week, I choose 7 dinners to make each week.

Usually two require more prep time/cook time. These are reserved for Saturdays and Sundays when time isn't an issue. I also usually want something, like a seafood dish, that doesn't reheat well. I make those kinds of things on Thursdays because I eat out most Fridays with my friends at work and don't need to pack a lunch.

The rest of the days I pick something off my planned meals that sounds good. This morning, the winner was Harvest Soup with Apples and Bacon.

It's a comforting soup fit for a long, cold day. It's a soup perfect for a day that starts with a traffic jam that makes you late and causes seriously powerwalk the 1/4 mile to your building (arm pumping and all) just so you wouldn't miss your 8:30 meeting.

It's good for a day where stuff starts going downhill by lunch and when you look up you realize it's half an hour past quitting time and you still have a crap ton of work to do. It cures a serious case of the "Mondays."

I'm not even exaggerating when I say this soup and (and a stint on the elliptical after work) totally made my day. I love the saltiness of the bacon with the sweetness of the soup. I love a good sweet/salty combo. I love how I can taste the potatoes and squash without it being overwhelming. Afterall, squash and I have a love/hate relationship.

Plus, I'm one of those sick people who actually like chopping after a long, stressful day. I could have done without all the peeling, though. I hate peeling.

Harvest Soup with Apples and Bacon
From Everyday with Rachael Ray

8 slices center cut bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 granny smith apples, 2 1/2 peeled and chopped (reserve the other half)
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
8 ounces celery root, peeled and chopped
8 ounces turnips, peeled and chopped
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (I used a little bit of dried instead)
32 ounces chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. When bacon is done, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel.

Add onion and cook over medium heat until soft -- about 8 minutes. Add the chopped apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celery root, turnips and thyme. Cover and cook until vegetables are crisp tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the broth and 5 cups of water, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Discard the thyme stem if using and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender or pour the soup in a blender and carefully puree it until smooth. Finely chop the remaining 1/2 of the apple and top the soup with the crumbled bacon, diced apple and thyme leaves.

Minestrone with Garlic Bread

Yup. I'm that person.

The person that eats soup in 90-degree weather.

It was good soup. The key to the soup is the bacon. The original recipe says bacon is optional. The smoky flavor from the bacon is necessary, in my opinion.

Turns out the beans are optional. I thought I had some in my pantry, but I didn't. That's what I love about soup, though. It's forgiving like that.

On the side a version of garlic bread. I ran the garlic over a microplane and warmed it in a pan with some butter over low. Then, brushed it on some toasted ciabatta. I topped the bread with parm and broiled it until it the cheese melted. YUM.

Taking help from the store

I like to make things from scratch as much as possible. For the most part, meals just taste better that way. Plus, I like know exactly what went into my dinner.

But last night I cheated. Just a bit.

I made Broccoli Cheddar Soup from a bag. A bag of Creamy Potato Soup to be exact.

I've made this a couple of times before a few years ago after my mom had her back surgery and I was temporarily living at home while I was waiting for a one-bedroom apartment to open up in my complex. She requested a broccoli cheese soup and this just seemed easiest.

And it is.

Last time I made it, I used half chicken broth and stirred the cheese in first. I was even lazier this time. I used only water and added broccoli in at the same time I added the contents of the bag. At the end I stirred in a little bit of cheese and pureed it so I didn't have big chunks of broccoli. The broccoli was whatever bunches they sell at the store, the entire package. I cut of the stems and just chopped up the florets. I used about a cup of shredded cheddar. It wasn't very cheesy though.

It also ended up being the perfect choice for leftovers for today's lunch. It's so rainy, cold and yuck that the soup really hit the spot.

Nutritional info (Makes 8 servings of about a cup each.. ignore the grams on the NI): 259 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams fiber

Shrimp Tortilla Soup

Yesterday was mostly cold and rainy. On a day like that, there's nothing better than a hot bowl of soup.

I was looking for something quick, with few ingredients, that wouldn't make a huge batch. I ended up making Shrimp Tortilla Soup from the most recent Everyday Food. The recipe claims it's a 10 minute soup and it's true — it cooks for about 10 minutes. Somehow, though, with prep included it took me longer.

Even so, it was finished faster than I could order takeout.

I really liked using shrimp in a tortilla soup. I usually use chicken and this was a nice change of pace. And like all tortilla soups, it's less about the soup itself and more about the toppings. I usually prefer to top mine with fresh cilantro, avocado, sour cream, lime, and homemade tortilla strips. Unfortunately I was out of most of that. I did have avocado and tortilla chips.. which still worked. My only complaint was that it calls for way more broth than I liked. The recipe actually calls for 1.75 cups for just one serving. I reduced it in the recipe below.

This is a super healthy soup low in fat and calories — perfect for last night's dinner considering the foodfest I had the week before. The soup itself is just shrimp, corn, onion, garlic, broth and a chipotle chili, you really just need to keep an eye on the toppings. Especially the avocado. It's a healthy fat, but can add up pretty quick.

Shrimp Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Everyday Food

2 corn tortillas
canola oil cooking spray
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle in adobo, minced
3 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
8 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined

Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut tortillas into strips, spread on a baking sheet, spray with canola oil and bake about 10 minutes until brown and crispy.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add chipotle chile and cook for 30 seconds.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add frozen corn, reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Optional toppings: sour cream, avocado, lime, cilantro

Nutritional information: 380 calories, 8 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber

Vegetarian Black-Bean Chili

It's super warm and spring-like this week, so what do I decide to make? Chili, of course.

Doesn't seem like the brightest plan, but soups, stews, and chili are year-round foods for me. They know no season.

And this Vegetarian Black-Bean Chili is definitely a keeper.

I like a meat-filled chili as much as the next gal, but sometimes I like something a little fresher and healthier. This one is filled with black beans and veggies like carrots and zucchini — making it a lighter choice.

The only thing I added was TONS of hot pepper sauce. It just needed more of a kick. Otherwise, I really loved all the carrots, zucchini and corn. If I make a vegetarian chili, I want it to be chocked full of vegetables — not just faux meat.

On the side, I indulged in my favorite multi-grain tortilla chips. They're not the health food they masqarade to be, but sometimes you just have to live a little. YUM!

Need to know more? Get the nutritional info for this recipe.

Eggplant Sandwiches with Butternut Squash Soup

This morning started off rough. I overslept and then opened the front door to at least a couple of inches snow piled on top of my car. Seriously, a garage would be worth its weight in gold about now.

Surprisingly, things turned themselves around midday. Not enough to be able to leave work on time, but eh, I got a lot done. Because I made it home a little late it ended up being a soup and sandwich night. The sandwich was an eggplant and goat cheese sandwich, minus the arugula that's in the recipe. It was pretty fantastic. Goat cheese and pesto. Yum. I also sped up the process by using jarred roasted red peppers from Trader Joe's.

On the side was a cup of Pacific Butternut Squash Soup. I'm not going to lie. I was really unsure about this soup. Squash and I have an on and off relationship, after all. But I didn't want to make my own soup and this was on sale. And you know what? It was pretty good. Maybe a little thinner than I prefer, but pretty tasty! I would definitely recommend it, especially if you don't want to go through the process of making it from scratch. I wouldn't blame you. Peeling a butternut squash is a pain in the rear.

Overall a simple, satisfying meal for a cold, snowy night!

My soup obsession

I am slightly obsessed with this soup. I've made it here and here and I made it again last night.

It's really nothing fancy, but this tortellini soup is one I keep going back to. My version has hot Italian turkey sausage and chicken broth. It can also be a vegetarian soup by leaving out the sausage and using vegetable broth. It's versatile like that.

What's your soup obsession?

Baked Potato Soup

It's the time of year where everyone and their double-first cousin makes a giant list of resolutions that are easily abandoned by February.

Most vow to become thinner, but I'm not one to continually vow to lose weight. Sure, I'd love to reach a healthy weight range, but I'm not really in any hurry. My BMI is only slightly above healthy and my health numbers are all fantastic. As long as I'm developing healthier habits overall (which I am), then I'll get there eventually. So this year, I'm not vowing to lose weight -- especially a specific number of pounds. Those kinds of resolutions personally drive me crazy.

I know I'm arriving late to the resolution party, but I figured I'd share a few goals I have for myself.

Last year, I wanted to create a healthier routine and save more money. Both of which I pretty much accomplished.

In January, I decided to "pay myself first," which is MUCH easier than I thought it would be. Through my direct deposit I put aside a set amount of money per pay and have it deposited directly into my money market account. I was a little spotty on following my budget, but overall I was pretty close and my savings account looks a lot better than it did a year ago, that's for sure!

As far as a healthier routine, I did better than 2008, but still have room to improve. I'll be honest: I hate exercising. Pretty much every form of it. So I'll have a good week and then a lazy week. I think it's something I can continue to improve.

This year I'd like to:

• Continue establishing a healthy routine. This includes paying better attention to when I'm hungry vs. mindlessly snacking, drinking more water and sleeping more.
• Continue saving. I'd love to put at least 75% of any bonus/pay increases I may receive this year into savings as opposed to adding more to my budget. Every penny counts!
• Read more. I read like one book last year in all of 2009. Pretty pitiful.
• Try new things outside of my comfort zone. I'm actually pretty shy, so taking new classes, etc. by myself isn't the easiest for me. I'm taking the yoga class at the Y, which is a great start and I want to sign up for a photography class at a local art college and maybe take more sewing classes.
• Blog more consistently. Like my efforts at a healthy routine, I'll have a really good week and follow it up with a less than stellar one.

Now on to food. Last night, I made this Baked Potato Soup from Cooking Light. It's honestly my favorite potato soup. Maybe a little higher in calories than I would normally like a soup to be, but it's pretty it's a hearty soup. To make this soup quicker, bake the potatoes in the microwave instead of in the oven. I like the skins of oven baked potatoes, but since you aren't using the skins, the microwave works just fine.

To microwave a baked potato scrub the skin, poke holes all over the potato with a fork, place in a microwave safe dish and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and microwave on HIGH another 5 minutes. Let cool slightly and scoop the insides out of the skin.

Otherwise, I made the recipe as written. It's one of the few I don't tweak because it's perfect just as it is.

Two Budget-Friendly Meals

I have so much to catch up on! For one, I spent all last week dog sitting this cutie pie. She looks so sad that her parents were out of town:




I planned to blog all week and even snapped a few photos of the meals I made while at my parents, but realized I couldn't upload them or edit them because I shot them all in raw format and the software to convert them to jpegs is on my home computer. Oops.

But I do have good news. I found out Thursday that I do have a job and I get to continue doing pretty much what I do now. Plus, it happened to be a promotion! It is such a relief to go into the holidays knowing 100% that I have a job. I was pretty sure I would end up with something, but nothing is ever certain. In fact, I was nearly certain I wouldn't even have to reapply for my job to begin with, but I was wrong about that.

Either way, I'm still gainfully employed and with more money to boot. I feel so rich. I think I'll enjoy the feeling while it lasts because soon enough I'll probably be thinking.. darn I could use a little more money. Not that I would spend it. Ever since my sister and my brother-in-law moved into their house this summer, I have house envy! For me to buy a home responsibly that would mean 20 percent down and an 8 month emergency fund.. and um, that's a lot of money to come up with! I'm saving like crazy.. so someday!

I should actually talk about some food. Speaking of frugality.. I made two budget-friendly meals this weekend that I actually liked. The first was an actual recipe: Winter Lentil Soup. This is super cheap for several reasons: There's not a whole lot cheaper that dried lentils and canned diced tomatoes. Plus, seasonal veggies — like the sweet potatoes — are a great bargain right now. The only potentially pricey ingredients are the fresh herbs. But it's a soup that simmers a while, so dried is fine. That's what I used.

Plus, look at how pretty it is.



The downside is that I ended up with a ton of leftover kale. So I made Annie's Mac and Cheese and stirred in sauteed kale with garlic.




I put in a baking dish, covered it with the bread crumbs I made with the leftover bread from Saturday and leftover grated parm.. and baked it at 350 until the bread crumbs toasted up.. about 20 minutes. It was a little dry, so I might make the cheese sauce with more milk than it actually calls for knowing that it's going in the oven. Otherwise it came out great and not bad for a) repurposing the ingredients I had on hand and b) dressing up a boxed mac and cheese dinner. I usually just go with stirring broccoli in, but the kale and bread crumbs was a welcome change of pace.

I know there's lots of Annie's mac and cheese eaters out there.. how do you like yours?

Turkey White Bean Chili

It feels like a heat wave — compared to Chicago at least. It's in the teens here, but compared to 3 degrees, it's almost tropical. What a difference 10 degrees or so makes.

I get cold easily, so it's the perfect time to be eating warm, comforting favorite like chili.

If you've been reading this blog a while, you may know I struggle with finding the PERFECT chili recipe. I like this one because it's closer to the style of chili my mom makes. But the Turkey White Bean Chili I made yesterday may be a close second if not dethrone my previous top choice altogether.

It has tons of chili powder, but isn't too spicy. In fact, it's just spicy enough that it has heat without being uncomfortable. I still might add some red pepper for more kick or even a jalapeno, especially if I'm planning to top it with cheese and sour cream. I like my food spicy.

The turkey doesn't taste like turkey here. In fact, you probably would think it was beef. The white beans are a new twist I actually liked. Kidney beans aren't my absolute favorite anyhow.

If you make the recipe as written, which I did, you get tons of chili. Perfect for chili dogs later in the week. I am ridiculously excited I am for that. I haven't had a hotdog in AGES.

Harvest Soup with Apples and Bacon

Last night, I fulfilled a childhood dream. I ate my dessert before my dinner. I didn't make it home from work and the gym until just after 7 p.m. and I was STARVING. Dinner was at least 30 minutes off, so I grabbed a fudge bar from the freezer to munch on while my dinner was cooking.

It was a great idea to eat a snack. Between all the peeling and chopping, the "30 minute" meal I made tonight took much longer. Probably didn't help that I got distracted by So You Think You Can Dance and forgot to set the time on my soup. Oh well. Soup's forgiving, right?

This soup was exactly what I needed, though. Super creamy, smoky and earthy without being heavy or full of fat and calories. Plus, it makes great use of fall's produce - sweet potatoes, turnips, butternut squash and celery root. I've never used turnips or celery root and you know? Celery root smells EXACTLY like celery. I guess I should have guessed as much, but I didn't really expect it. I wonder if I could have saved a bit of money and just used celery?

Anyhow. I wasn't sure about the soup on the first bite. It was pretty squashy tasting. But it really grew on me and I ended up going for a little bit of seconds. I'm even looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.

Harvest Soup with Apples and Bacon
From Everyday with Rachael Ray

8 slices center cut bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 granny smith apples, 2 1/2 peeled and chopped (reserve the other half)
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
8 ounces celery root, peeled and chopped
8 ounces turnips, peeled and chopped
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (I used a little bit of dried instead)
32 ounces chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until crisp, stirring occaisionally. When bacon is done, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel.

Add onion and cook over medium heat until soft -- about 8 minutes. Add the chopped apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celery root, turips and thyme. Cover and cook unitl vegetables are crisp tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the broth and 5 cups of water, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Discard the thyme stem if using and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender or pour the soup in a blender and carefully puree it until smooth. Finely chop the remaining 1/2 of the apple and top the soup with the crumbled bacon, diced apple and thyme leaves.

Serves 8.

Golden Winter Soup, Brussel Sprouts and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

I tried a new vegetable tonight: Brussel sprouts. I've always been afraid of brussel sprouts. Maybe because I grew up hearing how awful they are.

Now, I hear how awesome they are. I finally worked up the nerve to try them for myself. I covered them olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them at 400 for about 30 minutes.

The verdict? Meh. I didn't really like them. They just didn't live up to the hype.

But I'm not giving up.

I served them along with Golden Winter Soup, which I originally made last winter, and goat cheese toasts. The I loved the soup and goat cheese bruschetta. The brushcetta was fantastic. But then again, I love vinaigrette and goat cheese. You really couldn't go wrong.



What foods or dishes have you tried that didn't live up to the hype?

Saturday Shopping

Today has been a really lazy day, except for my weekly grocery shopping trip. I kept the entire week's meals under $50, including snacks. There's even some pantry stock-up items I had coupons for. The only things not show are the millet and dried apricots I plan to buy tomorrow from the bulk bins.

Today's haul included chicken broth, Stonyfield yogurt (including the pumpkin pie!), apples, heavy cream and whole milk for ice cream, mixed greens, generic WW giant fudge bars (a guilty pleasure), stuffing mix, carrots, fresh cranberries, cauliflower, eggs, 93/7 ground beef, pork tenderloin, green peppers, fresh tortellini, parsnips, zucchini and garlic.

Other than shopping I did some laundry and that's about it. Just what I needed -- a relaxing day.

I started off with overeasy eggs, a slice of toast with TJ's pumpkin butter and french press coffee:



After shopping I warmed up with some mac and cheese and broccoli and a cup of herbal tea:



I sat down on the couch to catch up some of my DVR'd TV shows while the laundry was going, but I ended up falling asleep with Bella on the couch, waking up just in time to make a big pot of Tortellini Soup for dinner with a side of homemade garlic bread. Yum. I love this soup.. even if it takes a long time to make.



And now I think I'll put in a movie :)

Creamy Tomato Soup and Breaded Pork Chops

This weekend has been pretty busy. Besides my normal chores and grocery shopping I did some bridal shower prep. I can't believe my sister's shower is this coming weekend. I'm having it at my mom's and she's already stressing.

On Friday I did manage to pull together some tomato soup. I grew up hating cream of tomato soup from the can, but this was really good. Not too tomato-y. I used a little less cream and two pounds of fresh tomatoes instead of canned, but it was pretty close the the recipe I linked to. On the side was grilled cheese made with the Nature's Pride 100% Whole Wheat sent to me from Foodbuzz.



The ingredients list, although natural is pretty long and probably isn't as natural as the Great Harvest breads I normally buy. But it's not bad for commercial bread. It's softer than most 100% whole wheat breads, which I really liked. It makes a great grilled cheese sandwich and would probably be good as french toast. Obviously I like it considering the loaf is almost gone!

Tonight's dinner isn't health food. Not even close, but sometimes I just crave a breaded pork chop. Ya know? This one was a simple one and could be made maybe a little healthier by using egg white instead of a whole egg. On the side was sauteed broccoli. I put a little oil in a pan over medium-high heat, added the florets, garlic and a little water. Covered it, and let it cook until tender.. a little under 5 minutes. It was exactly what I was craving.

Chicken Posole

I think my body is trying to hibernate. This weather lately has been awful! Rainy, cloudy, cold and just plain blech. I'm snacking constantly after work, falling asleep early and having lots of trouble dragging myself out of bed in the mornings. I'm ready for some sun.

I love the cool crispness of fall and the leaves are starting to change. I'm really excited about that. But the clouds! Ugh.

But despite the urge to fatten up and hiberate for the long winter, I've been really pleased with the amount of exercise I've been getting. My eating may have not been the best, but I've done pretty well counteracting it with increased exercise. On Friday, I ran/walked a 5K. With the warm up and cool down, I went nearly four miles. I think that's a new distance record. My average pace for the 5K ended up being about 11 minutes per mile, but I don't think that's all that shabby considering in January I couldn't run three minutes let alone 3 miles. It's still on a treadmill.. so there's something moving under my feet, but I should be confident enough to run outside soon. The coolness is good running weather.

Know what else I love about the cold temps? It's soup and sweater weather. Not that I need an excuse to wear sweaters or eat soup. I do both year round. In fact, I have a seasonless wardrobe. The difference between my summer and fall clothing is simple — I start wearing socks with my shoes and tights under my skirts. Oh, and I start wearing turtleneck sweaters. That's about it. Blame it on always being cold.

Last night I made this Posole Soup with one change — I added chili powder to give it an extra kick. It was pretty simple -- just onion, chicken and hominy in a spicy chicken broth -- but it wasn't bad. Not as good as the barley soup, but as far as super quick soups go, it's pretty good. It's mostly canned stuff and it would be really easy to whip up on a moment's notice. Especially now that I realized I could bake the frozen chicken I buy from frozen instead of thawing them first. Seriously, this changed my life and saved me from buying a $5 rotisserie chicken.

Anyhow, what's your favorite part of fall?

Barley Soup with Chorizo

I haven't been feeling the best the past few days. And even though I wasn't feeling 100 percent I did a 45 minute workout DVD on Saturday and a steady jog on Sunday. I pooped out on the jog. I just ran out of steam.

I shouldn't have gone. I learned the lesson that when your body says to rest you should rest. It should be a no-brainer, but I'm sure I'm not the first to push a little too hard.

Monday I still wasn't feeling that great, but I knew it wasn't something I could pass along to others. So, I convinced myself I'd be OK once I got to work.

I ended up going home at noon feeling like I could toss my cookies at any moment. I didn't, but I sure felt like I was about to. Even if I could stick it out, I didn't want to, and my productivity would have been zilch. Might as well take the time to sleep.

So this week has been a lot of bland, boring food (think dry cereal and crackers). I was feeling better today, though, so I actually made soup.

And this might go down in the hall of fame of Jen's favorite soups. I used Real Simple's Farro Soup with Chorizo as the jumping off point. In the spirit of using what's in the freezer/pantry I used up my last link of chorizo. The brand I found at Whole Foods is surprisingly lean and you really only need two links for four generous servings.

I didn't have farro, but I had pearl barley. The cooking time on the barley said 30 to 40 minutes, so I started let it simmer while I started the recipe. If you had quick-cooking barley, you wouldn't need to start it in advance.

I followed it as written up pretty much the rest of the way. When it was time to add the barley I drained it and added to the pot with the water and broth. After it softened up all the way, I didn't have much liquid left, so I added a little more broth. Lastly, instead of chard I used frozen chopped spinach.

I loved the spiciness of the soup. The recipe suggest kielbasa as an alternative to chorizo, but in my mind there is no substitute. It wouldn't have the same zing without it.

There were maybe a couple of things I didn't like. The frozen spinach wasn't ideal. Next time I'll stick to the chard the recipe calls for or use fresh spinach. I'm just not a huge fan of frozen spinach in soups. Lastly, just because the crunchiness of chickpeas kind of freaks me out, I personally would prefer a small white bean like navy or cannellini or maybe even something like a pinto. Anything but chickpeas. But if you love chickpeas, then knock yourself out. :)

Overall, it's a hearty, flavorful soup I can totally see myself making over and over again.

Summer-strone

It's clearly still summer-like outside, so why am I craving soup and oatmeal? I woke up this morning with a serious oatmeal craving so I hit up the cafeteria on my way up to my desk. I skipped my usual brown sugar, cinnamon and granola combo because I brought agave nectar and peaches to put on top of my oats. It wasn't as good as I imagined it would be, but it came close enough to qwelling the craving.

Last night I was all about the soup. The name makes it sound like it's a minestrone, but it's closer to gazpacho. It has zucchini and pasta like a minestrone might, but it has the pureed tomotes and cucumbers like a gazpacho. Maybe it should be named gaz-rone or maybe minez-pacho? OK, so maybe not.

I warmed mine up to make a hot soup, but you could definitely serve it chilled. I ended up halving the recipe but used the whole can of diced tomatoes anyhow. It probably made for a thicker soup, but it still worked. I also used a basil pesto I had in my fridge because I'm lazy and cheap like that. Why buy the extra ingredients when you have some already made up?

If you can't find israeli couscous (I bought mine from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, but I've also seen a big box of it at Trader Joes), you could use any tiny cut of pasta. You can channel your inner five-year-old and use alphabet pasta. If you can find acini di pepe that's the closest to israeli couscous. In fact, almost exactly the same. Ditalini would probably also work, but it's a little bit larger in size. In a pinch, broken up spaghetti or angel hair might be OK, but I would try any of the above first, personally.

It was even pretty decent as leftovers today. I heart soup.

What foods do you crave?