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Appetites and Adventures

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soup

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Traveling a lot has made me pretty good at using up ingredients.

 

Despite the cool weather having gone by the wayside, I’m ready for fall and craving hearty soup.  My preference is a thick soup – to me, broth is often just taking up space in the bowl.

Exceptions made for really incredible broths, like the authentic ramen found at Yakitori Jinbei.  It’s not your college 99 cent ramen.

 

This soup really is everything but the kitchen sink – I had lot of veggies, fresh herbs, and some vegetable broth to use up, along with some forgotten dried chickpeas.  Soups are the easiest way to get ‘er done.

 

Don’t be afraid to play with spices and herbs.  Add some garam masala and your soup can have an Indian flavor… or some cumin and chilis for a Mexican flare… or herb it up for an Italian feel… or get some white pepper and mustard powder (or even pour a bier in it!) for German warmth… most soups are like blank slates!

This was sort of unintentionally vegan, though I’m sure it would be good with beef broth and/or shredded chicken.  I also like grating cheese on top of warm soup.  The gooey nuttiness that ensues is particularly satisfying to me… like a melty grilled cheese.

 

Bonus: I’ll have soup waiting for me when I land tomorrow night.

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Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soup

  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 C vegetable broth (I used low sodium)
  • 1 C water
  • 2T apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp adobo chili powder
  • 1 T fresh thyme
  • ~8 basil leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • S+P, to taste
  • 1 C cooked chickpeas
  • 14.5 oz or 1/5 C diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 3 large celery stalks, chopped
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
  • ~5 kale leaves, torn apart
  • 2 C spinach

 

In a large pot, saute garlic with olive oil over low heat until just turning gold.  Add broth, water, spices, and herbs, stirring to combine.  

Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer ~15 mins so that flavors combine and intensify.

Add veggies to mix broth.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.  

Reduce heat to medium and simmer for ~20 mins, until veggies become tender.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste (I also sprinkled some red pepper flakes on mine).  Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Makes 3-4 servings.

***

8 more days and I’ll be in Italy eating lots of hearty soup creations!!!

What is your favorite “kitchen sink” meal or creation?

Do you prefer a thick or more broth-y soup?

 

BYOB Airplane-Style + WIAW

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Getting up and seeing the moon makes me tired.

I dutifully packed my bag and headed to the Midwest.

Perfected packing for a one day meeting:

  • Breakfast
  • Sweater (conference rooms are COLD)
  • BlackBerry (try not to lose it… again)
  • Heels (wear flats for running through the airport)
  • Laptop
  • Charger
  • Files to bake into cake later 

16 hours later I was back home in that South after a successful day of meetings!

I did forget one thing… I didn’t take pictures of anything I ate after breakfast.  Breakfast was really the only thing picture-worthy though.

Instead I’m posting a WIA Sunday-thru-Tuesday for WIAW.

Breakfast:

I brought my own… but treated myself to Starbucks while waiting to board the plane and eat.  Technically the client treated me, but who’s counting.

Tip: add a little sweet in your coffee without adding much in the way of sugar and calories by ordering a black coffee (in this case an Americano) with light whip on top.

Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to add a little “fall” flavor.

Need other ideas to entertain yourself while waiting to board?  Take pictures of unsuspecting travelers in matching Hawaiian shirts.  Priceless.

Upon boarding, it was time to enjoy BYOB on a plane.  That’s bring your own beer breakfast.

I finally copied took the advice of Sarah @ Smart Kitchen and made my own yogurt in a recycled cup.

Sweet Potato Greek Yogurt

This container of orange fall deliciousness is Sweet Potato Greek Yogurt.  I don’t understand how every yogurt maker out there doesn’t offer this flavor – it may be the best idea ever.  Do you hear me, Atlanta Farm Fresh???

Add some vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and it’s like pie filling you can shamelessly eat for breakfast.  Recipe at the end of this post.

Lunch:

Here’s the part where I add some previous meals to replace the eats that weren’t worthy of picturing. 🙂

Vegetable Chickpea Soup.  Vegan, gluten-free, and damn good.

This recipe will be up tomorrow!!!

Snacks:

Not pictured, but snack time was pretty junky good:

  • Chocolate-Toffee Think Thin bar (side note: I’m sad – they changed the recipe and they aren’t as good.  I won’t be buying them again. 🙁 )
  • A few of my co-worker’s chips
  • Fun Size M&Ms (free in first class)
  • Beer (again, cheers to the upgrade!)

Dinner:

I was craving pasta on Sunday night so I took a little trip to Decatur to give No.246 another chance (I was totally underwhelmed the first time).  Round 2 was much better!  I sat at the bar, which turned out to be a great decision. The bartender, Brenda made some great suggestions and I enjoyed our conversation

I began with a tasty salad of radicchio, endive, granny smith apples, walnuts, and bacon (not pictured).  The pasta I chose was a Trofie.  Trofie is made with flour and water (no eggs).  It’s hand-rolled into little squiggly shapes.  246 serves it with a chicken liver, pork, and beef bolognese.

At first it was just good…  then Brenda gave me some chili infused olive oil.  That kicked it up and notch and gave the dish the “pop” it needed to succeed.

Pairing: Nebbiolo, Damilano, Alba 2008 – this was a great suggestion from Brenda.  It is a bigger wine, stony/earthy taste.  It stood up well to the meaty pasta dish.   OMG I’m going to be in Alba in a couple of weeks!!!

No. 246 is on it’s way.  The basics are there, the kitchen just need to get over this apparent fear of spices.

For a more delicious eats, check out the round up at Peas and Crayons!

Sweet Potato Greek Yogurt

Combine everything in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and mix until smooth.  You may need to add more liquid to achieve desired consistency.

Top with nuts of your choice and enjoy!

Note: you can make this ahead – I did.  The flavors melded and intensified overnight.

***

Can you tell I’m ready for fall by the looks of these dishes?!

What foods (if any) do you bring on planes?  

What’s your favorite pasta dish?

Peanut Butter Prices Increasing

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PSA: The price of peanut butter is rising.

 

 

The dry weather and ridiculous heat this summer has affected peanut production.  You can expect to see the price of peanut butter to increase as much as 30%, according to this article on Cleveland.com.

Farmers are prediction a 50% drop in yield for the year.  70% of the peanuts in my state of Georgia go into peanut butter.

 

The Executive Director of the Georgia Peanut Commission (who know there was such a thing?!), Don Koehler, says supplies are “plunging” and demand has reached new heights.

Why the increased demand?  Koehler credit the “Choosy Moms Choose JIF” ad campaign.  Advertising dollars at work – love it.

 

Can you imagine that clean up?!

 

Moral of the story: Stock up on peanut butter/flour/nuts NOW!  Also, don’t leave kids unattended with jars of PB.

I wonder if this means Delta will increase fares to cover the cost of the free inflight peanuts…

 

 

In honor of peanuts, I made a peanut sauce to go with my baked sweet potato tonight.  It turns out that peanut flour, coconut oil, and chili powder is an incredible combo.  I’m single-handedly supporting the peanut flour industry.

Get your peanut flour here.

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Baked Sweet Potato with Coconut Chili Peanut Sauce

  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 tsp unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • Shake of salt

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Lightly rub sweet potato with olive oil.  Wrap in foil and bake ~45-60 mins, or until tender and cooked through.

Mix the flour, oil, milk, chili powder, and salt together in a small bowl.   Top on your sweet potato, wait a minute for the sauce to get nice and melty, and enjoy!

***

As much as I love almonds, I think peanut products are my favorite.

Will you stock up on peanut butter for the winter?

What other food shortages/price increases are you seeing?

 

Eggplant Lentil Indian Stew

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Fall is in the air!

Despite the rainy weather, I’m excited for the fall/winter season.

It certainly makes running easier!  It could also be that the rain helped wash away the smog.  Either way, yesterday’s run was a fast one.

Stats:

  • Distance – 4 miles
  • Time – 30:33
  • Avg. Pace – 7:38

There is something so comforting about the chill in the air… it brings thoughts of curling up under blankets with a good book (holla at the single ladies) and hearty bowls of soup.

On the stormy end to the long weekend, I made an Eggplant Lentil Indian Stew.  Lots of spices made this dish special.

Preparing the eggplant by cooking it together stew-style (as opposed to roasting or sauteing it separately) allowed it to soak in the flavors and develop a wonderful texture.

Apparently a broken camera, yet another attempt at making brown food look appetizing, and new Picnik options resulted in photo-editing gone wild.

Don’t forget all the benefits lentils offer (in addition to being cheap).  This filling meal satisfied me for dinner and then again as leftovers at lunch.  I hardly needed my afternoon snack!

Eggplant Lentil Indian Stew

  • 1 tsp grape seed oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 3 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 T fresh thyme
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup dried French green lentils
  • 2 C vegetable broth
  • 2 C water
  • 1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 C fresh spinach
  • S+P, to taste

Warm oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion in the oil until translucent (5-6 mins).  Add garlic and sauté for another minute.  Mix in the spices.

Add 1 cup of the vegetable broth, stirring to combine.  Cook for another minute to allow flavored to combine.

Add the lentils, remaining broth, water, and eggplant.  Cover the pot, bringing the mixture to a boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for ~20 minutes, until lentils are tender and eggplant is soft.  

Add spinach allowing to cook until just wilted.  Adjust spices, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls, top with red pepper flakes and fresh thyme, and enjoy!

Serves 4.

***

I have a feeling it’s going to be a soup/stew-filled winter.

What is your favorite soup?

Do you re-read books or always choose something new?

Chilly Weather Eats + WIAW

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Wednesday comes quickly on short weeks!

Short weeks are good and bad.  I love the extra weekend time… but I was at work until 8p last night paying for it.

It’s chilly and drizzling rain here, so I had planned to go to kickboxing for a good, mindless workout.  The last class starts at 730p.

On the bright side, I hit the gym in my building and tried out a new back/bicep workout that I’ll be sharing soon. 🙂

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On such a short week I nearly forgot to take pics for WIAW!

 

I did remember nearly everything in the nick of time.  Mas importante because I had a special treat for breakfast.

 

Breakfast:

I pre-gamed breakfast with some cantaloupe because it was going to take a minute before I picked up the main show.

 

FREE Chick-fil-A!!!  It is free breakfast entrée week (with a reservation).  I was pumped to try out their new oatmeal.

I came prepared with my own peanut butter (I never said I was normal).  They provided brown sugar, nuts, and dried fruit as toppings, but I’m not a dried fruit fan and the nuts were all sugar-coated.  Too much sugar in the morning!

The oatmeal itself was pretty good.  The fact that it’s multi-grain gave it a good texture.  It was cooked well – not watery, which I generally find to be the problem.  Only 120 calories and 5g of sugar, but I liked that it had 3g of fiber and 4g of protein.  That said, the serving was fairly small and I was really glad for the peanut butter!

 

Lunch:

Inspired by the cool, rainy weather I made a delicious Indian Eggplant Lentil Stew Monday night and thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today.

Side note: Tech wont their first game against Western Carolina Girl’s School Saturday!!!

 

Lentils have many benefits.  They are:

  • High in protein an fiber = filling
  • Good source of iron and magnesium
  • Take on virtually any flavor from other foods/seasonings
  • Low-cost
  • Good left-over!

 

This recipe will be up tomorrow!!!

 

 

Snacks:

Not pictured, but I am pretty predictable consistent:

  • Chocolate-Toffee Think Thin bar
  • Nuts – I caved and ate the Chick-fil-A sugar-coated.  They were good.  🙂
  • Kombucha Green Tea
  • Broccoli and carrot sticks dipped in my new find: Spinach-Artichoke Hummus

 

This hummus is a new Whole Foods find by Nature’s Healthy Gourmet.  You really get the good artichoke flavor in it!

Nature’s Healthy Gourmet is a small company based out of Florida that specializes in vegetarian and Kosher foods.  Nature’s hummus is also dairy- and gluten-free.  If you can find it, this hummus is worth a try!

 

Dinner:

Since I got home from work so late I opted for a lighter dinner.  A salad with raw french green beans, sprouts, and mission figs.

 

Did you really think that’s all I ate?  Bwhahahaha!

 

That salad was protein’d up with sriracha-marinated tempeh and hummus dressing (the aforementioned hummus mixed with a bit of apple cider vinaigrette).

I finally learned how to spell sriracha!!!  Gotta celebrate the small victories. 😉

 

For a more delicious eats, check out the round up at Peas and Crayons!

***

Please excuse the grainy iPhone pics for the next few days… my camera is broken!

It seems that every fast food place offers oatmeal now – do you ever purchase it in a crunch?

Is is getting cooler where you are?  Bring on the fall weather!

 

PBJ Pancakes (gluten-free and vegan!)

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Friday should always be pancake day.

I made some last week as a treat and am wishing that what I was eating today.

Alas, I am 1 focus group, 1 executive presentation, and 1 flight away from my long weekend.

To those who were on Twitter last night: I did survive the Copperhead sighting.

As seen at the Sheraton Airport Charlotte Hotel

Would you have checked out of the hotel?  I did not.  It wasn’t in my room… but let’s just say last night wasn’t the best sleep I’ve ever gotten.

After Tweeting about the incident, Starwood Hotels responded and comp’d my room… too bad it was billable to the client anyway.

They should have comp’d my glass of vino.

 

Let’s focus on the good:

You guys know about my obsession with peanut flour.   I’m convinced it’s good in any form: Veggie Dip, PBJ Vegan Yogurt Deliciousness, Spicy Peanut Sauce…

…and now, PANCAKES.

Yummy, fluffy, pea-nutty, vegan, gluten-free pancakes.

At first I was going to drown drizzle these in maple syrup.  Then it dawned on me: jelly goes peanut butter like peas and carrots.

45 seconds later, I had homemade raspberry syrup – and it’s only sugar is from the fruit itself.

Approximately 5 mins after that, I had this:

Moral of the story: skip the Denny’s gut-busters and BYOP (bring your own pancakes), PYT.

PBJ Pancakes 

For the Cakes:

For the Jam:

Mix together ground flax and water.  Set aside for 2-3 mins, allowing the mix to gel into a flax “egg.”

In small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Add liquids and flax egg, stirring until just combined. Spoon on to warm pan (med-high heat), forming 1-2 pancakes.  Flip half way through… you guys know how to make pancakes. 🙂

Meanwhile, place the berries and stevia in a small bowl.  Place in microwave ~45 seconds.  Remove and stir.

Plate pancakes and top with “jam.”  Enjoy!

Notes: Any flour should work here.  You can also use a regular egg or 2 egg whites in place of the flax egg.

Makes 1-2 pancakes.

***

You guys had some awesome comments/insights in response to yesterday’s obesity discussion.  Thank you SO much  – I really enjoyed the different perspectives. 🙂

Is there anyone out there that doesn’t like PBJ?

What fun are you getting into this long weekend?

WIAW: The Rockies Edition

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Starting the week 3 hours behind is weird.

 

I woke up Monday morning in Denver, CO.

  • The Good: I woke up super early because I was on East Coast time
  • The Bad: By the end of the day I was pooped
  • The Weird, cont.: Now I’m in Chicago… in another time zone

 

Have you guys ever been in the Denver airport?  Having a massive airplane inside the airport gives it extra cool points.

I checked into the Hampton Inn (which was surprisingly well-kept/updated) and discovered that they had little pictures outside each guest room.  Pretty cool – they were all different!

However… don’t you think mine was a little risque?!

I swear I’m not running a prostitution business out of my hotel room.

Waking up super early meant I got in a couple of good workouts.  Hooray for hotel gyms!  Note the motivational sign across the mirror.

The WIAW part of my week is… weak…

Don’t kick me out, Jenn!

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Breakfast:

Luke-warm hotel instant oatmeal.  Made with water.  Eaten out of a styro-foam bowl with a plastic spoon.  Thank god for peanut butter.

Instead, let’s pretend I ate some of this:

Zucchini Bread Oatmeal with homemade quick blueberry “jam” was one of my better ideas.

I may stop for zucchini on my way back from the airport Friday…

Lunch:

How one conference could offer SO MUCH bad food is beyond me.

This was some sort of attempt at enchiladas.  I picked out the chicken and made a salad with the shredded lettuce.  Maybe one of those tortilla chips was eaten – they were ridiculously salty (even for a generic brand).

Snacks:

Not pictured, but these items were key to my survival:

  • Apple taken from the hotel breakfast bar
  • Peanuts I saved from my flight
  • Chocolate-Toffee Think Thin bar from home

 

 

Plus copious amount of tea to keep warm in the very well-air conditioned room and remain heavily caffeinated.

 

Dinner:

Again, not worthy of a picture.  It was an airport salad with 2 cucumbers and 2 tomatoes (not kidding).  I did manage to convince them to give me some hummus then regretted it.

This would have been much more delicious:

 

A big salad with hummus dressing (basil hummus mixed with a bit of apple cider  vinaigrette) and a side of roasted brussel sprouts (coated with herbed dijon mustard and olive oil).

Served with 1/2 a Food for Life Sprouted Grain and Seed English muffin and a big ‘ol scoop of my new favorite oil-free, vegan condiment:

Beet Sunflower Pesto.

 

You should try the pesto.  No need to like beets.  Guaranteed.

***

For a whole slew of eats MUCH better than mine, please hop over to Peas and Crayons. 

Do you prefer East Coast time?  West?  Somewhere in between or far away?

Let me live vicariously through you – what deliciousness are you eating this week?

Cheese, Nuttiness, and Raw ABCs

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Confession:

 

I haven’t run at all this week because I pulled something in my calf area (still not sure how).

It is what it is… but now I’m about to walk out the door for a 5K.  I probably should still be taking it easy, I know.  However I’m all registered and I reallllly want to run after a week off.  Bring on the KT Tape and call me a glutton for punishment.

*Disclaimer: I don’t think it’s a serious injury.  I’m just going to prolong the healing process if anything.  I don’t advocate being as stubborn as I am being right now.*

 

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Less controversial is the topic of peanut flour.  Particularly how fantastic it is.  I should have bought the 5lb bag.

 

In peanut sauce-form atop cottage cheese:

In the mix:

  • 1/2 C cottage cheese
  • 1/4 C raspberries
  • 1 T peanut flour, mixed with…
  • 1 T unsweetened almond milk

 

All that salty and little sweetness… it was like PBJ cottage cheese!

 

There was also a pea-nutty afternoon snack:

 Spicy Peanut Dip

  • 1 T peanut flour
  • 1 T unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp Sriracha garlic sauce
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • pinch of salt

 

Veggie sticks will never eaten the same way.

 

Now that you know I like peanut flour in with sweet, salty, and spicy twists…

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Here’s even more than you ever wanted to know about me (borrowed from Gina @ Choosing Raw).

 

The ABC’s of Me… the raw foodie’s version (yes, I’m fully aware that I am not a raw foodist… but am a foodie and I like raw food!)

 

A) Preferred way to eat avocados: homemade guacamole… or in a smoothie.

B) Daily banana intake:  typically 1/2 in a breakfast (oats or smoothies) and half in an evening smoothie

C) Cacao or carob? Carob!

D) Durian? I’m told it’s stinky, but I haven’t had the pleasure of making it’s acquaintance.

E) Essential to start the day: Water – I start everyday with a glass of ice water and a tsp of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.

It’s good for the the *ahem* digestion.

 

F) Favorite fruit: Watermelon or peaches

G) Guru you like: I march to my own drum.

H) Healthy meal: that’s tough… I like so many things… and this should probably be raw… I made a mango-avocado gazpacho that rocked my world.

I) Ice cream base: Banana soft-serve.

J) Juice or smoothies? Smoothies!  I drink them almost daily.  With spinach, always.

K) Favorite way to eat kale: Marinated so it gets a little soft.  YUM.  This was a tasty one:

L) # of Lemons in your house right now: 2, plus a lime

M) Muscle testing: hoax or real? I’m a skeptic – hoax.

N) Nut butter: favorite kind? CHUNKY TJ’s Roasted Flax Seed Valencia Peanut Butter or homemade Spiced Almond Butter

Like bar nuts... in dip form and with fewer germs.

 

O) Organic or conventional? I make an effort to only buy organic or local produce.

P) Pickled veggies: Love them!

Q) Questions you get asked about your diet: You really put spinach in smoothies?  Ewwww!

R) Recipe you love: Keeping with the raw theme – there are so many great things made within the blogging community that it’s hard to choose!  I’m going to have to go with one of Gena’s (who I got the survey from).  I made her Cashew Cheese with Meyer Lemon and Dried Cherries and ate it like it was my j-o-b this winter.

S) Skin brushing? I have not a clue what this is.

T) Type of water you drink: Atlanta’s finest (tap).  Extra lemon.

U) Unbelievable thing that’s related to eating raw: That “high” feeling you get after a good raw meal.  And how amazing the glow is of raw foodists’ skin!

V) Vegetable you love: Spinach!  My 10-year old self is judging me right now.

W) Why did you start eating raw? I don’t eat all raw, but I do make an effort to eat a good deal of raw foods.  I think the more pure/clean we eat, the better we feel.  My energy level is signinficantly increased when I’m eating clean.

X) X-rated vegetable or fruit: X-rated?!  I have just the picture…

 

Y) Yummy food you make: Raw… Peach Cobbler Chia Pudding, Brazilian Flax Cookies, Asian-Spiced Flax Crackers,  Mexican Raw Bulgur Bowl, and – most recently – Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad

Z) Favorite use of zucchinis: Sliced into sticks and dipped into peanut butter.  Simple and delicious.

***

Time to run and then do something totally unhealthy… a food and wine festival.  😉

Do you make an effort to eat raw foods?

What are your ABCs?  Pick a couple and leave a comment!

 

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