THE Soup

Okay, the soup.

Last night we were having guests over.  The day had been just slightly hectic after our lovely outing.  One of those afternoons where errands just don't go as planned and babies don't do what you think they will (should).

I knew that Safeway's deli soups were on sale and had decided to just get some of that and some bread bowls for dinner.  Quick and easy.

But as I was driving to the store, I changed my plan.  I wanted soup still, but something healthy and delicious.  I wanted to know every ingredient that went into my bowl.  Turns out it was a good Plan B.  It was delicious and so full of good-for-you ingredients.  Even Andy ate two bowls and refused my offer to serve him up just the meat part of the soup.  That is a SERIOUS victory.

When I cook I just kind of throw stuff together, so I'll do my best to give you an idea of how it all came together...

Here's what went into it (I made a huge pot and sent some home with our guests and had it for lunch and will have it for dinner again tonight, so if you make it you can half the ingredients):

2 packages of lean ground beef

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 can of kidney beans

Approx. 6 cups water

1/2 box of orzo pasta

1 zucchini

1/2 head of cabbage (chopped)

1/2 large sweet onion (finely diced)

3 stalks celery (chopped)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

Olive Oil

herb seasoning

salt

pepper

fresh basil

I browned the hamburger in a big pan with 1 clove of garlic and the herb seasoning and set it aside.

In a huge soup pot, over mediumish heat, I poured in some Olive Oil and let it heat slightly.  Then I added the garlic and onions and let them soften.  I added a bit of salt and the celery and covered the pot to let the juices get going.  Then I added the water and let it all come to a boil.  When the water was boiling I added the orzo and put the cabbage and zucchini in the steamer basket that goes over my pot (they could have all gone into the boiling water at the same time.  I have no logical reason that I chose to steam the veggies, but it worked).  I let the pasta and veggies cook.  When the cabbage was soft, I poured it into the pot, as well as the meat and the cans of tomatoes and beans.  I added a little more salt and pepper and let it simmer until we were ready to eat it.  Before I served it up I ripped about 5 leaves of fresh basil and mixed it in.

I served it with grated fresh parmesan-reagginao (sp?) cheese and some bread that I baked into large croutons.  

I can't wait to eat it again tonight! 

More to come

I made a delicious soup tonight that was FULL of veggies.  I'm SO ready for bed, so you can look forward to the recipe tomorrow.  Until then, dream of :

Cabbage

Zucchini

Onions

Garlic

Celery

Tomatoes

and I know it isn't a vegetable, but it is good for you... red beans

Sigh!  I feel so nourished!

Little Victories

Emily, the part of your post about focusing on the little victories rather than what is not in place yet was very encouraging to me.

So here is my little victory for the week: the chicken barley soup. Actually it came in the form of three victories because I had it for dinner, lunch the next day and then dinner again the third day. Not only was the soup healthy, but it was very economical!

When I reflect back on this week, unfortunately the soup is the only victory to report. For lunches, I mostly had my usual easy-to-heat up Lean Pocket. And my other hunger-cravings were filled by the unending irresistable temptations of chocolate.

Well, actually I took a spinach salad with feta & walnuts to work Wednesday, but here it is Friday and it is still at work in the refridgerator uneaten because I didn't have any dressing.

Does it count for anything that I made a salad? Or do I actually have to consume it for it to count?

Next week: broccoli. I bought the huge bag from Costco for about $4 and have used exactly 8 pieces. I put 4 pieces in Jason's lunch on Thursday and 4 pieces on Friday. I am way behind on using up the bag before it starts to go bad.

That reminds me, Emily, did you manage to eat all the Spinach?

Baby Steps

I didn't eat any spinach yesterday, but I did go to the gym, so that evens out doesn't it?

I also had an orange and some yogurt for a snack instead of Jr. Mints.  I would say that is also a step in the right direction.

Eating nutritiously and consciously seems so daunting.  Even though I made a fantastic pot roast dinner with red potatoes, carrots, celery and garlic, I kept thinking of all the other considerations that are the "buzz" for healthy eating right now.

Did I know where my meat came from and what process it went through before getting to the store and then into my hands?  Was my produce local? Did I compost the nubs of the carrots and celery stalks? Blah, blah, blah...

I know about all of those questions. A lot of times I even think about them when I am buying food, but truthfully, convenience most often wins out for me. It might even win over finances.  I can always justify a few extra dollars on really great groceries, but if it takes longer or is more effort, my resolve withers and I go back to the American Way of instant gratification and what is best for ME.  

I have so many things I would like to be when it comes to my kitchen and my home, but if I have learned one lesson in my new career as a mom, it is that I can go slowly.  It is okay for me to see what I want to happen, but sometimes change takes a lot longer than I want it to.  I have decided to be okay with that. In the process of change I will celebrate little victories and refrain from focusing on what is not in place.  

What I am working on: 

• Eating more fruits and veggies.  I added an extra fruit yesterday, so I'm patting myself on the back.
• Planning Menus for a few weeks in advance, so when I get the Sunday paper, I can know what sales and coupons to look for.
• Clipping coupons.

I took the first step by ordering the Sunday Paper (by that I mean asking Andy to order it *wink*).

So here goes another day of doing my best. 

Crock Pot Success

Good morning, Emily! I woke up this morning and I was so excited to post - my very first post ever! I hope you can eat all your spinach before it goes bad. I always seem to start off enthusiatically with a bag of spinach but then a few days will go by and when I get around to thinking about eating it again, it is already spoiled! I hope you have more discipline than I do!

Coincidentally, on morning before the debut of our new blog, I decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup. It actually turned into chicken barely soup at the last minute. So we're off to a good start!

My recipe for chicken noodle (barley) soup involves a whole fryer chicken which is not my favorite thing to prepare or handle. I appreciate that God provided us meats to eat (and goodness knows my husband just HAS to have some kind of meat with his meals), but I'm a little queasy about cleaning the chicken and preparing it for cooking. But a couple of years ago, I realized how cost effective it was so my desire to be thrifty diminished most of my hesistations.

So I chopped up some onions, carrots and celery. Then I plopped the chicken in the crockpot on top of the vegetables and added some water, salt and pepper and set it to high and left for your house.

When I returned from my dentist appointment, the house was filled with the smell chicken noodle soup goodness. Jason even recoginzed the smell as he walked up the stairs. The chicken was done (actually too done and I should've cooked it on low), and so I removed it and searched for some noodles to add for the final 30 minutes. I couldn't find any, but I did find barley that I must have bought about a year ago (pre-baby). Does barley go bad? I hope not. I threw a couple handfuls into the chickeny-broth and let them cook while I pulled all the meat off the chicken (again, not my favorite task).

Finally, we mixed it all together and we had ourselves a hearty bowl of soup. Jason appreciated how filling it was but added a hefty dose of regular salt, seasoning salt and pepper to flavor his bowl. I added a tiny bit of salt and pepper too. I even gave Elliott a piece of carrot.

So my hope for today is that I will continue with this momentum. On the menu: pasta. Usually we just have pasta with alfredo sauce and some chicken if I have time to cook it. So my challenge tonight will be to spice it up with some vegetables.

Welcome Allison

Welcome to the world of blogging Allison!  

I ended up going shopping later than I had anticipated today.  My goal was to make it to Costco and Winco with a quick stop to QFC for the roast I wanted for tomorrow.  

By the time I set out the door, I only had energy for QFC, the most ridiculously expensive grocery chain ever! So I told myself to only get what I needed for tonight and tomorrow.

That didn't work.  

I was proud to see my cart filled with items entirely from the perimeter of the store, and a bulk of that being produce.  However, I may have over estimated our ability to eat every thing I purchased.  I hate that! I have a sinking feeling that the $80 (I KNOW!) I parted with will end up in the trash can.  I can't let it!  Not when I'm trying so hard to keep our grocery budget reasonable.  

Perhaps if I make note of my intentions I will be more likely to follow through.  Ask me later this week, will you?  

So here's what I have to use up:

A fresh loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, a pot roast, red potatoes, regular potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, spinach salad (from a previous trip), broccoli slaw (which I made and served tonight and was a total bust with Andy), six bananas, sweet potatoes, an acorn squash, an avocado and three oranges.

I used half of the avocado tonight - it may have been the most perfect avocado I've ever opened.  The creamy shades of green, the smooth round seed... it really was spectacular.  

Tomorrow I'll put the roast in the crock pot and add the red potatoes, onion, celery and carrots.  We'll eat that with the rosemary bread.  

The sweet potatoes and squash are for Jack.

What worries me are the spinach salad and broccoli slaw - that means I really have to eat them for lunch!  I've been doing so poorly about eating a good lunch, so I guess I better start this week.  I'll probably mix the broccoli into the spinach to reduce the number of times I have to eat it and increase the number of veggies I eat at each sitting.  Brilliant!

Okay week... I'm ready for you.  Spinach salad, here I come!