Hi! Long time no write. As you may have noticed, I have had less time for blogging. With our active BNT (baby not toddler), he doesn’t let me access my computer unless he is asleep. And when he is sleeping, I’d like to relax, too. Or finish chores. Not that I like doing chores, but they need to get done and emptying the dishwasher is also difficult when he is awake and trying to help. Read the rest of this entry »
We didn’t want to be those parents. But only parents of premies might understand why we wanted to celebrate our son turning one year old, at his corrected age. We celebrated his actual birthdate a couple months ago but also invited people over two months later. We just didn’t tell anyone it was because we were celebrating on the inside. Read the rest of this entry »
You know it is a great soup when I make it two weeks in a row. It is not often that I repeat recipes in such rapid succession, but I only ate 2 servings and had planned to share it with our baby. I thought it was ok for him until I realized I used broth powder with salt in it.
Round two was solidified. Without any vegetable broth. The necessary salt was added after we removed baby P’s portion. Read the rest of this entry »
Last weekend, we tore up our garden. I think we did pretty well for keeping the garden going until the end of October. The tomato and tomatillo plants were ripped out, asparagus ferns chopped off, new garlic planted and we made a new lasagna compost garden to be ready for us next spring.
We continue to harvest a bit, too. I may even be able to store some of the Ayocote Morado runner beans, which only started to produce bean pods in September despite a summer of glorious red blossoms. I harvested them, too, but they are bright green and lush. I will try to dry them indoors. The kale keeps growing, though, and I hope to keep it going to capture some seeds next year. Read the rest of this entry »
I forgot to mention in my last food post, but roasted tomatoes freeze incredibly well. They last a while in your fridge but if you want to savour some summer bounty during the winter, batch cook them up and stockpile them in your freezer. Last year, I bought a bushel of red bell peppers, chopped them up and froze them, and we are still eating through them!
If you need any ideas what to do with all this frozen (or fresh, if you have some made already) roasted tomatoes and bell peppers, I urge you to try this soup.
Read the rest of this entry »
It is local corn season!
This baby business has had me cooped up most of the spring and summer and it is nice to finally feel like the early hazy days have lifted somewhat. It only took 9 weeks. One problem with having a preemie is that his newborn period runs longer. We have to wait for his corrected age for him to develop his milestones. So no, he isn’t sleeping through the night just yet. Not even close.
But, it was nice to wake up while corn season is in full force. Rob can grill the corn pretty quickly and if you have any leftover, or can spare a handful of cobs, this is a fantastic soup. Read the rest of this entry »
This summer we’ve been eating a lot of soups and stews. It could have been that we were immune to the hot weather, as we spent the majority of it in an air conditioned NICU. Or, more likely, that we’ve been making up for lost time and stocking our freezer with extra food. We have fully adopted making a second batch of a recipe and freezing half. Soups and stews are great for that. Read the rest of this entry »
If I do any editing of my photos for the blog, it is usually to remove dust and scratches from my table. However, because I have deemed this a “rustic” soup, perhaps the scratches are apropos. Or, I simply became overwhelmed by the sheer number of scratches that appeared with this photo. Read the rest of this entry »
Yes, I am still chomping away on my cabbage. When the heads of cabbage are this big, I can usually 4 recipes out of one head. I still have plenty of plans for cabbage, but it might take me a while to share them as I space them out on the blog.
I am not sure if other Canadians will agree with me, but while the exporters should be rejoicing that our loonie is quite low, all I notice are the expensive veggies at the store. Now that the local farmer market has shuttered for winter, we’re back at the regular grocers. We took a special trip to a Polish grocer and came home, with…. wait for it… CABBAGE! Two monster heads came to a handful of pennies per pound. Read the rest of this entry »
Long time no chat. A quick turn of events had me in the operating room over a week ago and recently returned home. I was incredibly grateful to be back in Canada when this happened and could only imagine what would have happened in Guatemala with my nearly non-existent Spanish.
In any case, after a surgery, it is normal to progress your diet from clear/full fluids before resuming your regular diet. My mom threw together this soup, not once, but twice, for me to nosh on while in the hospital and once I returned home.
Super creamy from the blended carrots, the ginger is a natural pairing (and possibly helps reduce nausea and vomiting). The addition of the lemon rind (without juice) kept this light and not too acidic (which has been a problem for my belly since surgery). But perhaps most of all, I hope you can see how brightly coloured this soup is. More yellow than orange, it was positively vibrant. It reminded me of Nigella’s happiness soup but this one tasted better. And had no turmeric. I wonder if the nutritional yeast helped to make it more yellow.
As well, thank you for all the positive feedback on the wedding photos. Our photographer had another teaser this week. I cannot wait to see the find photo album.
https://instagram.com/p/1k-_lvKBtp
Carrot soups shared here previously:
Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon
Carrot Ginger Lime Soup with Sweet Potato Hummus
Roasted Carrot and Lentil Soup with Harissa and Mint
I am sharing this with Simple and In Season and Credit Crunch Munch.
Howdy! I don’t have much to say today… other than to highly suggest making this soup. Bonus points if you make it and you don’t have snow outside. It will still taste delicious.
The coconut-infused broth is silky smooth with spicy hints of sriracha and ginger, balanced by the lime juice and cilantro and packed with good-for-you veggies like sweet potato and cabbage. Oh, and there are red lentils in there to make this a complete meal. The cabbage was fun because they were inadvertently like noodles with their long strands.
Dig in!
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays and No Croutons Required.
Curious here, guys: Do you listen to podcasts?
I ask because I couldn’t fathom any time to actually have the time to listen to anything with pure intent. I don’t drive, and even if I did, I would be focusing on the road. I certainly don’t listen to anything when cycling (and definitely not cycling right now). And at work, well, I work, and pretty happy I can play any music I want in my office.
But this weekend, I figured out the perfect time to listen to podcasts: when you are sick.
Sick in bed, possibly from influenza, or whatever virus/bacteria/etc has me bedridden, with itchy eyes that I don’t even want to open and pretty darn sleepy from the sleepless nights and possibly the nyquil side effects.
This is how I listened to the much hyped Serial podcast season one in one day. Somehow I lost my weekend.. but I gained a podcast.
Rob was great trying to keep me full of tea and soup (making my favourite Lemon Ginger Miso Soup with some added parsnips which he associates with healing soups) and eventually the flu subsided. But guys, it was a doozy. Tis a shame the vaccine didn’t work this year. I get the vaccine every year but it reminded exactly what I was trying to avoid each and every year.
If you listen to podcasts, which do you like? Did you like Serial, too?
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.
Woosh! Can you see the steam? One perk of the black background, although it also picks up the dust, too! HA!
Hope you are keeping yourself warm during this recent freeze. It was -30C/-22F overnight with wind chill. It is times like this that you can remind yourself: only a few short months until our wedding/honeymoon in the Caribbean. And then you remind yourself: WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO DO???? Thankfully my Mom keeps reminding me of all things I don’t know: making the veil, finding something borrowed, etc. While Rob and I take care of the very hard decisions: garifuna dancers vs firedancer (we chose both!!) and where to go for photos (beach vs jungle… vs where are cliffs.. we want cliffs).
In any case, here is another bowl of a warm, vibrant soup/stew. Jamaican jerk inspired with allspice and thyme (and also cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) with colourful red bell peppers, yellow plantains and chickpeas with a sprinkle of green onions swimming in a fragrant coconut broth. This is not a hot and spicy soup (like most things jerk), so add as much heat as you like.
Are you already longing for the summer?
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays, Recipe Clippings, and Vegetable Palette.
Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t know how many of you were working last Friday. Friday, January 2nd. It was a weird sensation. Both a Monday feeling, with a mountain of work, combined with the excitement by the time it was 4:30pm and I realized the weekend was so close!
But yesterday was a brutal Monday. I missed my bus because I shovelled the snow that morning, all the time freezing in the cold gust of wintry air. Work was mostly back to usual and the gym, well, let’s say we nearly doubled our gym goers.. you know, from the regular 5 people to over 10. I had to learn to share.
Suffice it to say, I was a bit cranky by the time I returned home. Thank goodness I knew it would be a delicious week. This is another one of my new simple recipes. I figured I already have a ton of red lentil soups that I have shared, this time, I winged it with what I had in my kitchen.
I loved your encouragement to share the recipe inspirations. Unlike the last time, this time I have a recipe. Red lentils, carrot, tomatoes and kale were combined in a flavourful broth made with smoked paprika, Old Bay Seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. I don’t know what made it so flippin fantastic, but it was a nicely sweet soup (from the carrots??) that was balanced by the Worcestershire sauce and fresh garlic finish. It worked really, really well. And it was perfect to comfort me after my first day back.
Red lentil soups spotted here previously:
Red Lentil, Spinach and Lemon Soup
Red Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lime
Turkish Red Lentil Peasant Soup with Sizzling Mint
Red Lentil and Spinach Curry (Vegan Tikka Masala)
Greek Red Lentil Soup with Lemon and Rosemary
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays and No Croutons Required.
the taste space 