Red Lentil and Carrot Soup with Coconut, Honey wheat bread, and spinach salad with balsamic

So it was our first week filling in for Heather. We tried very hard to not let it take over our Sunday, but it sort of did. Hopefully, we get a bit better! Didn't help that we somehow made way too much soup, but we will freeze some and bring some to Heather. We quadrupled the following recipe, which is from a crockpot cookbook that I have had for years.

Red Lentil and Carrot Soup with Coconut

2 cups red lentils (I used organic)
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
2 thai chilies finely chopped
1 28 oz can tomatoes (I used organic, combo of crushed and diced)
2 large carrots, peeled and cut (I used a few extra)
6 cups veg broth (I only used 12 total, and added water)
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Finely chopped cilantro garnish-- but I forgot to add

1. In a skillet, combine onions, cumin seeds, turmeric, and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. This stage can be skipped if you are in a hurry

2. Put all ingredients into slow cooker. Low for 8-10 hours, or high for 5 hours. Stir in coconut milk and cook on high for 20-30 min.

You can also make this on the stovetop in about an hour-- red lentils cook very quickly, faster than other lentils.

Spinach salad

er, totally straightforward. Organic baby spinach, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, red pepper, grated parmesan. Dressing was just extra virgin olive oil, prepared mustard, and balsamic vinegar.

Honey wheat bread

pretty obviously store bought. I do have a brand new unleashed breadmaker, that you all may wind up being guinea pigs for, if I can ever get it together to try it out.

I did not do the cost on this, but it had to be pretty cheap, right?