Vegetable Barley Soup, Raw Seed Crackers, & Baked Apples1

Vegetable Barley Soup

my own recipe

2 white onions

1 small purple onion

1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled and crushed

about 1 lb. baby carrots

5 lbs. potatoes

3 ears corn

1 bag frozen brocolli, thawed

1 bunch celery stalks

white mushrooms

2 quarts organic low sodium vegetable broth

about 4 tbsp. olive oil

1 1/4 lbs. pearled barley

dried sage

all-purpose seasoning

spinach pesto

freshly ground pepper

:::Chop all vegetables, saute onions and garlic with olive oil until translucent. Add carrots and potatoes, cover, and cook until a little tender. Add the rest of the vegetables and broth, cook to a simmer, and add barley and seasonings. Simmer until barely has expanded and is tender.

**When it was done, I thought it needed a little more flavor, so I added some dollops of pesto (I made a whole bunch when I did the salmon a couple of weeks ago, so I've been using it in everything. Who doesn't like pesto, right? I hope ya'll aren't tired of it!):::

Raw Seed Wafers

The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook

(a fantastic book, by the way. Available at the library)

1/3 lentils

1/3 cup whole buckwheat groats

1/3 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1/4 sesame seeds

1/4 cup flax seeds

Place lentils, buckwheat, and seeds in a quart-size jar or bowl. Fill bowl with water (about 3 1/2 cups) and let soak overnight.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (everytime I've used parchment, it sticks and is a mess, so I just spray my baking sheet generously with olive oil and works much better). Drain seeds. Place soaked seed in blender or food processor with just enough water to allow mixture to puree. Blend until smooth. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for an hour or two. When mixture is stiff enough, remove wafer with parchemtn paper from baking sheet and place it directly on oven rack. (I don't do this since I don't use parchment. It works fine to leave it on the pan.) Bake until crispy (about 4-7 hours more). Break into pieces. Eat plain, with butter, nut or seed butter, or cream cheese).

**I didn't have sesame seeds, so I used pumpkin seeds and sunflower seed. I've made these with cheese, and seasoned different ways, and they've all worked really well. These are great nutritious snack for a pregnant mama who can only keep crackers down!**

Baked Apples

Core and halve apples, dredge in cinnamon and sugar, drizzle with maple syrup, bake in 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until tender.

**These sure were ugly, but I thought they tasted good. I think I'll peel them next time.**

Cost: $14 !!!

But I had the stuff for the crackers, potatoes, carrots, and brocolli, garlic, and maple syrup already.