Italian Lentil and Vegetable Soup, Pumpkin Muffins, Fruit

Italian Lentil and Vegetable Soup

7 cups water (vegetable broth)
1 1/2 cups french green lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups Italian green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 carrots, thickly sliced
2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1/4 cup (packed) chopped basil (or 2 teaspoons dried)*
salt to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
parsley for garnish (optional)

Put all of the first set of ingredients, water through black pepper, into a large soup pot. Cook, covered, for about 35-45 minutes, until lentils and potatoes are tender. Add water as needed during cooking to keep soup from becoming dry.

Add the tomatoes, basil, and salt and cook for at least 10 more minutes. Just before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and serve, garnished with parsley (optional).

SOURCE: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/

Pumpkin Muffins

2 eggs
1/3 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/4 cups mashed cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat or spelt flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil muffin tins. Beat in pumpkin and oil. Stir baking soda and vanilla into yogurt or buttermilk. Sift flour and spice together. Stir flour mixture and baking soda mixture into pumpkin mixture. Fold in nuts.

Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake about 25 to 30 depending on the muffin size, until tester inserted in center of muffin comes out dry. Cool completely before slicing.

Total Cost = $30

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?

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.

Lasagna, Salad, Bread

Cheesy, spinachy goodness, eh?

Lasagna recipe made up by me.
Tomato sauce: drained chopped tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil. Saute the garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes. Bubble away for an hour or more. Add fresh basil and whip out the immersion blender. Whack it all up.

Tomato Sauce
No Boil noodles
Ricotta cheese
eggs
spinach
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Beat an egg in a bowl, add ricotta cheese. Mix well. Stir in spinach, salt and pepper. Layer the lasagna with sauce, noodles, cheese layer, mozzerella, repeat. End with noodles and then sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let stand to set up.

Salad: spinach, strawberries, sunflower seeds

Bread

Again, I cooked for 5 families this week. I love an excuse to see a new baby! Total: $41.04
I knew it was going to be a more expensive meal because of all the cheese, but it's worth it.

Cabbage Rolls, Brown Rice, Roasted Beets, and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

From Holly and Chris

Cabbage Rolls

Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites

1 large head green cabbage

2 medium onions

2 tsps olive oil

3 ½ c. chopped mushrooms

1 cup grated carrots

6 garlic cloves, pressed

¼ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried dill

¼ c. minced fresh parsley

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp miso

12 oz cake tofu, pressed and mashed

1 c. tomato juice

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, core the green cabbage and finely chop the onions. Carefully plunge the cabbage into the boiling water, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes or until the leaves pull away easily from the head. (Use 2 forks to test the readiness of the cabbage, one to steady the head in the water and the other to try to loosen a test leaf). Set aside 12 leaves to cool while you prepare the filling.

In a large skillet, sauté the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the mushrooms, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Stir in the thyme, dill, and parsley and continue to cook until the mushrooms become soft and juicy. Add the lemon juice, soy sauce, miso, and mashed tofu and mix well. When the tofu is heated through, remove from the heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Assemble the rolls. Put about ½ c. of filling at the broad end of each cabbage leaf, fold the side edges toward the center over the filling, and then roll up lengthwise. Place the rolls, seam side down, in an unoiled baking pan and pour the tomato juice over them. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until hot and steaming.

Baked Beets and Shallots

Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites

2 pounds fresh beets

½ pound shallots, peeled and quartered

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets and trim the stems and tails. Peel the shallots. Place the beets and shallots on a large sheet of foil and fold the edges together to seal tightly. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the beets are tender and easily pierced with a knife.

Remove the packet from the oven and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together the vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. When the beets are cool enough to handle, rub them to remoe the skin, then cut them into chunks or wedges. Place the beets and shallots in a serving bowl. Drizzle the dressing over them and toss well.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cut peppers in half, seed and stem. Lightly toss in oil. Place cut side down on baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. Place peppers in bowl and cover with plastic until room temperature. Remove the skins from the pepper.

Puree 2/3 cup roasted peppers with 1/3 cup buttermilk.

thai pumpkin soup, tempeh "chicken" salad, peanut butter krispy treats

thanks mama's for having me sub the past three weeks! it has been a pleasure to share this culinary experience! bon appetit!

thai pumpkin soup

i referred to the following recipe but made these changes:

add garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and cilantro
used veggie broth
not as much coconut milk - 2/3 of a can??

thai pumpkin soup recipe

tempeh "chicken" salad

steam tempeh 20 minutes

onion
celery
cilantro
cashews
mandarin oranges
grapes

dressing -
veganaise ~ 1/2 - 2/3 cup
squirt of brown mustard
squirt of braggs
capful of apple cider vinegar
1 T orange marmalade
red pepper flakes
salt
pepper

peanut butter krispy treats

peanut butter krispy treats recipe

Lentil Burgers with Naan "Buns" & Spinach/Strawberry/Candied Walnut Salad

So, I've been really wanting to make naan lately, and thought this would be a good way to use it. Mostly, I just like saying "naan buns." Some of ours were a little tough. The pesto spread is great with chips, too, by the way.

::::Also, did everyone's spinach taste okay? We realized tonight that our fridge isn't cooling very well...::::

Lentil Burgers

Naan "Buns"

Pesto Spread

Speedy Spinach Pesto (with a little basil from home)

Greek strained yogurt (Fage fat free)

Salad

Organic Baby Spinach

Strawberries

Candied Walnuts (sugar on the stove 'till in caramelizes, toss in the walnuts, chop up after they cool)

Agave Balsamic Vinaigrette blend all with hand blender until emulsified

Olive Oil

Walnut Oil because it's so good for you pregnant mamas

Agave Nectar

Balsamic Vinegar

sea salt

pepper

chives