Beef Barley Soup (Review)

I used the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook to make this soup. The recipe was easy to follow and cooking time was fairly accurate. I followed the barley cooking instructions from the package instead of the ones in the cookbook because I thought that would ensure the barley was cooked. The recipe as written provided us with 2 dinners for 2 people and 1 lunch for 1 person. I would increase the salt and pepper because we both needed to add it after tasting the soup.

Changes for next time:

Adding the diced tomatoes was weird to me, and it didn’t add anything so I would not include them next time.

I don’t think both potatoes and barely were needed in this soup, so I would go with one or the other. When I make this recipe again I would not add the potatoes and would instead replace them with parsnips and more vegetables.

Meal Plan March 20-26

I try to take a week each month where I don't buy groceries, or just buy some fresh fruit and vegetables, and "clean out" my cupboards and freezer. I don't have much planned for lunches this week because I'm going to be taking leftovers and any single portion freezer meals I have - lentil chili, lentils with veggies and rice, taco salad.

Lentil Chili

Lentil Chili

Makes 5 servings

Total time 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup dry lentils

1 cup dry kidney beans, cooked OR 1 can kidney beans

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

water

½ medium onion, diced

1 cup diced peppers

1 cup greens – spinach or kale

1 packet chili seasoning OR homemade chili seasoning

1 cup frozen corn OR 1 can corn

1. Cook onions, peppers and greens over medium heat until soft and onions are clear

2. Add undrained diced tomatoes and half a tomato can of water. Add lentils, kidney beans, frozen corn and chili seasoning.

3. Cook on low-medium heat for about an hour or until lentils are done, adding water as needed.

4. Serve with your favourite chili toppings – cheese, sour cream, avocado, nacho chips, green onions

I prefer to make my own chili seasoning. I usually Google homemade chili seasoning and make whichever one that comes up first that I have all the spices for.

Meal Plan March 13-19

Lentils with vegetables and tomato sauce

2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
2-3 cups mixed vegetables
1 cup lentils
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Cook garlic and onions in olive oil over medium heat.
Add diced tomatoes and lentils.
Cook lentils with diced tomatoes according to package directions (30 minutes - 1 hour). Add water as needed.
Add vegetables with about 10 minutes left in cooking of lentils.
Serve over rice.
Best served with fresh ground pepper and a dash of parmesan cheese.

Meal Plan March 6-12

Better late than never

Cranberry Cinnamon Oatmeal

1/3 cup oats

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Mix oats with sugar and spices. Cook according to package directions. Top with dried cranberries. Works well with 1 tbsp chia seeds

Meal Plan Feb 27 - March 5

Risotto from Cravings

The husband finds it very weird that I bought a cookbook written by a model that is NOT a diet book. I am completely happy with this purchase. I love the way Chrissy Teigan has put together the Cravings cookbook and so far the only recipe I’ve tried that hasn’t been great was the hard-boiled eggs, and I’m always hit-or-miss on hard boiled eggs, even using the same recipe, so it’s totally not a cookbook thing. I don’t want to break copyrights buy including the recipes here, so here is my thoughts on the Mushroom and Pea Risotto recipe.

I’ve never made proper risotto before. I’ve used cooked rice to make a rice-otto, but never bought the proper risotto rice before. Partly because I was always under the impression that risotto is very complicated to make since Gordon Ramsay is always yelling at people on Hell’s Kitchen for screwing up the risotto. Cravings assured me that risotto was one of those dishes that isn’t scary but scares people so I bought some Arborio rice when I was at Bulk Barn and prepared to give it a try.

I’m not a huge mushroom fan so I used just plain old white mushrooms instead of cremini. I never know what type of wine to use when it says “dry white wine” so I used some pinot grigio I had in the fridge. After pouring the wine in it smelled too sweet, but it all tasted fine at the end. I don’t have a fancy grater for fresh parmesan (note to self – visit the Ikea that’s nearby and pick up a grater) so I used pre-grated. Using pre-grated I’d probably drop the amount of parmesan to ¾ cup, but other than that I wouldn’t change the recipe. I was serving the risotto as a main dish with some leftover roast chicken, so I heated up the chicken in the same pan to reduce the number of dishes (you’re welcome, my dish-washing husband).

The recipe was not technically difficult, it just required constant attention and stirring. It was delicious! We ended up with 2 dinner portions and then I took the rest in my lunch for 2 days. I had a lot of interested coworkers because it smelled delicious heating up at work, and they were very impressed that I made the risotto from scratch. I would definitely make this again, although the husband requested it be served as a side dish and that I had more chicken next time.

Here is my lunch portion with some veggies.

Chunky Monkey Smoothie

This smoothie is based on one that my husband loved to get from a little cafe around the corner from our old apartment. It's quick and easy and makes a great breakfast on the go.

For 1 serving
Ingredients:
1 Banana
1 tbsp Chia seeds
1 tbsp Peanut butter or other nut butter
1 cup Almond milk + 1 tbsp Cocoa powder OR 1 cup Chocolate almond milk

Toss everything into your blender and blend until smooth.
I don't add ice because blending ice at 5:30am is a sure way to wake up a not-too-pleased husband in my house, but ice would help make it a little thicker.

Meal Plan Feb 20-26

I like to organize my meal plan with my grocery list to ensure that I have all the ingredients I need for the recipes I will be using this week. The grocery list is not an exhaustive list of everything that I'll need this week for these meals because I do have a decently stocked pantry. There are some things on the list that I'm not cooking with this week but they were on sale.

This is a hard week for meal planning because I have commitments every night after work so I like to plan quick meals for those nights. My husband usually works late at least 1 night a week so I'm on my own for dinner and usually have simple things with single portions those nights.

Introduction

I enjoy cooking . . . most of the time. When I was in grad school and commuting 3-4 hours a day cooking was more of a chore than something fun to do, but now that I’m working full-time and have a much shorter commute, I can get back to cooking for fun. I’ve found that I’m in a food-rut right now – I’m having the same meals over and over again. Not only am I not cooking anything new, but I’m also just cooking the same 10 or so dishes over and over again. I can’t remember the last time I had some of my favourite dishes like lasagna or tortilla casserole or Cantonese chicken. And, while I flip through my cookbooks or Pinterest or email subscription lists and note recipes that I want to try, I haven’t been trying them.

So, this blog is my solution. I’m going to try to post my weekly meal planning page from my bullet journal and discuss new recipes that I’ve tried that week. Most of the recipes will be from cookbooks or blogs so they won’t be posted here, but any family recipes or things that I have come up with on my own will be posted.

Enjoy!