Rainy Day Soup

It was a rainy day here in NC today which means, Rainy Day Soup! That is what I call the soup that I make on cold, rainy days. On days like today, I don't want to cook anything fancy, I just want to curl up on the couch and watch a movie.

There usually is no recipe, which is what I love about it. I just throw in whatever extra veggies we have in the fridge, and let it cook in the crock pot for a few hours. Today's Rainy Day Soup was extra good though so I wanted to document it and share with yall.

Rainy Day Soup
What You (always) Need:

• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp basil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced 

What I Added Today:

• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 red potatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup dry navy beans
• 1 tbsp herb's province (that's what was on the label, it came with a bunch of spices my mom gave Chris for Christmas last year) 
• 1 cup frozen corn

The Process:

1. Peel potatoes and carrots, and chop/dice all fresh vegetables.
2. Add everything to the crock pot. Set on low and cook for 6 hours. 

Day Trip Success!

This week is my spring break! Yay! Since we're trying to pay off some bills we decided to stay home this year. However, I couldn't resist a day trip to Wilmington, NC to visit my friend Cortney. I was a little nervous about how I would do considering we'd be eating out for dinner and snacks before hand.

We started our road trip with Starbucks, of course! A soy latte is exactly what I needed to jump start the trip. When we got onto Wrightsville we stopped to get some snacks. Christopher got twizzlers, I've never seen the appeal of those. I got potato chips. My old favorite is not vegan friendly, so I had BBQ instead. We took Sasha, one of the dogs, for a walk on the beach, which was a blast! She'd never been before so we enjoyed seeing her reaction.

I was nervous about dinner because we were going to dinner with Cortney and her new boyfriend. I didn't want to cause any problems with where we went so when Cortney suggested Front Street Brewery, we went along with it. The restaurant had a veggie burger option and I was really proud of myself for remembering to ask whether it was a boca burger or another brand. I was pleasantly surprised that Cortney knew that I needed to ask that too! It was a boca burger, so I had that and we ordered pita and hummus for our appetizer. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask how they cook their veggies, which is what I ordered for my side. As soon as I put the piece of broccoli in my mouth I knew it had been cooked in butter. So much for the veggies.

Here's where I admit that I had a planned cheat in mind. We went to Kilwin's for dessert and I knew I was going to get something. I figure one cheat every now and then won't be the end of the world and I am a complete sucker for adorable, old school ice cream shops. I justified my purchase of a caramel apple by telling myself that the main ingredient is the apple.

I would say that it was an overall success, with my only real slip up having been planned.

Questions

Fun/Interesting questions I have been asked thus far:

1) Can you still drink Starbucks?
          Yes! I would never change my lifestyle if it meant I could no longer drink Starbucks! They are one of the few coffee shops in my area that offer to make their lattes with soy milk.

2) Do you have to eat beans every day?
         Nope, thank God! I also get protein from the soy milk in my coffee (see a theme?), tofu, tempeh, and various vegetables.

3) Where do you get your iron if you don't eat red meat?
          Spinach mostly. I love spinach and add it to a lot of my meals and smoothies. There is also a lot of iron in many beans and broccoli.

4) How in the world do you eat like that?!
        I open my mouth, chew the food, and swallow..Sorry, couldn't resist. But really, it's not as hard as it sounds. And because I cook with so many different vegetables there are a lot of flavors in every meal. I look forward to dinner now more than I ever have.

5) Has it been hard? (usually the follow-up question to #4)
          Yes and no. Since I was a vegetarian before, most of my usual meals were easily converted into vegan ones. The challenge is when I'm out with friends and get hungry. It's hard to grab a quick bite to eat. I'm starting to get into the habit of carrying nuts or fruit with me.

I had more that made me chuckle inside but I cannot remember them at the moment. Feel free to leave any others!

Campus Is Slacking

I had lunch on my university's campus with one of my littles, Lisette, today. It was great to see her and catch up! However, the vegan options at Chili's Too were limited. Actually, just one thing. A house salad with oil & vinegar dressing. No joke. So, since I wasn't feeling only eating a salad, I cheated and ate potato soup. I'm not too upset. Since coming to college a few years ago my campus has made huge strides to offer more vegetarian options, I can't really expect them to go from 0-60 in a snap.

After lunch, my day was long and busy. I had classes and the internship, then it was grocery day. Needless to say, I did not feel like making the fancy meal I had planned on for tonight. Instead, I cooked another 15 minute meal that turned out really well! It definitely helped ease the Alfredo craving I had last week. This one is from Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day. Yea, they got real creative with that title, but it has had some winners in it. Again, I took some liberties with the recipe so what I have here is not exactly how it reads in the book.

Fettuccine Zucchini

What You Need

• 1 lb fettuccine
• 2 oz butter (I used margarine, I keep forgetting to find vegan butter)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 lb zucchini, grated
• 3/4 cup (soy) Parmesan cheese
• 16 leaves of fresh basil (that is a direct quote)

The Process

1. Cook pasta. While it is cooking, prepare for and complete step 2.
2. Heat the butter (margarine) in a deep heavy pan over low heat until it is foaming. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes. 
3. Drain cooked pasta and add it the to the sauce. Add the Parmesan and basil and toss well.

Best Meal Yet!

At least, that's what Chris said. I've been doing a lot more cooking lately, and I really only post our favorites to the blog. However, I would like to announce that in the month and a half that I've gone vegan and Chris has mostly been eating vegan meals we've lost a combined 23 pounds! That wasn't my goal but it is a welcome effect, especially with summer just around the corner.

Now, I'm sure you're dying to know what the best meal yet was. It was lentil tacos! I have made a lot of black bean tacos since becoming a vegetarian but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought of making tacos with lentils, but they were delicious (thank you Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way!)! I'm ashamed of how many I ate in one sitting. Chris proclaimed that we need to make these tacos every week. Now, I'm not actually going to do that because eventually we'd get tired of them, but maybe bi-weekly. Here's the recipe, I took some liberties so it's not directly out of the book.

Lentil Tacos

What You Need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 cup red lentils (our local Harris Teeter didn't have these, I found them at a health foods market)
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cups salsa
• tacos/tortillas
• Whatever toppings you would like (this is not how it reads in the cookbook but seriously, that's all that's left) 

The Process:

          

       1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Soy cheese doesn't melt easily so I put the cheese in the     

            tacos and baked for 10 minutes. 

       2) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic and sauté  

              for 5 minutes. Stir in lentils, chili powder, and cumin. Cook for 1 minute. Add broth, cover, and cook for 15 minutes or until lentils are tender.

          3) Stir in salsa. Divide among tacos. We topped ours with shredded spinach and vegan sour cream. 

Enjoy!