Easy Eats

Sorry for my absence from the blog. Life is happening at our house, leaving me with little time and energy for recipe creating or blogging. Although this morning Matt came up with a great idea for a dish that I am excited to try out. Thankfully my camera, although still not working well, has let me take a few pictures successfully.

Lately, I've been eating a lot of Van's frozen gluten free waffles, and banana whip. The banana whip is frozen banana's pushed through my champion juicer, creating a lovely soft serve ice cream. You can create a similar treat by processing frozen bananas in your food processor or high speed blender. Drizzle on some maple syrup and you have a seemingly decadent breakfast that is healthy too.

Grapefruit has also been a reoccurring treat. We don't buy grapefruit too often, so when

we do I am always reminded of how much I love that tangy, bitter, sweet flavor.

Easy soups have also been on the menu. This one was super easy because I just poured it

out of the box. Usually grilled cheese sandwiches are the accompaniment of tomato soup, but I decided to try something new. So these salt and pepper toast sticks came to be.

Here is the super simple recipe.

Salt and Pepper Toast Sticks

serves 1

2 slices of bread of choice

(I used Sami's Millet Bread)

0live oil

salt

pepper

Brush olive oil on each side of the bread slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, on both sides.

Grill in a hot George Foreman Grill, or on a hot skillet. You could even toast them in the oven.

Once they are hot and crispy, cut the bread slices into strips. Serve with hot tomato soup, or soup of choice.

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

Today is a short and sweet post. One about a soup I made last week. It didn't take long, and it was oh so delicious. If you try it, I hope you agree. It is a snap to make, especially if you have baked your squash ahead of time (instructions for squash baking and pureeing at the end of the post).

Hope you are all having a wonderful December day!

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

serves 2-3

1 acorn squash baked until soft, and pureed

non-dairy milk of choice ( I used unsweetened almond)

1 cup frozen sweet corn

salt and pepper to taste

ground cayenne pepper

Mix together acorn squash puree and enough of the milk

to make it soup like. Heat on medium high and once the soup

is starting to get hot, add in the sweet corn. Season with salt and

pepper. Let the soup simmer or heat 10 minutes and enjoy with some

cayenne pepper sprinkled in.

I also added some Daiya vegan cheddar to my bowl before

ladeling in the soup. It was delicious.

This is how I bake acorn squash, or any squash. Wash the squash thoroughly, slice in half long ways, and scrape out the seeds (or scrape them out after it is baked). Pour some water into a baking dish and place the squash skin side up into the water. The water should be about 1/2 inch deep, or a bit more, as it sometimes will dry out while it is baking. Bake for about 45 minutes in a oven preheated to 375 degrees F. When you can easily pierce the squash with a fork, and the flesh is soft, it is ready. To puree, scrape the flesh out of the squash skin and blend with a bit of water until smooth. You can also refrigerate the cooked squash and then puree it right before you need to use it.

Week of Simplicity

It has been a simple week, full of normal daily activities, and simple food.

Lots of soup that is.

Monday when I got home from work I couldn't stop dreaming about Mama Peas Creamy Broccoli soup from this post. So I through the ingredients on the stove and it wasn't long until I was enjoying the whole potful.

That night for dinner I made another soup, Moroccan Bean. Equally delicious, and was eaten up too quickly to document.

Fast track to Wednesday and I was feeling a bit under the weather with a scratchy throat. Simplicity is definitely in order, so after my work Christmas party, I came home made a big cup of miso broth and laid in bed to read.

Since dinner was pretty much shot with my choice to lay in bed over cook, I had a simple meal of some of the last of my fall bounty. A little Earth Balance, salt, and pepper, made simplicity mighty good.

Day off!

Today was a day off. An unexpected day off as a co-worker offered to take my shift for me today. It definitely was a blessing as it allowed Matt and I a day off together which we have not had in a while. We slept in, caught up on some House episodes, and did some Christmas shopping.

I wasn't feeling the best, and was pretty hungry, so when we got home I made some quick miso soup. With the added flavor of the vegetable broth, it was one of the best miso soups I have made. This is what I did.

Miso Soup - serves 2-3

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 med. size carrots, chopped

4-5 mushrooms, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

4 - 5 cups water ( I used a medium sized saucepan)

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1/4 cup red miso, more if needed

Simmer vegetables in the saucepan with some water. When onion is translucent add the water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and stir in the miso. Taste and add more miso if you desire. Serve.

I love miso soup when I am not feeling well. It is nice and soothing. For a quick pick me up drink when you have a cold, I would suggest dropping a tablespoon of miso paste in a mug of boiled water, stir to dissolve, and sip like tea.

After dinner I got inspired to put up my Christmas decorations. Some lights, our charlie brown tree and some other little holiday touches. Tomorrow I have to clean up the house for company, so I'll take pictures to post.

Hope you all had a restful Sunday. How did you spend your day?