Chick Tortilla Soup

This soup is based on the following recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chicken-tortilla-soup/

I swapped the chicken for butternut squash which makes an awesome base when puréed yielding a nice thick winter soup.  I swapped in no salt added options.  You can always add salt if needed.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

Butternut Squash (I used a 20oz precut pack)

1-2 cups Bell Pepper - diced

½ to 1 cup Onion 

Cumin (1 Tblspn)

Garlic Powder (1 Tblspn)

Chili Powder (1 Tblspn)

Dried Cilantro (optional)

1 can Black Beans (I use no salt added)

32 oz Veggie or Chicken Broth (I use low sodium)

1-1.5 cups frozen corn

1 can diced or whole peeled tomatoes 

3 Tbls Tomato Paste

4oz can green chilies 

3-5 Tblspn corn meal

Olive Oil (about a tablespoon)

1.  Toss squash in a plastic bag with a little olive oil and about 1 teaspoon of the spices (garlic powder, cumin and chili powder) and coat.  Then roast at 350 for about 20-30 mins

2.  After squash cools,toss in a blender, adding broth until it is liquified.

3.  Sauté peppers and onions in some oil in stock pot - when soft, add remaining spices and toss for a few seconds

4.  Pour the puréed squash and remaining broth into the stock pot

Add all other ingredients except the corn meal.

5.  Bring to a boil and let simmer 20-30 mins - thickness can be adjusted by adding more broth if needed or using less squash - I like mine really thick.

6.  Take the cornmeal and stir it in some cold water (about ½ cup) and then stir that mixture into the soup.

Allow to simmer another 20 mins

That's it - awesome with a few crumbled corn chips, some diced red onion and some chunks of avocado.  For a nice hearty meal you can mix in a few more black beans and brown rice - maybe 1/4 cup each.

Oh, and don't forget to add some fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime!

Add salt at the table if you used all the no salt added products as I do.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food! Two Great Soups for Fall: Barley Vegetable, and Bean with Sage and Mustard

I love fall, and I love warm comforting soups - beef stew, chicken noodle, corn chowder.  I have been pleasantly surprised at all the amazing warm fall veggies I have been eating.  I thought when summer left was gone, I would really struggle on a mostly vegan food plan.  Boy was I wrong!  Fall veggies - and fruits - squash, potato, corn, onion and their relatives are wonderful and rich and loaded with flavor - especially when roasted!

Here are 2 I made this week.

Barley Vegetable Soup in Crock Pot
Based on Sarah Jayne's recipe at Food.com

Highlights - Amazing variety of textures and layers of flavors - This is cold rainy day comfort food heaven.

This was my first try - and I loved the way it came out.  I have a big crock pot.  This made a lot of soup.  Basically It involves broth, barley, leeks and 1 cup of as many other vegetables as I could find.

Ingredients I Used:

6 cups veggie broth (low sodium)

1 cup water

1 cup low sodium V8

¾ cup barley (Use more for thicker more calorie dense stew)

Rough Chopped Veggies:

2 cups leeks*** (I love the way these break apart and flake into a wide noodle-like texture)

2 cups mushrooms

1 cup carrots

1 cup celery

1 cup spinach (I used fresh- I would not mind more)

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup baby potatoes

1 cup of mung bean sprouts (more noodle texture)

1 bay leaf and 1 bundle soup herbs in cheesecloth

1 tbl dried parsley

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried onion flakes

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

5 cranks of salt and pepper grinder

*** If you have not worked with leeks before, chop of the end, and then split down the middle and THEN rinse them like crazy - very gritty - then proceed with your rough chop.

Just throw all this stuff in a crockpot on low and let it go for 4-7 hours - you may want to check in after 3 hours if you are worried about it getting too thick from the barley absorbing the water. Take out the bay leaf and soup herbs



Pinto Bean with Sage and Mustard Soup

Based on this white bean recipe by Patricia Wells at foodandwine.com

Highlights - Warm, and rich, and extremely simple. Initially I planned on this being a side dish but it was thin enough it made a great soup..

Ingredients:

2 cans salt free pintos
1-2 cups of veggie broth
1 onion - halved
2-4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 bay leaf
3 Tbls Stone Ground Mustard
Oil to Coat Pan

1. Spray pan with oil and quickly saute whole cloves of garlic...just sweat, don't brown. A little water will also help keep it from burning.
2. Add the broth and onions and bring to a boil.
3. Turn down to simmer and add beans, sage, bay leaf.
4. Allow beans to heat with onion and garlic etc for 15-25 mins.
5. Remove boiled onion and garlic, and 1 cup of beans and whirl in food processor.
6. Add the whirled mixture and the stone ground mustard back into the soup and stir. Remove bay leaf and serve.
Optional: Drizzle with high quality olive oil.

What About Exercise?

Every healthy living plan involves exercise to some degree.  I have exercised in the past, and have had the most success with varied routines such as P90x or T25.  By success I mean I felt good while doing these, and had moderate improvement over the course of the program.

However, when you are busy, something has to give.  In my case, nutrition was neglected.  The time I put into exercise was time no longer available to prepare great healthy meals and shop for fresh healthy foods - not that I was doing that beforehand - but you get the idea...

A cycle develops where I work out, and kind of get in this excuse or reward scenario, where I then grab breakfast out and pick up some prepared foods for dinner, and maybe slap a quick sandwich together for lunch.

This summer, I decided to NOT exercise. I was going to focus on food only. By the time school began, I had lost 20+ pounds and had a ton of energy.  I also decided I really had the food program pretty well under control.

2 summers back I started a walk-run program and progressed with it to the point that I actually enjoyed running.  After a long cold winter I had trouble starting up.  I have back issues when I run too much without building up to it.

In the late spring I ran a bit too aggressively and my back was sore for 3-4 days, so I just laid off it, frustrated at all the progress I had undone.  After losing weight and having more energy, I decided to attack it again, but from a very different approach.

Here's what I began to do - a simple walk run routine based on a 1 minute walking recovery period.  Unlike the food plan, which I dove into full tilt, the exercise plan I entered cautiously for fear of set backs.  Despite feeling great, I know I'm an old man :-)

My routine began with a simple 1 minute walk, 15 second run cycle.  I use bit timer to monitor my cycles and Runkeeper to chart my runs.  Each time I go out I add 5 seconds to my run cycle but keep my recovery walk at 1 minute.  I am up to 1:45 run vs 1:00 walk, and approaching 3 miles in my half hour window for exercise.  The terrain is a nice variety of dirt, stone, and paved surfaces with a variety of elevation.

I shoot to get out 3 times each week, and also try to add some walks in here and there.  Hiking, photo walks, or just wandering around local towns.

While this is certainly not a huge athletic accomplishment, I have noticed it continues to add to my overall feeling of wellness, and while my weight is close to stabilizing now that I have dropped 40-45 pounds, my belt loop was down another notch despite minimal weight loss.  Perhaps my weight is shifting a bit.

For most things in life, you just need to try it.  Commit and set yourself up for easy wins and noticeable growth.  When you don't meet the goal you set, just aim for that next benchmark.  Don't view it as a failure or cheating.  Just consider it feedback for long term progress!

Next up for me - upper body - core and more - I'm going to try to ease into a program to help me feel stronger and tone up!  

Pack on the Veggies!!

One thing I am always trying to do is eat as many veggies as I can everyday.  I do love salads, and I love beans, but I am always looking for ways to add texture to my meals, and come up with more healthy alternatives to things I love that might be a little loaded with processed foods.

I have always loved pasta salad.  Specifically noodle salad.  However, with a food plan that tries to limit processed carbs, I have a few options when making pasta salad.

1. Up the ratio of veggies to pasta - where normally I might have 2/3 pasta and 1/3 veggies, I can flip the switch and go 1/4 pasta and 3/4 veggies.  This is an ok alternative, but I have not done this because a) I really love the texture of noodles, so if I am going to overwhelm it with chunky veggies, what's the point?  b)  I would rather add a different starchy vegetable in instead, like a potato, or corn to my daily food intake, or have a decadent piece of sour dough (I like bread WAY more than pasta) with my salad.
2. Use Bean Pasta - The grocery stores in my area sell pasta made from beans and water.  Those noodles have the same nutrition as beans and some taste pretty good.  However the texture is a little dense, and if I want pasta with some chili, or bean salad, then I am doubling up on beans, and the calories from beans can add up quickly - so I would typically eat smaller portions of both things.
3. Spiralized Vegetable Pasta -  BINGO!!  I have been wanting to try this for so long, and finally got around to it.  Finally, I can eat "pasta" salad with the nutritional value of a garden salad.  I can eat HUGE quantities and still consume very few calories and MORE nutrients! 

A spiralizer cuts veggies like squash and zucchini into long spaghetti like strands.  They range in price from $5 to $99.99.

I got one like the above for $5 at TJ Maxx.  It does a great job cutting but is kind of a pain to clean.In about 5 minutes I used zuchini and yellow squash to make enough pasta for 2 lunches.

I grabbed my "pasta", some onion, carrot and cherry tomatoes and a few tablespoons of my favorite balsamic vinaigrette (Bolthouse Farms), some Apple Cider Vinegar, and let it sit.  I gotta say, it was AMAZING.  It really did feel and taste like I was eating refined carbs.  The squash was NOT too wet, and really held the dressing well, and provide a perfect al dente style base for this yummy side dish!

Here are some other spiralized veggie recipes I want to try!  Let me know if you get to them first!

Cold Pesto Salad

Vegetable Lo-Mein

Zuchini Pomodoro

There are a million on line!  Can't wait to dive in!

What Am I Going to Eat Tonight?

From Desperation Comes Inspiration

Even though I try to plan out meals or at least base foods I can doctor up in a pinch, I found myself staring into the fridge Saturday night wondering what I was going to eat.  I was playing that evening at a wonderful pub (Pour Girls), where they specialize in Wings and other meaty delights.  I had two options.  I could use this as an excuse to go hog wild (or chicken wild, or cow wild), or I could fill up on some healthy grub at home, and then enjoy maybe one or two fabulous wings at the gig.  Option 2 sounded better to me.

There was no prepared food, and we had polished off the leftovers that afternoon.  We needed to go grocery shopping, but there wasn't time for that.  My fridge looked like a boring chopped basket.  I spotted some leftover quinoa, about 1/2 a cup cooked. What am I going to do with THAT?   I had some very basic veggies as well:  Carrots, celery, onions.  The most basic of the basics.

I'm not quite sure how I got this idea, maybe it was thinking about the yummy asian style wings at pour girls, but it hit me.  Fried Rice!  Or Quinoa, as the case may be.

(This photo is from www.Jehancanckook.com , check them out!)

This was going to be my dinner, so I wanted it to be veggies with a little grain...pretty much the inverse of your typical vegetable fried rice.  When it was finished, it didn't LOOK like veggie fried rice, but I was surprised at how well it turned out.  Here's what I did, for a one person serving.

Here's What I Used

• 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa
• 2 large carrots
• 2 large stalks of celery
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp or less Braggs Aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
• 1 tbls peanut butter
• 1 tsp Olive Oil (or use a mister)

Here's What I Wish I Used In Addition

• Broccoli (fresh or frozen)
• Mushrooms (preferably a nice variety pack)
• possibly some black beans and/or bell pepper

Here's What I Did

• Dice the fresh veggies
• Heat the pan and mist with Oil
• Sweat the onions, carrots, celery until they are a bit soft (5 mins?)
• Add the garlic (I like to put mine on top of the onions etc and make sure the pan is not too hot - I HATE burnt garlic) and toss for about 30-40 seconds to sweat the garlic too.
• Add everything else, except the peanut butter, and warm through
• Once it's hot enough to eat, melt the PB into it, toss and enjoy.

The end result was really delicious.  If you are not used to eating salt free, then you may need some more soy sauce, but while not tasting exactly like fried rice, it was delicious and captured the essence, and held me over quite well.  I bummed 1 delicious Buffalo Wing off a gracious band mate and washed it down with an adult beverage, and was set for the night.

Here's a few other related recipes I found after the fact.  I will borrow a little from each to fit my taste in the future - if using as a main course I like the veggie to grain ratio be at least 1:1 veggie, but as a side dish it can be less.

Alyssa from Simply Quinoa adds egg and sesame oil.

Chungah at Damn Delicious has another take on it, also with egg.  If you try any of these or come up with your own twist, let me know how it comes out! Cheers!