anniemiz

(Sort of) Mmm Mmm Monday: Lentil Soup

Okay, peeps, today's recipe is another allrecipes.com contribution: Lentil Soup.  It came out okay; I thought it wasn't very flavorful although the recipe got great reviews at allrecipes so I'm probably doing something wrong.  I would make it again, esp. if I have ideas for shzuzzing it up.  Suggestions are always welcome.  Anyway, here's the recipe; changes in italics.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil (probably didn't use 1/4 c.; that's kinduva lot)
• 2 carrots, diced (probably used more; I like carrots in soup)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups dry lentils
• 8 cups water (used veggie broth - homemade!)
• 1/2 cup spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced (used more; didn't slice it; just put it in at the end and let the heat wilt it)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar (used balsamic; used more than 2 T.; maybe 4 T.?)
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• added some cumin to shzuzz it up a bit, flavor-wise

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil; cook for 2 minutes. (sauteed the veggies in a separate pan bc I needed to thaw the broth over heat and didn't want the veggies to over cook by being in the broth that whole time)
2. Stir in lentils, and add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve stir in spinach, and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper, and more vinegar if desired.

Servings: a lot. The recipe says 6 servings, but it seems more than that.

Forgot to thaw out the veggie broth so did it over heat:

Sauteeing the veggies in that wondrous wonder, the cast iron skillet:

Everything together:

Possibly the biggest bay leaf I've ever seen:

 In goes the spinach:

My soup looks very different from the allrecipes picture bc I used an immersion blender to smoosh some of it; I prefer my lentil soup (and most bean-based soups) with at least some of their contents smooshed.

Mmm Mmm Monday: Barley, Mushrooms, Beans & Spinach...Thing

We're back, with more beans and better than ever.  So I have all this stuff in the pantry: canned beans, dry lentils, dry pinto beans, barley, canned tomatoes, vinegars and oils, herbs, spices, etc.  I guess it's a good thing to have the basics on hand, especially as a budding vegetarian, but then I see all these half-empty containers of grains, beans, etc. and a half dozen cans of a half dozen kinds of beans and so on, and the Junior OCD in me wants to clear stuff out.  So I rooted around allrecipes.com for recipes to use up some stuff and found Barley and Mushrooms with Beans, which I then proceeded to hand over to Kevin to cook for us the other night.

As always, the link is there, but here's the recipe, too, along with changes Kevin made noted in italics.

Ingredients

• 1 t. olive oil (didn't use this bc he didn't saute the veggies at the beginning)
• 3 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 1/2 c. chopped celery
• 1/4 c. chopped sweet red pepper (mostly for color)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. uncooked barley (1 c. uncooked barley)
• 3 c. vegetable broth (homemade!)
• 1 15.5 oz. can white beans, drained (cannellini beans...are these different from white beans?  I dunno)
• fresh spinach
• grated parmesan
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan and stir in mushrooms, onion, celery & garlic; saute until tender.
2. Mix barley & broth into the saucepan; bring to a boil; cover & reduce heat.  Simmer, 40 - 45 minutes, until barley is tender.
3. Stir beans into the barley mix; cook about 5 minutes, until beans are heated.

What we Kevin really did:

1. Mix barley & broth into the saucepan; bring to a boil; cover & reduce heat.  Simmer, 40 - 45 minutes, until barley is tender.
2. When barley is almost tender, stir in mushrooms, onion, celery & garlic.
3. Add in some fresh spinach just before taking the saucepan off the heat.  Add the spinach at the very end so that it just wilts a little before you take it off the heat.
4. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
5. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Servings: 6

Notes:

• Some of the changes were suggested by reviewers at allrecipes.  There were other good suggestions; you might find some you might prefer to try.
• One reviewer noted that the veggies had lost their crunch by the end of the cooking process so they suggested cooking them separately and putting them in at the end which is kind of what Kevin did.  He put them in at the end, but didn't saute them at all; just let them cook as the barley finished cooking.
• Another suggestion was to reduce the amount of broth and/or increase the amount of barley bc it's kinda mushy otherwise.  Kevin increased the amount of barley.
• One such suggestion was to use red kidney beans instead of the white beans.  This is prolly yummy and it would add a little much needed color to a rather beige dish.  Another suggestion was to use a combo of different mushrooms; I bet that would add some interesting flavors.
• This could be a side dish or, as we ate it the other night, a light meal.
• This reheated well on the stove with a little liquid (I used broth) added to it; it seems to thicken up a bit by leftover time.  It did not reheat well in the microwave bc the beans blew up!

Friday Cat Blogging: A World of Difference

Here we have an aerial shot of Nosey and Edison.  Yes, they are two male tuxedo cats, but that's where the similarity ends.  Once upon a time, my brother Greg and his family came to visit.  They met our cats as they (the cats) sauntered by to check out the newcomers.  They met Nosey.  Later, Edison came strolling by and Greg said, 'What's his name again?  Nosey?'  I said, 'Oh no!  That's Edison.'  Then he asked -- I still can't believe this -- 'How can you tell them apart?'

Firstly, well, duh.

Secondly, Greg may not be a Crazy Cat Man, but he grew up in the same house as I did, the same house that always had at least one resident cat and various neighbor cats that passed through.  How he made it this far in life w/o recognizing the subtle yet telling differences between individual cats...I'll never know.

Thirdly, and I can't stress this enough: Well, duh.

Fourthly, even when not seen side by side, there is a world, nay, a universe of difference between the two.  Most striking is the fur.  Nosey is mid- to long-haired and he generally appears slightly disheveled (he cleans, but not fastidiously).  Edison's fur is a very sleek, shiny coat that lies quite close and gorgeously so.

Then there's the VanDyke on Nosey's chin (hence, the shelter christened him VanDyke, which remains his official name for legal purposes) and the noticeable lack thereof on Edison's chin.

Then there's body shape and size.  Nosey's about 16-17 lb.; Edison's about 11-12 lb.  The former is about 1/3 larger than the latter.  Nosey is longer, although Edison's no shorty himself.  Nosey has this funky hump on his back; don't know what that's all about (he also has a funky sternum which is not obvious to the casual observer; I often wonder if his odd skeletal issues have anything to do with his chronic respiratory, uh, thing).  He also has a bit of a paunch, kind of like guys get when they get older, drink more beer (usually while watching football) and spend more time on the couch (usually while watching football).  Edison is very sleek, slender, lean...quite athletic looking.

Don't even get me started on the differences in personality!  Of course, personality isn't generally noticeable upon the first casual meeting.  The bottom line = more than a cursory glance will reveal differences between cats and, once you see these differences, you'll consider them gulfs that cannot be bridged.

And now I'm off to enjoy Nosey's company as he purrs next to me while I surf the internet.

Thursday Thrift: Budget Chic Lifestyle I

So last week's Thursday Thrift topic was tips (courtesy of the Star-Ledger) for dining out thriftily.  Another article in the series is Budget Chic Lifestyle.  The article stresses the role of creativity in living less expensively (they say 'cheaply', but I find that word so aesthetically displeasing).  E.g., one person quoted uses plastic bags from Target as garbage bags and makeshift shower caps.  Forsooth!  (Now there's a quality word.)  Most creative.  Here are some of the suggestions; the rest will be in a future post.

1. Quit the gym and rock out doing stuff around the house.  E.g., if you have a cleaning service, fire them, pump up the volume and make your housecleaning into a workout.  Also, weather permitting work out outside: in the yard, helping a friend/neighbor/relative do something around their house, use the exercise stations at public parks, etc.
2. Pot luck & clothing exchange.  Invite your friends over; everyone brings a dish; plus they bring clothes that are in good condition, but that they no longer want/fit into/etc.; everyone tries on stuff, takes some items home and you've livened up your wardrobe for the cost of a covered dish.
3. Barter.  Everyone has something they can offer others...a thing or a service.  The classic barter item is to swap childcare related activities with other parents, e.g., taking turns driving the carpool or watch your friend's kids if they need to go somewhere w/o the kids.  There's probably lots of things we all have or can do that would be of value to someone else, but we don't even think of ourselves in that way.  I also think that relying on others in this way helps to strengthen relationships.
4. Puzzle night.  Buy some cheapo puzzles, invite your friends over, form teams and race to see which team finishes first.  I guess you could do this with board games, electronic games, backyard games (which reminds me: I bought a fab retro badminton set on ebay a couple of months ago and I totally forgot about it!  Now it will have to wait until spring.), etc.
5. Make your own coffee.  Kevin does this.  He used to have some at home in the morning and bring the rest of the pot in a travel mug for his drive in.  Now that he takes the train in, he just has coffee at home (being the law abiding citizen that he is, he doesn't bring food or beverages on the train).  He used to get coffee during the day at the cafeteria at work, but then his floor got one of those Keurig machines.  They have to supply their own coffee nodules, though, so he buys a bunch of boxes a few times/year.  Keurig coffee is more expensive than homemade coffee, although I don't know how it compares to coffee shop coffee (e.g., Starbucks).

Workout Wednesday: Wow

So.  Picked up again with workouts a week or so ago.  Mike the Trainer Guy asked me how I was digging the workouts.  I thought I noticed that the workouts were increasingly emphasizing cardio and Mike confirmed that he had changed things a bit.  This came up when he was talking about how the workouts - any activity, exercise, etc. - has to be fun or else you won't do it.  He asked me what I enjoyed about the workouts.  I really enjoy the weights.  When I work out regularly with the weights I always feel good: stronger, better posture, just generally more capable.

So the last couple of workouts have marked a return to more weight work and all I can say is, 'Wow', with an emphasis on the 'ow'.  I enjoy the actual weight exercises more than the strictly cardio stuff.  That's probably at least in part bc I'm not that good at the cardio stuff.  I mean, I do it and I do okay, but when there was more of an emphasis on cardio, in quanity and intensity, I found it very, very taxing.  And so I didn't look forward to it and had a bad attitude toward it.  Sure, I could change my attitude, but it might be easier and more productive to find cardio I like.

Now, Mike still incorporates cardio, but in slightly different ways.  E.g., these woodchopper things: feet apart; bend at the knees; hold a 10 lb. medicine ball lightly out in front; raise the ball from just outside my right ankle and then lift it up and across to my left side (then a set the other way).  It kind of mimics the move you make when you chop wood.  And by 'you' I don't mean anybody in particular.  And then there's always the classic jumping jacks, which I really didn't like at first.  Maybe I wasn't used to the impact, but my knees killed the next day.  But I'm used to them now and have fun jumping jack around the room, adding variations here and there to make it a little more interesting.  You can't go wrong with jumping rope either, although I do it at a pace more like when I was little, with that little double jump in between, not the boxer's rapid single jump.  I can't keep that up for very long.  I also like the shadow boxing bc it's fun.  It's very engaging in that Mike moves around and I'm to move around too, adjusting to better hits the mitts.  Plus, I get to punch stuff.  What could be better than that?

So it's great having two workouts with Mike per week.  What I have to work on is making my own activity on other days happen.  My appts. with Mike are like any other appt.: it's there to keep.  My own plans for activity are very vague and nebulous.  It would be good to figure out a way to make them more like appts. with Mike.  Perhaps I'll have some insight for next time.

Friday Cat Blogging: Lizzie's Been Sleeping In Nosey's Bin

The sun was shining right onto Nosey's bin...it was just too tempting for Lizzie to resist climbing in and making herself comfortable.

Nosey certainly couldn't complain; he wasn't using it.

 But he complained anyway.

He can be so grumpy sometimes!  Miles ignored the whole scene.  Although just a few feet away, he was in the throes of the 'death scene' yoga pose.

Just another day in the life of housecats. 

Frugal Fake Fur Fun

Stephanie sports the ever popular...hat.  I was just Google Imaging around to try and find out the name of this particular style of hat.  It looks a lot like these Russian trooper hats, but it's not quite the same.  I think this hat is a little taller.  Maybe it's the women's version of the trooper hat.  Stephanie's hat is faux...it's quite soft, like velvet. 

Here she works the always flattering 3/4 profile:

Stephanie is a great co-worker.  She always goes that extra mile when you need something or ask for help.  Why look, here she helpfully points out her hat to us.  With both hands!

She's dying for the weather to turn cold enough to wear the hat.  Anyway, the reason we're talking about her hat is bc it was a fab thrift shop find at $5.

It seems to bring out Stephanie's latent Eastern European dance skills.  Doesn't she look happy here?  I would like to see her doing the lechaim dance. 

And after she does that, she can do the bottle dance.  I lurve that scene.  Is Fiddler on the Roof one of the best musicals ever or what?  So yeah, Steph, if you could work on those two dances for me, that'd be great.  In your platform shoes would be best.  Thanks.

 

Howdy, Neighbor!

This little guy is the cutest neighbor evar!!1!  I've been trying to get a picture of him for some time now, but I never have my camera handy, but yesterday the stars aligned and I got these pictures.

 

This groundhog has been hanging around for a while now, munching his way through various yards' vegetation.  That's the neighbor's shed in the picture above.  Doesn't it look like Mr. Groundhog is heading home after a long day of eating?

At this point, I think he heard me as I was taking pictures of him from my back porch.  He started to go under the shed...he often goes under there...but then he hung out front a little longer.

Here he's all, 'Just hanging out in mah front yard, enjoying the crisp autumn day.'

He eventually moseyed on past the shed...

...and around the corner...

...no doubt to work that part of his back four.  I guess he's getting ready for winter.  You should see him when he hurries...galump, galump!  So cute.  I wonder if his fur is very soft...maybe it's rough or coarse.  For some reason, I think of him as a male, although I suppose it could be a female.  I've already designated as female a neighbor's pretty cat who also hangs out in our backyards.  She's probably a female bco coloring usually occurs in female cats.  So I'll make this critter Mr. Groundhog.
 

Awwww...

Some pics of some nieces...Kevin's sister, Karen, with her daughter, Kristin, during a visit not too long ago:

Kevin's brother, Chris, with daughters Sydney & Ashley.  I believe this photo was taken on Ashley's first day of school this year!

Not only are Kevin and I exceedingly blessed in the quantity of our nieces (7), but the quality as well.  Keep up the good work, girls.

 
 

Mmm Mmm Monday: Smoked Salmon Snackage

Today's post is about one of the snacks Kevin likes to eat while watching football.  He has a small repertoire of snackage he enjoys on a Sunday during football season.  Today he went with the following:

• smoked salmon
• capers
• red onion
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• crushed black pepper

He also had some tasty, crusty sourdough bread dipped in olive oil and something or other on the side, but I don't have a picture of that.

 

Jacques Pepin did a guest shot on a public television beg-a-thon a year or so ago.  They showed some episodes from his show, Jacques Pepin: Fast Food, My Way.  I love watching him.  One episode he showed a bunch of different garnishes and my word, the things that man does with a tomato!  Another thing he did was to cure salmon himself.  I think this is what he did.  I Googled for the recipe, but couldn't find it.  He bought some supa fresh salmon.  Sliced it supa thin.  Spread out the slices on a large plate.  Sprinkled the salmon with coarse salt.  Covered it with plastic wrap.  After maybe 15-20 minutes, he pronounced it ready.  I dunno if I would do that myself at home bc I'd be petrified that I wouldn't cure it properly and serve food poisoning along with the salmon, although I have to say, he made it look incredibly simple.  I think I'm just too terrified of food poisoning.  I had it about 30 years ago and it was such a horrible experience I'd do anything, including overreacting, to avoid it.

We have a book of his at work, Jacques Pepin: More Fast Food, My Way.  Now, some of the recipes were decidedly not fast except, of course, if you're Jacques Pepin.  E.g., one recipe uses chopped lemon, but first you peel, section and then skin the sections.  That's a bit much for 'fast food'.  Still, the recipes often use fresh ingredients and are very yummy.  Jacques does seem to love his salmon and, since Kevin does, too, I will direct him to Jacques's website.  He could probably find himself some tasty new salmon recipes for future football Sundays.