Pneumonia and Soup

     It's been a while since I wrote a post.  I have a bunch swirling around in my head but with the laundry, messy house and all the other stuff, it's been a while since I took the time and energy to write anything.  I can also blame it on the fact that today I officially feel 95% better, for the first time, than I did a couple weeks ago when I was diagnosed with full blown pneumonia!  Holy Shit.  I've never been that sick.
     Anyway- today I am writing a few recipes for a wedding gift cookbook my food co-op is collaborating on for one of it's members daughter's and I am including this recipe I just made up.  I like to eat what we crave and today it was pumpkin.  Hmm.  How can I make that into a fast recipe that doesn't require a lot of dish washing and can be done in half hour since the kids are hungry.

• Dish tally:  cutting board, knife, one pot, soup ladle, soup bowls and spoons.

Red Lentil, Red Tomato, Red Onion & Orange Pumpkin Soup

     I based this off a friend from Turkeys lentil soup.  It’s a great base that I use all the time to create new recipes. Thanks Addie!  This is one I whipped up today, 10/11/12, for lunch.  The kids are all eating it now so it must taste good.  This soup is loaded with vitamin A, C, iron and protein.  

Measurements are all approximate.

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

3 Tbsp olive oil

Saute above ingredients in a medium sized soup pot over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  

Add the following and stir to combine and simmer until lentils are tender- about 25 minutes.

1 can organic pumpkin

1 can organic diced plain tomatoes

2 cups red lentils (they are actually orange and very cute)  Check out the nutritional info here.

about 1.5 tsp cumin

water to fill all but three inches of the pot

Once lentils are tender, add about 1/4 Earth Balance buttery spread and salt to taste and serve.

Enjoy.

I'm also including this in the book.  It's another relatively quick and nutritious dinner.

Any Veggie Casserole

I often make this with just broccoli or green beans for a side dish and serve with rice.  We also really like it with carrots, cauliflower and potato, okra, squash, and sometimes with chopped raw kale mixed in.

1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery spread

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups vegan soup broth or mushroom soup (like Imagine Foods)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 t garlic powder

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup nutritional yeast 

2-3 cups chopped, lightly steamed veggies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a sauce pan, melt the Earth Balance over low heat.  Add the flour and whisk until it forms a roux. Add the veggie broth, soy sauce, garlic powder and whisk continually for 1-2 minutes until sauce is thick and bubbly.  Add olive oil and nutritional yeast.  Whip again until smooth.  

Put steamed veggies in a 9X9 glass casserole and cover with sauce.  Stir gently to combine.  Bake for 30-45 minutes until top begins to brown slightly.  Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes and serve.

Yum.

Steph

      It's been years.  I've been told many times that I should start a blog and have thought about it off and on through the years.  It takes too much time, I'd want to write a masterpiece with each entry, I should be folding laundry, it's too late;  I've already missed too much.  My reasons not to go on and on... but my three main reasons to begin now are ages 9, 7 and 4.  For them, I will start today!  I won't look back.  I will start now and from today on, my kids will have a blog about them, what they are up to in their fabulous little lives, how I feel about it and what makes our family tick.  Where to begin, I'm not so sure! 

The basics.  

We are:

• A family of 5, two girls, a boy and a mom and a dad.  
• There are animals, always animals.  Right now our companions are two guinea pigs, a rescued mouse and three fish. 
• I should be folding laundry.
• We are all vegetarian, almost vegan, but we do eat locally raised eggs.  Only ones from hens whom I can meet.  I will occasionally turn a blind eye if there is cake, though.  I don't feel good about it, but I like cake.   I think it tastes better when it's vegan.   I consider this my religion;  not the cake part but the vegetarian part.  Catholics have hail Mary's.  I have the concrete knowledge that animals don't die so that we can eat.  Although I always feel bad for the cows when I eat cake with dairy.  That, (I'm sure) will be a whole other post, though.
• We home school.  Some days I am thrilled and honored that I have the privilege and ability to be home to witness my kids growth.  Other days I wonder why I don't join the masses and send my kids to the local school.  I'm sure my posts will reflect that. 
• Earthetarian is a name my husband came up with when we were brainstorming for a name for my new online eco-friendly business years ago.  It perfectly described my shop and our passion about how we live.  We do what we can to take care of the earth so she can return the favor.  We are not perfect, but we try really hard.  Some day I'll make a list, because it makes me feel good to spell it all out.  We occasionally do this to balance out the fact that we drive a gas guzzling mini-van.  That will be another post, aptly titled  HOW WE RATIONALIZE THE MINI -VAN.
•  You will witness us through lots of pictures.  Both for my sanity and for my family and far off friends.  I love taking pictures of people and things, both animate and inanimate.   In college I had a business person buy two of my photographs from a show I was in and then contact me months later to purchase more.  I didn't follow through.  I often wonder what could have been if I did.  There will also be lots of pictures because:    

a.  I don't always follow through.  I'm working on that.  It will give myself and out to have some picture only posts so I don't have to write a masterpiece, but can still put up a quick post.  (I will need to let the need to write a masterpiece each time go because I am not a writer by trade and some days I just won't have time because I should be folding laundry, but I digress).
b.  I forgot what b was.  It's pretty much so I don't have to write every time.

So that's that.  I am going to start.... now.

MY THREE REASONS

G, A, N