Four Corners Lentil Soup

I use a lot of recipes from a blog called My New Roots.

This is one of them.

She calls it "Four Corner Lentil Soup" because she says she knows for a fact that it's been eaten on every continent of the earth. Count me in!

It's really yummy, AND---like everything on her blog---it's uber good for you. The overall taste is very Indian? Middle Eastern? so if you're not really a huge fan of that genre of food, this might not be your thing. If you do, make this soup STAT. Have I mentioned it's yummy? Oh, good.

I'll make a batch of this and eat it for lunch for several days. And I use green lentils...because that's just what I have on hand...and it tastes great. It calls for stock...and she means veggie stock...but I've used both chicken and beef stock, also with great success.

Four Corners Lentil Soup from My New Roots

Ingredients
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed very well
1 large onion, or a couple leeks, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. minced ginger root
1 Tbsp. Ground cumin
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 15 oz. can of tomatoes; or 4 large, fresh tomatoes, chopped
4 cups stock
salt to taste
1 un-waxed, organic lemon

Directions
1. Rinse the lentils very well until the water runs clear.
2. Heat oil in a medium pot and sauté onions, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes until soft. Add a pinch of salt.
3. Add spices and stir for another minute or so, until fragrant.
4. Add tomatoes, 3 slices of lemon and rinsed lentils, then add vegetable stock. Stir well.
5. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice.
6. Serve hot with some cilantro, green onions or parsley on top with a slice of lemon. Delicious!

Serves 4.

Parmesan Tomatoes

This is totally not my picture:


 But it's pretty much what this recipe comes out looking like.

It's a tasty, tasty side dish. Or lazy lunch, as my babies will attest to.

We grilled them last night, but usually I just make them under the broiler in my oven. Either way, yum. But really, what else could you expect from warm tomatoes and parmesan cheese?

And again, this is a recipe that came out of my head, after eating something like this at Jubilations Dinner Theatre.

Parmesan Tomatoes
3-4 tomatoes, cut in half, with the stem cut out.
3-4 Tablespoons mayo
1/3 c. or more parmesan cheese
sprinkle of basil (used Mom's fresh basil leaves last night...and chopped up 3 really fine...yumm!)
sprinkle of oregano (orrrr.....just use any "Italian Seasoning" spice mix)
salt and pepper to taste

Smear the stuff on tops of tomato halves, seed side. (You can take a slice off the bottom of the tomato, too, so they sit flat for you). Grill them under the broiler until the tomatoes are heated through and the cheese is either browned, or just melted-ish... (Exact science, here).

Serve warm, with a fork.

Last night, I also topped with a little feta cheese. It totally worked, baby.

Taco Pizza

I really felt like making homemade pizza today.
But I'm bread-stupid. I just assumed that you can use one bread recipe for everything 'bread-y"...and I used this super-fast bread recipe for the pizza crust. It tasted great...but turned out too thick and puffy, even though I poked it with a fork. Does anyone know what the difference is between a regular bread recipe and a pizza dough recipe? Yeast amounts? Kneading amounts? Told you: Bread-stupid.

But at least it all turned out tasting good. Well...I think it tasted good. Ha. I have a seriously stuffed nose. I'll have to get Darren's opinion once he gets home later this evening. It's possible that it could actually taste completely repulsive. Baha.

In the meantime, I've got to get down the things I tossed into the sour cream sauce before I forget. I never measure when I'm making something up. Oops? I probably should. I'd probably be more likely to replicate good results. I'll estimate this time.

Sour Cream sauce for Taco Pizza....or tacos, or dip, or drinking. HA.
-approx 1/2 c. sour cream (use more next time if doing a whole cookie-sheet-size pizza)
-1-2 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro
-1/2 t. cumin
-1/2 t. garlic powder (try minced garlic next time)
-1/4 t. onion powder (try finely chopped onion next time)
-hefty sprinkle of cayenne pepper
-couple big pinches of chili powder...(I think it would be hard to add too much of this yummy stuff.)
-pinch of salt
-teensy squeeze of honey

Taco Pizza
-Pizza Dough...note to self: find good recipe for pizza dough
-Sour Cream sauce
-grated cheese
-chopped tomatoes
-black beans
-chopped lettuce
-cooked, seasoned ground beef
-roughly crushed taco chips
-olives
-chopped green onions
-chunks of avocado
-okay, I'm actually just spouting stuff off here. Ours only had up to the black beans...I didn't even get to the lettuce because I was just hungry and lazy. But oh the possibilities! Yumm...

Bake the pizza crust for 10-15 min, or until lightly browned. Then top with the sour cream sauce and whatever else your heart desires that is vaguely related to tacos. I didn't put the pizza back in the oven to melt the cheese or anything, but I suppose you could if you wanted.

Enjoy the eats!

The Sugar-Free List

A couple months ago, my SIL asked if I wanted to do a three-month sugar fast. We made our own rules for ourselves, but the basic idea was that we would steer clear of refined sugars. Natural sweeteners like fruit sugars, maple syrup, honey, etc. were a-okay...and I also wanted to steer clear of artificial sweeteners as much as possible. What IS that stuff, anyways? My primary goal wasn't weight loss...though it was a nice by-product...it was simply to reduce my dependence on the white sweet stuff...and learn to incorporate more nutritiously-dense sweeteners into my food.

And while a little crazy, I've been uber-grateful for it. Not only has leftover baby-weight dropped off somehow (fiiinally), and made me incredibly aware of how much sugar I potentially consume in a day (thanks, you dang granola bars...), it's also given me countless opportunities for getting a fix for my sweet-tooth in a more natural and healthy way. And seriously tested my powers of creativity for doing so. It has taught me that deprivation is the mother of invention. Ha.

And so, my list. My "things to eat instead" list. You'll notice there's a lot of bananas. And maple syrup. And honey. And other delicious things.

(Disclaimer: it's not about calorie-reduction, just refined sugar reduction. So...no gawking at the cream; it gets self-concious.)

-Lemon Water. Sometimes a little tangy water is all it takes to get through it.

-Straight up fruit. Bananas, berries, cherries, oranges, apples...a wealth to choose from.

-Honey-Lemon Tea. (Lemon juice, water, honey)

-Toast with Honey Butter. Good for the pastry cravings. Mmm...

-Banana Pancakes. (Pancakes from scratch sweetened with a mashed banana...the effect tastes like banana-bread pancakes). Top with fruit, maple syrup, whatever!

-Banana Ice Cream. Frozen bananas, blended straight up, make ice cream. Whoever discovered this has hero-status in my books. I loooove ice cream. I liked mixing mine with natural peanut butter, but really, the possibilities are endless. And I promise, the bananas ACTUALLY get creamy like ice cream, all by themselves. Tip: peel the bananas and put them in freezer bags before tossing them in the freezer. Your fingers will thank you when you don't have to peel frozen bananas with them.

-Plain yogurt sweetened with Maple Syrup...With cut-up bananas, and/or strawberries, and a sprinkle of almonds. Best. Breakfast. Ever.

-Smoothies. Ice, fruit, honey (if needed), and a squirt of lemon juice for zip.

-Strawberries with cream, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of salt.

-Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle. I kid you not, this or some variation of this have made this sugar-fast do-able for me. It calls for avocados and almonds, which makes it reeeally creamy and yummy, and reeeeally filling...a good breakfast shake, actually (chocolate shake for breakfast? YEEAH!) But for afternoon snacks, or random chocolate cravings, I simply blend bananas (don't even have to be frozen, though it does make it extra tasty), cocoa, maple syrup or honey, water or milk, and a touch of salt. Delicious. And good for you. Awesome.

-Naturally Sweetened Brownies. The recipe linked here is the Jillian Michael's version...but I would definitely suggest replacing the applesauce with bananas. And then cooking them a bit longer. I think it tastes better that way, but the applesauce tastes okay, too. Also, I add a 1/4 tsp salt. Again, just tastes better. And then drown drizzle a warm one with cream. SOooo good.

-The Raw Brownie. This one blew me away. I didn't actually expect a bunch of nuts and dates to taste like a brownie! But it did! And it was AWESOME! I actually used pecans instead of walnuts, and regular dates instead of the Medjool ones she recommends...and it still turned out delicious. This blogger actually doesn't use refined sugars in any of her recipes, so any dessert by her is fair game. Like this one, and this one, and this one...all of which I plan to test out. I use a lot of recipes from her site...a LOT. And I've liked every single one I've tried. The brownie recipe above this one is more like cake...this one is more like a dense, chewy brownie. Take your pick.


I think that's it. I'll add to it if I think of any more. These replacements make it easy to avoid sugar...AND make it easy to make permanent changes. Well, I think so anyways.
Give me a freezer full of frozen bananas, my maple syrup, honey, cocoa, and fresh fruit... and I'm good to go.

The Food Nanny

http://www.byutv.org/foodnanny/

I have no idea how I stumbled across this show. Somewhere between The Mormon Channel and exploring other links, it just happened. But seriously? I love it. The lady cracks me up, but in an endearing kind of way...she's so...........cheerful.

The premise of the show is getting families back to the dinner table together, whether it be learning new skills or just making the time. Good message, nice and short, and you can watch it online here.

Plus, she has a free online two-week meal planner. Her "Nanny Plan."
How sweet is that?