The weekend was both trying and wonderful! After swim team practice and carpooling, I took an adventure to Target. (Every trip to Target is an adventure!) I went to get a jar of my favorite almond butter, as I had finished off the last jar for breakfast. Since it has no ingredients other than almonds, it's perfect for phase 1, and best of all, I didn't have to make it ! As it turns out, Target carries lots of great Archer Farms items that just a few year ago were only available at high-end organic foods markets. Score!
Friday's Menu
Breakfast:
Celery sticks and almond butter.
Lunch:
Snack
Granny Smith Apple & Almond Butter
Dinner:
Shitake Soup with Wild Rice, Spinach and Leeks
Ingredients:
1-2 T EVOO
4-5 shitake mushrooms
1 leek
1 bag baby spinach, chopped
1 package pre-cooked wild rice
2 quarts vegetable broth
sea salt to taste.
If you use my homemade stock, the following spices are not needed. If you use a store-bought stock, add:
2 t cumin
2 t ginger
2 t celery seed
Heat the EVOO. Add the mushrooms, leek, and spinach. Stir until the spinach just begins to wilt (not too much, as the hot broth will cook it more). Place these ingredients into a large soup taurean. Heat the broth and spices to a simmer. Add the rice and simmer just a minute or 2 more. Pour the hot broth and rice into the taurean over the veggies. Add salt to taste.
This made a very hearty & satisfying soup. A meal in itself.
Homemade Broth
4 T EVOO
2 leeks, chopped
4 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1/2 bag shredded cabbage
3 sprigs parsley, chopped
3 t cumin
3 t ginger
3 t celery seed
5-10 twists of the sea salt grinder
4 quarts water
Heat the EVOO, add the veggies, and cook, stirring, until tender. Add the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer 1-2 hours, until the broth is reduce to 1/2 ... 2 quarts. Strain broth into a heat resistant bowl, and set aside to use for the soup.
Note: As inspired by Mireille Guiliano's Magical Leek Soup Detox, I reserved the cooked veggies, and ate them as a side dish, topped with a pinch of sea salt. They were actually VERY yummy!!! So glad I wasn't put off by how they looked. Throwing them away would have been such a waste.
Storm Hits
Friday night the power went out in a storm with unpredicted hurricane-force winds. The electric company was predicting 5-7 days to get everyone's power restored! We had already planned to see fire works out of town, and fortunately Grandma still had power & an empty fridge-freezer, so we packed up the almost entire contents of our fridge & freezer and went to Grandma's. This is also just one reason why I do not keep a second freezer. It seems we average extended outages about once every other year.Weekend Food
I took the leftover soup, and a fruit salad with me. I also made Deviled Eggs, Egg Salad & Homemade Guacamole while there. I will be featuring these recipes in future blogs. The company, fireworks and food were all fantastic, but left me quite exhausted. I need to remember to go slow. We made it back home with power restored, and all the food saved, but 1 gallon of milk. We are very lucky, as we still have major intersections out. The last 2 days have been lazy days for sure!
