5.8.08
Lentil Soup, Orange Soup and ten days left
For those of you who may be so inclined:
Pour olive oil into pot, add garlic (optional); three diced onions, three diced carrots; one small potato optional (I put it in for consistency, plus Steve likes really chunky soup); fry until softened; salt/pepper/thyme/oregano/parsley to taste; two 19oz cans of chopped tomatoes (or cut them up yourself, if you want, but I'm all about the easy); six cups of water; three bouillon cubes (I prefer chicken, but if you wanted a truly veggie soup, use vegetable); two cups of lentils (or just one bag - it's a little more than two cups, but whatever. I used the red ones). soft boil for 45-ish minutes. And Delish!!
Melt 2tbls butter in very large saucepan; add one large chopped onion and three sliced leeks (the white part); cook on low heat until soft; pour in 3 14oz cans of broth (same thing again, I use chicken, but vegetable would work) and remove from heat; add one large diced and peeled potato, 1 medium turnip, diced and peeled, 8 medium chopped carrots and 1/4tsp thyme; simmer for about 20 minutes; puree in blender (a portion at a time) until smooth; return to pan, salt to taste. (Since the soup is going into a blender, it doesn't really matter how small the veggies are chopped, although smaller blends easier)
The lentil soup is simmering on my stove right now, and though I've never actually had it, my mom gave me the recipe yesterday and said it was really good and really filling. The Veggie Soup (or as I call it "Orange Soup") is my all time favourite soup. Total comfort food and totally healthy! It takes a little more work because it's blended (and although you can eat it without putting it through the blender, the mashy-ness is part of what I love) My suggestion is that if you have a plastic blender, let the soup cool quite a bit beforehand, my mom melted hers a couple of years ago. It's awesome for babies (Leila loved it, although the first time the turnips gave her quite a bit of gas, so you may not want to give it to a baby until the solids are established), and if you are following Weight Watchers (which I will be come September), it's about one point per cup (which is a generous calculation).
Both recipes make a lot of soup, so I usually end up freezing about half. We eat it for a couple of days and by then are ready for a break anyway, so a couple of weeks later, I bring the rest out of the freezer.
Anyhoo, as you can tell, I'm cooking today. I have a few things on my list to make to put in the freezer (Orange Soup being on that list) for the days after baby is born. Also, yes I am still pregnant, and although the Dr. (a somewhat nervous resident) did a Membrane sweep yesterday, it did little else than give me some cramps yesterday afternoon. She seemed quite gentle, as it wasn't very uncomfortable. My mom pointed out that it might be less painful when the cervix is soft and effacing. At the very least, my cervix at 38 weeks is what it was at 42 weeks with Leila, so that definitely makes me happy and hope that she might be a few days early.
Leila sawing logs after helping me cook the soup (MY COOK!!), so I am going to lay on the couch and be lulled to sleep by the whoosh-a-whoosh-a of the dish washer.
wunderwuman at 3:04 p.m.