What’s for dinner?

Clean out the frig and freezer bean soup.  Bag of 15 beans. Check. Found some leftover dried cannellini beans. Now it’s 16 bean soup. Leeks still look okay. A couple of sweet potatoes. Red bell peppers were on sale so one of them. (I should say I chop everything to be able to fit on a soup spoon) The leftover browned sausage I put in the freezer from Thanksgiving. In it goes.   Canned tomatoes. Some bags of frozen veggies my hubbie had shoved to the back of the deep freeze and needed to be used-collard greens,  okra, Brussel Sprouts, and butternut squash-why not? A bunch of herbs and seasonings.  Soup has to be one of the most forgiving foods, it’s hard to mess it up. And nourishing as well.  

Most of it will go in individual containers in the freezer for lunches and nights when I don’t feel like cooking.   

Wishing you delicious food for the week!

These days I've grown rather lazy when it comes to food. I have a big family so if I cook I have to cook for all of them and that turns something I enjoy into a chore.

Tonight I plan on roasting some chickpeas, and eating some leftovers. but I'm also going to prep tomorrows meat stir fry in advance by starting the thawing of the meat and will start marinating it in the morning so it's nice and juicy by tomorrow night. Not sure what I'mma pair it with yet, but onions are a given and I have a few other veggies on hand.

brown rice with chicken, garlic and ginger. an attempt to battle possible cold/flu -> nuuuu! was to get out for groceries tomorrow but do i really want out in clammy twenties (about -4c)? enjoyed falling back to sleep hearing calm rain this morning

Been sick all week, glad I made soup last weekend and froze it.   Was a lifesaver to just pop in the microwave.

Tonight was comfort food, even better because someone else cooked it. 

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with bacon and onion. 

If there had been apple pie I might have died of pleasure right there on the spot. 

CLEAN OUT THE PANTRY SOUP

If last weekend was Clean Out The Frig Soup, today was Clean Out the Pantry Soup. 

The New Year is approaching and I like to start fresh in the kitchen. I start weeding out those expired spices and check to see what is lingering and taking up space and use up all those bits and pieces of things in the pantry and frig.  This is when I turn to my rescuer-soup.

Partial bags of French green lentils, black lentils, farrow, mixed brown and black rice all got used up for this thick soup.  A can of fire roasted tomatoes hiding in the back of a shelf needed to be used.  Those tomatoes needed their buddies-fire roasted green chilies.   I sautéed a bunch of diced veggies from the frig. From the freezer came the last three slices of leftover cooked bacon from Thanksgiving.  I’m going to miss meat when we hit the vegan trail again after the holidays.

I cooked the lentils until they were just tender then added the veggies, tomatoes, and chilies. After a bit I added the grains and bacon, herbs and spices.  Everything cooks down into a rustic, thick and hearty soup/stew. Tasty and easy-peasy. :)

 ForeverFanatic:

@Schmetterling
That sounds absolutely lit! I'm low on ingredients right now cause I'm at my sisters house and she almost never eats at home. So tonight is gonna be sauteed onions, chopped up hot dogs, and eggs either on toast or rice.

Do you mind if I ask if you have a list of essential veggies? (my house pretty much only keeps carrots, broccoli, and onions stocked)

Usually whatever looks good at the grocery store and what’s on sale. :)

Always onions, green onions or leeks, celery, & carrots.  Bell peppers.  I usually have greens (spinach, kale, or baby bok Choy). Broccoli and cauliflower are usually around during the week.  If Brussel Sprouts look good I buy them. I roasted up the last of the sprouts in the frig with some Leek to have with lunch today. I keep zucchini in the frig for quick stir fries.  Sugar snap or snow peas if they look good for quick dinners. Cabbage might be in the frig.  More so in the warmer months I keep tomatoes and avocados around. And in the spring asparagus. Beets are the only veg I’m not crazy about but I do love the greens cooked up.  I usually have a small bag of white potatoes and a couple of sweet potatoes around.  I keep a variety of frozen greens, peas, okra, winter squash, and sweet potatoes in the freezer.

About the only canned veggies we use are green beans, tomatoes and green chilies. I do use canned beans (chickpeas, black beans, and Cannellini)  I also have several different types of dried beans and lentils.  I keep white, brown and mixed rices on hand as well as cous-cous, quinoa, farrow and pastas. 

For this soup I kept the veggies simple-leeks, celery, an orange and a yellow bell pepper, carrots.   And I added the canned tomatoes and chilies. 

Probably way more than you wanted to know.  We eat a lot of veggies so I try and rotate them as much as possible.  I rarely make the same soup twice because I use whatever I have at hand.  Broccoli is the only vegetable I don’t use much in soups because the soup usually tastes strongly of it. I do have a good cream of cauliflower soup (no cream) that is the bomb.  :)

You used one of the most versatile foods in the world for your dinner-eggs.  Yummy.   And like my soup you used what was at hand to make a delicious and easy dinner.  Go team! :)

 zalcu:

Christmas dinner was my last meal as my niece and nephew were persistent on the family coming over to have Christmas dinner this weekend for some reason. So we had mashed potatoes, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, chicken (we prefer chicken over turkey), gammon, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots and gravy slapped on the top. Now I won't be able to move for at least a week, lmao.

You are making my mouth water!