a seasonal dinner
Andrea
Good evening, lovelies! Have you all hopped over to Meghann's blog to check out the Blogger Bake Sale? There are some amazing-looking baked treats up for sale, and all proceeds go to a wonderful cause, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Bidding ends at midnight for Day 1 so be sure to get over there and place your bids before your favorite items get snatched up! I've got two items up for sale, chocolate chip cookies and my own banana apple bread.
This morning I woke up feeling really yucky. I was nauseous and light-headed, and would have put-off work for a few hours had I not had so much to do at the office. I dragged myself up, took a shower, made my breakfast then went straight back to bed. After about 30 minutes I felt a little bit better and got moving again, and my hubb brought me a glass of OJ to get something in my stomach. I wound up packing up my breakfast and taking it to the office with me, eating it once my stomach felt not-so-flippy.
Breakfast: 8oz of OJ, a toasted ezekiel muffin with TJ's crunchy peanut butter and sliced apples.
[446 cal]
My hubb was such a sweetie and made me this gorgeous salad for lunch, complete with homemade vinaigrette! He even took pictures...can you believe him?!? I also was craving some soup, so I ran across the street to Revolutionary Soup for their Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu soup...YUM. I must learn how to make this.
Lunch: fresh salad and spicy peanut tofu soup, along with a small whole wheat roll.
[salad = 200 cal, soup = ???, whole wheat roll = ???]
My salad had:
Sadly, my stomach got all weird again about halfway through my salad so I couldn't finish it. :( I had a couple of iffy hours where I was willing time to go by so that I could go home and lay down. I decided to eat a granola bar to settle my tum around 5:00, and it actually helped quite a bit. But not enough for me to feel up for yoga at 6pm...I'm so sad that I missed it.
Afternoon Snacks: A Quaker True Delights bar while at work, a dried fig while cooking dinner.
[162 cal]
When we got home I knew I wanted something warm and comforting. Luckily I had some soup on the menu... This weekend I managed to fit in 2 long hot baths, complete with bubbles, vino and the latest Bon Appetit magazine. I also had the February 2008 issue of BA, which I hadn't had a chance to read last year because I was deeply entrenched in my graduate studies. I held on to all of my neglected foodie magazines so that I could read them this year, during their intended month to take advantage of the seasonal recipes always featured. I read about yukon gold potatoes, kale, meyer lemons and leeks. My reading left me craving a hearty winter soup...and a lemon drop martini. I fulfilled the first craving tonight, the second will probably wait until the weekend. :)
Tonight's dinner isn't a recipe from BA, unfortunately...it probably would have turned out a bit better if it had been. It was good, the flavors were spot-on, but the texture of the soup was a bit, well, gluey. For lack of a better descriptor. I believe the reason for the extra thick creaminess was my use of yukon golds, which in hindsight I think would be better suited to a chunky soup than a pureed soup. Lesson learned. I will definitely try this recipe again, just with a different type of potato.
Dinner: potato leek soup with kale and hearty oat biscuits.
[437 cal]
Potato Leek Soup with Kale
226 calories, 7.4g fat, 1g sat fat, 37.5 carbs, 4.9g fiber, 9.2g protein
makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
Method:
I also made some hearty oat biscuits with the addition of sharp white cheddar cheese and scallions. Again, flavors were great, but the texture was off. The dough was wetter than normal...I'm thinking that in my slightly hazy/ill state I mis-measured something. I'm going to hold off on sharing the recipe this time because I really want to work on perfecting it and I don't want to mis-lead you.
Dessert: more beautiful grapes.
[110 cal]
Alrighty, I'm feeling much better now but am ready for bed. I really want to get up in the morning for my run so that I can keep my evening free for yoga, although that means I'll only be getting about 5.5 hours of sleep. :( There are not enough hours in a day!!! How many hours of sleep do you get a night? I feel really lucky if I get 7, but I'm usually closer to 6. Not good...
G'night!
This morning I woke up feeling really yucky. I was nauseous and light-headed, and would have put-off work for a few hours had I not had so much to do at the office. I dragged myself up, took a shower, made my breakfast then went straight back to bed. After about 30 minutes I felt a little bit better and got moving again, and my hubb brought me a glass of OJ to get something in my stomach. I wound up packing up my breakfast and taking it to the office with me, eating it once my stomach felt not-so-flippy.
Breakfast: 8oz of OJ, a toasted ezekiel muffin with TJ's crunchy peanut butter and sliced apples.
[446 cal]
My hubb was such a sweetie and made me this gorgeous salad for lunch, complete with homemade vinaigrette! He even took pictures...can you believe him?!? I also was craving some soup, so I ran across the street to Revolutionary Soup for their Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu soup...YUM. I must learn how to make this.
Lunch: fresh salad and spicy peanut tofu soup, along with a small whole wheat roll.
[salad = 200 cal, soup = ???, whole wheat roll = ???]
My salad had:
- baby greens
- spinach
- cucumber
- yellow bell pepper
- dried cranberries
- slivered almonds
- 3 tbsp roasted garlic hummus
- homemade balsamic vinaigrette
Sadly, my stomach got all weird again about halfway through my salad so I couldn't finish it. :( I had a couple of iffy hours where I was willing time to go by so that I could go home and lay down. I decided to eat a granola bar to settle my tum around 5:00, and it actually helped quite a bit. But not enough for me to feel up for yoga at 6pm...I'm so sad that I missed it.
Afternoon Snacks: A Quaker True Delights bar while at work, a dried fig while cooking dinner.
[162 cal]
When we got home I knew I wanted something warm and comforting. Luckily I had some soup on the menu... This weekend I managed to fit in 2 long hot baths, complete with bubbles, vino and the latest Bon Appetit magazine. I also had the February 2008 issue of BA, which I hadn't had a chance to read last year because I was deeply entrenched in my graduate studies. I held on to all of my neglected foodie magazines so that I could read them this year, during their intended month to take advantage of the seasonal recipes always featured. I read about yukon gold potatoes, kale, meyer lemons and leeks. My reading left me craving a hearty winter soup...and a lemon drop martini. I fulfilled the first craving tonight, the second will probably wait until the weekend. :)
Tonight's dinner isn't a recipe from BA, unfortunately...it probably would have turned out a bit better if it had been. It was good, the flavors were spot-on, but the texture of the soup was a bit, well, gluey. For lack of a better descriptor. I believe the reason for the extra thick creaminess was my use of yukon golds, which in hindsight I think would be better suited to a chunky soup than a pureed soup. Lesson learned. I will definitely try this recipe again, just with a different type of potato.
Dinner: potato leek soup with kale and hearty oat biscuits.
[437 cal]
Potato Leek Soup with Kale
226 calories, 7.4g fat, 1g sat fat, 37.5 carbs, 4.9g fiber, 9.2g protein
makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 medium leeks, chopped finely
- 1/2 large onion, about 1 cup chopped
- 2 ribs of celery, chopped
- 3 potatoes (next time, I'll use russet)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups of veggie broth
- 4 cups chopped kale, loosely packed
- salt + pepper
Method:
- Heat oil on medium. Add leeks, onion, celery and potatoes, stir to coat with oil. When veggies start sizzling, lower heat and cover pot. Let the veggies sweat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally , until veggies are tender.
- Add veggie broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back down to simmer and cover. Let simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes are starting to fall apart.
- Puree' soup in a blender until smooth and creamy. Pour back in soup pot and keep warm on low heat. Season with salt + pepper.
- Place chopped kale in large saucepan and cover with water. Boil for 5 minutes, until kale is bright green and tender. Drain kale and add to soup.
I also made some hearty oat biscuits with the addition of sharp white cheddar cheese and scallions. Again, flavors were great, but the texture was off. The dough was wetter than normal...I'm thinking that in my slightly hazy/ill state I mis-measured something. I'm going to hold off on sharing the recipe this time because I really want to work on perfecting it and I don't want to mis-lead you.
Dessert: more beautiful grapes.
[110 cal]
Alrighty, I'm feeling much better now but am ready for bed. I really want to get up in the morning for my run so that I can keep my evening free for yoga, although that means I'll only be getting about 5.5 hours of sleep. :( There are not enough hours in a day!!! How many hours of sleep do you get a night? I feel really lucky if I get 7, but I'm usually closer to 6. Not good...
G'night!