Soups On

One of the best things about fall and winter, is tummy-warming soups. In my first trimester, soups were the only veggie thing that didn't make me nauseous, and thus were a great way to get my nutrients. Now in my second trimester, we've continued making soups, but also stews and chilis, and I'm not tired of them yet, because there are just endless possibilities!

Tonight, we enjoyed this Black Bean Soup, from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes, by Robin Robertson. It was really nice. Three solid stars ***. A nice base of onion, garlic, and red bell pepper, along with some spicy Tabasco sauce and sherry (I left that out of my portion). Mr. PLV liked this more than me, but it was still nice and warming.

Last week, we really enjoyed this Minestrone Soup with Mini "Meatballs," also from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes. It was supposed to be like Wedding Soup, but it was nothing like it. Real wedding soup has escarole and not much else in terms of veggies. However, this was still excellent and the mini "meatballs" were super easy to make (just thawed Amy's veggie burgers, reformed with some nutritional yeast and pan-fried). Three and a half stars ***1/2 and quite delish!

This past week, we made a great chili, funnily enough, from a Wegman's grocery store magazine! It was called Cashew Chili and it was really superb. We subbed canned beans for the dried ones to save on time, and used one can of dark red kidney, one of black, and one of pink beans, for the all three red kidney it called for. I like variation in my beans! We both agreed that the cashews really made this dish distinct and enjoyed leftovers throughout the week!

Of course, even we get sick of leftovers, and one night we just popped this Celebration Roast from Field Roast into the oven along with some baked potatoes. It was really quite good! Funnily enough, Mr. PLV said he liked this more than the usual Tofurky we enjoy on Thanksgiving, while I thought it tasted less like meat and more like meatloaf (in consistency)! I did like the flavors very much. Three solid stars for this nice, meatless roast ***.

Although muesli has carried me through months and months of breakfasts, I was ready for something a little different last week. I whipped up some steel cut oats, courtesy of some online recipe (don't know where from), called, Apple Pie Oats or something like that. It was pretty good and made a nice batch for a few days in a row. (Note to self: apples and blackstrap molasses do not go. Agave nectar is way better).

This past Sunday, I had to make time to do some baking, for my mid-morning snack. These Zesty Cranberry Crumb Muffins from My Sweet Vegan were not only pretty easy, but healthy with whole wheat pastry flour, and delicious! Four stars ****. Light, fluffy crumb to the muffin. I left the crumb topping of butter and sugar off the top, though, to make them a little healthier. The best part is the way the dried cranberries are cooked in orange juice - very zesty indeed! They taste more decadent than they really are.
Last but not least, these Pumpkin Molasses Bars from the Have Cake, Will Travel blog were pretty easy and very seasonal! They are dense and very filling. Oh, and easy and pretty healthy (without the icing). A nice change from muffins and quick breads. Three solid stars ***.

OK - that's it for now! We don't have many more cooking plans for the calendar year, as we get ready to travel and will be busy with wrapping presents and making cookies, which I will be sure to blog about - yay!