Tag Archives: soup

Nerve Soup

Posted on February 28, 2013 | 2 Comments

Anyone else having a “one of those days” kind of weeks? Um, yeah. Over here, it’s been a range of death in the family, stressful communication issues (thanks, Mercury retrograde), and even a salmonella waiting game. The universe has a sense of humor–not 20 minutes after I finished a cup of tea brewed with the first bag in a box someone gave me for Christmas, I got a text about a recall. Guess which  lot number was at the top of the list? Hey, it happens, but you’d better believe I kept myself busy that day to keep my mind off it.

Add to that things like, oh, feelings (what up, full moon), and it’s no wonder I’ve been relying on things like yoga and coffee dates with friends to get me through.

And humor. I love Mel Brooks—this clip basically says it all…

Good times. Another of my favorite remedies for these nerve soup weeks is real soup. Here are a few of my go-to recipes:

How do you deal with anxiety?

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What I Ate Wednesday #95: Another Last/First

Posted on January 30, 2013 | 9 Comments

Wednesday totally snuck up on me this week. Cheers to another What I Ate Wednesday.  As always, thanks to Jenn for hosting the weekly link party. To see more WIAW from other bloggers, visit Peas & Crayons.

Even though I’m in a rotation that has me working from home a lot—aka “professionally developing,” I still feel like I’ve been super-busy. thanks to some good and weird surprises and opportunities.

Yesterday happened to be my last first day of school maybe ever. I’m not gonna lie—I’m overjoyed at the prospect of being done with my masters in less than four months. I have no idea how the work is going to get done, but it always does, doesn’t it? I swear, though—the whole classroom must have heard the deep breaths I was taking.

Here’s what I ate to keep myself going throughout the day…

Breakfast: Pumpkin pancakes topped with ricotta, syrup, and cinnamon; plum on the side

Lunch: Tortellini soup; salad

Snack: Greek yogurt with cinnamon, berries, and cereal

Dinner: brown rice with a mix of shredded brussels sprouts, sauteed mushrooms,and roasted broccoli; turkey bacon—topped with balsamic and grated pecorino; a piece of dark chocolate with ginger

Snack: Sliced banana and blueberries with PB2 mixed with cocoa powder and more pumpkin

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently? 

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Comfort Food

Posted on January 28, 2013 | 4 Comments

Do you ever wake up still ticked off about something from the day before? That was me on Sunday morning. Most of the time I can let things roll off my back, but we all have our days, I guess.

It didn’t help that I had an aggressively runny nose that was probably my body’s way of telling me that alcohol and cold walks home do not mix, even if I stick to my limit and bundle up.Luckily, I didn’t have any other symptoms, but still—comfort food was clearly in order.

For breakfast, I made an old favorite: apple spice oats, topped with peanut butter. IMG_1475After doing yoga and probably driving my neighbors crazy with my latest self-indulgent spotify playlist (this one’s almost all Rolling Stones and Neil Young—I can’t stop listening to this song lately for some reason, and I’m not that sorry), I picked up some groceries and whipped up these weird little items. They were supposed to be black bean burgers, but in a few days, you will be seeing a recipe for rice & bean cup-muffins. Or whatever I decide to call them…When in doubt, just throw it in a muffin tin. IMG_1482

Lunch was an assortment of things I was craving. By the way, if you haven’t tried roasted eggplant slices on toast with hummus, you need to try it—so good! IMG_1480

I spent most of the afternoon studying for the RD exam, reading this book, and doing random things around the apartment that needed doing. By evening, I was feeling a lot better, mentally and physically. Luckily, I have some good things to look forward to this week with less weekday runaround involved, so cheers to hopefully feeling 100% soon.

What are you comfort foods? What are you looking forward to this week? 

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Lady-Like Behavior and Tortellini Soup

Posted on January 26, 2013 | 4 Comments

It seems I’m not the only one out there having trouble with the frigid temps lately. I’m just glad I didn’t set any language-related New Years resolutions. It’s hard to be a lady when you’re wearing multiple sweaters and still shivering, especially when you know it’s going to be almost 60 degrees and raining in a few days. I’m basically convinced at this point that “global warming” is just a nice way of saying “mad-cosmic PMS.”  Continue reading →

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Disaster Soup with Kale & Mushrooms

Posted on January 18, 2013 | 6 Comments

I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that’s Friday!

This has felt like the longest week ever. Part of it is that I’m just “not a research person” and can’t handle sitting behind a desk all day next to a space heater. Part of it was the weather. Oh, and part of it was being the first person “ever” to blow a fuse in the bionutrition lab trying to plug in said space heater, thus rendering the entire computer system dead! Clearly, I am awesome. And by “awesome,” I mean, “a disaster in the lab setting.”

Needless to say, in addition to a lot of therapeutic apartment-cleaning, I was in need of some serious comfort food—aka soup. This creation (loosely inspired by this recipe) came together really quickly and allowed me to use up a bunch of stuff I had in the fridge and cupboard.IMG_1417

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1.5 cups mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bellas)
  • 1 bunch of kale, chopped
  • 4 cups water or broth
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can gigante beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup red wine (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary, minced or dried
  • salt & pepper
  • turkey bacon (optional, but good if you have a some leftover to get rid of)
  • pecorino cheese, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

  1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms and rosemary.  Cook stirring occasionally until the mushrooms have cooked down but not become soggy (~5 minutes).
  2. Deglaze the pan with wine, stirring to get any bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes, beans and broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
  3. Add kale and simmer for 5 or so more minutes.
  4. Garnish with crumbled turkey bacon and pecorino cheese. Serve with crusty bread.

Do you have any favorite cold-weather foods?

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Sunday Things

Posted on December 30, 2012 | 3 Comments

Getting up at 5 a.m. on the regular has me on a weird sleep schedule that’s only gonna stay weird for the next few weeks. However, the past two nights, I managed to clock in 8-plus hours of uninterrupted shut-eye for the first time in an obscenely long time. Totally worth the crazy dreams. I was starting to think I’d hallucinated parts of the last week!

chocolate oatmeal with egg whites

one day, I will laugh at myself for all the oatmeal photos I’ve posted over the years

My Sunday began with a new favorite breakfast, chocolate oatmeal with egg whites cooked in.

Then it was off to a hot yoga class. It was so relaxing and restorative. Doing yoga at home is great and all, but sometimes it’s nice to get the hell out of my own space—it helps me clear my mind even more since I’m not surrounded by a bunch of  to-do list things.

After picking up some groceries on the way home, I cleaned my apartment (do you think that’ll take care of the parts of my brain the yoga couldn’t quite reach?). So far, the afternoon is going to be about listening to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon on repeat and making split pea soup (maybe eating green stuff on New Years Day will bring good luck in the coming year?), catching up on emails and maybe finally getting around to solidifying my new years eve plans.

What are your Sunday plans? What are you doing for New Years Eve? 

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Things I Never Thought I’d Say

Posted on December 13, 2012 | 6 Comments

Case in point: I just spilled nutritional yeast on my keyboard.

This, obviously, necessitates having nutritional yeast on hand to spill. If you’re raising an eyebrow over the word, I don’t blame you—it’s legitimately weird. It’s also tasty and full of nutrients like B12 and protein. A few years ago, I’d never even heard of the stuff, but now I use it all the time. It’s especially good sprinkled on soup. IMG_1124

(And yes, I put hummus on bagels.)

I also have a way of spilling turmeric on people’s counters. My own kitchen counter is an orange mess unto itself.

Another thing I never thought I’d say: “Sure, I’ll bring a massaged kale salad for Christmas.”

Oh, and I’ve been eating a lot of tilapia lately. Oh, hospital cafeteria food. Actually, I shouldn’t complain—one can do worse than fish and veggies for lunch. I just think “tilapia” is a funny word.

Can you tell it’s been an exhausting week? That said, I’m loving staff relief. I’m almost sad that this is pretty much my last clinical rotation. For now, I’m just happy to go with the flow, keep doing what I’m doing, and feeling the feelings. I’m also learning a lot and also getting a sense of how far I’ve come since I started this internship. Yesterday, for example, I had to write a tube feed order, and it was just like, “Meh, tube feed—no big deal.” It seems like yesterday I was dreading the first time I’d ever have to calculate one!

What are some things you never thought you’d say? 

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Small Victories

Posted on November 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Icebox cake & solo cups–a winning combination

One thing that can be frustrating about living in New York is that everyone is so busy. On the other hand, I love being friends with so many ambitious, smart, talented people. It helps that we just kind of assume we’re all busy, so no one takes it personally when it’s hard to make plans. However, it makes it extra-special when we manage to get it together. Even when you haven’t seen each other in months, you can pick up right where you left off. Case in point: last night I celebrated an old friend’s birthday, and it was like maybe a week had gone by since we’d seen each other!

I actually stayed out past midnight and did not turn into a pumpkin. Small victories. Of course, I still woke up at 7:30 this morning without my alarm, but fortunately, I didn’t really feel the wine and champagne I’d enjoyed last night. I even went to the 9 a.m. yoga class I love.

non-fat ricotta & cinnamon on sprouted-grain cinnamon-raisin toast is one of my new favorite things

So far, the rest of my day is going to include laundry and catching up on work. Oh, and making soup, because I do a lot of that this time of year. Today’s concoction is French lentil soup with mushrooms, roasted eggplant, and red miso. We’ll see about the rest.

What are your weekend plans? Any favorite soup concoctions? 

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What I Ate Wednesday #83: Working for the Weekend

Posted on November 7, 2012 | 5 Comments

Another week, another What I Ate Wednesday. Well actually, not just any other “another week,” but election week. However, you’d be best going to another blog for political commentary. Though I don’t exactly shy away from discussing sex, death, or even religion, there are people far more qualified to talk politics. What am I missing—love? Anyway, I do hope you guys went out there and voted with your votes yesterday!

As always, thanks to Jenn for hosting the weekly link party. To see more WIAW from other bloggers, visit Peas & Crayons.

Last week, I shared some of what I ate while helping out at the hospital during and just after Hurricane Sandy. This week I’ll give you a glimpse at what I ate while working the weekend.

I actually kind of like working weekends at my current site because the pace is so much more mellow and it gives you more of a chance to talk to other members of the care team, but it’s still, well, working the weekend when you feel like all your friends are outside playing. I like to pack myself a “fancy” salad so at least I have something to look forward to at lunch—and also because the cafeteria all but shuts down anyway. Here’s what I ate on Sunday…

Breakfast: steel-cut oats w/ chia seeds, pumpkin & plum (in one of my new bowls!), topped w/ apple sauce & PB

Lunch: Salad from home and soup for the cafeteria. Mmm, sodium…

Dinner: Random roasted veggies & kale tossed into whole wheat pasta with spices (garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes) and nonfat ricotta; dark chocolate for dessert 

Snack: Plain yogurt w/ frozen blueberries, dried cranberries & cereal 

Do you ever talk about sex, death, religion, or politics? Love? 

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White Bean Soup

Posted on November 6, 2012 | Leave a comment
It’s been a while since I’ve shared a new soup recipe. I’ve been enjoying some old favorites recently, like, mushroom lentil bourguinon and multiple various on red lentil soup—from curried with pumpkin to a version based on this chowder from Vegetarian Times, which includes roasted apples and butternut squash.
I’ve been craving tomato-based soups lately, though. I blame my weekends working at the hospital, where I’ve been eating a lot of red soup on my lunch break. Unfortunately, they don’t serve these during the week! With a cold stretch coming through these parts (listen to me, I’m making Manhattan sound like the f-ing country), my day off yesterday was the perfect time to throw something together. I was very happy with how this turned out.
Jess: 1, Cold Temps: 0. 
Ingredients
  • ~2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can white beans, drained & rinsed
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (I used one with no salt added)
  • 1 zucchini, sliced into half-moons
  • 1 cup corn kernels (I used Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn)
  • a few big handful chopped collard greens (I used frozen but fresh would work too)
  • 4 cups water or broth of choice
  • dried oregano
  • red pepper flakes to taste
  • paprika
  • 2-3 drops liquid smoke (optional but good)
  • ½ tbsp. xanthan gum (totally optional but a good thickener if you want it)

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large pot on medium. Add garlic and cook a few minutes, until fragrant.
  2. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, greens, and water or broth.
  3. Add spices and liquid smoke. Stir well.
  4. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer about 30 minutes.
  5. Stir in xanthan gum, cook on low for another 5 minutes or until soup has thickened up. You can totally skip this step, but it makes for a heartier texture.

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