Brown Rice, Lentil and Spinach Soup

Even though I live in the lentil capital of the world, I never cooked with lentils until a few weeks ago!  While I was browsing the Saveur magazine, one recipe looked really good.

The serving size is six.  Since I was not sure how the soup would turn out good, I decided to try with a smaller portion to reduce the risk of waisting the ingredients. 

Here is the recipe.

I kept the original amount for the vegetables (onion, carrots and celery)

INGREDIENTS

½ lb. sweet Italian sausage   → 1/4 lb.
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil  → 1 tablespoon
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. cumin seeds       → 1/2 teaspoon
½ tsp. dried thyme      → 1/4 teaspoon
1 dried chile de árbol   → I did not have it 
12 cups chicken broth  → I did not have it , I added 4 cups of water instead of 6 cups
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed  → 1/2 cup short-grain brown rice (I didn't have long-grain kind)
¾ cup brown lentils, rinsed → 3/8 cup brown lentils
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ lb. spinach, coarsely chopped


It was super easy to cook!  It was very hearty soup.  I will make it again (and again) for sure.

Granola Bars

I was looking for a recipe for granola bars, and found this recipe.

When I cook or bake, I do not follow to a tee.  As soon as I saw the list of ingredients, I decided to omit the brown sugar.  As I consume very little sugar, my tongue does not handle sweet stuff very well.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ                           → Replaced with ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour                      → 1/4 cup instead
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt                    → 1 pinch instead
1/2 cup honey                                    → 1/3 cup instead
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil                          → 1/3 cup oil plus 1/3 applesauce instead
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried sour cherries, chopped
                                                     → 1/2 cup of dried fruits (I like to use dried cranberries or raisins)
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips             → 1/4 cup or omit
3/4 cup slivered almonds                   → 1/4 cup nuts (I have tried with unsalted cashew nuts)

Serving size 16 bars

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

 

2. Add all dry ingredients (oats, flour, cinnamon, ground flaxseed and salt) in a bowl.

3. Measure wet ingredients (oil, honey, applesauce, vanilla and egg).  Note: If you do not have applesauce on hand, you may use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup honey.

Mix all wet ingredients well.

4. Pour the wet ingredient mixture to the bowl. Mix well.

My little helper was a great help! 

5. Add nuts, dried fruits and chocolate chips.  Mix well.

6. Press the mixture to the pan.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in a 350F oven.

7. Cool for 10 minutes and cut into pieces. 

 

Update (March 24, 2013):

• Baking in a 9x9" pan makes a thicker bars. 
• Coconut, Chocolate & Almonds: Yummy!  I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.  I omitted vanilla.  

Applesauce

We bought 50 lbs. of apples in Hood River, Oregon at the end of the year 2012. As I often substitute applesauce for oil and sugar, I wanted to try making apple sauce!

We visited Kiyokawa Family Orchards. They had some rare apple.  The lowest price was 39cents per pound!  We should have bought more.

 

I used a few different kinds of apples for the applesauce.

 

 First, I pealed apples and chopped them.

 

Next, I cooked them in my pot.  Finally, I mushed the cooked apples.

The whole process took some time, but it was easier than I had thought. I froze half in a ziplock bag, and I canned the other half.

Cupboard for Kids

 

Hello!

 

It has been a while since last post!  The part of the reason for the long break was our main computer was down. 

 

I try to update my blog more often.

 

Our older son was claiming on the kitchen counter to get glasses whenever he wanted water to drink.  My husband and I wanted to create a solution.

 

We have a small buffet table where I used to keep my recipes books.  Now we keep the dishes and silverware for our boys.  After dishes are done, we put their dishes on the top of the buffet table for the boys to put them away. 

 

This has been working great for us.

 

Oven Fries

My boys asked for some French fries. I had some potatoes. I didn't want to do clean up afterwards.

My solution was 'cook' potatoes in the oven!

First, slice potatoes to the shape you like. Then, coat them with olive or vegetable oil.

Bake the potatoes in the oven at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes.

That's all!