Corn Chiliiiiii!

Dude.  I am so exhausted, but also couldn't be more content with my life.  (Ok, so I got some bad grades today, but that was not unexpected...)  I won't disclose why I'm feeling like this, but life has just gotten better.  Let's just go with... I have some EXCELLENT friends :)

Alright, and now the food!

Adapted from 86 Lemons

Veggies

• Onion
• Carrot
• Sweet potato
• Frozen corn
• Canned diced tomatoes (no salt)
• Celery
• Red bell pepper
• Garlic

Seasonings:

• Cumin
• Chili powder
• Home made veggie broth powder

Beans - any kind will do.
Corn starch slurry
Seitan, of course.

Pot Pie Soup

Adapted from One Green Planet

Veggies:
Frozen corn
Frozen peas
Onion
Carrot
Celery

Seasonings:
Basil
Thyme
Butter extract
Home made veggie broth powder

Other:
Unsweetened plain almond milk
Corn starch slurry
seitan
Yukon potatoes

B'nut Squash and Black Eyed Pea Soup

Yaaayyy!  It's almost Thanksgiving break - one more day, one more test, and one more quiz to go!

 

In the meantime, here's the soup I've been happily indulging in for the past few days.  It's lovely - I'm loving this butternut squash stuff...

 

Adapted from Manifest Vegan

 

Veggies:

• Leek
• Onion
• Carrot
• Garlic

 

Etc:

• Black eyed peas
• Unsweetened, plain almond milk
• Cumin
• Butter extract
• Home made veggie broth powder
• Seitan

 

Puree 1 roasted butternut squash with 1/2 cup-ish sundried tomatoes and enough water to make it blend.  Add to the soup and heat through.

Creamy White Bean Soup

Today was a big day for me.  I WORE A DRESS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS.  ?! Seriously?  Yes.  Seriously.  I can't believe myself...

But, yes.  Here's some buttery, creamy, heart-warming soup for you!

Adapted from HHL

Veggies:

• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Garlic
• Potato

Seasonings:

• home made veggie broth powder
• butter extract
• celery seed
• liquid smoke
• bay leaf
• nooch

Other:

• Great northern beans
• Seitan
• Plain, unsweetened almond milk

Once things are fully cooked, blend a bit of the soup for creaminess (just not the seitan...)

Macaroni and Butternut Squash Soup

Oh my freaking bananas.  I am exhausted.

 

Physics test.  Number spewing out my head from calculus.  Memorizing greek terms for english.  Doesn't that last one seem a bit ironic, now that I think about it?..

 

Good thing I can talk about something easy, nice, and pleasant now- soooooooup!

 

 

Adapted from Love You Madly

 

saute

• 1 onion
• carrots
• celery

 

Add

• water
• soaked white grean northern beans
• home made veggie broth powder
• butter extract
• vegan worchestire sauce
• liquid smoke

 

Ladel out some broth and blend with a roasted butternut squash reeeeeally well.  Return to the soup, add a corn starch slurry if desired, and some whole wheat macaroni pasta.  Heat through and serve with seitan.

 

Roasting butternuts:  Lop off the top and bottom, and then just hack away at the skin until it's all off.  Cube the flesh, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes until tender.

Potato Soup

 

Potato soup = time for winter.  I was so excited - today it was dark out when I left school.  Cooooolest thing evah!  Seriously.

 

Ahaha, look at me, I'm yawning as I type... good thing I don't have any homework tonight.  :)  My school is having a pep rally tomorrow, and it seems like we never get homework.  Even in AP classes.  Go figure... whatever.  I ain't complaining!

 

Adapted from 86 Lemons

Veggies: carrot, onion, celery
Seasonings: home made veggie broth powder, liquid smoke, paprika, nooch
Other: broth was 1/2 soy milk and 1/2 water, thickened with corn starch slurry.  Added seitan...
And blended 1/3 of the soup just a bit to make it creamier.  Yuuummmmy!

Chilli with Sour Cream

 

More soup, catching up still...

 

As far as I remember, this was pretty tasty!

 

 

Side note on my life:  Homecoming is tomorrow.  I, obviously, don't have a date, and am not going (will probably be fast asleep when the dance starts at 9).  Is it weird that I'm proud to scoff at people who waste time/money on that stuff?  ;)  I literaly told someone "Why would you spend $100 on homecoming?  Do you know how much tofu that would buy?"  That totally got so many laughs from my friends... :D

 

Anyhoo...

 

Chili, adapted from Vouge Vegetarian

 

Veggies:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Canned, diced tomatoes

 

Seasonings:

• Vegan worchestire sauce (annie's is vegan)
• Cilantro
• No chicken broth powder
• Chili powder
• Cumin

 

Other:

• Setian of choice
• sour cream, to serve (use stevia, add the nooch - deeeelish!)
• Pinto beans
• Corn starch slurry

Welcome Fall! Split Pea Soup

Ok, so I'm not so big on pureed soups - you can probably tell.  They are just too... well... uniform.  No chunks, no excitement.  Boo hoo.  So that kind of ruled out split pea soup for me - and then I tried this recipe.  Nom nom nom!  Good stuff, this soup.  And quite simple to make, too.

Adapte from WTHDAVEA

Drizzle with sugar free maple syrup and roast at 425 for 20 minutes:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3/4 lb parsnips, peeled and coined
• Quite a few carrots, coined
• A few russet potatoes, diced

Soak 2 cups green split peas overnight.  Drain, and cook until soft with ~ 4 cups water.  Add:

• 2 tbsp homemade vegetable broth powder (GOOD STUFF, just use about 1/2 of the salt called for, and I left out the tumeric because I hate it)
• A dash of cloves
• Liquid smoke (hickory flavoured, if possible)
• Dried rosemary

Puree the soup base, and let it thicken by cooking with the lid off if needed.  This will thicken up a lot over night.
Serve: veggies, broth, seitan of choice, and sugar free apricot jam

Veg-ful Soup

Do you have an abundance of fresh herbs & veggies?

 

If yes, this soup is for you!  If no... this soup is for you!  Yay!..

Adapted from EarthBalance

Veggies:
Onions
Corn (fresh)
Carrots
Green beans
Frozen peas

Seasonings:
Vegetable/veg chicken bouillon
Fresh basil, parsley, and oregano

Other:
Great northern beans
Yukon potatoes or pasta (I attempted the dumplings... didn't work too well...)
Corn starch slurry
Seitan chicken (minus the oil, baked at 350 until poofy)

Rice and Lentil Soup

And the latest addition to out of seasoning cooking...

What?  I had a giant bag of lentils that needed to be used up! ;)

Adapted from All Recipes

Veggies:

• Carrots
• Onions
• Spinach
• Garlic
• Crushed tomatoes

Spices:

• bay leaf
• chopped fresh oregano
• chopped fresh basil
• nooch
• chili powder
• celery seed
• a splash of vinegar
• vegetable bouillon

Etc:

• lentils
• brown rice
• seitan
• cornstarch slurry to thicken



Chickpea Noodle Soup

Better the next day?

I think so!

You know, it was kind of funny-  M said the broth tastes buttery.  Why?  Don't ask me... -_-  No clue.  It's good though...

Adapted from MyRecipes

Veggies: carrots and onion (duh), garlic

Seasonings: veggie chicken bouillon, chopped fresh parsley, bay leaves, juice of 1 lemon, Spike seasoning, dried majoram

Finished with whole wheat shell pasta, cooked chickpeas, a cornstarch slurry, and seitan

Oregano Quinoa Soup

Oh, yeah... I chose the best day to make soup!

Hottest day this week... 108.  You've GOT to be kidding, right?

Bleck.  Oh, well.  I needs my soup.  ;)

(This BURSTED with oreganoy-goodness!  I literally whacked off about 20 stems from my plant.  Although it's so big right now that it doesn't look like any was taken off...)

Adapted from Cooking Light
Veggies: carrots and onions
Stuff: quinoa, lentils
Seasonings: veggie chicken bouillon, liquid smoke, nooch, a bit of soy sauce, paprika, and more fresh oregano than I care to talk about (I was plucking that stuff off the stem for a good 10 minutes!)
Finished with a corn starch slurry and seitan.

What's Up Wednesday #4

Chocolate Covered Katie's granola bars - dipped in my strawberry sauce (the picture, however, is just jam)!  (Used sugar free maple syrup, added cinnamon, and all applesauce, comes to ~800 calories for the whole recipe)

Spent waaaay to much time watching Gurren Lagann

Better picture of ramen noodle soup ;)

Ohmygosh this article is so sobering: on yahoo.

I made chickpea flour in my Vitamix.  Oh, the NOISE killed me -_-

And then used it in this setian recipe to put in soup, baking at 350 instead of steaming, and omitting the anise and beef flavouring.  That seems to give it a better texture, in my opinion - less rubbery.

And I also made this setian, again baking it, omitting the oil, using 1 tbsp corn starch in place of the tapioca, and using water in place of the wine.  Really good in a sandwich!

Fresh corn on the cob!  First time in years I have tried corn.  My dad would eat corn with fish, so I always associated the two together.  However, the food pantry that I volunteer at got some fresh corn in - I'd say about 1000 ears.  I spent about 2 hours shucking that stuff last Friday... and I was like "I should try corn again!"  So I did a bit of homework, and found this nice little article on Fat Free Vegan.  Shuck the corn, bake at 350 for half an hour.  AMAZING!

Did you guys know that your body does not absorb the calories from fiber!?!?!  Yay!  You learn something new every day.  Here's a good article about it.

And, finally, I made a tasty salad dressing with the last dreggs of the pineapple juice.  First I boiled the juice for a few minutes to reduce it, and then blended that with tofu, fresh oregano, and fresh basil in my Vitamix.  Yum - great summer dressing!

Soup

Is it pretty?

No.

Did it taste really good, MUCH better than expected?

YES!

Adapted from Eating Well

Sauteed carrots, garlic, and onion, then soaked pinto beans.. followed by lotsa water, nooch, sumac, a few dried herbs, veggie chicken bouillon.  Added in whole wheat linguine, torn/stemmed spinach, corn starch slurry, and setian.  Served with a large dollop of pesto (subbing mirin for the olive oil, and adding sunflower seeds to thicken)

This was super good - it kind of reminds me of restaurant wedding soup!  I've been wanting to recreate this flavour for a while, but this totally happened by accident.

PS - I might get a Vitamix soon!

PPS - I totally cut my finger reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally badly on my immersion blender today.  Was trying to clean the blade out, and then I accidentally pushed the button to make the blade spin.  OOOUCH!

"Condensed" Lentil and Rice Soup

No, really.  This soup thickens up so much that it's pretty much condensed soup!  Although, I don't know about you, but I really like my soup that thick... Plus, this soup packs in lots of great flavour.  Normally, I have trouble with lentil soups being so bland, so I have been more heavy-handed with my spices in soups.  And lookie at where it got me!

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

Veggies: onion, carrots, lots of garlic
Stuffs: brown lentils (presoaked), canned tomato sauce, brown rice, lotsa water
Seasonings: liquid smoke, chili powder, cumin, oregano, chipotle chili powder, veggie chicken and vegetable bullion
Thickened with corn starch, and served with fake meat!

Onion Soup + Extras

Well, I can't just have onions!  Soup must have carrots.  And beans.  And rice.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Saute onions sliced into half rings (or whole rings, if you are feeling patient) and carrots. 
As far as seasonings go: vegetable and veggie chicken bouillon, Italian seasoning, butter extract, fresh basil and parsley.  Then came wild rice.
At the end of cooking, I added cooked gargantuam lima beans, red kidney beans, and pinto beans, along with a corn starch slurry (using up random beans, can you tell?)
Served with fake meat, toasted bread, and cheese, French onion soup style. ;)

Old Bay Soup

Here's an old favourite of mine.  No one can say this isn't flavourful!  Oh, and don't be shy of using green beans in soup - I was at first, then I was like "Oh, this is perfectly fine"
Adapted from I Eat Food

Veggies: Onion, carrots, garlic, green beans
Then came tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, a bit of soy sauce, water, veggie bouillon, celery seed, thyme, Old Bay seasoning, a spicy spice mixture, and quinoa.  And pinto beans.
Lastly, thickened with a corn starch slurry, and served with veggie meat... and I am happy.

Easy Vegan Ramen Soup

Yay ramen noodles!  So good for the hot summer days...
Although, you really have to be careful.  Both M and I H-A-T-E seaweed.  We checked the ingredients list on the ramen to make sure it didn't have seaweed, and it didn't.  But it did have "dried vegetables".  So, I dumped the packet in the soup.. and spent the next 20 minutes picking out seaweed from the soup.  Blech.  Oh well, it was still pretty good.  I've made this soup sooo many times, and it's always tasty!

** update: I didn't use the seasoning packet with the next round.  No duh.  Instead, I added dried ginger, white sugar, chili bean paste, veggie bouillon, garlic powder, and vegetarian mushroom/fish sauce.  It was super yum - probably better than with the seasoning packet!  And I felt a BIT better eating it... no weird chemicals.

It pretty simple: saute carrots, onions, and cabbage.  Add in 2 cups veggie broth (to give the soup body), and then enough water to make soup.  Add in 2 packages ramen and their seasoning packets (not the oil packets), vegge bullion, dried ginger, and a little spicy stuff.  Cook until the noodles are done, and serve with fake meat.

Single Serving Use Up Leftovers Soup

Despite the purpose of this soup... it turned out really yum.  Much better than expected, which is always a NICE surprise.
Speaking of... I could use more nice surprises.  Couldn't you? ;)

Veggies were carrot, garlic, onion, and broccoli.  Spices were veggie chicken bullion, Spike Veg-It seasoning, Italian seasoning, and cooking sherry.  Other stuff included orzo, fake meat, red kidney beans, and corn starch slurry to thicken.

Soup... with LOTS of Stuffs

Soup! 

Adapted from Oh She Glows

Veggies were onion, carrots, garlic, and bell pepper.  Then soaked pinto beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes went in, along with some brown rice.  Spices were cinnamon, majoram, brown sugar, nutmeg, coriander, and 2 bay leaves, along with veggie bouillon.  Towards the end frozen peas, chopped parsley, and a corn starch slurry were added.