Cooking Musings
I think I can safely say that I love to cook. Today, Ashley and I weren't feeling well and she suggested getting some soup for dinner. I immediately went for my cookbooks to find a decent soup to make instead. I'm not a huge fan of canned soups, mainly because I just don't think they taste as good as homemade stuff.
One thing I've been wrestling with is a cooking budget. I'm working on cutting back on my spending overall and I've started keeping track of my spending. I plan to try to cut back 10% a month. I consider cooking a hobby, too, though, so watching my grocery budget is interesting. Since I like trying new and different recipes pretty often, can I just use some entertainment money for grocery money?
Tonight's recipe was just Vegetable Rice Soup.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
6 cups water
2 tablespoons tamari
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 cup frozen peas
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cupes cooked rice
1 tablespoon minced fresh italian parsley, for garnish
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the water, tamari, and vegetable bouillon and bring to a simmer, the reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Add the peas and salt and gently cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in rice and heat through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with the parsley.
I used long grained white rice and skipped the parsley. I think I actually had it on hand, but didn't feel like chopping it. The part that made me happiest was that I had everything I needed except for the bouillon cubes and I could have probably just substituted veggie broth for that and the water. As you can tell from the recipe, it was a nice mild meal. We ate it with some bread from Panera and it was delicious. We also have some to eat as leftovers.
I feel really good after eating it, since we had pizza Friday and curry last night and it was just a little much.
We also saw Scott Pilgrim tonight in a theater that was built a couple of years ago. I haven't been there, but it was pretty nice overall. The seats were comfy and it was nice and empty, which is always a positive.
One thing I've been wrestling with is a cooking budget. I'm working on cutting back on my spending overall and I've started keeping track of my spending. I plan to try to cut back 10% a month. I consider cooking a hobby, too, though, so watching my grocery budget is interesting. Since I like trying new and different recipes pretty often, can I just use some entertainment money for grocery money?
Tonight's recipe was just Vegetable Rice Soup.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
6 cups water
2 tablespoons tamari
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 cup frozen peas
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cupes cooked rice
1 tablespoon minced fresh italian parsley, for garnish
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the water, tamari, and vegetable bouillon and bring to a simmer, the reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Add the peas and salt and gently cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in rice and heat through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with the parsley.
I used long grained white rice and skipped the parsley. I think I actually had it on hand, but didn't feel like chopping it. The part that made me happiest was that I had everything I needed except for the bouillon cubes and I could have probably just substituted veggie broth for that and the water. As you can tell from the recipe, it was a nice mild meal. We ate it with some bread from Panera and it was delicious. We also have some to eat as leftovers.
I feel really good after eating it, since we had pizza Friday and curry last night and it was just a little much.
We also saw Scott Pilgrim tonight in a theater that was built a couple of years ago. I haven't been there, but it was pretty nice overall. The seats were comfy and it was nice and empty, which is always a positive.