Day: February 3, 2010

Soup It Up!

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Hi all!  Hope you’ve had a great day!

Thank goodness my presentation is done!  Honestly, it was pretty terrible!  Basically, me and another guy had to lead the class discussion for a 3hr seminar! Ugh!  First, I couldn’t connect my computer to the projector because I have a newer Mac that doesn’t have the right port.  Thanks Apple and Cornell, but it was okay I could go without.  Sadly those hours I spent on the power point were all for nothing!

Then, the professor kept interrupting me asking me to talk about specific things. He didn’t want to discuss what I had prepared until the end of the class!  So basically I had to search in the book for things he was asking for.  Even though I had read it and it was basically the most basic thing even (push/pull factors of rural-urban migration… really we need to talk about this for an hour??) I got flustered and it was terrible.  I should have talked to him beforehand to make sure I covered everything he wanted since I was the first to present all semester.  Oh well, It’s done.

I was nervous before class so I had a light lunch (soup + cottage cheese + cucumbers).  By the time I got home, I was starving!

I made a quick veggie lentil soup using a Thai Veggie Stock I found on sale at Wegman’s this week!

Delish!  In my soup: 2 cups Thai veggie stock, ~1/2 cup dried lentils, 1/2 broccoli crown, some kale, and bok choy.  First I cooked the lentils in the stock for about 10-15 minutes then added the veggies for a few minutes and voila! (Next time, I’d thicken it up with a little corn starch or throw in an egg!)  For a little extra protein and just plain deliciousness I had 2 Morningstar Sausage Patties.

One in a tortilla because that’s how brown people roll.

Corn Tortillas > Flour Tortillas.  What do you think??

Then the wonder that is Karin, inspired me again (I should really just start a fan club).

I made some homemade granola bars using a tweeked version of this recipe.

Sadly I messed these up for a few reasons…
1. Forgot to add the flour
2. Forgot to add vanilla
3.  Needed more apple sauce but didn’t have any more.

Regardless, they taste delicious!!!

In my granola bars I used:

2 cups of oats
20g chia seeds
1-2 tsp cinnamon
some dried cranberries (only had 16g)
1 oz dried coconut
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup agave nectar (use more if you want sweeter)
1/2 cup of apple sauce (use more next time)

I mixed all these ingredients together and baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  I could probably get 12 bars out of this.  Here is the nutrition info for the ones I made:

Delicious, easy, inexpensive and healthy!

I think they turned out okay without the flour, but I think they would have been more bar-like had I used more apple sauce.  Oh well!  Next time!  I can’t wait to make variations of these!!  (PB in the future???)  I need to run to the store to get more applesauce!!

Have you ever made your own granola bars? Any tricks of the trade I should know about?

Well, now I’m off to read a huge pile of things about climate change!  Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading 🙂  Have a great night!!

P.S.  Get a free sample of Kashi bar or cereal!! Click Here!

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Chickpea Blondies + Karin is Amazing!

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OMG Lost was great!  I wish it hadn’t been 2 hours though!! I had so much to do last night!

Of course that didn’t stop me from watching and getting a little baking action in there.

This lady is pretty much awesome for a few reason…

Reason #1 Karin is awesome: A while ago I wrote a guest post for Karin while she was in Japan, and yesterday I got the cutest thing in the mail!

Adorable little bowl from Japan and delicious sun dried tomatoes!  I can’t wait to make something exciting with them!   Thanks, Karin!  You’re a superstar!!

Reason #2: She inspired me to make my own chickpea blondies after reading about her chickpea brownies!

Here’s my recipe:

Karla’s Chickpea Blondies

6.5oz cooked chickpeas (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup Agave Nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
~1/4 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place chickpeas in the food processor, process for a few seconds.  Add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips and process until smooth.

Transfer mixture to a greased baking dish and sprinkle with chocolate chips, I used a 9″ round pie pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.

These were really interesting tasting.  I’m not sure I would make them again to be perfectly honest just because they weren’t to die for.  Definitely worth the experiment if you’re curious!  Obviously they couldn’t have been too bad if my roommate and I devoured all of them.  This morning they are gone.  Not gonna lie, last night I felt ill (guess my sugar count ended up being WAYYYY off haha).   Have you tried chickpea blondies/brownies before?

Reason #3 Karin is awesome:  We’re pretty much bloggie twins… enough said.

Well I’m off to finish preparing for a presentation I have today on slums.  Speaking of slums… My apartment is quickly becoming a piece of junk (ok I’m grossly exaggerating).  The laundry machine stopped taking quarters so I couldn’t dry my clothes.  I had to place them all over various spots in my apartment (good thing this place in an oven, they dried in no time).

Now I have crunchy clothes like when I was little in Guatemala and the clothes was line dried on the terrace.

Have a great day!!!