Vegetarian Corn Chowder

The weather turned cold again this week so I adapted a few chowder recipes I found online, and Brent made the following soup Monday night. Unfortunately my camera was dead when this happened, so there are no pics. It was pretty through!

He served it with artisan bread from a local baker, but it could also be accompanied by these yummy looking Cheddar Dill Beer Biscuits.

Creamy Corn Chowder

3 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 finely diced red onion

4 peeled, bite-size diced white potatoes

4 cups of boiling water

4 veggie bouillon cubes

1 t dried thyme or chopped fresh

2 t paprika

4 T butter

1 370 ml can evaporated milk

salt & pepper to taste

fresh chopped parsley (for garnish)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium high heat in a large pot. Add diced onion and thyme and saute till onion is transluscent. Add paprika and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the boiling water and add to the pot. Add potatoes and corn. Bring to a boil and then reduce hit and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft but not mushy. Squish a few potato chunks against the side of the pot with a fork, stir, and cook for a few minutes to thicken the chowder.

Reduce the heat to low, add the can of evaporated milk, heat through, but do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chives.

Having an Off Week

Not feeling so great this week. My stomach has been upset for about 4 days now (runs), and I’ve had a lot of headaches lately. My nose is bit runny, and the weight of my glasses on my nose is making my face hurt cause my sinuses are so tender right now.

It’s spring break for my son, and my regular routine has gone to pot. The weather is crappy, and my mood swings are really extreme for some reason. I’m happy and silly, then a couple hours later I feel like a hermit and don’t want to talk to anyone. The Grumpy Pants Mom is not a fun mom.

My house is feeling pretty organized and clean though, and that’s helping my moods a fair bit, actually. My cleaning lady is coming today to deep clean the bathroom and do all the floors and dusting. So it could be worse! I cooked a bunch of whole wheat pasta dinners last night for the week, and I have a big pot of left over beet borsht in the fridge so should be a fairly easy, and hopefully productive, week.

Cutting out sugar and all the white stuff has been more difficult this week. On Sunday we were invited out for lunch at a close by restaurant with our church group. I had coffee sweetened with honey, which was actually quite good, to my surprise. For lunch I ordered a veggie burger, but they didn’t have any whole wheat buns, and it came with french fries. That night dh and I had a date, and went out for a fancy Thai dinner and jazz concert. The appetizer was a salad rolle in a white rice wrapper. Dinner was vegetarian curry with white rice and white rice noodles. Dessert was ice cream and fruit. It was SOOOO yummy and worth the little diversion from my diet.

Tonight we are going to another dinner out at a friend’s place. Eating out is definitely more challenging than eating at home. I’m making SOME better choices than I would have a few months ago, but it’s still difficult for me to find healthy alternatives.

Managing in the Real World

For the first time in YEARS (May 1999 to be exact) I actually have the desire and ability to say no to myself when it comes to healthy food choices. I have tried dieting many times since my last “Big Weight Loss of ’99″ when I went on the Protein Power Plan diet, and lost 25 lbs in one month. I was down to 175 lbs, and felt fantastic. Except I hated, nay LOATHED, the diet. I think that’s when I started going to the veg side of life. A full month of chicken breast, eggs, steak, pepperoni sticks and cheese with bookoo (how does one spell that word anyways? Anyone?) amounts of low carb veggies will do that to a person.

So yesterday I had to go to the big island. I did manage to eat something before getting on the 1:20 ferry, but by 4 PM I was pretty hungry. Last time I tried my favorite healthy wrap place it was a dismal failure. EVERYTHING has carrots in it, and I went home with a nice allergy rash. No thanks.

I ran a million errands and was totally parched. I was in London Drugs and I saw the pop fridges. I actually managed to find a juice that was JUST juice, no sweeteners! If I hadn’t found one, my other option was water, which would have been fine, but I needed something a little more than that in that moment. And it was *really* surprisingly good.

At lunch time I found myself in the mall’s food court. Usually I get a greek wrap, but it’s on a white flour wrap, and I didn’t know if there is sugar in anything else there (I’m guessing yes?) so I decided to go for Taco Time. I have been low on protein the last few days, so what better high protein/fibre choice than a Super Bean Burrito? AND, it came on a whole wheat tortilla! That shocked me… Who knew Taco Time was going healthy on us?! That thing was ENORMOUS too. So big I threw a quarter of it away.

So, the moral to the story is that my old excuse of “but i was on the road and needed to grab something quick” was pretty lame. One can manage – quickly – to find healthy options when you’re committed to doing so.

It’s weird how my perspective is changing now. I passed a Tim Horton’s in the mall, and the glossy donuts did not appeal to me at all. In fact I found the smell was a bit overwhelming and nauseating.

Veg Beet Borscht Recipe – Crockpot Version

This is a vegetarian version of my favorite winter soup. It usually calls for carrots, but I have a carrot allergy (yeah, I know… weird), so I have eliminated that part of the recipe. I made it tonight, and served it with some grainy buttered artisan bread. SO GOOD!

4 large organic beets, peeled and grated
1/2 organic cabbage, shredded
1/2 organic red onion, diced
4 peeled potatoes, peeled and diced small
2 T organic balsamic vinegar
1 T organic lemon juice
2 organic vegetarian bouillon cubes
Water

More vinegar to taste
Ground salt crystals to taste
Maple syrup to taste
Lemon juice to taste
Fresh chopped dill (about 2 T)

Dollop of Sour cream to garnish

1. Peel beets and grate in food processor
2. Shred the cabbage
3. Peel and dice potatoes
4. Dice the onion
5. Put beets, cabbage, potatoes, red onion, vinegar, and bouillon cubes in crock pot. Fill the rest of the pot with water, leaving about 3 inches to make room for cooking.
6. Turn the crockpot on high, and cook for 4 hours.
7. Add chopped dill. Adjust seasonings with salt, maple syrup, vinegar, and lemon juice. Borscht should have a sweet and sour flavor.
8. Dollop a scoop of sour cream onto the soup when serving. Enjoy hot or cold.

Serves 6 – 8.