Taste of Italy Soup

Ahhhh, soup, how my soul loves thee.  Seriously, what is better that the little wafts of steam that come off of a hot bowl of soup?  Or the soothing warmth soaking into your fingers when you wrap your hands around a mug of savory goodness?  I don't know about you guys, but for me, soup/stew is the ultimate cuddley feel-happy-to-be-alive comfort food.

And thankfully, even when you're eating in the box, you can have this supremely blissful feeling.  And it's so darn easy!  (And I'm easing back into this blog thing with a simple recipe...but hey, I don't know if you guys have tried this yet, and you really need to!)

So this is your assignment, should you choose to accept it:  take a break from the holiday bustle, sit down in a comfortable chair in a warm and quiet living room, and let the lights of your Christmas trees twinkle your worries away as you enjoy your meal.

Update!

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

Where have I been?

Well, I've been transitioning, ya'll.  I am officially out of the box.  I'm maintaining, losing, gaining, but so far, maintaining.  And until I get more skilled at this eating in the GAP thing, I'm satisfied with that for a couple of months.  So, to make a long story short, I've had a really hard time coming up with new in the box meals lately because oh-my-gosh-I-can-eat-other-stuff-and-that's-what-I-want-right-now!

However, I'm past that initial food freedom euphoria, and I have been doing an occasional Decision Free day here and there to help with maintenance, and boy oh boy, does it do the trick.  I figure committing to posting a new recipe a week will help me keep up these Decision Free days.  So I will.  Post a Decision Free recipe every week or so, that is, probably on the weekends.  I'm not going to employ my creative genius to make Healthy Solutions stuff, because, frankly, I feel those people have PLENTY of options.  Decision Free is the more constrictive diet, and the one that needs the most help, more ideas, more variety. 

By the way, I recently had a weight loss triumph.  I bought, and fit into, a pair of knee high black leather boots.  I could have never ever ever done this before.  Have you had any weight loss triumphs lately?  Let's focus on those, and on making this food taste great.

I'm glad to be back.  Thanks for waiting on me. Hugs.

Halloween Pumpkin Spook Treats

Happy Halloween!  I'd say a holiday is a fine excuse to whip up another batch of rare and treatie-type goodies.  As always, these kind of baked goods are low volume foods, so bake with care and make sure they truly are just an occasional treat.

So, aren't they just hecka cute?  Kinda granola bar-like, but I spiced them up to taste like pumpkin pie.

If you don't like pumpkin pie, then I think you're crazy, but you COULD omit the flavorings I added and still have a very passable granola treat.

The pictures speak for themselves.  And they're saying "YUM."

Mediterranean Patties

I've been trying to get this recipe on here for days, literally.  One thing leads to another, and, well, you know how it goes.  Anyway!  Here we go.

This time I tried to replicate falafel.  For those of you who aren't familiar, falafel is a Mediterranean fried patty made primarily out of chickpeas and parsley and a horde of wonderful fragrant stuff.  It's one of my favorite foods.  So I took a five-bean entree, mixed it with some multi-grain cereal, spiced it up, fried some patties in a pan with a touch of non-stick cooking spray, and enjoyed.

In my opinion, the flavor wasn't that of falafel, although it was close.  Lots of cumin, lots of garlic.  This dish is PERFECT with a dab of fat free sour cream on each patty, although I was out at the time I made these and took pictures.

But the true magic of this dish is its texture and visual appeal.  It is like nothing else I've made.  It's a plate full of patties that look fried, and the outside gets slightly crispy.

And in case you wonder what I'm doing when I'm not cooking for you and me, here's an idea.

How about trying my hand at elderberry wine for the first time?  Amazing how much juice came out of these little berries.  And how big a mess I made getting at that juice.  The wine is happily fermenting in my basement as we speak.  I'll let you know if it's drinkable in about 8 to 12 months.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand I entered a pumpkin carving contest at the local movie theater.  Hey, free tickets for a year is well worth the effort.  I'll let you know if I win!

Thai Peanut Chicken

It's no secret.  I love pad thai.  I like my pad thai with a little bit of chili paste on the side, which I delicately dip the tines of my fork into before each and every bite.  Love.  It.  So I attempted to recreate the taste of it here.  As you may or may not know, the best part of pad thai is the crunchy peanuts that you can mix into it, and the fresh lime you can squeeze into it.  So this is what we get in our version.  Kinda!  And close enough to please my taste buds.

So with this one, you warm your entree, mix in all the spices, yes, including PB2 (TRUST ME), and then you squeeze lime juice onto it.  You have to, HAVE TO, use the lime juice.  It makes it zing.

And it will remind us of what fresh tastes like.  It's amazing what a little squeeze of liquid from a fruit can do to an entire meal.  Just awesome.

Tortilla(less) Soup

So, nothing fancy this time, and this meal will not take long to prepare.  Tortilla(less) soup is one of my quick and easy go-tos when I'm in need of a little comfort food, especially in cold weather.  It may not photograph particularly prettily, but let me assure you that this soup is thick, creamy, warm, and filling.  I cannot even guess how many times I've eaten this meal...but it's lots and lots.  And lots.  There was about three weeks in a row when I had this for supper six nights out of seven.  Not joking, truth.

This has a serious tortilla soup feel to it.  The flavors are familiar and I tend to use these spices a lot, but sometimes, familiar is nice, too.  I got this recipe from a couple of folks in my class.  They swore by it, talking to each other with pure enthusiasm when bringing this recipe up.  I'm not sure which one of them came up with it first, but I'm so glad they mentioned it to me.  When I make it, I appreciate the fact that there are so few ingredients on this list.  I added the garlic though.  Everything is better with garlic.

So yeah, the spoon is out of focus, but the soup in the bowl is clear!  Don't judge.  See how thick and creamy?  Soooo glad I just got to eat this, otherwise I would have to go make it right now.

Also, thanks to my mom for donating some cool bowls and plates to the blog cause.  You rock!

Toasted Ravioli

I'm not sure why I didn't think of this long, long before now.  I mean, it's a no brainer.

I had to let these cool off, but they were totally dippable.  I miss finger food...don't you?

The only think I would've changed about this recipe is I would have doubled it.  And I will next time, when I'm having a hungry day.  Eight ravioli instead of four.  That sounds just about perfect.  But believe it or not, I made these four last.  Little nibbles, little dips, little "mmmm" sounds.  I normally like the ravioli okay, but these were good.  Something about baking entrees changes the flavor just enough to be more satisfying.

By the way!  I started week four of Couch to 5k this week, and I thought I was going to die.  But you know what?  I did it.  That's right.  I ran 5 minutes in a row without stopping, not once, but twice.  So incredibly stoked.  I think I could learn to love to run.