Soup #13....Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

I'm not sure why but for some reason I was really looking forward to this soup.  Maybe because I like spicy so I was hoping for some kick! I love, Chinese, Thai and Japanese food (I so miss Village Wok, Sawatdee and Benihana in Minnesota. Ahhh....Great food.  There's something about Benihana when you go to other states that's just not the same.  The food is pretty similar, but the sauces and the atmosphere....just not the same as in Minnesota.  It's almost worth making a trip back just for these few restaurants.

So that's part of what inspired this recipe I guess, which was really easy.  And when I say easy....All you had to do was throw everything in a pot and simmer.  You cant get any easier than that.  What I realized after making this soup; I'm not a fan of shiitake mushrooms.  I will probably NEVER use them again and if a recipe calls for them...I'm making substitutions.  I'll stick with my portabella mushrooms thank you very much.

So I rate this recipe about a 7 out of a ten.  It was a little more than average.  Hubby and Daughter thought it was great, while I thought it was just ok.  It's not one that I'd be in a rush to make again.  I did a spicy slaw salad which I though was a pretty good combination.  Me and the Daughter liked it, although the recipe called for just a little too much mayonaise..I used this:

 I really like this mayo and it tastes like the real thing to me.  Hubby is NOT a mayo person and he didn't care for the slaw salad only because he felt there was TOO much Mayo in it...which it was.  The recipe called for a cup and I'd probably use about a half instead next time.  Otherwise I thought it was pretty tasty and about as simple to prepare as the soup. I don't have a lot of pictures because all the ingredients were just thrown in together, so here's what I've got:

Finished meal...had to throw in vegi potstickers (store bought)

Finished soup....looks good right?

Spicy Slaw

So there you have it.  The recipe that I was SOOO looking forward to that I was a little disappointed in.  I haven't had Chinese food from a restaurant in several years.  I'm thinking I need to go sample this recipe from an authentic restaurant and then do a comparison.  Not sure if my taste buds are a little off or not.  lol  So that's it.  Come back tomorrow to see what I'll be serving.  

Peace and Blessings all!!!!

and we round out the week with......

Chiang Mai Noodle Soup is what I chose to cook along with a Chinese Chicken Salad.  I've been literally waiting all week to cook this particular soup.  I'm a big fan of Thai food and I was certain that this would be full of flavor and it would be one that I would be a fan of.  Well....I was right.  It had a very distinct flavor and was amazingly good.

I considered using a different noodle instead of the egg noodles that the recipe called for but chose to stick with the recipe....somewhat.  Since I absolutely hated the texture of the vegan chicken in the chicken noodle soup I chose not to use it like the recipe suggests.  I opted for vegan meat crumbles instead because I wanted to have some type of texture in the soup and to make it a little more filling.  Daughter didn't care for the soup...I was SO surprised.  Hubby liked it but said that the flavor was a little sweet which wasn't really appealing to him, but he really liked it overall and said that he would like to have it again.  Part of the way I judge how good meals are is by  whether or not it's something the family would get excited about having again...Silly huh?

Oh and don't let me forget the salad.  It came from the salad book I blogged about several weeks back.  I was a little skeptical...again with the chicken texture, but I stuck to the recipe on this one, using vegan chicken of course.  I seasoned the chicken lightly and stir fried it in olive oil and then tossed it in the salad.  It was so good.  I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I'm glad I chose this one because, to me, it complimented the soup perfectly.

boiling the coconut milk so that it separates

coconut milk with remaining ingredient combined

garnish for the soup

Chinese Chicken Salad

Finished Meal

Close up of soup.  Delicious!!!

So folks...there you have it.  A perfect end to an almost perfect week.  Glad I saved this one for today.  I'll most likely be back tomorrow with a new soup since we have NO leftovers.  I was kind of looking forward to a break this weekend but it doesn't appear I'll get one.  Oh well.  Wishing everyone a fun filled enjoyable weekend.  

Peace and Blessings!!!

Wednesday's Soup

I planned on having leftovers from yesterday's great soup but then thought...I cant really do the same soup back to back so soon.  Gotta have variety right?  Plus it didn't help that Hubby said it was the best soup he's ever had in his life and had seconds and then later in the evening had more.  I had plans (which didn't quite pan out) on having some for lunch today so....so much for left overs....but lets not dwell on the past and move on to today's soup shall we?  But it really was delicious!!!  Lol

Todays soup was a Tortilla Soup/Mexican Gumbo.  I actually got the idea from Q'doba and had been saying for some time that I would try to make it.  Today was the day.  My father in law (amazing cook by the way) makes a Chicken chili and before we gave up meat we used to LOVE it.  The Tortilla soup somewhat reminds me of his Chicken Chili but not anywhere near as good.  I should have used his recipe and left out the chicken.  That'll be one of my later recipes.

Soup simmerrng

Finished meal...told ya there would be fruit today

Topped with Vegan Cheese (Daiya)

The soup consisted of a vegetable/tomato base, black beans, green chili's, rice and corn.  It was seasoned with Chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic, onion, oregano, cilantro salt and cayenne pepper.  Another easy one pot soup/meal.  I actually ended up adding a green chili sauce to it that I didn't particularly care for, but that's what I get for always trying to do something that's not called for in the recipe.  It was OK.  The family liked it and I would do it again...definitely without adding the green chili of course.

I'm not going to pretend I shucked corn, ground corn or soaked beans overnight.  I took the easy way out and did canned black beans and the corn that you steam in the bag.  I did cut up all the veggies (you know how I love that) and added fresh cilantro.  It was a long day and I didn't have the desire to spend hours in the kitchen so I did what would save me the most time.

We did fruit like I promised but I threw in the tortilla chips which is just as bad as doing bread.  Lol  I only ate a few... but they're really good.  Tostitos makes these really good Artisian tortilla chips...we had the black bean but they also have a fire roasted chipotle that I really love as well.

So that was it.  Nothing as great as yesterdays soup, which I didn't happen to have for lunch today but tomorrow I'll definitely be having it.  Lol.

Happy Humpday people!!!!  Enjoy the remainder of your week and Peace and Blessings.

Vegan Mushroom Soup

So I'm thinking today is officially day one of the 30 day soup and salad challenge.  Even though I've done a few soups this month today is the day I decided I'm going to commit to it.  Flipping through the pages of the Soup recipe book I found a number of recipes that I'm actually really looking forward to trying.  Some recipes gave me creative ideas of my own that I'm a little anxious about trying also.  Let's just cross our fingers and hope that they turn out as well as todays soup. The family loved it and I've got a few finicky eaters so that made me happy.

So the soup of the day for Monday was Mushroom Soup with Caesar Salad.  Since I learned how to make the dressing I've been stuck on this salad our last few meals.  I'm thinking I may have to retire it temporarily so that we don't get burned out on it.

The mushroom soup was probably the easiest I've made so far.  It was about 10 to 15 minutes to prep and 20-30 to cook.  I did let the soup simmer a little longer than the recipe suggested though, but thats just me.  All I had to do was mince the mushrooms and green onions, saute them and then combine everything else.  Viola!!! Pretty simple right?  The down side is that you can't (well you can, but I myself find it difficult to) have soup and NOT have bread.  So ciabatta rolls it was. So much for my goal to stay away from bread right?  I guess I'll just gradually wean myself.

All in all I consider this a pretty healthy and very tasty meal.  We'll definitely be having this one again.  SOON!  Lol.  Definitely give this a try if you're a mushroom fan.  The only thing I'd probably do differently next time is probably mince the mushrooms a little more so that its not as chunky, although Hubby enjoyed it the way it was.  If you'd like the recipe let me know, I'm always willing to share.  Stay tuned for tomorrows soup.

Peace and Blessings!!!!

Pasta and veggies....

Ok...So our next meal (or my entry rather) was supposed to be soup but we had some peppers that we bought for this meal and wanted to use them before they went bad.  We have this habit of going to the store and buying too many veggies because that ends up being a bulk of our meal but often end up throwing a lot of them out.  The solution:  We only buy what we need for about two days, but the downside is we end up having to go to the grocery store several times a week which is a pain in the butt.

So before we gave up dairy I used to make this meal using 4 cheese ravioli chicken, peppers, fresh basil, garlic, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes.  Now that we no longer eat dairy, although I've been seriously craving the raviolli, I made it changing it up just a tad bit.  I made a spicy cream sauce with all the other ingredients and substituted the ravioli for a quinoa angel hair pasta.  We had Caesar salad and fruit as well.

 I would love to do like a 30 day soup and salad challenge but I don't know if I'd be able to last 30.  I should just try it and see how long I can (and the family) can last.  What do you all think?  I sitting here now as I type planning my next meal/soup.  What's on your menu this week and what are your food challenges and goals?

Well that's it for me...until next time Peace and Blessings.