Day 8 Soup....Curried Salmon

Curried Salmon Soup and Roasted Red Pepper Salad was tonights dinner.  And before anyone even says anything.....Yes, it was a soup with salmon yesterday; I know...I know!!!   I contemplated for some time whether or not to do Salmon 2 days in a row and because the recipe sounded so yummy, I couldn't resist.  My taste buds weren't quite satisfied with last nights dinner and I was really wanting salmon so I chose to give it a try again...only with a different soup of course.  lol   This one was a definite a winner.  

I'm not going to go into how complicated or easy it was...because I think my idea of easy differs from others, but I will say that this recipe called for about 10 ingredients all of which were pretty inexpensive.  I think it took maybe a little over and hour to prepare the entire meal.  I should probably start timing myself to give accurate prep and cook times.  I will say that though that next time I would probably actually prefer it without the salmon mixed in with the soup.  I could do it on the side or even not at all.  It was still very delicious and a meal that I'm sure I'll make for my family often. Everyone loved it so you know it's going to be added to our regular family menu....not that we really have a menu, but if we did.....

So for the ingredients....( the ones I can actually remember off the top of my head because I'm too exhausted to move from my bed right now)  Salmon, onions, butter, red curry paste, white cooking wine, coconut cream, soy milk, parsley, water, diced potatoes, salt and pepper.  Actually I think that may have been all of them.  See, pretty simple right?  The salad was easy...just roasted peppers, garlic, parsley, chopped carrots, sesame oil, honey, soy sauce and I think that's it.  The dressing for this salad actually reminded me of this salad that I made awhile back.  It was very similar.  

So...enough talking typing already...here's pictures of tonights dinner:

Prepared salmon for soup 

Diced potatoes

onions sauteed in butter with curry sauce added

Soup mixture simmering with potatoes

Finished Meal

Closer Look at Soup

Peppers for the salad

Ok, so again I'm apologizing for Blogger, I don't know what's going on with this thing.  When I've tried adding pictures the past few days it's been doing all sorts of crazy things.  My pictures just move where ever they want and so does my text.  I'm not trying to stay up all night trying to figure this out so you all are stuck with it as is....  

So there you have it tonights dinner.  Come back to check out what's cooking tomorrow.  I'm actually pretty excited about tomorrows soup and can't wait to see how it turns out.  *Crossing fingers*

Peace and Blessings All!!!!!

Tuesday's Soup..day 7

So I found this recipe in the Soup Bible recipe book that I told you all about yesterday.  It's called Shrimp Creole.  I mentioned before that Hubby doesn't eat shrimp, so instead of shrimp I used Salmon. I debated on making separate pots like I did with previous recipe but decided against it this time because I felt it'd be a little too much work.  

This recipe only required a few ingredients...like yesterdays, and all the recipes from the book seem to be uncomplicated and preparation isn't too lengthy, which I like.  Since I substituted fish for shrimp I didn't have the stock from boiling the shrimp like the recipe suggests, so I ended up having to use extra vegetable broth.  I thought the soup was average and Hubby LOVED it and had seconds.  While the daughter would have preferred it with the shrimp she wasn't really fond of it either.  I'm not quite sure what it was with this soup....I did love the spiciness of it and the rice mixed in...I think it may have been the consistency.  I'm going to have to try this one again and follow the recipe to the letter to see if it comes out better.

I should have stuck with minute rice because for SOME ODD reason every single time I try to make real rice, without fail, it never comes out quite right.  I can't figure it out. Basically the ingredients included, salmon (substitute for shrimp), onion, celery, green pepper, chopped tomatoes, green pepper, cayenne pepper, and a few other seasonings.

Onions, celery and parsley being sauteed

Tomatoes mixed in with cooking wine, cayenne and vegetable broth





Broiled salmon for the soup

Finished soup w/rice, tomatoes and parsley

So there you have it....todays soup.  I wish I could give it better reviews but it was....EH!  Kind of take it or leave it type meal.  I really need to learn how to make rice.  Lol  I'm going to give it one more shot before I officially call this one a wrap though.  So we're one week into my 30 days...let see what tomorrow brings.  

Peace and Blessings.....

By the way....I don't know whats up with Blogger the past few days....it's REALLY annoying me so excuse the funky format and text.  UGH!!!!

Great Soup to Start the Week....

So today was definitely a good day for soup.  It was chilly and we even had a few snow flurries.  BRRR!!! Not what I want to see in March especially after having 50 and upper 60 degree weather.  Something says I shouldn't complain since it's been such a mild winter...but you all know how I feel about winter and anything below 70 degrees.   

I've been having some phone issues.  First about a week ago I took my otter box off of my iphone so I could connect it to the docking station. I never put it back on which because it was just a pain taking it off and on all the time....big mistake.  I dropped it on the concrete when I was getting out of the car and it shattered.  So I got a new phone and have had a few minor issues, but otherwise love it.  I had to take it in today because I was having a problem with the camera and they suggested just swapping the phone for a new one.  I did that and ended up losing some of my great food pictures from the soup I made today.  BOO!!!!  Still having issues with my contacts...but it's pretty minor...moving on.....

Todays soup was Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato.  Sooo good and pretty easy.  I had great pictures of my Roasted peppers and of the tomatoes after I peeled them and then chopped them but when I took my phone in I forgot to save the pictures on my computer.  So Sad!!!   I was going to show the whole little process of peeling the tomatoes but since I lost pictures we'll have to do that another time.  The most difficult part of making the soup was probably peeling the skin off the peppers and that wasn't even really difficult...just a little messy but that was pretty much it.

I strayed from the recipe in the book a tiny bit because it was JUST the Roasted Red Pepper, but I wanted Tomato also.  Of course I made my alterations and was very happy with the results.  The ingredients were the peppers, butter, onions, tomatoes, soy milk, vegetable broth, tomato paste, rosemary,  paprika and black pepper.  Pretty inexpensive meal right?  The only thing that needed to be purchased was the peppers and the tomatoes. With the tomatoes that I chose to add I also added fresh parsley when I sauteed the onions in the butter then also added basil for garnish.  I couldn't believe how good it turned out.  And of course the family enjoyed it which is usually what matters the most.

So now we have it.....Pictures:

Peppers and tomatoes simmering before being pureed ..

All ingredients pureed and simmering.  Just about done...

Ready to eat...and yes it's bread AGAIN!



Closer look at the soup.  YUM!

Several of the soup recipes I've found have come from this book...

 There's a lot of non vegan and non vegetarian soup recipes in this book but of course I make the substitutions and they come out great...with the exception of the chicken noodle soup....which I didn't get from this book anyway.

So there you have it...Tonights meal and I have to say I will NEVER buy store bought roasted red pepper soup again.  I think at the grocery store the brand we get is about four bucks and some change which is ridiculous when I can make it myself and have left overs for the next day for a few dollars more.

All right...have a good night people and I'll be back tomorrow with another great soup...I just hope it TURNS out great.  I've been pretty luck thus far.  Lol

Peace and Blessings!!!

Friday's soup....Lentil Soup

Happy Friday All.

I've noticed something over the past week....I really do enjoy cooking.  Lol

There was a point when I had to really be in the mood to cook or either really be hungry.  Not that I didn't cook; I always have because if I didn't my kiddies wouldn't be able to eat.  I just never really found too much enjoyment in it unless I was in a particular mood.  I attribute that to working umpteen million jobs, dealing with kids, homework, errands, and just the hectic life of being a Mommy.  Now that I'm able to be home full time and the older ones are either grown or pretty self sufficient I'm finding how much I really do find pleasure in cooking for my family.  Time and timing is everything.

So today's soup is Lentil soup.  I've never cooked it and have only eaten Lentils maybe once or twice in my life. Sometime's I get a little nervous about trying new things, mainly because I hate wasting money...but I'm working on overcoming that.  You never know if you like something or not unless you give it a chance.  I haven't had asparagus or okra as an adult so the next soup may be something that includes one of those.  We'll see.

The lentil soup was a pretty easy process.  I actually found the recipe online instead of my trusty recipe book. And this time I followed the instructions just about to the letter.  The only substitution I made was using fresh tomatoes instead of from the can.  Sometime easier is better, but I really do want to work on using fresh ingredients.  So, as always, pictures.....

Chopped celery, carrots and bay leaves sauteed

Remainder of ingredients added minus spinach

Finished soup w/spinach

Ready to eat! 

Yes it was very tasty!!!

Ok, as I finish typing this entry I just realized that I lied about a minor detail earlier .  I actually started typing this  hours ago and am just not finishing up.  Got side tracked a little because we intended on going to drop off our little guy to spend the weekend with his Nana and Papa.  What was supposed to be just a brief visit turned into us being there for about four hours.  I LOVE those people.  It's always so fun just hanging out and talking with them..  Anyway......It dawned on me that I said I didn't make any changes to the recipe and I actually recalled that I did.  Nothing major...but because we LOVE spicy in our household we added cayenne  pepper to our individual bowls of soup.  So I guess it's really not altering the recipe, but it gave it that extra little added flavor and zip.

This soup was surprisingly good and much more filling than I initially imagined it would be.  One that I'll definitely be making again in the future.  Of course we have leftovers so I think this weekend blogging will be put on hold while we finish the leftover soups we have.  I'll resume on Monday with a new soup for day 6.  In the meantime everyone have a happy safe weekend.

Peace and Blessings.

Thursdays Soup

Todays soup was your basic  homemade Chicken Noodle soup. I'm sure EVERYONE knows how to make this and I'm also I'm sure it's not really necessary for me to go into the recipe right?  *Smile* Of course we do vegetarian around these parts (lol) so I made a vegetable broth instead of chicken and used vegan chicken instead of real chicken.

Vegan chicken doesn't really create a broth like real chicken when you bake it so I added some vegan butter salt pepper and onions and baked it for about 45 minutes then added it towards the end of the cooking process.  I have a texture issue so I didn't really like it with the chicken added  and I'll definitely be omitting it next time unless the family really wants it added.

I think I used to many noodles because it absorbed too much of the broth.  So Sad.  The soup turned out just ok which I was a little sad about since I had been wanting it for awhile.  Some substitutions, lets face it, just don't taste the same.  But it's definitely not to the point where it would make me go back to eating meat.  UGH!  Nauseous just thinking of it.

Oh!  Forgot to mention I used a Whole grain egg noodle.   I really want to learn how to make my own pasta and had debated on buying a pasta maker for a minute.  Our kitchen is a little cramped and I'm starting to feel like Cliff Cosby with all these kitchen gadgets.  I DO use mine though.  Lol  It would be different if we had more space, but until then.... I may hold off on the pasta maker.

We didn't have salad today, instead did a fruit bowl with strawberries, blackberries, grapes and oranges.

So here's pictures:

Egg Noodles

Prepared Vegan Chicken (I know meat eaters will give me tons of flack for this one.  Lol

Broth finished with noodles and chicken added

Finished soup with fruit

Needed a little more broth :) 

So there you have it.  Chicken noodle soup...next time it'll be minus the fake chicken.  Lol  See you all tomorrow for another new soup.  We may have to skip some days in between after that to do left overs because we still have the tortilla soup and a lot of soup left over from tonight as well.  We'll see what happens.  If we do left overs those days wont be included in my 30 day challenge.  Lol.  We'll probably also be back to salad tomorrow and hopefully I'll be good leaving OUT the bread.  

Good night all!!  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.

Tuesday's soup of the day.....

It's funny because I typically think of soup as mainly a broth or some sort of base with one or two ingredients but the more I flip through this book I'm like I could make a complete meal in a bowl of soup.  Lol.


Tonights soup recipe, that I actually somewhat came up with on my own,  kind of reminds me of this seafood brodetto that I had at olive garden minus the scallops (eww, nasty) and the talapia.  I made an Arrabiata sauce and actually added a little Curry for more spice.  I ended up substituting the talapia for salmon because I couldn't find any talapia that looked edible to me fresh.


I ended up making two separate pots because Hubby doesn't and will NOT eat shrimp.  No biggie!  So like the olive garden recipe...I added the spinach, mushrooms and chopped carrots. I decided to add chopped red and green peppers and then orzo pasta.  Then of course we had the shrimp and salmon mixed in with the soup.


All I can say is OH MY GOODNESS!!!  Everyone kept saying how good it was.  I was very impressed with myself and how well it turned out.  I wish I could give you all a virtual taste because I guarantee you'd be amazed at how good it was.  My daughter actually said it tastes better that Olive Garden and Hubby commented that it needs to be on a restaurant menu.  Son #2 who rarely eats much of anything I cook because he's a beef eating, pork eating, meat eating person (UGH!!) actually liked the pot that had the shrimp in it.  He had nerve to suggest helping me out and eating all of it.  How kind of him.  Lol.  Yeah Right!!!  Lol.  If he liked it then it had to be good since he usually turns his nose up at anything that doesn't have "real meat" (his words) in it.  


So here's pictures of tonights soup (one pot meal) that I haven't come up with a name for.....

Prepared Salmon

Simmering Shrimp

Simmering Soup w/Salmon

Finished!!!

Ready to eat

Soup w/Fish

Soup w/fish and shrimp

Of course we had bread and a basic salad.  I really need to find a substitute for bread.  I almost opted for fruit instead but... Oh well, we'll have fruit tomorrow.  We have Smoothies for breakfast just about everyday and with many meals so it's not like we're lacking fruit in our diet by any means.  

I didn't really pay attention to the time it actually took me start to finish to complete the meal, but I don't think I was too long.  A majority of my time I think was spent chopping veggies.  It wasn't too bad...I wasn't in there sweating and complaining....not that I would EVER admit to doing that.  *wink*

Recipe available upon request...although with this I didn't really do any measure and often don't unless I'm following a recipe to the letter.  I can tell you what I put in it and you'll have to just do it according to your taste.  So that's it for tonights soup...back tomorrow.  

Peace and Blessings!!!!