Sorry for disappearing. Let’s just say too much money was spent and there was an eating out frenzy that’s made my budget look like the dog chewed it.

So here I go with the basics – menu planning. Over and over again it proves itself to be invaluable!

Fall is the perfect time to pull out the slow cooker if you haven’t used it in awhile. Take a look at a few of my favorites, and see if there are any you want to add to your menu plan this week.

I also recommend spinach salads for the week. Buying a large container of pre-washed baby spinach is a great investment. Not only does it keep longer than baby lettuce, when it’s at the end you can saute it, add to pasta sauces and even sneak some on sandwiches to add extra fiber and vitamins.

Monday: Minestrone and spinach salad (recipe near the bottom of linked post)

Tuesday: Refried Bean Tacos in blue corn shells with chorizo Spanish couscous over a romaine salad

Wednesday: Cauliflower curry potato curry with dahl over basmati brown rice and naan

Thursday: Grilled Pizza and salad

Friday: Pepper steak with steamed brown rice and wonton soup

Saturday: Chickenl-ess Parmigiano with vegan Cesar salad and garlic bread

Sunday: Clean out the fridge veggie soup made in the slow cooker and fresh bread recipe from sparkpeople

Nothing says summer has arrived like a chilled soup. When it’s so hot you’re sweating and the a/c is working as hard as it can, a chilled soup can make your whole day. Gazpacho is like a cool, liquid salad. It goes down easy, you don’t have to heat up the house to make it, and it cools you from the inside out. That’s my kind of hot weather dinner!

Watermelon Gazpacho

• 3 cups watermelon chucks, seeded with rind removed
• 2 cups heirloom tomato chunks
• ½ cucumber (peeled if it is not organic or is waxed)
• 1 small bell pepper (green is fine, but purple and yellow add a nice color)
• 1 small hot pepper of your choice, seeded with the ribs removed, and chopped
• 1 lime or lemon, juiced
• ½ – 1 cup filtered water
• 2 – 3 Tbs. olive oil (use less if you are cutting down on fat or calories)
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 Tbs. fresh basil (lemon or lime basil works great if you have some growing in your garden)
• Big handful of fresh mint leaves only – no stems (orange or lime mint is perfect)
• 2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp. Salt
• Pepper to taste

If you hate hot foods you can leave this out completely or choose a mild variety like a banana pepper. If you like it hot I recommend the heirloom variety Bulgarian carrot pepper. Really any hot or mild pepper you like or just have lying around would work fine, but it needs to be fresh. Don’t forget to use gloves if it is an extremely hot variety so you don’t transfer the oil to your skin. It’s no fun to rub it in your eye!

Mince the cucumber, green pepper, basil, mint, and cilantro and set aside. Puree everything else in a blender or food processor until relatively smooth. Add in the minced veggies and herbs. Stir with a spoon to mix everything together.

(To make a smooth soup place everything but the cilantro in a blender or food processor, and puree the heck out of it. You will still have specks of tomato, cucumber, and green pepper skins to add a little texture and color. You can keep blending it until it is a smooth as you want it.)

Before serving take a final taste and decide if you need to adjust the salt and pepper, or add any more herbs or lime juice. Once it’s the way you like it, put it in the fridge to chill for an hour or so.

Garnish with the chopped cilantro, and a few sprigs of fresh mint. It will be a beautiful refreshing treat!

I’ve over extended myself this week, so we’ve been eating out a lot. So to make up for it, I have been eating soup for lunch everyday. So here’s another soup recipe.

This can be made in the slow cooker, but I did it stove top and it took less than 1 hour from start to finish. To make in the slow cooker, throw everything in the pot and cook for 8 – 10 hours. Adjust seasonings and add more water if needed before serving.

Vegan Chicken-less and Rice Soup

• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups brown rice – pre-cooked (I used leftover rice I had)
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbl Better than Bouillon – chickenless flavor
• 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
• a few dashes of Tabasco (garlic flavor if possible)
• 1 tsp herbs de Provence
  
• 1 Tbl Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. thyme
• pepper to taste
• at least 6 cups filtered water – add more to get the soup as ’soupy’ as you want

In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion when hot. Saute until onion is translucent, then add garlic and bell pepper and saute for a few minutes.

Add water and dissolve bouillon paste, then add all seasonings, rice, and drained beans. Add more water if you need to, and adjust seasonings to taste.

Because of the bouillon you shouldn’t need to add any additional salt. If you use no broth or a low sodium you may need to add some salt.

You know the drill, and I’m sure you’ve all heard the protests of “what’s that in my food?!” Picky little ones often grow up to be picky adults. And while I’m kid-less, I still hear about texture issues and fight the good veggie fight all the time. This one worked really good, she even asked to have it again.

This soup has green peppers, chickpeas, and butternut squash, but pureed it looks like plain old tomato soup – only with tons more flavor and nutrition. My picky eater loved it, but she didn’t see it before it was pureed. I would suggest not letting your picky eater see it either. Sometimes it’s better if they just don’t know.

Slow Cooker Picky Eater’s Soup

• 2 cups butternut squash, can be precooked, frozen, or raw (peeled and seeded of course)
• 1 14 oz can chickpeas
• 1 14 oz can organic crushed tomatoes (diced or stewed works fine too)
• 1 cups bell pepper strips
• 1 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbl. Better than Bouillon
• 5 cups filtered water (or use veg broth and leave out the bouillon)
• 1 Tbl. port wine (optional)
• 1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms (optional – use any little bits of leftover veggies you have)
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1 Tbl. Trader Joe’s Pasta Seasoning Blend (it’s a mix of Onion, Garlic, Basil, Lemon Peel, Paprika, Fennel, Oregano, Black Pepper, Ginger, Thyme and Lemon Oil)
  or Italian seasoning blend

Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook on low 6 – 10 hours.  Puree with an immersion blender or in a food processor before serving. You may need to add more filtered water to get it to the consistency that you like. Serve with oyster crackers.

I keep little baggies of leftover veggies in the freezer. This soup is perfect to add those to, or the little bits in the fridge that aren’t enough for a proper side dish. Yummy and frugal – my dream has come true!

It’s slow cooker Thursday!
See other great recipes at Diary of a SAHM

I can feel another soup kick coming on. In fact, I ate 2 large bowls of this one just last night. Who knew that something so low calorie could make me so full, and taste this good?

Easy Vegan Vegetable Soup – about 10 servings

• 1 Tbl. olive oil (or broth for sauteing)
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 parsnip, diced
• 2 – 3 cups cabbage, diced (I used 1/2 small head)
• 14 oz can Muir Glenn fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 heaping Tbl Better than Bouillon, vegetable flavor
• 6 -8 cups filtered water
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• dash or 2 of garlic Tabasco
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 tsp. Cajun spices
• black pepper to taste

Heat oil in soup pot, add onions and sautee until transparent over medium heat. Add garlic, bell pepper, carrot, and parsnip and saute a minute more.

Add water, bouillon, tomatoes, cabbage and then add all the seasonings. Cook over low heat until the cabbage and parsnip are tender, at least 30 minutes.

You could also make this in a slow cooker by throwing everything in and cooking for 8 – 10 hours. Adjust spices before serving, slow cooking always seems to need a seasoning boost at the end.

I love soup and I can be lazy. So it should come as no surprise how easy it is to make this soup. I had a bag of 16 bean mix and was craving something more texturally adventurous than split pea soup.

For a long time I avoided buying the 16 bean mix because it always say ham flavoring. Well it’s like raman noodles, the ham flavoring is in a sealed package and can easily be tossed out. I’m not so sure you would want powdered ham flavoring even if you did eat meat, but that may just be me.

If you have the time and/or patience, saute the onion, garlic and green pepper before you put it in the slow cooker. You can even do this as late as 1 hour before serving.

Slow Cooker Cajun 16 Bean Soup

• 1 package 16 bean mix (or 16 oz. your own mix of beans that you have on hand)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 6 – 8 cups Filtered water

• 1 heaping Tbl Better than Bouillon Not-Chicken Flavor
• 1 Tbl Cajun Seasoning Blend – no or low sodium if possible (make your own with these recipes)
• 1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
• 1 tsp. Garlic Tabasco (It’ s not as hot as the regular one, so you can use more)
• 2 Large carrots cut into half moons
• 1 12 oz can Muir Glenn fire roasted crushed tomatoes (you can also use diced if you prefer)

• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Onion, minced
• 1 Bell pepper, diced

The night before you want to have this for dinner, add first 3 ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on low over night.

You could also get all Martha Stewart and prepare the rest of the ingredients to add in the morning . If you do this, try to saute the last 3 ingredients. Add the rest of the ingridents into a bowl, cover and put in the fridge.

Wake up, smell the beans cooking, and remember that you have to add some more stuff so you can have dinner later. Empty your premade bowl of stuff into the slow cooker with the cooking beans. (Or prepare them now, and then add…)

Add more water if seems low, or you would like a thinner soup. Leave on low all day (8 – 12 hours). Eat with lightly toasted hunk of whole grain bread and congratulate yourself for eating so healthy!

It’s slow cooker Thursday, so make sure to check out more recipes at Diary of a stay at home Mom.

Another super simple recipe that everyone loves. I made it for my New Year’s Eve party, and I’m looking forward to my leftovers lunch tomorrow too!

Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil Parsnip Soup

• 2 cups French Lentils
• 6 cups Filtered Water
• 1/2 Onion, minced
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Tbl. Better than Bouillon no chicken flavor
• 2 Parsnips, minced
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2 tsp. Thyme, dried
• 2 tsp. Tarragon, dried
• Salt and Pepper to taste – add right before serving

Optional Step: In a saute pan add 1 tsp. olive oil and cook onions until translucent over medium-low heat, add garlic and saute 1 minute more. You can skip this step and put raw onion and garlic straight into the slow cooker if you’re running short on time. Sauteing as a nice mellow flavor if you have the chance to do it.

Throw everything except salt and pepper into the crockpot and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.  Add salt and pepper before serving.

Still not feeling great and craving comfort food. I’m also cutting down on my daily calories and that makes things even harder when you don’t feel up to making a meal from scratch. So today’s recipe is a simple one, but it makes a ton and it also freezes well.

The slow cooker saves me in so many ways – and when I’m sick it cooks for me while I take a much needed nap. I love my slow cooker…

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup – serves about 8

• 1 bag of split peas (I think it’s about 2 -3 cups)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 potato, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tb dried thyme
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• about 7 cups filtered water – make sure there is at least two inches of water over the other ingredients.

Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours. Puree with an immersion blender and serve with homemade croutons on top. Yum!

This is on of the recipes I made for my dinner party last weekend. I thought it turned out pretty well, but I was a little heavy on the garlic. I’ve corrected that in the recipe below.

You could also make a flavored sour cream by mixing in salsa verde  or even a single spice like chipotle powder.

Slow Cooker Citrus Black Bean Soup

• 1 lb dried black beans (or use canned and skip overnight cooking)
• 1 15 oz canned tomato puree or diced tomatoes (roasted if you can find them)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tb. Jerk Seasoning
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chipotle powder or other chili powder
• 1 Tb. Liquid Smoke
• 1 tsp garlic Tabasco
• 1 lime juiced
• 1 orange juiced
• 1 Tb cilantro, chopped

The night before you want to eat the soup, put the dried beans in the slow cooker and add water until the beans are covered by 3 or 4 inches. Cook on high overnight.

In the morning add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low 5 – 9 hours.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a few baked tortilla chips.

It’s slow cooker Thursday!
See other great recipes at Diary of a SAHM

It’s soup season! I found a beautiful bunch of spinach at the farmers market and have wanted a big bowl of soup ever since. So last night I gave in and loved every spinach-y minute of it.

Creamy Spinach Soup

• 1 bunch spinach
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cups filter water
• 1 Tb vegan margarine
• 3 Tb flour
• 1 cup plain soy, rice, or almond milk
• 1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

In a covered sauce pan add the water, potatoes, and onion. Bring to a boil, then put heat on low and cook until potatoes are tender. (You could do this part in a slow cooker and finish the soup once you get home from work.)

In a non-stick pan over medium heat, melt the margarine, and add the flour little by little and whisk in. Keep stirring and then add the milk little by little and keep whisking. This will make a thick cream sauce.

Once potatoes are done, remove pan from heat and add spinach and nutmeg. Use immersion blender and puree.

Add cream sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!