2013 goals.

An early summary of the 1Q goals due to the aforementioned shit that has to get done.

• New soup recipe every week: check to the 13th degree - just click on "goals" or "potato and gluten free" to the left for an in-depth review of each.  The best results from this goal are that (a) I still totally love soup, (b) I absolutely love every recipe we made for very different reasons, and (c) I can't wait to share everything with our Canada hosts along the first leg of our trip.
• Spring cleaning: check, with much more to come in the next 2 weeks.  Much, much, MUCH more to come.  Gaaaaaaaaaa!
• Shamrock Run 2013: um... nine miles? Not so much.  Five miles?  Cake!  Good enough cake for me.

And as far as 2Q goals, I'm going to have to go ahead and relink the aforementioned link, and say that the following truths are self-evident for the rest of 2013 and leave it at that:

• An amazing time will be had.
• A photography experiment will be conducted.
• Much letting go of control will be done.
• And as far as the list, I'm looking to cross off 6, 12 and 16 for sure.  Possibly also 13, 15, 19 and 20.  Time will tell.

Happy 2013, friends!  Posts here will be fewer and far between.  Please check out the link above to keep up with forthcoming shenanigans.

Soup, week thirteen: Moroccan spiced chickpea and lentil.

Really?  Thirteen weeks in a quarter?  Really? 

Not that I'm not loving all these soups... I've just got other shit to do right now.

Anyway, file this one under "Whole Foods - Who Knew?"  I was on a quest to use up some lentils.  We had almost everything handy and just had to purchase the fresh onion, fennel and jalapeno. 

it. was. delicious.

And it continues to be delicious - the recipe made enough for dinner Sunday and three days of leftovers for two people.  I think that works out to about $0.38 per serving or something ridiculous like that.  Definitely a recipe to take on the road!

File under: Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow.

really, you would think
i'd remember that french fries
are not a good thing

A new PR.

forty-five minutes
to run eight kilometers
not too shabby, eh?

106/718... sweet

Soup, week twelve: Smitten Kitchen's chana masala.

I ran across this lovely recipe on Wannabe Chef's blog the other day.  It looked so simple and delicious, and the best part was that we already had all the spices on hand except the amchoor powder - but even she didn't have that and substituted lemon instead.  So we did the same.

let the record show 

that we also used powdered ginger 

and didn't toast the cumin seeds before grinding them 

The verdict?  Hearty.  Healthy.  Uber spicy, bordering on too-spicy-but-not-quite.  In other words, absolutely perfect.  I suspect that after two days the flavors will meld in amazing harmony and when we heat it up for lunch I will be able to eat it with rice (which I couldn't do tonight due to a late afternoon cheese snack).

Next week marks the end of this quarterly goal.  As is usually the case with my recipe goals, part of me is happy - these goals are fairly time-intensive and often require more money than I would usually spend at the grocery store. 

The other part of me is going to miss these experiments.  But we now have an arsenal of soup recipes to take with us on the road and share with hosts along the way.  And that can't be a bad thing...

Soup, week eleven: minestrone with collard greens and white beans.

This week's goals: easy, cheap and delicious. Martha came through as usual with this quick, wonderful bowl of goodness.  Added bonuses (boni?): we used most of the frozen beans that have been taking up space all winter, and our favorite quinoa corn muffins were the perfect addition.

his had cheese

mine did not

so that I could eat quinoa corn muffins

Soup, week ten: African chickpea and spinach soup.

I had to work all weekend so my soup duty consisted of finding a recipe.  He did the real work of making the soup... which means that the proportions of peanut butter and spices were a bit elevated.

It turned out wonderfully, and the crisped chickpeas from Smitten Kitchen were a nice addition.

I did at least take this photo

Next time we are tripling the recipe!