Garden Bean Soup (SouthBeach)

Over the weekend, I went to the 'beach reading room' to pick up sonny boys required summer reading book that finally came in. Of course, I had to browse and came across the The Taste of Summer South Beach cook book.

Here's what I made on Sunday night (while I waited for my hair to color) for lunch on Monday.

Garden White Bean Soup

1 tbs plus 2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced or diced (I diced)
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
pinch of red pepper flakes (should have added more)
2 cans northern or cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
3 cups chicken broth, low sodium
1 1/2 cups chopped arugula
1/4 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest (I used a whole lemon)
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbs fresh grate parmesean

Heat 1 tbs oil & saute onion, garlic, celery & pepper flakes til soft (10 minutes or so). Add beans and broth, simmer 10 minutes.

In blender/food processor, add remaining ingredients except the cheese. Strain soup to large bowl and add bean mixture to blender. Add 1 cup of liquid to blender/food processor. Process til smooth. Add back to reserve liquid.

Divide among 4 bowls and top each with fresh parmesean. (serve warm)

Costco trip coming soon

We are scrounging for food in the house .... yeah, you believe that, don't you? If you DO, then read down below this post to see some of the pictures of the pantry & freezers ...

I do have a big trip coming up for Costco though very soon. I am almost out of the following: tp, papertowel, bath soap, laundry soap, (am out of borax and dishsoap as I type), toothpaste and a bunch of other non-edible items.

I am NOT out of food. BUT the pickings are getting a little slim. I am happy that I at least had room to stuff the ice cream I made in the freezer ... that was a definite improvement.

I pulled out the last 2 bags of chix thighs & drumsticks from freezer. I still have b/s breast. And a few turkey burgers (that no one but me will really eat), I believe all the ground beef is gone.

BEFORE I do my Costco trip, I will organize the freezers and pantry (pantry is starting to look a little bare'er' too) as the last time I did a trip there, I had stuff sitting on the dining room table for days as I made room (pantry stuff) and the freezers couldn't be opened as stuff fell out when the door was opened, which kind of, sort of, defeats the whole purpose of stuffing the freezer, huh?

I also am out of shredded coconut. The vanilla is almost gone. I am not quite sure what has happened to all the chocolate chips. Tea bags are getting low. Oh man, I am starting to hyperventilate! Just kidding. But seriously. I am running out of stuff that is normally stockpiled but because I've made a conscious effort to NOT stock up on every single good deal I see, I'm getting concerned!!

So far, this is what's on my list (and really, it may not all come from Costco but to keep my sanity, it could just be one big trip):

laundry soap, borax, bath soap, dish soap, toothpaste, coffee, cream, equal, tea bags, chocolate chips, garbage bags, ziploc (sandwich), bread, coconut, vanilla, hot dogs (dinner franks), buns, paper towel, tp, wipes, cups, plates, chix breast, chix thighs (w & w/0 bones), hamburger, pork tenderloin, pork chops, (look at shrimp for price), tortilla shells, sandwich rolls, tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, snacks (for sonny boy), pretzels, Gatorade, propel, water bottles (boat stuff), and whatever might jump in the overflowing cart. Not really. I am honestly going to try & keep the list very very contained this time. I am going to try and put $400 on the WAMU/Chase card and use that for my July spending ... gas, groceries, etc. But if I did a full fledge, all out trip to Costco, I'd spend it all, I'm sure. Then I would really really have to watch myself for the month. It's tempting, believe me!

Ice Cream

Ok, so I'm suppose to be on a health kick. AND I figure anything that I make from scratch is BETTER than what you buy in the store. Control the ingredients, fats, sugars, etc. Right? So I wanted to make ice cream. And this is what I did:

4 cups (1 quart) heavy cream (I used the 37% stuff)
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (use the real stuff)
1 tbs vanilla
3 egg yolks (if you are thinking ahead, unlike me, save the whites for the next day breakfast!)

Whisk all together. Pour into your ice cream maker & follow manufacturers instruction. Yummmm

Follow the swap over at Gayle's Grocery Challenge

The Pantry

Ok, I should probably be a little embarassed to share this, but in my defense, you need to remember these pictures were all taken after I had company in and out of the house. You just can't tear apart the pantry and reorganize it when you have a houseful of people!

That picture up above is the top part of pantry. The only real problem shelf would be the bottom one, which ironically, you can not see (except the bag of cheese doodles)





This is the bottom part:

Not so bad huh? Except the top shelf, which is really, the bottom shelf from the first picture! That would be the snack shelf. The shelf where the bread is. The shelf that everyone goes to when they are hungry.

The 2nd shelf is my baking stuff.And it's really crammed. I need to come up with a better layout than is current.

The 3rd shelf is drinky stuff. Coffee. Tea (all types). Crystal Light. Lemonade. Nestle. 6 or so bottles of Ocean Spray. There are also 4 bottle of syrup (the bottles are too tall for bottom shelf), and extra bags of flour and sugar behind it all.

And the bottom shelf is condiments, pickles, dressings, mayo, mustards, you name it. Also marinades, soy sauce and so on. It's really full from all the great sales lately. Unfortunately, it needs to be reoganized. I started to put all the dressing in the wicker basket as it was a hassle to move them all looking for a specific type (like, lite cesear), but everything else also gets shoved around.

The top part of the pantry is all pasta/rice/dry taters on the top shelf. Next shelf is tuna, soups, microwave mac & cheese stuff and ravioli, and some other odds and ends. And then you have the shelf with all the mexican stuff, nuts, seasoning packets, and some other odds and ends, like bacon bits and croutons (tossed the croutons out today).

I think maybe while hubby is traveling this week I'll clean it out. I KNOW I don't need to buy any groceries for the week so that would be even better if I did it this week ... and then make my menu and grocery list for the following week based on what I find.

Freezer & Fridge

Time for a clean out & organizing?? Probably should have skipped shopping today but most of the stuff was for the pantry (yeah, wait til you see that!)This is the main kitchen fridge/freezer.

This:

is the guest kitchen fridge/freezer. The fridge is pretty much overflow, extra stuff.

As you can see, I really need to organize both. I won't even show the garage top freezer, stuff falls out when opened up ... danger!

Ice Tea

I generally try to keep a gallon of ice tea in the fridge at all times as it gives hubby & any company something to drink (besides beer and soda!) And since I get quite a few request for how I make it, figured I'd share here ... its really easy.

Nuke 4 cups water in microwave for 4 minutes (I know the dangers, please do not remind me!)
Steep 4 bags in water for oh, 15 to 20 minutes.
Dump strong tea in gallon jug.
Add 2 qt container cup of Crystal Light peach flavored ice tea to jug.
Top off with water til almost full.
Put on cap and shake well to mix. Put in fridge to chill.

I've tried other Crystal Light flavors (I always but on sale with coupons, so we have plenty) but Peach seems to be the favorite.