Scrumptious spelt pancakes -- parve, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan

This evening I woke up from a looong nap (really needed it), saw a container of syrup on the counter (left out from my parents' dinner), and got the urge to make pancakes. This is what I made:  

2 C spelt flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 bag chai tea (only because we didn't have cinnamon and the original recipe I used calls for cinnamon; an experiment but it worked well)

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c apple juice

chocolate sprinkles (optional) (the only tiny dairy-free chocolate I had available; next time maybe I'll try it with dairy-free chocolate chips or something)

olive oil (for frying), just enough to coat the bottom of the pan (unless you want it really oily)

more maple syrup for topping (optional; these are delicious even without; I like to drench mine in maple syrup but even so there were a few bites it didn't touch.)

They're very filling. According to the original recipe, there's enough for four people. (Or you can save the rest for another meal if no one else wants them....I made myself one medium-sized pancake and left the rest in its mixing bowl -- covered with two plastic bags -- in the fridge.)

Here's the original recipe I used:

http://www.thenewlunchlady.com/2011/02/spelt-pancakes-egg-free-and-outstanding.html

Very quick, simple, healthy, delicious alternative to onion rings! :)

This is literally all I did: I took a tiny onion (without even peeling it first), stuck it in the microwave for two minutes, took it out, pulled off the peel, and microwaved it for another minute. No oil, no seasoning (though feel free to experiment with different seasonings and/or oils), no nonsense. Make a bunch of these and keep them on hand for snacks as a healthy alternative to junk food. I actually had a few as part of my lunch today because I'm really trying to get in lots of veggies whenever possible.

Please be careful not to burn yourself!

Food and Mood

Cross posted in The Daily Yay!

I've known for awhile that I'm lactose intolerant but continued to eat dairy anyway. A few days ago I finally decided to forbid myself completely from eating dairy because I knew it was wreaking havoc with my digestive system.

An added benefit of going dairy-free is that, after just a few days, I noticed that I was in a better mood today than I have been lately. I'd originally attributed my feeling down to things like the shortening days and rainy weather, but the improvement in my mood was unmistakable. Just to be sure, I googled "dairy mood" and found this article from About.com.

My ever-increasing dietary restrictions. Or, why is it so hard to find kosher organic food?

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

Finally, after almost two months, here's the promised story of my transition to buying organic. I have this post that I saw posted on this Facebook Page to thank for motivating me to finally write this. It's going to be long so I'm going to divide it into sections. Here goes:

My first shopping trip upon going organic

I was already going to Whole Foods for most of my grocery shopping, so I continued there. I thankfully live within walking distance of the Whole Foods at Roosevelt Square. The only difference was I had to look for that "USDA Organic" symbol, besides looking for a kosher symbol. Basically, I'd apparently made my food life twice as complicated....Or so I thought. See, several items I'd been getting for their other health benefits, such as Rena's juice-sweetened puffs, my favorite vegetable broth, and these yummy tortilla chips were already organic. Other items, such as milk, eggs, and salsa, were easily found in organic versions.

Crackers

My main struggle that trip was finding crackers that would be acceptable to my husband but also healthy and organic. He had been used to eating a specific variety of Triscuits but unfortunately they are not organic. To complicate matters, there were for some reason two sections with crackers, which I didn't know at first. In the first, small section I found exactly one brand that was kosher and organic....but otherwise not up to my dietary standards. I thought, these can't possibly be the only crackers in the store! I asked an employee where I could find crackers, and she directed me to another aisle. Phew! Here I had some trouble as well. I found so many organic crackers but they weren't kosher. Finally I found one called Mary's Gone Crackers that was labeled both organic and kosher. Fun name, but were they healthy? Yes, whole grains and no sugar. I brought them home to hubby....Yum! :) 

P.S. The next day I found other crackers called Two Moms in the Raw that Rena and I liked better.

Produce

Organic versions of my usual fruits and vegetables are readily available at Whole Foods. However, I decided to join an organic CSA that would deliver to my door, just for convenience. Full Circle Farm packs up a box for us every week with organic produce from their own farm and partner farms and delivers it to our apartment at some point on Thursday nights or early Friday morning. I love it because I don't have to think about my weekly fruits and vegetables if I don't want to, but if I want to change anything there's a window of opportunity. I could also tell them never to give me something if I don't want it. Customer service is great, always responding to your questions and comments. They'll even give you a credit if you're not completely satisfied with all your received produce, if you ask. They even called a couple weeks to make sure I got my box, since the deliverymen couldn't be buzzed in. All this for $46 a week, for a family order. I always end up buying other fruit because hubby and Rena eat TONS of fruit (and I barely get any!). Also there are a lot of greens, which sometimes spoil before I get to use them all. This is good, though, because I'm encouraged to get used to using more greens.

Also I love that it comes so close to Shabbat so I get fresh produce for Shabbat! :)

Meat

I wanted to make a meat dish for Friday night Shabbat dinner right after my organic transition, but I couldn't find any locally. Help! I resorted to making a vegetarian meatloaf in the hopes that hubby wouldn't even realize it was fake. Funny thing was, I realized as I went to serve it that it happened to be April Fool's Day, so even if he figured it out, it would just be an April Fool! Well, he didn't, and not only that but it came out awesome and he said it was deli-quality meatloaf! :) Unfortunately when I made it next time it didn't come out so good -- I think I just got lucky the first time because tofu isn't usually the best thing in the world -- so after that I just got regular kosher ground meat. As for chicken, for the following Shabbat I went online to search for kosher organic meat, as QFC only rarely has Empire Organic chicken. I tried ordering but they wouldn't even process my order for a single chicken because shipping costs would have been exorbitant! I'd promised hubby chicken for Shabbat so I had to run to QFC and get a regular kosher chicken. Hubby also likes when I get the precooked kosher chickens but unfortunately those aren't organic either. I once tried making General Tzo's Tofu in the hopes that hubby wouldn't realize it was tofu not chicken, but he could totally tell the difference because it didn't come out good. My only hope of avoiding non-organic meat of any kind is to make it to QFC right when they've just gotten a shipment of Empire organic chicken. They get so little so rarely that it's snapped up immediately. They supposedly get it every two weeks on Mondays, but last time I was told it was coming on Tuesday and then it was late. I've basically given up on that. In short, I'm resigned to eating non-organic meat, at least while living here in Seattle. If it were just me I might go vegetarian, but I can't do that with my hubby who goes nuts after just a few days without meat.

Fish

According to my Internet research, wild-caught is really the best way to go, even better than organic fish. So I called Whole Foods again to find out what wild-caught fish they had and found a recipe accordingly. I've also gotten wild-caught canned tuna and salmon.

Cheese

I had a big problem with cheese, as there didn't seem to be any available locally that was both kosher and organic. Initially I tried making my own but I could only make a soft cheese which is simple and doesn't need rennet, a thermometer, etc. I made Paneer cheese. Hubby and I liked it for a bit but then he got tired of it. I spent more long hours on the internet, and it turned out that a couple brands, including Tillamook Cheddar that's found at Whole Foods, were actually organic and kosher thought they didn't advertise that on their packaging or website. Though it's a bit annoying that I can only get cheddar but no mozzarella, parmesan, or others, I can't complain too much because I do get to have cheese. There's also kosher organic cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. I love the brand Nancy's because it tastes good and it's cultured. Also Nancy's sells giant containers of yogurt which is wonderful because my husband is currently on a fruit-and-yogurt kick. (Please note, not all Nancy's products are organic so you have to make sure the package says organic when you buy.)

Sweeteners

I had been using Truvia, but it's not organic. Also I'd heard that it can actually make you gain weight because your body is tricked into producing unneeded insulin which is stored as fat. So I experimented with various sweeteners. I'll go into more detail in a separate post, but for now suffice it to say that there's no lack of natural sweeteners, such as honey and maple syrup, in organic versions. 

Passover

I bought kosher organic grape juice that I'd finally found at Whole Foods awhile before that. However, my husband requested wine. I could not find a wine that was both kosher and organic so I resigned myself to getting Israeli wine. If it wasn't organic, at least I could support Israel with my wine purchase instead of Kedem.

Whole Foods actually had kosher organic matzah and matzah meal that were also whole wheat, amazingly enough, so that was that.

Hubby requested a couple of things -- horseradish and marshmallows -- that simply did not exist in kosher and organic versions. I complied like a good wife.

Other food wasn't a problem; I just had to make sure everything was up to the strict standards for Passover, i.e. nothing with leavened bread.

Gotta draw the line somewhere


At this point, I still accept food that someone gives me, is provided free at an event, etc. even if it's not organic. I'll eat Noah's Bagels still, for example, if someone else pays. I admit that free food is a weakness of mine, but it's also important to me to not look a gift horse in the mouth. As it is, my husband has local relatives who don't keep kosher, and it's hard enough for them to give us food that's ok, without making them also give us only organic food. I'll also use up non-organic food I had from before my transition, and I'll also use something non-organic that I bought accidentally. It's still food, an it's important to me not to waste.

Conclusion

While organic food has become important to me, and indeed most of the food I eat nowadays is organic, sometimes something else that's important to me trumps my desire to eat organic. I don't want to beat myself up over not eating 100% organic. As much as I can do is good. I don't have to throw in the towel when I encounter a snag.

Oh, no! How can I make the cookies now?!

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

These apple-walnut cookies were a big hit for all three of us the first time I made them. I used all organic ingredients, whole wheat flour, and maple sugar instead of regular cane sugar. (I learned recently that Truvia can actually make you gain weight because your body is tricked into thinking you've eaten sugar. It produces insulin which is then stored as fat because it's not used. I learned this from a Facebook friend who's a holistic health coach. The accuracy of that information is a moot point because it's not organic anyway, but if anyone is interested I can request a source.) Also instead of following the directions I just tossed all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixed them all together. I knew from past experience that you can get certain recipes to come out just as well by taking that shortcut.

So anyway, hubby asked me to make them again a few days later. I began going down the list of ingredients, measuring amounts, and tossing them in the bowl....Oh no! I needed an egg but I was totally out of eggs! I couldn't just run out and buy eggs half a block away here in Seattle, not like we could in New York. But I promised hubby I'd have them ready when he got up! What could I do?! I racked my brain, and suddenly I remembered reading that you can make a natural, vegan egg substitute with flaxseed and water. Yes, I had flaxseed on hand because I'd decided to put flaxseed, among other additions, in these bagels. (I'm officially insane, btw: I made these for the first time right before Passover when I was uber-busy and would have to cease eating unleavened bread shortly. Don't worry; they were all gone before Passover.) I hopped online and, sure enough, I found this simple recipe. Indeed it had an egglike consistency when I moved it around and even felt eggy to the touch! I tossed it in with the other ingredients, finished making the recipe with no other glitches, and hoped for the best. The verdict? Good but not as good as the first batch. I might have baked them a tad longer than the first batch, so the extra substitution might not have been the problem. The taste was the same, in my opinion.

FYI, the cookies were not actually vegan because they still contained butter. ;)

I didn't go grocery shopping yesterday because I was low on time...

Cross posted in Kosher Cuisine

...due to yesterday's sudden recurrence of my obsession with organic food. What did I do for dinner? The only animal protein I had available was a can of sardines -- which I didn't dare use because hubby says he doesn't like sardines -- milk, cheddar and mozzarella cheese (already used lots of cheese for breakfast and hubby's lunch), and a single egg. I did have plenty of plant protein in the form of blackeye peas (which I didn't want to use because I prefer overnight soaking), soymilk (not much left), walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and some lentils. Help!

Google to the rescue! I think I searched for "recipe lentils nuts" and came up with this useful page. I decided to tweak the following recipe from that page, even though I was a little confused because some of the words were replaced with this weird "s&bp" or "s&gp" thing. I'll write next to each ingredient and step how I tweaked it. The original recipe will be bolded.

Lentil and Nut Cakes--or loaf

fresh white bread, 2 slices, crumbed (more volume than dried) ->I used instead a container full of crumbs of Delicious Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread that were in the fridge just waiting to be used in a recipe that called for bread crumbs.
1 C lentils (for this I prefer brown) ->I just used whatever I had left, which may or have not been a full cup.
2¼ C of slightly reduced veg stock OR water ->I used water to boil the lentils. I always use water if a recipe says stock or water because when I use stock, I use this expensive vegetable broth that's basically the only thing I can find that's both kosher and not full of icky stuff like sugar and lots of salt. I looked up how to make my own stock but I don't have a strainer as of yet.
1 med yellow onion, chopped ->I found about 3/4 of a large white onion in the fridge and sauteed that. I added a tomato and sauteed further for extra veg and extra flavor.
1 can black olives, coarsely chopped ->I was going to use instead a can of green olives that I thought I'd gotten, but they were nowhere to be found! So I just used what was left of a can of capers instead.
2 sprigs rosemary (around 8 inches each), minced ->I took a random number of leaves off of our rosemary from our brand-new garden! :) I forgot to mince them. I used some whole in sauteing the lentils, the onion and tomato, and threw some more into the final concoction for extra flavor.
nut of choice, at volume of choice, only partially toasted (a couple minutes at 300°) ->I used some walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds. I didn't bother to toast them at all, as I knew they would be baked with the final dish and I didn't want them to get burnt.
salt ->I sprinkled a little in the sauteing onion and tomato.
ground black peppercorns ->I have only ground pepper but I couldn't find it until well after dinner was made. Good thing, because it came out delicious without the pepper!
ground green peppercorns ->I didn't have any of those.
white wine ->I didn't have that either but I figured the vinegar from the capers would be a good substitute. (I'm no expert, but I guess that was ok.)
butter ->I was low on butter, but I did have some Earth Balance Buttery Spread (I usually use butter but I have that on hand to use with meat) so I used that instead. I only put some into the final concoction.
ev olive oil ->I use canola oil, as it's considered to be a healthy oil and it's cheaper than olive oil.
1 lg egg, whisked ->I didn't bother to whisk the egg; I just tossed it into the mixture.
Melinda’s Extra Hot Habanero Sauce or store or home hot sauce of choice ->I used instead some 365 Everyday Value Mild Salsa that I had on hand.
cooking spray ->I never use cooking spray anymore -- it's expensive and I don't think it's natural -- and I didn't even grease the pan at all because there was already a lot of oil and buttery spread in it.

In a saucepan, saute lentils over high heat in oil with s&bp until some brown and the aroma increases. Turn heat to low, add stock or water, s&bp. Simmer uncovered (not a low boil, so 1 bubble roughly 5-10 seconds) around 1¼ hr. S&BP again around ½ hour into it. Finish with a little butter, s&bp. ->I sauteed the lentils with rosemary, added water, and let it boil before turning it down to a simmer. I think I let it simmer for approximately the time stated.

Sweat the onion in oil, s& bp. Add ¾ C white wine, s&bp&gp and a little butter. Cook around 5 minutes. Finish with s&gp. ->I heated the oil in a skillet, added onion, sauteed for bit, then decided to chop up a tomato and add it. I sauteed it for a bit longer, then added a little salt and rosemary.

Crumb bread in food processor. Pulse nuts a few times if you wish.
Whisk egg with s&bp. Add butter (about 1 inch of a quarter pound stick). Add hot sauce to taste. Combine everything. Stir. S&GP to taste. Check seasonings ->I don't currently have a food processor but my bread was basically already in crumbs. I just left my nuts and seeds whole. I began mixing everything together, without whisking the egg, and with the buttery spread instead of butter and salsa instead of hot sauce. I added more fresh rosemary to the whole mixture. I tasted it. It tasted slightly strange because of the raw egg (not recommended if you're concerned about salmonella from raw eggs) but otherwise good.

Spray and fill the ramekins (I have 1 C ones). Put into a 350° oven around 20 minutes. ->It was still kind of soft after that amount of time, but it tasted delicious!

Tons of variations/omissions/additions possible. But I think green peppercorns are pretty important. They make things so round and supple. ->I'm so glad I made it anyway, even without the green peppercorns!

This post was written in response to a comment on Facebook.

Yummy vegan veggie bergers!

Cross posted on The Daily Yay!

No, I'm not vegan by any means -- I love chicken too much to be even a
vegetarian -- but there was part of a bag of black beans that I wanted
to use up before our big move to Seattle at the end of the month.
After they'd soaked overnight and for most of the day (eight hours is
the minimum for an overnight soak, but longer is better), I rinsed
them and set them to boil in a pot for about an hour. A tomato and a
big white onion went in the blender. I pureed those first to make
room, then added two cups of cooked black beans. (I decided on that
amount because a veggie berger recipe that I've used before called for
two cups of beens, to my recollection.) Once the beans were pureed, I
pureed oats until the consistency was more mushy and less liquidy.
(I'm not sure how much it was; maybe half a cup's worth to a cup.)
After adding salt and pepper, I ran the blender again for a moment to
mix them in. Meanwhile, a couple of capfuls' worth of canola oil were
heating up in my big skillet. I dropped heaping spoonfuls of the stuff
in the blender onto the skillet and fried them for a few minutes on
each side, about 3-5 minutes or so. Wow, these veggie bergers have
awonderful texture and flavor and hold together incredibly well! I
enjoyed that batch with ketchup. Rena was already asleep but luckily
there's plenty more bean stuff for the Little Bean to enjoy my veggie
bergers tomorrow!

Say no to disposable water bottles!

Cross posted on Environmental Tip of the Week

These reusable water bottles by the FlyLady are expensive but worth
the price. Mine doesn't leak! Think about how much money you'll save
by not buying disposable bottles before you decide these are too
expensive. If you must buy a cheaper one, Bed Bath and Beyond is
ubiquitous and carries water bottles. If you're in New York,
Whole Foods has them, and I got two cheap plastic water bottles from
Modell's for about three or four bucks apiece (though plastic isn't
really the best choice for the environment or your health).
Don't want to drink tapwater? Try a Culligan water filtration system.
I don't own one but I once attempted to do door to door sales for the
company. Though many of their models are for businesses, they do have
smaller machines for use at home. Some other major brands have
similar systems; I recommend shopping around to get the features,
price, and service you want. Just fill your reusable bottle with your filtered
water, and you're good to go!

Spoiled Applesauce

I stick my hand deep into the recesses of the fridge and pull out the applesauce. I open the top. Ewwww! Something nasty hits my nose with a strong upper-cut; I recoil in disgust from the invisible wall of bacteria that has been released.

As I toss the applesauce into the garbage, I think: Oh, no, it's a holiday! I need more applesauce but I can't buy it now! I say to my husband, "Maybe I'll take some apples and make my own applesauce. Any idea how to do that?" He shrugs. I can't look up online how to make applesauce, either. What can I do?

I put five New York apples into a pot of water on the stove and let it boil. I don't know if this will work, but...after awhile, I check the apples, and sure enough, they feel like applesauce! I take them out of the pot, slip the peels off, remove the seeds, and mash them up a bit with a fork in a plastic food container. Wow, that was easier than making and peeling hard-boiled eggs!

I add about a cup of my applesauce to six mashed bananas that I've mashed with a fork and pour in half a cup of unsweetened Silk soy milk. I mix it all up. Finally, the mushy mixture goes into a bowl of whole wheat flour, Arm and Hammer baking soda, and wheat germ....

An hour and a half later: Delicious baby cake! I'll definitely make this with some added Truvia for Rena's first birthday party! The baby doesn't seem to like it yet, but it's the only cake I've eaten or served to grown-ups that I can honestly say is guilt-free!

Surprise On-the-Job Lunch

I'm loving my new job! It's my second day doing door-to-door sales for Culligan drinking water systems ( http://www.culligan.com/ ) in my own territory -- I was training in other peoples' territories last week -- and while I haven't made any sales yet in Teaneck or elsewhere, I've sure learned a lot! The more "doors" (businesses such as stores, salons, or doctors' offices) I see, the more confident I become. I think I'll do just another block or two of Cedar Lane and then stop to eat my usual Luna nutrition bar ( http://www.lunabar.com/ ) and drink my Naked juice ( http://nakedjuice.com/ ) for lunch.

Yay, that business there, near Grange Road, has the word Shalom in it! I'll for sure get them to sign up, if not now then next time around. I take a closer look at the sign that says Shalom Bombay, wondering what kind of business it is.... What?! A kosher Indian restaurant?! ( http://www.shalombombay.com/ ) I debate with myself: Sarah, you just rejoined Weight Watchers ( http://www.weightwatchers.com/ ), and besides, you don't want to spend that much money for a fancy lunch. But I've never been to an Indian restaurant and I want to try it!

I step inside and am greeted by Refael at the front, who has me choose one of the four tasting menus. I select:

Non-Veg.Thali

$ 16.00

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

LAMB OR BEEF CURRY

TOFU SPINACH

YELLOW DAAL

RICE

NAAN

DESSERT

because it is the least expensive selection that includes meat.

I sit down at the nearest table and gaze around at the magenta walls, shiny cat figures, and other Indian decor. Since it is lunchtime, I have the place to myself except for a couple by the opposite wall. "Is that Indian music?" I ask Refael as I wait for the waitress to bring me something from the menu. "Yes," he says, "do you like it?" The relaxing, rhythmic music is very beautiful background music for my upcoming meal.

Kalyani the waitress (her name is the name of a rhythm and a goddess) appears bearing a basket of soft, thin naan bread and three small bowls of sauces in which to dip it. I get up to wash and return quickly to enjoy that first delicious bite of naan by itself. Then...boy, are those sauces spicy! I eat up all the naan, but just a tiny bit of each sauce is enough to provide an ample burst of flavor for all the bread in the basket!

Kalyani then brings me a single, large, round, silver tray with a mound of rice on one side and five tiny, colorful bowls curved against the opposite side, across from the rice. "This one is the dessert," she says, pointing to one bowl that looked like it should be sweet rather than spicy.

I begin with the bowl containing a few pieces of chicken and sauce, bracing myself for the burn....I have to take a few gulps of water, it's so spicy! Kalyani is concerned that I don't like it, but I assure her that I like the flavor; it's just really spicy. I put rice in it to try to take the edge off, while she disappears in the back and returns with a couple of lemon slices. "Lemon juice takes away some of the spiciness," she tells me. I try it, and sure enough, the taste is a bit milder! The flavor is still very strong, but not so spicy that it burns my mouth. Kalyani informs me that I could have asked for my food to be mild. I didn't know it would be quite so spicy, but I'm glad to experience the real thing the first time. Next time I will request a milder meal.

I continue on to the bowl with lamb and sauce. Same deal: I put rice and lemon juice inside before I continue eating. And again with the tofu and sauce. In the meantime, Kalyani has brought me a small bowl of some white stuff that she says will help with the spiciness, and indeed it does. The daal is different, though. It reminds me of a thick version of pureed soup that I'm able to eat with a fork. I eat it without rice and lemon juice, as it's not as spicy as the other three, in my opinion. The whole while, I am absolutely enjoying the incredible sensations in my mouth. Finally I get to the dessert, which appears to be some kind of rice pudding. I take the first bite, and... wow! Its sweetness is unique and perfectly complements the spiciness of the rest of the meal. This final delight is the perfect ending to a most incredible eating experience that has left both my belly and my tastebuds more satisfied than any other meal I have had in my life! Refael tells me this is the only kosher Indian meat restaurant in the USA!

As if that's not enough, Kalyani tells me to wait a moment. She gives me a container of orange candy which she says is fried and dipped in syrup. I cannot wait to eat it, but I put it in my bag for now. I know I will enjoy it more later when my stomach is not as stuffed. For now, I must again brave the cold as I continue along Cedar Lane. Maybe I'll even make my first sale, which would be the sweetest thing of all....

Warm Your Belly

The howling winter wind bites at my face like an angry dog as I trudge through the icy white mounds on the ground. My whole body is frozen solid. Just one more block until I'm home, I tell myself. Finally I push open the door to my apartment building, and when I pass through the portal between the merciless open air and the secure shelter, my skin begins to thaw.

It takes more than that to warm my belly, though. Upstairs in my apartment, I greet my family and head straight for the kitchen. I grab a pot and fill it with water. I chop chop chop and toss in this and that, and several minutes later my husband and I are sitting down to savor our hot, steaming bowls of soup....

I don't make soup from a recipe; I make it up every time. Basically, to make a soup that's yummy and a healthy, complete meal I just use:

-water
-Osem or Telma soup mix or chicken broth;
-any combination of veggies, e.g. carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, green beans, zucchini;
-some kind of protein like chicken, beans, nuts, or eggs (to make it eggdrop soup);
-some kind of starch such as brown rice, potatoes, corn, or whole wheat pasta;
-fresh herbs and spices like onions, garlic, ginger, parsley, and/or any kind of dried herbs and spices;
-pepper;
-just a bit of salt, or no salt at all since there's plenty in the broth already
-sometimes pasta sauce and/or soy sauce.

There's no uniform cooking time. Soup with potatoes or dry beans probably needs at least 20 minutes, while chicken needs to be cooked through thoroughly, usually at least a half hour. Brown rice could also be done in a half hour if you cook the soup on high the whole time, but make sure there's plenty of water if you're going to do that. I sometimes end up with rice pilaf instead of soup if I don't put enough water in. Pasta needs the cooking time that's given on the package, while soup without any of these items might actually be done in, like, five minutes. Also, the order of ingredients doesn't matter, but I would recommend putting the water in first and having it cook while you add everything else.

I find, during the winter, that I make soup for dinner several nights a week, but it comes out different every time since I use a different combination of stuff every time.


Please leave comments with other tips, ideas, and/or questions about winter soup!