Soup's On

Oatmeal

It was a cold snowy day in Baltimore and time for some comfort food.  I started the day with some loaded oatmeal.  I cooked steel cut oats with raisins, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, almonds, and diced apple.  It was topped off with some blueberries.  That was a good filling breakfast that lasted all morning.

Chili

Chili is the ultimate comfort food.  This one was loaded also.  I sauteed a couple of yellow onions, garlic and green pepper.  Then I mixed in pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, a ground beef substitute, corn, diced tomatoes and pureed tomatoes. It was spiced with salt, black and white pepper, and chili powder. For good measure, I poured in 1.5 cups of red wine.  Very hearty lunch.  I do not like to use too many processed foods, but chili seemed the right time to add some mock meat.  This one from Yves, has the texture of ground meat and is made from texture soy protein and wheat gluten.

At dinner we had some more soup.  This one was a super charged minestrone.  A little of everything was in it - acorn squash, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, whole wheat pasta, broccoli, corn, kidney beans, cannelloni beans, diced tomatoes, and spinach.  It was seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram, and tarragon.  I used a fresh batch of homemade stock for the liquid. It was a perfect meal to end the day.