La Vida Fresca

Tonight was soup night. We had chicken noodle (whole wheat) and chicken and rice soup.

The rice looked like birdseed but it was actually this crazy blend of long grain brown rice, sweet brown rice, something called Wehani, and Black Japonica (whatever that is). I got the rice (Lundberg Family Farms Wild Blend) a while back from a bulk bin at a health food store. I only bought 3/4 cup so it was really cheap and just the right amount for the soup I made. The texture was neat and I thought it was perfect for the soup. However, I don’t think it would be very appealing on its own as a side dish.

My helper and I made a big pot of chicken breast cooked with sliced baby carrots, onion, celery, and spices. Then we divided it up into two pots: one for the rice soup and one for the noodle. The idea was to make a bunch of soup and stockpile individual portions in the freezer. Even with just the three of us, I only had three (puny) individual portions to freeze. Good thing it was light! We also had a salad to go with it.

I think it’s fun when we make our own salad bar at home. On this particular night, we had various vegetables, a few cubed cheeses, some ham, olives, and the stars of the meal: fresh pineapple (so good) and grapes.

Another light but very good meal, and one that doesn’t involve any cooking. Stuff like this is great in the summertime or in December when it’s pretty warm outside, like now.

I made these for Christmas from this recipe I got from All Recipies. Either I forgot to get a photo of the finished product or I lost it. Either way, the cookies came out looking a lot like the ones shown on the cookie sheet, except puffier. I used lots of nice festive holiday shapes and the cookies tasted OK. I might try out a different recipe next time though. The dogs seemed to like them fine but naturally it’s hard to tell how they compare to the treats you buy in the store. I draw the line at tasting them. The cookies were made with wheat flour, milk, and peanut butter.

Just a green salad (mine was topped with sesame ginger dressing — yum), beef marinated in soy sauce and some other stuff I can’t remember and cooked in a grill pan, and a salad of grapes, blueberries, feta cheese, and chunks of Granny Smith apples. The meat was OK, and everything else was good except I would’ve preferred a sweeter apple. We just had to use them up. Overall, it was a nice, light meal.