Soup and Salad Night

Tonight I had homemade tomato and fennel soup from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, along with a spinach salad and steamed broccoli. I was never a fan of tomato soup, but a few months ago I tried some at Whole Foods, and decided that I liked it. So when I saw the recipe, I thought I wanted to try it. I wasn't sure how it would taste with the fennel, but oh my gosh, it was amazing. I am now a confirmed lover of tomato soup.

P.S. Gramps turned 89 years old today, and he is getting his exercise. I am so proud of him.

Big Horn Sheep Sighting, and a Mediterranean Kitchen

Today we went on our first boating trip of the year to Lake Pleasant. It was a little cold first thing in the morning, but as the day wore on, it got a little warmer. You can't see them in this picture, but there were yellow poppies all over this little hill. We rested in a little cove with the view of this poppy covered hill. We both napped a little then went trolling around the lake.

This morning I saw the coolest thing ever. I was driving the boat trailer up to park it, and a big horn sheep trotted right in front of me! It was kind of like a slow motion, I can't believe my eyes sort of moment. I reached for my camera, but darn it, it was in the boat. He was such a beautiful animal. I have never seen one in the wild before. He must have come down to the lake to take a drink. This special sighting made the day even more amazing.

Dinner tonight was a Classic Italian Minestrone soup inspired by The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. I used orzo for the pasta and I made it a vegetarian meal by adding Romano and Parmesan cheese as a garnish. I had salad left over from last night on the side. The soup was delicious, and I have a ton left over. I will be freezing half, and eating the other half this week.

Springtime Hiking and Yummy Italian Food

We went for a three mile hike this morning in the northern part of Phoenix. The weather was beautiful and wildflowers were everywhere. I think we got to the mountain about nine thirty and was done hiking by eleven thirty.

We didn't hike all the way around the mountain, because I forgot the extra water in the truck, but we did hike to the top. You can see the trail we came back on in the picture above.

It was so cool, on the way down, I heard some birds "talking" to each other. I turned around and saw this quail, so I got out my zoom lens and got a shot of this beauty behind the chaparral bush.

After a day of hiking, shopping and visiting my parents, I came home and made my sweetie and Italian meal of angel hair pasta with my homemade tomato sauce. I added garlic, an onion, a zucchini and a yellow bell pepper to two cans of fire roasted tomatoes. This was seasoned with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano and basil. It was really yummy. I also made a spinach salad with yellow tomatoes, red onion, red bell pepper and pine nuts. Dinner was done in thirty minutes. (My kind of dinner!)

Biking is way cool....

A few weeks ago we went to Rocky Point, Mexico. I had the brilliant idea of taking our bikes along so we can get some exercise while saving fuel. I am thinking we are going to go to Old Port and bike back to the house, but no. My boyfriend likes to torture me. We rode all over town, 8.5 miles to be exact. I have never ridden 8.5 miles in my life! Needless to say I was a little saddle sore (for two weeks). It was fun and the weather was beautiful.

Here is a picture of my torturer. See the evil grin on his face?

Once I got over my saddle soreness, we have been biking almost everyday. We bike 1.5 miles to the store and back. Tonight we biked to our local library which is four miles away. I am a little sore, but will try and get back on the bike tomorrow. If not, we are going to take one of our girls hiking.

Cooking wise, (and through the holidays) I have been sticking to as much fat free vegan cooking as possible. The surprising benefit to this diet and lifestyle, is that when I stepped on the scale this morning, I weighed 144lbs. I was so excited! I feel so much better, but I still have a bit to lose, and will keep my new diet and exercise regimen going. ( I will still be having treats from time to time.) I have bought a few new cookbooks, and can't wait to try a few new recipes.

Tonight's dinner was nothing special. Sweetie is doing taxes, and I cooked up some wild rice with peas and sliced up yellow tomatoes. Simple but very yummy.

I'm Back.....

It's been a while, but I am back..... Went hiking by Mom and Pop's to check out the wild flowers on the mountain.

We brought our little black dog, Pluto. We hiked to the top and watched the sun go down. I had a really bad day at work, but after watching the sun go down on that mountain, I realized, that being at the top of the mountain was more important, than any job I could ever have.

Dinner tonight was left-over lentil and brown rice pilaf (my own recipe), steamed broccoli, and raw tomatoes. From the look of all the food on my plate, I was hungry. (I ate it all....)

White Bean Ragout

Tonight I made a swiss chard and white bean ragout. I sauteed an onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft then I added some Field Roast Italian Grain Meat Sausage. I sauteed the sausage with the veggies until it started to brown. Then I added about a fourth of a cup of white wine, and a can of fire roasted crushed canned tomatoes and a can of drained white beans. I let this simmer together and seasoned with thyme, oregano, pepper, salt and crushed red pepper. I then added some shredded swiss chard and I let it simmer until the chard cooked into the sauce.

I served it with a mixed green salad with red onions, chopped Roma tomato and garnished with pine nuts. I served the ragout over couscous and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast. It was so good. I am going to try and start cutting my portions down. I have to start loosing this weight I am carrying around.

Monday's, Saturday and Sunday Leftover Meal

This is not a very good picture, but I had my left over chili from Saturday over my roasted veggies from Sunday. I topped it with nutritional yeast I bought a Whole Foods tonight on the way home. I have never tried this before, and it was really good, kind of cheesy tasting, but not really.