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Posts tagged as “vegetables”

Warm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this week

Warm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this weekWarm up! 7 great soup recipes to make this weekend From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

This past week, we've seen some ridiculously cold temperatures, into the negative teens after factoring in wind chill. Brr... But, hey, it is January, after all.

One of my favorite things to make is soup. It's always a great way to use up vegetables that I have leftover and expedite the dinner-making process. The past couple of weekends, I have made soup on Sunday in our Crock-Pot for Dave and I to have as lunch and dinner during the week.

Here is a quick round-up of seven great recipes to try if you need inspiration for what to make this week. I've included a few of my own and a few that just sounded delicious from others. Let me know in a comment what you think and if you have tried any of them!

Chickpea Stew, an “OG” recipe redux for 2023 | fromannaskitchen.com

Chickpea Stew, an “OG” recipe redux for 2023 | fromannaskitchen.comBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

"Ah. Where has the time gone?" I feel like I say that to myself every year as I log in to WordPress, blow off the dust, and proceed writing as if I'm catching up with an old friend.

2020, 2021, and 2022 felt like they were one, crazy, never-ending superyear where there were beautiful, happy, exciting moments and some tragic, frustrating low points all jumbled together. The "new normal" got redefined countless times. Whatever that means now as we've headed into the first couple of weeks of 2023 is to be determined, but if 2020 in a single word was "chaos" then 2021 was a "rollercoaster." 2022 was a state of "transition" and the year that Dave and I officially became homeowners. Now, it's our hope that 2023 will be, simply, "calm."

I could spend so much time talking about the emotions, both happy and sad, of the last several years, and maybe in due time, I will. In this specific moment, though, I'm processing the fact that I've had a personal blog/website of some format for 22 years...

Looking at it another way: my very first domain that people knew about, burned-bridges.com, was registered in 2001 after making the leap from creating single-page Expages and later multi-page Geocities websites, with frames, GIF animations, Midi background music and all! B-B.net, if it was still "alive" in its previous format and a human being residing in the U.S., could drink by now. Yikes.

Call me nostalgic, but it seemed fitting to revisit a recipe that I published on my other "OG" blog, fuchsia-revolver.org (still "alive" but inactive and about to be permanently redirected here), in 2009: Chickpea stew. This recipe was one of the first that inspired me to come over here to a new domain and start my foodie adventures properly in 2016.

Proof? Here she is: a throwback from December 22, 2009, courtesy of the fuchsia-revolver.org WordPress archives.

Dinner in a flash: Baked portabello mushroom caps

Dinner in a flash: Baked portabello mushroom capsBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

The never-ending stay-at-home fatigue is very real in my household. Dave and I have had to get creative with our weeknight meals because while my commuting time has gone away, it doesn't always mean extra time at night to spend freely. A con of working from home is certainly that the morning, afternoon and evening hours can sort-of all bleed together. Before I know it (like right now), it's almost dinner time, and I'm still at the computer. And wedding planning, of course, has also eaten up time during the evenings, although in a (mostly) enjoyable way. With that said, this recipe is definitely of the variety of a 30 minute, or less, meal. In fact, it's so easy, it's hardly a recipe: if it takes more than five minutes to assemble, and longer than 20 minutes to cook, then you're overthinking it.

Raw-curious: A whos-who of raw food

Raw-curious: A whos-who of raw foodRaw-curious: A whos-who of raw food, an overview From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

This installment of my raw food series discusses some of the people and brands that focus on raw living. In case you missed it, read some reasons why you might try a raw food diet and essential tools for raw cooking to make the process easier and more enjoyable. As a reminder, I'm not a dietician or medical professional, so please consult with your doctors before changing your eating habits or starting any new diets. Also, this is not a sponsored post or endorsement made in coordination with or paid by any of the brands or individuals mentioned here. 

Bobby Flay. Ina Garten. Emeril Lagasse. Rachael Ray. When it comes to a who's who of cooking, any fans of food could probably also rattle off these familiar names. Those four come to mind first for me, having watched the Food Network since what seems like "day 1"—and more precisely, back when the OJ Simpson trial was dominating the news.

Really. I remember this because my mom was, and still is, a fan of anything involving law and politics. We upgraded our cable package so we could have the channels that would cover the Simpson trial 24/7 instead of just the highlights that would come on the evening news.

The Food Network was only included in these higher-priced packages at the time—FoodTV, as it once was—so the perk for little ol' me was that this was now my chance to watch it at home, not just at my grandparent's house. The Essence of Emeril, hosted of course by Emeril Lagasse, was my favorite. And when we got our first family computer (a Packard Bell—did anyone else have one of those?!) and printer (a HP and still to this day I have an HP printer—albeit a more modern one ;), I remember printing some of his more complicated recipes that, one day, I hoped to be able to master.

Learning about raw food introduced me to a whole new set of chefs as well as brands, some of which I'd like to share with you. Have a favorite raw chef or brand that's not mentioned here? I'd love to know about them, so leave me a comment!

Spicing-up take out: Chinese

Spicing-up take out: ChineseSee a quick sauce for Spicing up Chinese takeout From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

What's that one thing you really crave when a food craving hits? Pick your poison: savory or sweet. Maybe it's a really decadent chocolate dessert? Or a fresh, piping hot pizza with all of your favorite toppings?

You know that feeling of having a craving that just needs to be satisfied. A desire for something, you can practically taste whatever it is. Sometimes, the end result is amazing. Other times?

One of the worst food-related things that can probably happen in my opinion is having a craving for something, finally eating it, and having it be an epic fail. Talk about a letdown!

This happened to me recently with Chinese food. Dave and I try not to get take-out food too often, since it's expensive and not always the healthiest. But one night recently, neither of us felt like turning on a stove, firing up the grill, cutting seemingly endless amounts of produce, or doing anything for dinner other than picking up a fork (or chopsticks) and calling it a day. I ordered shrimp with broccoli, no sauce, and I couldn't wait to eat it after not having it in a while.  

Granted, it came without sauce, but on the first bite... something wasn't right. It didn't taste bad, i.e. spoiled, but it didn't hit the spot. Added a little soy—still not right. 

Then, the lightbulb went off in my head: make a quick sauce. Soy sauce needed some help from its friends ginger and garlic if there was any hope to save this dish.

Raw-curious: Why you should try a raw food diet

Raw-curious: Why you should try a raw food dietRaw-curious: Why you should try a raw food diet, an overview From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
Originally posted on fuchsia-revolver.org but updated with new content. I thought that this would be an excellent post to reflect on and update as we are approaching the start of yet another new year and new resolutions for healthier, cleaner eating. You can also learn about the whos-who of raw food and tools that make raw food prep easy. I'm not a dietician or medical professional, so please consult with your doctors before changing your eating habits or starting any new diets. Also, this is not a sponsored post or endorsement made in coordination with or paid by any of the brands or individuals mentioned here.  You may already know that once upon a time, I had a marketing internship at a raw food company. In spite of some of the personalities that I encountered in my month-long journey, working there not only gave me some business experience at the time, a first-hand look at what it took to get a small business off the ground, but also opened my eyes to the world of raw, organic foods. Raw food is not just uncooked food—it's a little more specific than that if you ask anyone that follows a raw food diet. Typically, any food kept under 104 degrees Fahrenheit is considered "raw". I have also heard that anything under 118 degrees Fahrenheit is considered "raw", too.