A few favorite things

I must say that this is going to be a completely random post, but I have a few things I wanted to share with everyone.

I now have a huge obsession with Asian food.  It was always my "comfort" food.  I love sushi, I love take-out Chinese, Thai & Vietnamese.  This obsession really has hit a new level lately, but I'm really not quite sure why to be honest.

Last night, Mark and I made Hot and Sour soup, ginger & garlic shrimp stir-fry with broccoli, bok choy, snow peas, cabbage and a few more things.  It was so good, and so comforting.  I had also made Singapore Laksa during the week, which is a favorite of Mark and mine. We also eat a lot of Indian curries, which we both love!

This brand is amazing!  They have curry pastes, soup pastes, without artificial anything, so you don't have to grind stuff up to make the perfect sauce.  So worth buying!

I've been doing research on a lot of different Asian cuisine, so I will be posting recipes of some yummy stuff soon!

Also, I felt the need to share with you my new favorite cereal.  It's Mini-Wheats Centres.  It has mixed berry filling inside and so so good! Honestly, it isn't even that bad for you.  It has 240 calories per serving (including milk), 10g sugar, 6g of fiber!  A lot less sugar than most cereals out there, that's for sure!

Anyway, I know this blog post was a little random, but I hope you enjoyed anyway.
If you have any weird food obsessions or good recipes, let me know in the comments!

Until next time,
Jacqueline

Veggie Soup For Your Soul

After a week or so of over-indulgence, I knew I needed to make a pot of simple, everyday vegetable soup.  Since it is pouring down rain here today anyway, I knew it would be a great idea to sip on something simple and soothing.

For one of our New Year's resolutions, Mark and I decided to do "Meatless Mondays".  It just makes a scheduled out day to cook meat free for me, so I can try out new meat-less recipes. Another resolution I am trying to do this year is trying to eliminate all processed food, and cook with seasonal, fresh ingredients.  Let me know what your resolutions are for this year.  Do any of them involve food?

For my thrown together saffron-infused veggie soup, you will need: 

olive oil
1 onion, sliced (you can chop, mince or whatever you prefer)
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
5-6 cloves garlic, roughly cut up
small bowl of frozen peas (you can also add corn or any frozen veggie you have lying around)
1 small can all purpose tomato sauce or 2 tbsp tomato paste
3-4 cups water
salt and pepper
pinch of saffron***
1/2 tsp basil
2 handfuls soup noodles

*Make sure you have all your veggies cut up and ready to go before you start, just easier to throw it all in at once this way!*
Heat a tbsp or so olive oil in a pot.
Throw in the onion, celery and carrots.
Cook these for about 3-4 minutes
Add the garlic and stir around
Cook a few more minutes, add in peas
Add tomato sauce or tomato paste
Add water
Season with salt, pepper, saffron and basil
Bring to a simmer, add pasta and cook until pasta is cooked
You can serve this as is or with a little fresh parmesan grated over, or with little french bread toasts like I did.
***If you don't happen to have any saffron, just double the basil and add in a pinch of oregano! And if you do have saffron, no more than a pinch! You don't want soapy tasting soup!

I hope you enjoy this light, tasty soup. It is very much needed after the heavy food of the holidays!

Until next time,
Jacqueline

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