Fall is for food!

Good morning!

I have been all over the place the past few days, however some fall cooking has come of it! On Sunday I had half a can of pumpkin left over and a plan…savory pumpkin scones a la Angela. I made these for a couple of reasons. First off, my grandfather recently lost his brother to a short but painful and difficult battle with cancer. My great-uncle Donald was a fun-loving man and always the life of the party:

This is him with my cousins, Eric and Jackie at my cousin Tim’s wedding two years ago. I am so blessed and grateful that he was there because, along with my childhood memories of him, I have some wonderful ones from my adult life to remember him by.

I wanted to make my Pepere something nice to show him a little love and comfort during a difficult time. I also wanted to make the scones to test out my vegan baking abilities and use up the rest of that pumpkin. New rule: get creative and be resourceful with ingredients in the kitchen!

After following Angela’s recipe to a T, I had these:

Oh baby!

Just in case once wasn’t enough 😉

Needless to say, they were enjoyed by everyone!!

Yesterday was another day in the kitchen, but not of the baking-sorts. Yesterday was rainy, cold, and generally miserable outside: perfect day to make soup! I was getting a little stir-crazy under a pile of books and articles to read for grad homework and decided that a little time spent in the kitchen could cure my boredom, and also provide a dinner for the evenings class.

So off I went:

Things got a little messy, but that’s the beauty of having the kitchen and an afternoon to yourself.

Things then started to come together:

Use-what-you-got Soup

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced

2 celery stalks

1 summer squash

1 zucchini

1/2 container of fresh button mushrooms

1/2 red pepper

1 can chickpeas

1 carton Trader Joe’s Hearty Vegetable Broth

3 cups water (to fill the pot)

3/4 cup organic brown rice

1 teaspoon paprika

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Prep all ingredients and toss them all in a large soup pot. Add broth and enough water to fill. Bring soup to a rolling boil for a couple minutes. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes to a couple hours (however long you’ve got). The results should look something like this:

This soup was the perfect compliment to my rainy day boredom. It was a great to bring with me to class and fill me up without being too heavy. I brought it to school using my new L.L. Bean thermos:

She’s not the prettiest thermos, but she totally does the job; perfect size for a meal (18 0z, I usually pack about 16 oz which is two cups).

Today is a fairly busy day, already having had one appointment at 9 a.m. and having another one at 11:30 followed by class tonight 4-6:30. To keep me calm and relaxed I had a 20 minute meditation session (that may have turned into a nap) in between the first and second appointment. My headache is now gone and my stress level has gone down. I am trying my best to work through my IBS-related symptoms through meditation and stress-management. I am not sure if I have shared yet on here that I do have IBS and that I have been dealing with it for about 5 years now. As I have learned to live with it, I have discovered ways to control it through diet (no greasy foods, spicy foods, not as many raw foods, no caffeine, and limited amounts of alcohol) but I also know there is a huge component tied to stress. I am using a few different techniques to deal with that but if any of you out there have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

The biggest thing carrying me through this busy day, though, is the thought of curling up on Eric’s couch with him tonight, having a good meal and watching Glee and last nights episode of House (we are such home-bodies)!! I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday, hopefully I will catch up with you tomorrow!!

lots of love,

Em