Archive for April, 2009

15 Bean Soup

Posted by laurel 7 April, 2009 Comments Off

This article was syndicated from: Laurel on Health Food

These days I’m on a mission to whip up cheap, healthy meals. I found a bag of 15 bean soup at the grocery store and decided to try it out. Beans are one of the best food purchases because they cost so little but really go a long way. Here’s what I did to make a HUGE batch of soup that’s going to feed me all week long.

I soaked the beans overnight in a pot of water and drained off the liquid the next day (soaking them helps improve digestion). Then I brought them to a boil and simmered for 2 hours. My bag of beans came with a meat flavoring packet, but I threw it out. I looked at the ingredients and couldn’t pronounce any of them…so I followed my instincts and tossed it.

Here’s what I chopped up and added to the beans:

* 1 big tomato

* 3/4 onion

* 3 stalks celery

* 3 cloves garlic

* 2 big carrots

To season it up I added chili powder, basil, a bay leaf, salt, and pepper to taste. I plan on sprinkling some hot sauce in each bowl too.

I continued simmering the soup for another hour or two until the beans were tender.

For this soup, I just added whatever veggies and spices I already had at home. If I want some fresh greens, grains, or meat during the week, I can just add them in when I re-heat. Super quick and easy!

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Mmmminty Dark Chocolate

Posted by laurel 1 April, 2009 (0) Comment

This article was syndicated from: Laurel on Health Food

Mmmminty Dark Chocolate

I bought a really great bar of dark chocolate the other day. It was one of those days when everything was going wrong for me…so my solution was chocolate. I went to Walgreens and found it on the very bottom shelf of the candy aisle. The good stuff is always hard to find, right? Anyways, it turns out that this Dark Chocolate with Deep Forest Mint chocolate bar from Endangered Species is my new best friend. It has a 72% cocoa content and the perfect amount of mint that just makes it refreshing instead of overbearing.

Half of the bar is 210 calories, but I only had a quarter because it’s rich enough that you don’t want to scarf it down.

Here’s some other cool facts about this chocolate: it’s ethically traded which means that workers are given “fair wages and humane working conditions.” The wrapper is printed on recycled 30% post-consumer FSC certified paper. The chocolate is also kosher, vegan, and gluten-free. I really recommend it when you need a treat.