Soup & Muffins & Supermarket Awareness
If you’re looking to make an interestingly yummy soup, try onion, pumpkin and chickpeas (puree both), chunky carrot, vegetable stock (organic), quinoa and bacon pieces. That’s what I made the other night– made it up as I went along–and it was delicious. I also threw in a bit of pastina to make it a little more filling. I served the soup with parmesan on top. (I am addicted to puttting parmesan on top of my soups.)
This morning I had a crack at salami pesto muffins.
I had kept the recipe from one of those trashy mags, thinking that one day I’d want to start baking. (Boy, has that day arrived or what.) Anyway, firstly, I’m not so impressed with how they turned out.
They were a bit dry and too rich in taste–not the best combination! Secondly, I made a small screwup with the recipe. I was supposed to half-fill the recess in the muffin tray with mixture, top it with some pesto and mozzarella and then cover it with some more mixture. I (forgetting how to read again) put all the mixture in and left it topped with the pesto and mozzarella. Not a huge error, but it would have looked prettier if I had gotten it right. I guess it doesn’t matter because I won’t be making them again anyway. Thirdly, I made the pesto from scratch (which I had never done before) and it was easy-peasy, and quite tasty. That was probably the best thing to come out of it! The problem with making pesto is having enough basil (I had just enough to make a quarter of a cup only!). Originally, I went to buy a jar of pesto but was mortified at what was actually in it (and yes, all 8 or 9 varieties on the shelf at the supermarket were very similar with the ingredient content. Gross, gross!)
Now that I have a basil plant in the works (and will be planting more soon), making my own pesto will definitely be on the agenda again.
My local supermarket is getting its act together and is starting to stock loads of organic stuff. I am so pleased and as sad as it may sound, I find it so exciting! Almost every week, I see a new organic product. Today I was able to buy organic self-raising flour (from White Wings) as well as organic sugar. At the same time, I have discovered that the other place where I have started to buy my organic fruit and vegetables from (count how many times I have said organic so far) sells other goodies like pasta, bread and sauces. So, whether it’s from there or the supermarket, it’s becoming so accessible and that makes me happy.
The main thing that gets my pony (there aren’t enough goats to go around) is the idea of brands cashing in on the organic stuff, and it’s totally happening, and it’s totally uncool, and really gets me miffed. It’s why I look for the certified label on the product.
Unfortunately, all of this is making an enormous difference to the grocery bill, and because eating decently-grown foods is not something that (well, not always) will have immediate noticeable result on the body, it’s easy to think that it’s not worth it and/or a lot of people can’t justify the extra price. (Some people aren’t in a position to and I respect that.)… but I do believe it is worth it.
The extra expense is making me get smarter with meal plans and makes me not want to waste food! I am freezing a lot more stuff now.
My gawd, I am such a domestic mama now. It’s crazy over here: my mum is giving me her old sewing machine for goodness sake (but thats a whole other blog entry.) And if you knew me 6 months ago…
