Friday, May 9, 2008

MY LAST POST UNTIL AFTER THE 18TH-- A VARIETY OF STUFF!

Best Blog Tips I'm off to Princeton, NJ and New York for a week, with my sis! I'll blog when I get back!


LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NON-PLASTIC IN WHICH TO STORE YOUR HOMEMADE SOYMILK? These are 1 qt./L Frigoverre glass storage jugs (made in Italy), and they were $4.99 each (Cnd) at London Drugs (UPDATE 2012-- they are now $5.99 and the make is Bormioli Rocco, but it's the same thing). Tight lid and easy to store; sturdy glass. UPDATE 2014:  These jugs are also available under the name "Amici" or "Quadro" (talk about confusing!). Here's a 2 qt. jug from Canadian Tire.

Online sources for various kinds of glass storage jugs/pitchers in the US:

A set of two 1 L jugs similar to the ones above, but with colorful lids at amazon.com, and also the single one with a white lid, but, oddly, they are more expensive than the Canadian ones above.


SWEET POTATOES ON MY MIND....

Here's a yummy, no-fat soup we had for lunch the other day:




BRYANNA'S SPICY BLACK BEAN AND SWEET POTATO SOUP (WW CORE PLAN COMPATIBLE)

The combination of black beans and sweet potatoes is always enticing, but especially so in this soup with Caribbean flavors.

3 cups cooked or canned (2/ 15 ounce cans) black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cup low-sodium vegetarian broth (don't use more-- trust me!) (I like Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Vegan Broth Base)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules OR 2 2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 pkg. (60 g) Yves Veggie Pizza Pepperoni (or any spicy vegan "sausage" or "deli slice"), cut into slivers
4 green onions, chopped
12-14 ounces sweet potato, peeled and diced

Mix together the beans, broth, tomato paste, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, garlic granules, allspice, and thyme in a blender or food processor. Puree coarsely. Pour into a medium-sized soup pot. (You can also do this right in the soup pot with an  immersion/stick blender.)

Add the bay leaf, veggie pepperoni slivers, green onions, and sweet potato. Bring to a boil, stirring now and then. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving):
273.1 calories; 2% calories from fat; 0.9g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 513.8mg sodium; 842.1mg potassium; 50.6g carbohydrates; 14.1g fiber; 4.2g sugar; 36.5g net carbs; 17.5g protein; 4.7 points.



AND A TREAT:



Chocolate panini.... some high-quality white bread, Ricemellow Creme (or you can use my homemade "Marshie Fluff", ; vegan, organic, fair trade chocolate; and low-sugar apricot jam. Yum!!

Enjoy!

12 comments:

julie hasson said...

Have a great trip Bryanna!

I use the same glass pitchers for soymilk too. How funny!

I've been having a hard time finding the Ricemallow cream. It looks like a perfect addition to the chocolate panini.

Anonymous said...

If you are looking for a place to eat in Princeton, skip boring ol' Zen Palate and try Tom Young Goong. And most of the (out-of-this-world) sorbet at The Bent Spoon (on Palmer Square) is vegan--just ask to make sure the flavors you fancy aren't sweetened with honey, because a couple are.

Safe travels!

Anonymous said...

Bryanna, my mouth is watering, as usual. Sadly, though, I don't think that those gorgeous looking latkes are WW core... flour, even ww flour, means counting flex points. Bummer :( I WILL, however, be saving points for them! mmmmmmm : )

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

Oh, you are right, Erin! I'll correct that!

Unknown said...

are the lids to those glass storage containers silicone?

Anonymous said...

I thought the spicy black beand and sweet potato soup was AWESOME!

I cooked it a bit differently, I didn't have any veg-stock, so I didn't use low-sodium ingredients and I added canned diced tomatoes in the blender for the soup base. I also added some white onions and jalapenos to the soup to add some spice as my local grocer doesn't have vegan/vegetarian pepperoni. I tried to find some fennel seed for at least a brat/sausage taste, but I couldn't find any.

End result: Excellent. I may put my variation of this recipe on my website. If that's not ok send me an email and I'll link you up :)

Speedwell said...

Frigoverre 1-liter bottles like Bryanna's are available on Amazon at this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E8SV2M/sr=1-13/qid=1211260412/ref=sr_searchpop_12_pop?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1211260412&sr=1-13

Devadeva Mirel said...

Ball 1/2 gallon canning jars (which really aren't recommended for canning anything other than juice) are great storage jars for people on a budget. Six wide mouthed jars are (I think) under 10bucks. The only drawback is the lid is lined with plastisol...but so is just about everything else in this world.

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

devadeva-- yes, I have used canning jars and they are cheap. They are just a bit awkward (especially for small hands) to pour out. 3 of these Frigoverre jars cost me only around $15 (these will hold 2 batches of soymilk), and they are also very sturdy and less likely to break than regular jars. The handle is really nice and the shape is easy to fit even into my usually-crowded fridge!

I also got a 2.3 L one, but it's a bit heavy when full. I will save that for iced tea, etc.

Devadeva Mirel said...

agree. and the ring/lid thing can be annoying on a regular basis.

Sarah R said...

Where did the latkes go? They sound so sood!

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

They were so good that they made it into my upcoming book, Sarah!