The Easiest Soup You Will Ever Make

My mom's friend shared the following recipe with her (Thanks, Rose!), and my mom graciously shared it with me. It is the easiest soup to make.....ever. This will feed several people. Perfect for a cold day, quick dinner, unexpected guests, or just cause you're feeling it!

The ingredients....yes, just these!

Beautiful!

If I had to name this soup - it would be Black Bean, Roasted Corn & Rice Soup.  But that's a little long, so you can just say "That Trader Joe's Bean Soup"

The ingredients are:

1 bag frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's
1 bag chimichurri rice from Trader Joe's
1 box Latin Style Black Bean soup from Trader Joe's
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed.

Pour all into a pot, cover, heat through until everything is hot - about 30 minutes stirring occasionally on med-low.

I served it with a little shredded cheddar and oyster crackers.

I think next time I will add cubed cooked chicken for a non-vegetarian option.

Seriously- that's it! Perfect substitution for chili if you are a vegetarian.  After Joey had some he said to "add it to the list", so you know it's good.

Next time you are at Trader Joe's, pick these items up and keep them handy for a last minute dinner idea - it will seem like you worked all day on it. So quick and easy!

2015

Once again, it’s been a while. Oops. Life gets in the way sometimes, and well, new TV shows, soft pajamas, books, books, and more books consume my life. Barnes and Noble charges mysteriously show up on the bank statement more often than Kroger does. This may be a problem….or is it just that I am expanding my mind instead of my waistline?

It’s a New Year! Time to get back on track, okay? 2015 is going to be the ish.

I want to be THIS content all the time!

Here are a few of my personal goals for 2015

Expanding my go-to recipes.

You have seen my all-time fave recipes here on the blog over the past year or so, which I always turn to when thinking “What’s for dinner?”.  Well as you can see, there aren’t that many! It’s time to branch out, try new recipes, and possibly even bake! And a rather crazy idea – experiment with flavors (say what?). Plus, I posted 1 or 2 times after getting a brand new kitchen. I guess I am really enjoying it too much to stop and take some pics, but really, do you want to see 4 posts about shrimp and grits? Because we make that ALL THE TIME.

Anything that you would like to see me attempt and post on the site? I am always up for a challenge!

Live a little.

I’m going to be honest here. I am a straight up textbook “homebody”. I would rather get in pajamas immediately upon arrival home after work than do anything else. I had sort of an epiphany this past late fall/early winter where I was like, ‘what am I doing sitting here, waiting for something fun to happen?’. I basically told my husband that we are getting out, we are going to do what we want, and we are going to live a little! He has no problem with that as he has many hobbies and is the opposite of homebody.  Maybe it was just me that needed to go out and do more. Admittedly, I have always been very jealous of Joey's long list of hobbies. So instead of continuing to wallow about being at home so much, I get out much more than before. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised that I have a busier schedule. I was afraid it was going to make me incredibly exhausted, but it is really refreshing to have things to do all the time, and actually look forward to doing them.
You know that feeling where you are like, ‘man, I really don’t want to go…’ and then you go, and it’s AWESOME? I had that feeling a lot last year, and I am finally embracing the anticipation of getting out more. If you are feeling in a funk and don't really want to get out and do much, my suggestion is to get out and do something. You won't regret it- I can say this from personal experience. You may even find that you really enjoy your new hobby! (As I write this, the temp this morning was 0 (ZERO) so, today is not the day I get out more).

Be grateful for what I already have.

I am the type of person who sometimes thinks “that would be really nice to have” or “it would be such a relief to have more money” but this year especially, I need to be grateful of what I currently have. I am fortunate that I work hard and earn enough to afford some luxuries. But to me, some of my favorite luxuries might be total crap to another person. To each his/her own!
There is so much time wasted with “blog envy”, “pinterest envy”, or really, “Facebook envy”, that we forget that this life we are living is perfectly imperfect. Plus, people usually don’t post the sucky things on Instagram, Facebook, or blogs. No one wants to read about the bad stuff most of the time.  I usually choose to share the joyful things in my life rather than complain or share personal struggles. The silver lining of going through tough stuff is I've learned what a great team my husband and I make. #teamgumer #hellurrr

Spoiler alert: The difficult thing J and I go through is deciding which restaurant to go to on date night ;-) KIDDING, of course....or am I? 

Learn how to blog.
In a nut-shell - I don't know the first thing about editing a blog. Let me get right on that. Also, any advice? Who wants to design my page? I'll pay you in hugs or a very small amount of money. You can pick.

For REAL get organized.

#cliche' #organizemylifeplease

I consider myself a pretty organized person in general. But, I do have a ‘Monica Closet’ or two that need some attention. Plus, I like shoving things in drawers #keepingitreal.  I really have been better about things having a place, but do want to apply a little organization to several areas in my life. I was looking at David Lebovitz’s gift giving guide for this past holiday season, and he suggested a book by Marie Kondo titled “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art ofDecluttering and Organizing”.  I am a sucker for best-sellers, who isn’t? So I amazon primed it straight to my doorstep. So far the message I have been gleaning from it is to only own things that “Spark Joy”. So purging things is on the top of my to-do list. I really like that this philosophy goes with my “live a little” goal. When I “live a little” and can come home to a decluttered house filled with things that “spark joy”, well, guys, I will be on top of the world.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2015! There is a lot to look forward to this year. So go out, live a little, and conquer any goals or resolutions you may have for the coming year!

Favorite Kitchen Tools

"I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty...." -my girl Ariel

via

Errrmmm, moving on.... Here are a few of my favorite kitchen gadgets/tools!  I figured I should start making some notes on what I like and don't like to use on the regular and tell all 10 of you about it!!! Which, by the way, thank you for humoring me by reading this blog.

I'll start with the big stuff: These are the mac-daddy kitchen essentials. Technically, you don't need these but they sure do make life a lot easier when cooking for your fam.

1. Kitchen Aid Mixer. LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY COLORS THEY HAVE NOW. Y'all know what's up with this. I use this at least 3 times a week for pizza dough, pasta dough rolling and mixing, any excuse I have for using it, I usually do. I'm really interested in the ice cream maker attachment for it. Can you imagine!?!?!? I'd really be hurtin for a personal trainer then.

 via 

2. Food Processor - This hefty guy makes hummus, date bars, sauces, etc. It's the bomb. I use this weekly for my hummus (way cheaper than store bought) that I take to work (will post recipe soon). This chops veggies, slices potatoes, and so much more. There are some neat attachments I haven't tried yet, but my hibernation begins during winter when I only leave the house for work, groceries or wine, so that's probably a good time to try them out, right? I will report back. 

Image via google

3. A Great Set of Knives A great chef, ahem....like myself, should always have a great set of knives. We have this set of Henckels. The key to a great, efficient knife is keeping it sharp. When you have a dull knife, you will know, that crap is majorly annoying. You technically should get your knives sharpened every few months or so. Which reminds me....

Also, I know these aren't the best of the best kind of knives around - but they work great for us and we try to take good care of them- which reminds me again....need to get these sharpened...

Image via Bed Bath and Beyond

4. A Non-Stick Pan. Seriously, one of the better "As Seen on TV" items I've encountered. I've said before, we are suckers for any "As Seen on TV" items.  This pan cooks eggs like a DREAM. Omelettes, no problem. Pancakes? Check. This is a great pan for $20. I'm sure there are *better* pans out there, but this one fits us just fine!

Image via Target

5. Spider This guy is a dream for deep frying, pasta retrieval, grabbing veggies from boiling water, etc. I recently picked this up after a marathon browsing session at Williams-Sonoma. I could spend days in there, just can't spend all the monies. Boo. But, for $15, I had to have it.

Image via Williams-Sonoma

*update: I realize I say "like a dream" alot. I'm not even sorry about it.

Homemade Granola Bars

These 'granola' bars are so. freakin. good.

These are inspired by the Paleo Mom Chewy Granola Bars. I have changed some ingredients to accommodate an almond-free diet. I actually think these turn out better using peanut butter since there is more oil in PB than almond butter to hold them all together.  Also these are *technically* not granola bars, more 'nut bars'.

I recently made these without coconut flakes and coconut oil adding cranberries and golden raisins instead and they were super delish. So, if you have a coconut allergy, these will still work. Nut allergy? Erm, not so much - but you can check these out and be just as satisfied.

This recipe is adapted from the Paleo Mom. She has great paleo recipes that are fairly easy to make and are really delicious.

Recipe: Makes 12-15 bars depending on how you want to cut them:

1/3 pepitas - roasted and salted(shelled pumpkin seeds - I found these in the bulk section at a specialty grocer) pulsed
1/3 c sunflower seeds - roasted and salted
1 1/2 c walnuts - chopped
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour (trust)
1 tbsp ground flax seed + 1 1/2 tbsp water (mix and set aside to make a "flax goop")
1/3 c coconut oil (coconut free use red palm oil) melted
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c honey
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 c Enjoy Life chocolate chips
2 c coconut flakes (coconut free use 1 c dried cranberries, 1 c golden raisins - or any dried fruit you prefer chopped up)

Preheat the oven to 325.

Mix together flax seed and water  in small bowl and set aside to make a "flax goop"
Pulse pepitas in food processor or magic bullet a few times to break them up, set aside - if you don't have a processor or magic bullet, just use a knife and

In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, flax goop, coconut or palm oil, and honey.
Add garbanzo bean flour and baking soda and mix into paste.

Add in the nuts, coconut (or dried fruit), seeds, chocolate chips and stir together. I use a wooden spoon and use some arm work with this - make sure you mix very very well.

I buy the aluminum 9x13 pans  at the grocery store to put these in, but you can use your own 9x13. You will want to spray non-stick spray into pan first, then spread evenly. I use a piece of parchment paper and use my hands to press down on the mixture to make it stick together and flatten.

You will bake these for 22 minutes. After you get out of the oven, let cool on stovetop or in fridge. They will harden better in the fridge and make it easier to cut into bars.

Try not to eat all of them at once. These are killer.