This morning started off like every other morning, with a breakfast burrito. I decided to mix it up a little and slather it in some pesto sauce I was looking to use up. The tortillas already have pesto in them but adding more definitely upped the flavor and gave it a nice little kick.
After breakfast I headed off to finance in my workout clothes since I have aerobics immediately after. I swear that class must think I'm the crazy aerobic lady, they've never seen me not in spandex! While sitting in finance I remembered that today was my aerobics midterm, and that we weren't going to be doing workouts today. Thankfully I had all my classwork with me so I could get a little studying done in between stock analysis. It was a little embarrassing being the only person showing up to aerobics in workout wear, but I figured that's what they've seen me in since the second day of class so they're probably used to it!
After class I did a little shopping at Kohls and Wegmans and then headed home to relax and spend some quality time with my babies. Andy recently got a new bone (even more recent than his other new bone) that he absolutely loves.
He guards it closely.
He's also a bully. Everything Bailey has Andy wants, even if he has the exact same thing. Typical little sibling syndrome. (I had it!) Do you see that little bit of white fluff at the bottom of the picture? That's Bailey. After she just had her bone stolen by Andy. She cried.
What a punk.
I worked up an appetite while playing with my puppies so I decided to make something quick and easy with the leftover tofu from last night for lunch.
Keep in mind the tofu has a peanut glaze sauce over it. Smothering it in cheese and putting it on a bed of noodles is not for everyone, but it was absolutely delicious for me!
For dinner I was craving soup. I found this recipe for Baked Potato Soup over at Skinny Taste. Its a new-to-me blog, but one that I am definitely going to start reading on a regular basis as the soup was delicious! I modified a few of the ingredients from her original recipe, so my ingredients are listed below.
Ingredients:
4 red potatoes, washed and dried
1 small head of cauliflower (stem removed)
1 1/2 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
3 tbsp chopped chives (with additional to garnish)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (to garnish)
To start you want to cook the red potatoes in the microwave. First make sure to puncture them with a fork or knife, then cover them with a damp paper towel and microwave for five minutes. Then turn them over and microwave for an additional five minutes. At this point you can either peel the potatoes or leave the skins on. I love potato skins so I opted to leave them in the soup.
At the same time you should be steaming your califlower on the stove. When it is done drain and then leave in the pot.
Go ahead and add your stock, your milk, and your potatoes to the cauliflower. Cook until boiling, stirring occasionally.
Now this is where it gets interesting. If you have an immersion blender use that. If not, prepare for a messy ride. Just know that it is completely worth it. When I mentioned to Josh I don't have an immersion blender he told me I could do the same thing in a blender. I was excited to know I could still make my soup but had no idea what I was in for.
He strongly cautioned me to take out the middle attachment in the blender because when blending hot things it causes the inside of the blender to get very hot. Which can lead to the lid popping off while blending. He also advised blending small batches of the soup at a time since without a complete lid you don't want to be filling the blender to the brim. I'm so glad I didn't because I can't imagine what a mess I would have made. Having three blender cycles still had potato flying out at me. It wasn't anything serious, I just wouldn't recommend wearing nice clothes while you make this. ;p I ended up covering the hole with a dish rag and that worked out great for me.
Once the blending is complete, celebrate! Then move all of it back into the pot. Add your chives and greek yogurt. Mix thoroughly.
Then add salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking for an additional ten minutes on low heat, stirring continuously.
And voila! Soup is served! This wasn't a hard recipe at all, and if you have an immersion blender, it should be downright easy. The soup was phenomenal. My dad deemed it restaurant quality. This was the point where you are supposed to garnish with chives and cheddar cheese. I only remembered the chives before I started digging in. It says something if I think this dish is perfect just the way it is, without any cheese in it.
Yum!
Now for what I really wanted to talk to you guys about. If you are a vegetarian I would really appreciate your opinion on this one!
Question of the Day: Do you ever eat foods made with chicken/beef stock, gelatin, and/or cheese products containing animal enzymes?
As a new vegetarian (I stopped eating animals completely about two or three months ago) its hard for me to figure out what I think about products that while they don't physically contain animal are made from a dead animal. For instance, my favorite soup from Panera, the broccoli and cheddar soup, is made with chicken stock. Diane made rice a week ago cooked in chicken stock. And today, when going to make this recipe I realized we were out of veggie stock. Not wanting to run out to the store at night in the rain, I used chicken stock. This is not something I want to do frequently, I plan from here on out always having vegetable stock in the pantry and not using chicken stock again when cooking for myself. But I am indecisive on how to handle when I go out to eat, where who knows what kind of stock is flavoring the soup a restaurant is serving. I have absolutely no desire to eat a piece of chicken or beef (or fish, but I never liked that) at all, and would never eat a burger because there were no good vegetarian options around. But for some reason stock does not bring that same instinctual no to my mind. I think it might be a case of not seeing or smelling or tasting any animals when I eat it. Yet this seems very hypocritical to me. Do you guys have any foods that while not technically considered vegetarian you don't necessarily view on the same level as eating a burger or a piece of chicken? Any advice on how to handle this situation? I would love to get your thoughts!
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