At least lunch was good...

Today was the day.  I went back to work.  I know I was only home for two weeks, but when you have two glorious weeks at home, it is very difficult to go back to work.  I shouldn't complain though, my day wasn't that bad... and my lunch was terrific!!

I'm addicted to soup these days.  I love chopping, sauteeing "stuff" and then blending it to bits with my immersion blender.  Everything seems to be delicious using that formula!

Creamy goodness:

Squash-Apple-Sweet Potato Soup

• 2 onions
• 2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 large (huge) sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• ~ 4-5 cups cubed butternut squash
• a handful of carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2-3 apples, peeled and cut into cubes (apples are key in this recipe)
• 4 cups of broth (I used chicken bouillon mixed with water)
• heaping tsp curry
• heaping tsp apple pie spice
• 1/2 cup milk (probably not necessary, not sure it did anything!)

1. Saute onions, garlic and celery in a bit of olive oil
2. Peel and chop other vegetables and apples, adding to pot as ready
3. Add broth and spices
4. Simmer until veggies are cooked (tender enough to be blended)
5. Blend and then stir in 1/2 cup of milk
6. Add fresh grated parmesan and crushed cashews for garnish
7. I served this soup with warm multi-grain bread and crisp multi-coloured tortilla chips

This soup was thick, creamy and filling.  The apples add a hint of sweetness.  It supplies several servings of veggies for only about 100 calories per bowl (before garnishes).  I had enough leftover for 3 days worth of lunches this week (6 servings).

Since I was in a chopping mood, I kept chopping and made another batch of slow-cooker applesauce!  Christine suggested preparing applesauce in the slow cooker last fall when I lamented on facebook that I had 50 lbs of apples (picked fresh from the orchard) to deal with.  I will never cook applesauce on the stove again!  It is sooo much better in the slow cooker.  I like the consistency and the flavour better.

I originally used a recipe that I found online and modified it to suit our tastes.  I add a lot more apples and a lot less sugar than the original recipe calls for.  Yesterday, I decided to throw in a bag of frozen raspberries.

Before cooking:

Slow cooker Raspberry-Applesauce

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• heaping tsp apple pie spice (or cinnamon)
• 8-12 peeled, chopped apples (depending on size, I keep chopping until my slow-cooker is about 3/4 full)
• small bag of frozen raspberries

1. Combine water, sugar, spices in slow cooker (use more sugar if you want a sweeter applesauce; since I often use applesauce in my baking, I do not want it to be very sweet)
2. Add apples as you chop and keep stirring to coat them with the sugar solution
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours
4. Mash with vegetable masher, the fruit should be very tender and mash easily

I love applesauce when it's still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I take it for a snack at work and sprinkle with granola.

After cooking and mashing:

So that wraps up my culinary adventures yesterday.

De-cluttering
I also made some progress on my clear-the-crap project.  Although, I have to relocate it from the hall, at least it's no longer spread over the craft room floor.  Baby steps.

Some of my cake pans:

Some more cake pans and other cake/cookie decorating supplies:

Now, off to check my packing list for our trip one last time and log tonight's workout in my spreadsheet!!