.jeri.

Since I've gotten back to work from being on disability, it's like I've completely forgotten that I have cookbooks in my house. I did so much cooking and baking while I was at home that once I got back to work, I suppose I got overwhelmed with all the physical activities of life. But I really do want to get back into things. My sister and I were talking about cookbooks after seeing Julie and Julia. While the movie didn't spur a desire for cooking French Cuisine, it did make me pull out the few cookbooks I have and decide to start trying more recipes, even if I'm only making them for myself sometimes (since Ric's choices are more limited). Oh, did I mention I think I'm going about 85% vegetarian again? I've only had meat twice in the past 2-3 weeks, and I've been reminded of how easy it actually is for me.

I've started going through one of my cookbooks that I got a long time ago, the More-with-Less Cookbook. It's full of "recipes and suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world's limited food resources". I browsed through a lot of the introduction, which focuses on world shortages of foods, bad habits of North American eating (spending too much money, overeating protein, overeating sugar, overeating processed foods), and then gets to building a simple, balanced diet. I like that it lists all sorts of suggestions for pairings of types of foods, and really takes its time analyzing how much of each type of food (grains, legumes, veggies, fruits, etc.) and calories people need and even notes how people can achieve the proper amounts with or without meat. From there it goes on to a wide variety of recipes from all over the world. There are tons of foods I've never heard of, many of which sound very tasty.

All that to say that I started thumbing through the amazingly plentiful section on beans, soybeans and lentils and decided to start off with some lentil stew, since I had picked up a bag of fresh lentils at Sprouts a couple weeks ago.

Easy Lentil Stew
(Serves 6, but I cut it in half for myself, so my measurements are in the parentheses)

A.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes:
1 cup of lentils (1/2 a cup)
2 1/2 cups of water (1 1/4 a cup)
2 beef boullion cubes (1 boullion)
1 bay leaf (a small bay leaf)
1 teaspoon of salt (1/2 a teaspoon)

While those are simmering, prepare:

B.
1/2 pound of diced ham, browned sausage, or browned ground beef
3/4 cup of tomato paste
2 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of salt
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced

Alternate B, since I had a limited supply and was halving my recipe:
Skipped the meat
1/4 plus 1/8 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup of dried milk (to thicken the pot)
3/4 cup of shredded cheese (to thicken the pot)
1/8 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 an onion, chopped
A dash of celery salt (since I had no celery)
A dash of garlic powder (because I was lazy!)

Once the lentils (A) are done simmering, add the rest of the ingredients (B) to the pan and mix together and bring to a boil. Simmer together for 20-30 minutes, or whenever the vegetables are softened.

Serve plain or over rice.

Though it doesn't look all that amazing, I found the recipe good and filling, although I would have skipped the salt in section A, since there's more salt in section B. I don't think I've cooked lentils at all in my life, so this was a nice, simple start for me (not that they're all that complicated).