Bean Soup

I am trying to be better about making whole-food meals from scratch, and eating less meat, more whole grains, and more fruits and vegetables. More colors on the plate, for variety and nutrition. Taking pictures in the wintertime is another story, when it's pitch dark by the time dinner is on the table.

Tonight was 16-bean soup that simmered all day in the slow cooker; peach and Rainier cherry cobbler from the peaches and cherries I canned over the summer; kale with caramelized onions; steamed carrots and oranges. I put out some preserves I canned in June, strawberry preserves with black pepper and mint. The black pepper just gives it a hint of heat, more like a warmth at the end of a bite, and the mint is un-identifiable, something fresh and grassy under the straight-ahead sweetness of strawberries.

The preserves were so good with this Oat Soda Bread from 101cookbooks.com. You make the oat flour by whizzing rolled oats in the food processor. I substituted white whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour. What a great recipe! It's a whole grain quickbread, no yeast or rising, a way to have warm homemade bread on the table for dinner without planning ahead very much.

Cooking beans at high altitude can take forever, but this soup went into the slow cooker at 9 a.m. and the beans were soft by dinner at 6.

I have big plans too, to get back to taking pictures of the bento lunches. Over the weekend, I made and froze brown rice onigiri, baked egg rolls, some healthy muffins and cookies, and two batches of homemade seitan. I still take a lot of time with R's lunches, but it seems like we're busier this year, and taking photos before we leave for school at 7:20 has eluded me since September.