First thing Saturday morning, I got up to hit the Pilates Studio for an hour of core strength training. Plus I needed to work off the Blizzard I had the day before while we were on the road. But that Blizzard is nothing compared to what I managed to whip up later today.
We managed to bring all the vegetables, lettuce, and fruits from Florida to Maryland so nothing spoiled. And from there, for lunch I made a great Vegetable Salad with an Oil and Vinegar Dressing.
Vegetable Salad w/Oil & Vinegar Dressing
Vegetable Salad:
Ingredients:
1Red Bell Pepper
1Orange Bell Pepper
1/2Can of Chick Peas
5Small Cucumbers
2Tomatoes
1/4Red Onion
2Tbls Olive Oil
2Tbls White Wine Vinegar
1/4Tsp Coriander, Paprika, Crushed Pepper, Sea Salt
Directions:
Wash, Peel and Chop up Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Red Onions in a bowl. Open can of Chick Peas, drain and add half of can to the bowl. Add Oil, Vinegar and Seasonings and mix.
I noticed some of the food I packed to bring to Maryland, there was a bag of Pearled Barley. So I cracked open my cookbook and looked up a recipe to make with Barley. I found the Barley Vegetable Soup and decided to make it, because again we hit Maryland just in time for it to snow on our parade. But I didn’t have all the ingredients it called for, so I improvised and mixed up something better!!!
Barley Vegetable Soup-Improvised
Barley Vegetable Soup:
Ingredients:
8Cups Vegetable Soup Stock or Water
2Stalks Celery
1Cup Green Beans or Mushrooms
1CupBarley, Uncooked
2Tbps. Parsley
1/2 Tsp. Marjoram or Coriander
1Cup Onions
2Parsnips or Turnips
1Cup Whole Peas
1Cup Carrots or Extra Celery
1Tsp. Sea Salt
1/2Tsp. Thyme
1/2Tsp. Cumin
1/2Tsp. Garlic
Directions:
Chop Onions, dice carrots, celery, parsnips or turnips, slice mushrooms. Place in pot with small amount of water or soup stock and steam for about 10 minutes. Add the remainder of the water or soup stock and bring to a boil, add barley and allow coming back to a boil. Cover and turn down to low for about 45 minutes. Add peas and mushrooms and all seasonings except parsley and continue cooking another 40 minutes. Mix in parsley just prior to serving.
Chocolate Cake w/Peanut Butter Frosting
While I was making that, Mike’s son wanted to make a cake. So I found a Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix box and started adding the ingredients together: 3 Eggs, 1Cup Oil, and 1/2Cup Water. I had Mike’s son mix it together while I prepared the pan and 12 Ice Cream Cones to put the Cake batter into. We had some fun putting the batter into the Cones (we made a bit of a mess) but then got everything into the 350 degree preheated oven to bake for 25 minutes.
Chocolate Cones w/Peanut Butter Frosting
We didn’t have any frosting, so Mike’s son looked up on U-Tube how to make a frosting. He settled on a Peanut Butter Glaze Frosting. He added 1Cup Peanut Butter, 1Stick Butter, 1/4Cup Milk and mixed it together for the Glaze. We poured it on the Chocolate Cake, the Chocolate Cake Cones, and I did a little decorating on them, because he just had a birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Vegetable Salad w/Oil & Vinegar Dressing
So for dinner, we had the left over Vegetable Salad, Barley Vegetable Soup and I managed to polish off 2 of the Chocolate Cake Cones.
