Menu plan adjustments

I didn't get out to get groceries yesterday because I had a chance to rake leaves. Yay. Seriously, this is the last week that yard waste will be picked up and the leaves were really late to fall this year. Plus, we had icy snow a few days ago, so I needed to wait until most of that melted. I got half the yard done yesterday and the other half will have to be done today. On the plus side, the exercise helped my weight drop down into the lower "decade" so that was a nice bonus.

So, I had to switch my plan around and made lentil soup yesterday. Dear Michael walks in the house after school and exclaims "Mom! What smells so great?" (Truly, the house DID smell good.) He ate a huge quantity of soup for dinner. This morning, I pulled out the thermos that Michael had expressed interest in using and, again, he became quite ecstatic at the thought of taking more soup for lunch at school.

Alex, on the other hand, was quite tentative and started by asking what ELSE he could have for dinner. I suggested that he would have to figure this out for himself, but would he please TRY the soup first. He ended up having two bowls as well.

Here's the recipe:

Lentil Soup
	1 cup lentils ¼ cup olive oil 2 med onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 med carrots, sliced 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced 1 small turnip or parsnip, peeled, diced (optional) 8 cups broth 2 bay leaves ½ tsp cumin, ground 3 sprigs parsley salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 Rinse lentils several times. Set aside to drain. 2 Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add onions and garlic, and saute until onions are tender. Add carrots and celery, turnip or parsnip if using. Cook 10 minutes over low heat. 3 Add drained lentils, broth, parsley, bay leaves, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer over low heat 1 to 1½ hours or until lentils are soft and broth is slightly thickened. Remove parsley sprigs and bay leaves and discard. 4 Add lemon juice just before serving. Servings: 6 Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 minutes Recipe Source Author: Rose Dosti Source: Middle Eastern Cooking