Chickpea Soup and Procrastinating

I was feeling a little blah today and it's Dec. 29 (therefore cold and rainy here in Western WA) so I decided to try a new recipe - Chickpea Soup from Veganomicon. I made a few tweaks to it, based on what I had on hand and personal taste. This yields a highly noodle-y product, which I prefer over too broth-y.


Chickpea Soup
-2 T. olive oil
-1 c. diced carrot
-1 med. diced onion
-2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1.5 t. thyme
-1 t. celery seed
-0.5 t. black pepper
-1 c. cremini mushrooms, sliced
-1 can chickpeas, drained
-3 c. vegetable broth
-5 c. water + 5 T. vegetarian chicken broth powder
- 8 oz. (1 package) fine udon noodles (broken into thirds)
-0.25 c. white miso

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot and add the onion and carrot.
2. After five minutes, add the celery.
3. After five more minutes, add the garlic, mushrooms, and spices. Sautee for about two to three minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat down to medium to maintain a low boil, and add udon noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Stir in miso, adjust as necessary to taste. Then enjoy!

I ate some with apple slices + pb for an absolutely fabulous lunch.


On a different note, today I figured out the key to being productive. I'm not working this week, so theoretically I want to get lots of things done to start the year off right. The BF was at work today, so I got to be all housewifey. Well, that is, after I rolled out of bed at 10... Anyway, I had a pretty significant list of things I wanted to accomplish but was feeling highly lazy. In addition to my list, it occurred to me that I also had a run scheduled today. Suddenly, that to-do list became alot more appealing, relative to hitting the treadmill. So I disinfected the trash can, did dishes, and prepped for dinner before finally mustering the motivation to head downstairs and go running.

You see, even though I can now comfortably run three miles, that doesn't mean I magically love it and spring downstairs to the treadmill each day in anticipation of getting my fat ass in gear. I guess it's a good lesson for me - it will never get easier, and I will never have to push myself any less than I did in the beginning. Could be a good thing, assuming I stick with it. Goal for Wednesday: four miles! That will help offset my New Year's Eve drinking.