Natal Day Brunch + Miso Soup + Poor for Three Weeks

So I'm going on a little trip in three weeks (to Ottawa and Montreal) and have decided that I really need to save money, so I'm going to try to spend as little money on groceries as possible until then. So my meals will probably get increasingly more boring. We'll see, anyway.

I made this yesterday using mostly local & balcony-garden-grown veggies. I thought it was pretty successful.


Simple Summer Miso Soup

6-8 cups water (depends how you like your soup, I like mine hearty)
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green beans, stemmed and cut in inch-long pieces
1 3-inch piece wakame
2 tbsp dulse
3 tbsp nori (not the flat sushi type - if this isn't available, just add more wakame or dulse)
1/2 cup chinese cabbage, sliced thinly
1/2 block tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup chives, chopped
approx. 1/4 cup miso, to taste (I use rice miso)*

Bring the water to a boil. Add carrots, green beans and seaweed, then simmer 15 minutes. Add the tofu and chinese cabbage and simmer 5 minutes more. Add chives, turn off heat, and add miso, making sure it dissolves properly.

*I don't usually eat all the soup at once, and since heating miso kills valuable nutrients, I leave the miso out until I have my soup heated and in a bowl, and then I dissolve it in approx. 1 tsp per bowl.

On Natal day (Halifax's birthday), I decided to make a nice, satisfying brunch for Josh and I.

(Sorry about the bad photo): Herb-Roasted Potatoes from Vegan with a Vengeance, Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (from the same book) over Kitty's Drop Biscuits, and some steamed broccoli. Yummy.

We ate it on the balcony, and it was a beautiful day. A very nice meal. Next time I make the potatoes I think I'll half the amount of salt, but other than that, the meal was great.

From last week: Fauxstess Cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengeance. I love that book! These were fun to make and very tasty, but I ate too much! My problem (one of them) is that I like to bake (I find it really relaxing) but then I get stuck with all this unhealthy food. I wish I loved sauteing, roasting, and other cooking methods as much as I love baking. I wish I came home after a really busy day and thought to myself, "Hmm, I think I'll make up a batch of dolmas tonight."