slow cooked black beans

As of recently, I've decided to start tracking my eating habits through Live Strong. They have a feature called MyPlate, and it allows you to see exactly what you're eating- how many calories, nutritional breakdown, etc, etc. While this is probably a bad thing, since I now count every morsel of food that enters my body, it has also been incredibly eye-opening. Among other things, I never knew how much sodium I ingested!

I come from a family with high blood pressure and cholesterol, which is partially one of the reasons I stopped eating meat in the first place. I always thought my newfound vegetarianism was so healthy, but I was surprised to find out, that some things I thought were so great, were secretly not. Did you know that 1 serving (1/4 cup) of Newman's Own Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce has 620 mg of sodium? That's like, 40% of my recommended daily intake!

Moral of the story, is that after looking at a whole lot of nutritional totals, I've decided to take some steps toward better eating and healthier living. From this day forth, I will no longer have canned beans in my household. 1 half cup of canned beans contained 390 mg of sodium! In the long run, I'm sure that's not so bad for me, but if I take enough baby steps, I think it will really pay off in the end.

Stuff you need: 1. Bag of dried beans 2. Water 3. A crockpot

Before going to bed, take that bag of beans, pour them into a large bowl, and fill the bowl with enough water to cover the beans by a few inches. Now let them sit overnight. In the morning, drain the beans of last night's water, and place them into the slow cooker. Cover the beans with water- I used 7 cups-, turn the crockpot onto low, and now get to the office! When you come home 8-12 hours later, you'll be rewarded with home-cooked beans out the wazoo!

This one bag made around 8 cups of prepared beans! I used a little for dinner tonight, and then divided the rest into 1 cup portions, and stuck them in the freezer for future use. Home-cooked beans are healthier and cheaper for you, and I love the feeling of accomplishment I get from doing something really good for my body. I think my next step in sodium reduction will be eliminating prepared tomato sauce, but for tonight, I couldn't be happier with my beans :)

hearty vegetable crockpot soup

You know what I love about slow cooker meals? They're easy to make, the food simmers all day for a soupy deliciousness, and when you come home from your first Monday back at the office, there's a hot, AMAZING meal waiting for you. I've made this recipe a few times before, but I think that this is the best one so far.

The recipe inspiration is from Robin Robertson's book Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker (one of my favorite cookbooks from my vegan idol). I used a couple of recipes for the basis, but added my own twists too.

Stuff you need: 1. 6 cups vegetable stock (I only had 4, so I used water for the other 2, and it was still great) 2. 2 cloves garlic 3. Lots of veggies all chopped- I had on hand onion, celery, carrot, potato, yellow squash, and zucchini 4. 1 can chickpeas 5. 1 can diced tomatoes 6. About a cup or so ditalini or other small soup noodle

After you're out of the shower, just before work, turn on your crockpot and throw in the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery to let them soften up while you dry your hair. Just before you run out the door, throw in the rest of your chopped vegetables, the can of chickpeas, the can of diced tomatoes, the 6 cups of vegetable stock/water, and a little salt and pepper for good measure.

Now go to work, go shopping, or do something fun for the next 8-ish hours and leave your crockpot on the low setting. When you get home, throw in some raw ditalini noodles and let cook an extra 45-ish minutes, or until it's to your desired tenderness. Season with more salt, pepper, garlic salt, or whatever else you think it needs- I used poultry seasoning, and I really liked the outcome.

Finally, serve it up! After 3 heaping bowls of soup between me, my boyfriend, and my roommate, there was still PLENTY for lunch leftovers today, and the rest of the week (see it still looks tasty day 2 in my tupperware!)

Next time: Maybe 2 cans of diced tomatoes instead of 1, and for a less intensely-hearty soup, I would pick potatoes OR ditalini, but not both. So far, this is definitely my best slow cooker meal yet! I'm proud :)