Eight Hours to Dinner

For those of you who read last weeks post where I was raving about our Minnesota November; today it was 61, sunny and again beautiful – I'm happy and speechless – I know right!

With that being said, our weather has been a bit odd, we had one day of super rain, a couple cold an brisk days (which are great for walking) and warm days – all in all it seems like the weather is undecided – which is so Minnesota. On the bright side we put up the Christmas lights out front in short sleeves yesterday, which is better than parkas, mittens and snow so we're all good.

On Friday morning  (one of the chilly and crisp days) I decided a hearty soup was needed and I remembered that a bag of red lentils sat in our pantry waiting to be put to good use and I knew exactly how I would use them.

It was 7am – since I had all day to cook I decided to toss a few things in the crockpot and let them simmer. I diced an onion, added 2 cups of lentils, 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, 3 carrots roughly chopped, 3 cloves of garlic – minced, 32 + ounces of vegetable broth, 1 tsp. basil, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper and 3 large shakes of Penzeys Northwood's fire spice.  Cook on high (I have an older crockpot) for 8 hours –Done – I love simple!

We've been enjoying it for most of the weekend – Friday with whole grain bread, Saturday with spanakopita and tonight with whole grain bread.

On another note I tried a new banana bread recipe given to me by a co-worker – I loved that it had 100% whole wheat (no white flour), agave (the recipe called for honey but I'm not a fan) – I loved how moist it was and the agave gave it a slight sweetness but not too much sweetness – I liked it.

As Thanksgiving looms I'm reminded of all that I have -  a loving family, good friends and good health – I am truly grateful. 

Have a great day!