Some foods attempted

* I mentioned the Imagine Foods (I checked last night) "Red Bliss Potato and Garlic" soup - it's one of those tetrapack things so while it doesn't have an enormously long shelf life (compared to canned soup), it has a long-ish shelf life. And it's reduced sodium. And it's actually good. (And it does not contain carrots or celery, both of which I react badly to, at least in large quantities). I'm probably going to finish it off at dinner tonight, along with a spinach salad and maybe some red cabbage.

Next time I get to the natural-foods store, I'm going to buy another pack or two of the soup; this is about the only 'convenience' food I like that's low enough in sodium. (They also have a sweet-potato soup, which is not so great, and a corn soup, which is pretty good)

* Last week I made Italian-style meat loaf according to a recipe my mom found somewhere. Pretty standard meatloaf: pound of ground meat (the original used turkey and then also added a grated apple, which I'm not so sure about with the other seasonings), half cup or so of breadcrumbs (maybe it was more), an egg or two, and then it was seasoned with sauteed onions (I used a shallot, which I now think of as "the single cook's onion," because they are smaller and most recipes have, in the quantities I make, would leave half or three-quarters of an onion left over, and I can never remember to use that onion up before it goes bad in the fridge). And oregano, and basil, and garlic (I used powder, but you could use a real clove), and fennel. And then about a third of the way through cooking you dump an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce on top (I use the Hunt's "no salt added" and just add a lot of Italian Herb Seasoning). It's very good. I'm not a big meatloaf fan usually but I liked this one. The same recipe works for meatballs as well.

* I mentioned the Archer Farm (Target) Creme Brulee. It was pretty good, though I don't think it was any better than  my plainer homemade baked custard. And it was a little involved: you sprinkle the sugar topping on the frozen custard, broil it for a couple moments (watching to be sure the sugar doesn't burn), then let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 10 minutes. (Sometime I want to try doing baked custard with coconut milk instead of regular milk - I know I've seen a recipe for that somewhere).

* On the same Target jaunt I found "Dried Young Coconut" which is pretty much what it says it is. But this is not like the shredded coconut - it's big chunks, and less-heavily sweetened (it still does have added sugar). I could see getting hooked on this stuff as a snack except I don't have a local source for it, and so will have to get it at the Target when I go back. (Amazon has big packs of it - I checked - but they are quite expensive, more expensive than a comparable amount from the Target would be)

* My mom told me about a new-to-her beet recipe, where you make a slightly sweetened raisin sauce for them. Now I want to try it. (It's in a cookbook we both have - the 1960s edition of the Farm Journal Vegetable cookbook (I've mentioned before my great love of the Farm Journal cookbooks, and my desire to get a copy of each of the 1960s versions - I still lack the bread book (I have the newer edition that doesn't have the same recipes in it) and maybe one or two others).

And I admit, the cover makes me giggle a little - 666 Ways to Make Vegetables Irresistible? Two thoughts:

1. "Mmmmmm, sacrilicious" (BEST Homer "mmmm" line ever)

2. My inner six year old is going "I  TOLD you vegetables were of the Devil!"

That said, there are some good and different recipes in there. (There are also some that I suspect are not so good - a congealed salad using lemon flavored gelatin and containing beets and celery, for example)

*I also bought some "Nature's Child" pudding packs. I had looked at these in the past and rejected them because (a) they contain banana (not as a flavor, as something to bulk up the pudding) and raw banana doesn't play well with my stomach. But I decided to give it a try this time, figuring the bananas are probably cooked,  and (b) I don't like sucking food out of a tube, which is essentially what these are. ("Hook me up to that peanut-butter IV, doc! Then I can keep working FOREVER"). The pudding, though - it's quite good, and lower in sugar than some dessert type items, and it's not messy to eat, and it has some protein (and the fruit from the banana).

And, I don't know, it's nice to have pudding or something to look forward to when you're facing a day of multiple lectures and then a long afternoon lab.