Red Lentil Soup
I filled my car up with gas today.
Shut the front door! I can't believe the price of gas.
Well, actually, I can't believe the price of most things these days.
At the risk of sounding like my parents, I remember when I could ride the ferry for a dime. Yes, a dime. And I remember walking down to the 7-Eleven with my mom's 5 dollar bill in hand to buy milk, coffee cream, a bag of potato chips and some licorice. I also remember walking to school in snow up to my waist. In the middle of a snowstorm. Five miles. Both ways. All uphill. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration.
Gas, food, clothes. Everything costs more these days.
Especially food.
And it's a challenge. Eating healthy on a tight budget.
A definite challenge.
But, you know, my health and the health of my family is one thing I am not willing to sacrifice. Certainly, healthy food can be expensive. Raw nuts and seeds, soy milk, organic anything. And a lot of the time these cost more than their less-than-healthy counterparts.
But healthy food can also be cheap. Take lentils, for instance. A bag of organic red lentils costs a couple of bucks. Throw them in a pot with some water, a few veggies and some herbs. A couple of hours later, you have a healthy dinner. And the pennies you've saved can be spent on something else, like gas or a new pair of shoes.
In this house, they are more likely to be spent on a bag of hemp seeds or a bottle of coconut oil. In these days of increasing costs and tighter budgets, we all have choices to make. I've chosen health.
Oh, and I also have a soft spot for Harry Potter t-shirts...
Red Lentil Soup
Serves 4
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 ½ cups water
- ¼ teaspoon basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Put everything except the vinegar in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 ½ hours. Remove the bay leaf and add the vinegar. Adjust the seasoning and serve.