Harmony House Pantry Stuffer Sampler

I've written about Harmony House and their dehydrated products before. Because I've been a fairly steady customer, they mail me codes for special sales now and then. Last week they sent a limited edition code for 28% off all products.

Whoa! That's a big discount!

Well, I took advantage of that code to finally order the Pantry Stuffer Sampler - 12 quart containers, each one with a different dehydrated soup or chili mix.

When I got my winter veggies a few months ago, along with my order they sent a free sample of their "Unbelievable Black Bean Chili" mix.
At only 2 1/2 ounces, it would barely make up a lunch-sized bowl, so I kept putting it off, telling myself that someday I would buy a larger sized package and add this to it. Well, that day finally came.


The directions on the packet and the jar were slightly different, but not by much. The packet had suggested using a slow cooker for best flavor, so out came my trusty 46 year old Crockpot. In it went the correct amount of water to allow for both the packet and a decent amount of the jarred chili mix. It looked like a bit too much liquid for the amount of mix, so I added an additional half cup of the chili mix. I popped the lid onto my Crockpot, flipped the switch to High, and let it cook. The package says to cook 3-4 hours in a 2 quart slow-cooker, and the company just happens to sell just such a Crockpot on their web site and currently it's $5 cheaper than on Amazon. 

After 5 hours on High heat, the chili ingredients were cooked well enough, but there didn't seem to be enough "solids" for the meal (I was making enough for 10 servings, according to the labels) and there was way too much liquid in the pot. I poured everything into a pot and added yet another half cup of chili mix and followed the stovetop directions. After 15 minutes it still looked like there wouldn't be enough food for 3 hungry adults and added a can of black beans, stirred them in, and called it a day. To bulk up the meal I took some leftover cornbread out of the freezer, heated them in the microwave, sliced them, then served the soupy chili over them.

Sorry, no photo, because by now my guys were getting cranky and wanted to eat.

Although it was still very watery, the chili did taste good. The chili's saucy part was more of a brown gravy than anything associated with our usual tomato-based chili recipes, even though there were tomatoes as part of the chili mix. An insert with the sampler box listed various suggested seasonings that the store also sells to use with each chili or soup mix, even though each quart jar doesn't call for anything other than water to make the meals. For the black bean chili they suggested their Tomato Plus seasoning. Next time I'll add the main ingredients of that blend - tomato powder and nutritional yeast, All the other seasonings they sell contain oil and added sweeteners, so purchasing any of them is not an option.

I suspect the problem was the age of my Crockpot. I got this as a wedding gift so long ago (1977) the pots were set at lower temperatures. The newer (um, maybe 1990's and above?) pots cook at much higher temperatures, so high that liquid cooked on High heat will now boil. I remember how frustrated cooks and cookbook authors were when the temps were increased - every recipe had to be adjusted to reflect the newer temps. According to this article, the High temps are now around 300º. My old pot never got hot enough to boil, so never even reached 212º. The newer, larger one, that I used here in this old post did boil - a lot. I wish I had more storage space in this apartment - if I did, I would gladly buy the 2 quart pot in dark red.

But for now, when I make up more meals from this sampler, I'll stick to to the stovetop directions and hope that by doing so more of the liquid boils down and chilis come out a bit thicker. If not, maybe I'll make a slurry of cornstarch and water to add in before the end to thicken it all.

Gustavo Interviews Dr. and Ann Esselstyn - Questions Answered

They touch on greens 6 times a day and the need for using a few DROPS of balsamic vinegar, why no juices or smoothies, and more!

Update on Esther

Back in October I wrote a post about Esther Loveridge. Since then she's been made a Star McDougaller and has also posted an update to the original write-up.

And she continues to lose weight! She has now lost 150 pounds since her highest weight and recently gave a talk at the 2019 VegFest.



And her Facebook Community Esther's Nutritional Journey is now over 900 members strong. She still continues to post her daily food journal there, too, most days with photos. It comes in very handy, especially for newbies.

Webinar with Dr. Esselstyn Monday Feb 18, 2019

Dr. Gustavo Tolosa posted an announcement on the Ultimate Weight Loss Facebook page for an "informal chat" he doing with Dr. and Ann Esselstyn on Monday, February 18, 2019 @ 1pm Eastern.

Registration is free.

Bob's Red Mill Veggie Soup in InstantPot

I love Bob's Red Mill products. Half my pantry, it seems, is filled with Bob's products. I was so happy when local stores started selling them a few years ago - from the local health food store to the discount chain Big Lots, I can find a great many of their offerings within a 15 minute drive, the rest I can get from Amazon.

One of the first items I fell in love with many years ago was their Veggie Soup Mix - a combination of all sorts of tiny beans and lentils, plus the tiniest alphabet pasta - whole wheat, too - that I've ever seen. It's such a tasty soup made using just the mix and water, made with as many added veggies and spices as I want when feeling adventurous. I've used frozen soup vegetables, fresh, even dehydrated ones.

The past few times I've made it I've done it this way:

6 cups of water
1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Veggie Soup Mix
1/4 cup dehydrated cut carrots from Harmony House
1/4 cup dehydrated celery, also from Harmony House
1 cup of diced frozen onions (instead of dehydrated, only  because I have so many bags of them in the freezer right now)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach (ditto)
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend

Toss all this into the Instant Pot and cook using the Manual button for 10 minutes. I let the pressure come down naturally.

I used more water than the directions called for to allow for absorption from the dehydrated veggies, plus the fact that my husband loves to dunk bread in his soup, and without the extra water there's nothing to dunk into, that's how thick this soup gets.

I used to make this on the stovetop when I remembered to start it early enough - it takes an hour once it boils - but usually I don't even think of lunch until I get hungry, and then I usually start cooking so it's ready when I am, about a half hour later or less. This soup is so speedy to make in the pressure cooker, especially if I start the water boiling on Saute mode or heat it up in the electric teapot while getting all the ingredients together. Once everything is in the pot and I seal the lid and set the time, it's usually ready in about 15-20 minutes. It makes about 2 quarts of soup when done. If I use fresh cut or frozen veggies instead of dried, a little bit more. Since we each eat 3-4 cups of it at a sitting, it makes lunch for 2 for one day or just me for 2.

I would have taken a picture of the soup in a bowl but my husband didn't want to wait and dived right in, so you're stuck with the soup in the IPot picture.

This winter our local Stop and Shop grocery store has had a lot of other brands of dried soups on the shelf using small beans and lentils and whole grains. I've had a great time trying them all, but this Bob's Red Mill mix is still my favorite. I'm glad I can eat products with gluten again and not have joint pains!

Ann & Jane - Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Salad

A warm-ish salad for these cold winter days. 

Dr. McDougall Interviews Dr. Esselstyn

When the webinar with the McDougalls and the Esselstyns was held a few weeks ago, the audio and video quality was so bad that eventually nobody but Dr. McDougall and Gustavo could see or hear the Esselstyns. Gustavo promised it would be fine on the replay.

It wasn't.

It was so bad he had nothing to post for a replay, so he said they would re-do the webinar in the future.

Well, I guess they decided to just do a non-webinar interview, because this appeared in my YouTube feed overnight:



The sound on Gustavo's end is still horrible, and Dr. Esselstyn is still fuzzy and occasionally pixilated, but Dr. McDougall's portion is usually perfect. 

I do think Gustavo must have been in another country when the original - and this re-do - were done, because when it was 11am in California when the original one started, and the clock behind Gustavo read 5:00. That would explain some of the connection and quality problems, for sure. This one looks like it was done the same day, immediately after the original.