Soup's on!

I'm moving along nicely with most of my resolutions, thank you very much. The one that has taken the back seat, of course, is the dieting. I'm finally getting some good teacher substitution work and can't be bothered to exercise when I come home in the afternoons -- I'm too hungry. To try to help in that area, I've been eating mostly salads and soups for lunch. Today, I have a dilemma. I can't decide which soup recipe to make. Which looks best to you?

Williamsburg Pumpkin Soup

¼ C chopped onions
4 T butter
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 C pureed pumpkin
½ t nutmeg
½ t salt
Pepper to taste
1 can water

Directions
Sautee onion in butter. Add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.

OR

Soba Soup with Spinach (from Everyday Food Jan/Feb 2009)

2T Vegetable oil
12 oz shiitake mushrooms (stems removed) caps thinly sliced
4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T peeled and minced fresh ginger
Coarse salt
2 cans reduced-sodium chicken broth (14.5 oz each)
½ package (4.4 oz) soba noodles
1 bunch flat leaf spinach, torn
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T soy sauce

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, scallion whites, garlic and ginger; season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until mushroom are tender, 6 minutes.

Add broth and 3 C water; bring to a boil. Add soba; reduce to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Add spinach; cook just until tender, about 1 minute. Add lime juice and soy sauce. Serve topped with scallion greens.

I love trying new food. Though, I can't find true buckwheat soba noodles anywhere, so I'm substituting whole-wheat pasta. Wagamamas has the BEST soba dishes, but, alas, there are none in Texas. So I'll try to do my own.

Remember, it's okay to tip the bowl to your mouth to slurp up every last yummy drop!

I Resolve

Thank goodness the new year has begun. I was feeling like a slug the last few months of 2008. The more I did nothing, the more that's all I wanted to do. A new year revives the soul with the promise of new opportunities. I plan to take full advantage of it. They say to be successful, you need a tangible, achievable goal with a firm due date. And since I work best to deadlines, here are my New Year's Resolutions.

1. Lose 10 lbs. by Valentine's Day (Feb 14)
2. Complete rough draft sketches for Chuck's poetry book by Jan 31, finals by Feb 28. Thanks Chuck for the motivation
3. Complete rewrite of Dillon and Blue for self publishing by March 31. Thanks Bill for the motivation.
4. Hardest of all, give up watching Rachael Ray so I have a good solid hour of quiet time every morning to accomplish the above tasks. I'm looking forward to the weekly recipes ezine I signed up for, the part of the show I miss the most.

I've written all of these down in my day planner - in ink! Keep me honest. Come back often to check on my progress. Good luck with your resolutions.