Pro-Soup Propaganda

As some of you may know, I was really excited the other day because I got a Cuisinart DLC-8 food processor off of Craigslist for only $40. I've been wanting a food processor for awhile, but they can be fairly expensive and I didn't want a cheap, crappy one. I just assumed that I would buy an expensive one down the road when I had more money to spend on things that aren't absolutely necessary. However, after finding one of my new favorite blogs, Oh She Glows, I ramped up my food processor search again. SO MANY YUMMY RECIPES. (Seriously, after you read this blog post, go over there and drool over every single thing posted. That's what I did! Read backposts for hours. Drooled. Searched CL some more.)

Jonathan and I went grocery shopping last night and I decided to prep some food for the next few days because my schedule is going to be BUSY. Working at...work, working for Karina all weekend, house-sitting, followed by driving to Cheshire Sunday night after working the market all day and breaking every thing down, then two days of hanging out with Jonathan's family. Yeah, you betcha I was going to plan ahead, as to not drive myself crazy later!

The recipe I wanted to make for dinner tonight is the Layered Raw Taco Salad for Two. I get to make walnut taco "meat" and the cashew cream sauce, both in the food processor. I will let everyone know how it goes! Doesn't the recipe look yummy? I made salsa, which I will need tonight, as the first thing ever in the new food processor. Everything was chopped and mixed in a whopping four seconds, if that. This saves so much time!

The next thing I made was tahini, which I will need when I make the Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl. I think I'm going to make this for dinner Saturday night so I can eat leftovers for lunch on Sunday at the market. (I'm going to make the Spicy Potato 'n' Black Bean Burritos tomorrow night.) I'm making myself hungry just looking at these recipes, knowing I have all this yummy stuff in store!

I am excited to make tahini because it is often expensive to buy. I mean, it's toasted sesame seeds and olive oil. Why is it so expensive? Hopefully you, too, will make your own tahini from now on! The smell of toasting sesame seeds was pretty yummy!

You will need:

*1 cup sesame seeds

*2-3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup, depending on how oily you want your tahini

This makes about a cup of tahini - what a surprise! ;o)

I toasted the sesame seeds in a skillet over low-medium heat. 

I made sure to keep them moving so they wouldn't burn. 

 This is how toasty I got mine. Some were definitely darker than others.

This took maybe 5-8 minutes?

Puree with olive oil and voila! Tahini!

I used probably 5-6 tablespoons? I didn't measure.

This smells and tastes amazing and I'm looking forward to using it! Also, I can't wait to make more nut butters in our food processor once we use up the rest of the peanut butter we have in the cupboard. I freaking LOVE almond butter, but it's too expensive for me to buy, so now I will make it myself!

What new recipe have you tried lately that you love?