in my continuing quest to read books that will give me info about eating for health and happiness, i got a book called simple food for the good life, by helen nearing. i had heard about this book many times, and i had seen it referenced in a number of other books that i read, always with high praise. so, i asked my local library to get me a copy (a service for which i am eternally grateful), and when it came in i patiently read it from cover to cover.

and it was not great. it was not awesome. it was not inspiring. it kind of made me want to go buy some twinkies.

okay. it wasn’t that bad, but after so many people talking it up as this book that would make you want to go au natural with your food, i was sad that i didn’t even find one single recipe that i wanted to try. ho hum.

on the bright side, though, i made an awesome pot of soup, and here’s what i did:

i sautéed three large leeks. (leeks are quite cheap right now, and they are pretty in season- at least in this part of the universe)

i added three huge yukon gold potatoes, which i scrubbed and cut into chunks so they would cook faster (these were also surprisingly cheap, and potatoes are in season-ish. i have never seen large yukons before, though, so if you can’t find them near you, just add more potatoes to the pot. you can tell the recipe is very exact, right?).

i poured in a bunch of water and a generous amount of sea salt. i may have added some pepper, but not too much. i cooked it until the potatoes were soft enough to smash up in the soup and then i cooked it some more. it was velvety and creamy and thick and sooooooooooooooooo yummy and so simple i couldn’t believe it.

pretty much 4 ingredients: leeks, potatoes, salt, water (and a bit of oil to sautee the leeks). easy, cheap, filling, and done.

here’s another cheapy recipe i figured i would share, since i’m on a roll:

when we get to the end of a jar of mayonnaise, i add some warm water, some sea salt, and more garlic powder than i should. i shake it all up, and it makes the best creamy garlic salad dressing ever. not only does this use up the last of the mayo that would never come out of the jar otherwise, but it is a delicious thing to put on salads or cooked veggies. (try it on mashed potatoes -yum!) this is especially good and thrifty if you make your own mayo, because with the amount of  time you have invested to make the mayo, you really want to use every single drop.

and that, my friends, is the simple post of the day…

😉