Spinach Lentil Soup with Whole Wheat Dumplings

I was thinking about buying rice, but then I remembered I had a whole bag of whole wheat flour in the pantry that I hadn't used in a while. I whipped up a quick spinach lentil soup with dumplings.

Spinach Lentil Soup with Whole Wheat Dumplings

As with all my recipes, this uses what I have on hand. Feel free to improvise!

Soup Ingredients

• 1/3 cup red lentils
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp hing
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 4 cups of water
• 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme

Dumpling Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 takeout pack of parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 pack of soy sauce
• Enough water to form a stiff batter

Lightly fry the cumin and hing for a minute. Add the nutritional yeast, stir well, then add the water. Add the rest of the soup ingredients, except for the spinach, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Mix all of the dry dumpling ingredients, using just enough water to create a stiff batter. Add the spinach to the soup, bring back up to a gentle simmer, then add spoonfuls of the dumpling batter. Don't worry about some of the dumplings falling apart. These will thicken the soup! Cover and cook for 5 more minutes.

Makes 2 portions with 1.5 servings of vegetables each.

All the ingredients for the soup were in my pantry, but I had to head to the supermarket for more fruit. Was planning on just an apple and orange, but saw some grapes on sale, $5 for 2 lbs. Decided to also splurge on some raspberry seltzer as an alternative for my soda cravings.

Daily Summary

• 2 servings, $0 - Breakfast: masoor macaroni
• 3 servings, $0 - Lunch: spinach lentil soup with whole wheat dumplings (had both portions in one sitting and skipped dinner)
• 4 servings, $7.93 - Snack: orange, apple, 2 cups of grapes
• 2 servings, $0 - Dinner: masoor macaroni

11 servings of fruits & veggies on $7.93

$2.07 under budget for the day

$53.89 over budget overall

I happened to notice that my receipt for yesterday was wrong. I was charged for 2 apples, instead of 1. I thought $2.86 for an apple and an orange was a little high. I'll have to pay more attention from now on.