Souper Tuesday - I will wait

So last night I suddenly realized that I hadn't written a post in a few days.  Yes, as itg turns out I took a few days off for my birthday.  Which was probably good because I have had a migraine most of the weekend and looking at a computer screen would probably have sucked.  All in all, it wasn't a bad birthday.  Some stuff that I can't discuss at the moment came up and I had to deal with that, but the cake was excellent, I saw one of my best friends, I got to talk to my aunt and uncle that live across the country and I got to spend some time with my grandpa (who is just a major source of enlightenment in my life!).  My aunt, who has been staying with my grandpa and helping him out also went ahead and made copies of all of my grandma's recipes for the family, so now I have those...and you know what that means!!!  So yay!  And my grandpa loved the cake too.  He said that my grandma would have been proud!  We were already talking about Easter, and that cake is now going to be a part of the dessert!  AND my grandpa also had a look at my blog!  He's too damn cute!!  He liked it.  He's thinking about getting a laptop...so he'll be able to read it all the time (along with other things...)  and I won't even have to clean up my language, so WIN!  My husband also took me to lunch, got take out for me the next night and for my present I got to go to the girliest store in the world without him and get whatever I wanted, so I feel pretty now too!  

And ummm...I totally forgot that I already had a Monday post written (way to go me with the planning last week!) and had been thinking about making Tuesday Souper Tuesday, so now I'm gonna.  And its a bonus for the vegetarians, because since I forgot that I already had a meatless post for yesterday...well, you see where I am going with this?

Right.

So here is the inaugural Souper Tuesday recipe: 

Vegetarian Polka Dot Stew

 (Whatever...stew, soup, they are like, best friends!)

Ingredients

2 cups water

1 cup uncooked couscous or 1 cup quick cooking barley

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 plum tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cans (19 ounces each) ready-to-serve tomato soup

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the couscous, carrots, tomato, onion and garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until tender and water is absorbed. Stir in the remaining ingredients; heat through. Sprinkle with cheese. 

So what do you think?  Souper Tuesday a yes?

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And your moment of Zen...