My First Wonderbag Meal! {Cabbage Soup}

Hey there everyone! I'm back in action for my usual meal prep now that all the winter holidays are behind us. The farmers market will fully be back this coming Saturday to help make my prep even more exciting again, but luckily one of my farmers (Straight From the Backyard Farm) was kind enough to come meet some of us regulars this past Saturday with some of her fresh produce to purchase. Well, to be fair I sent my boyfriend, but the result was the same--a nice bounty of seasonal goodies to use in our meals this week!

I'm quite spoiled now with having access to the farmers market year-round, though I know the farmers enjoyed a few weekends off to spend celebrating the holidays while the market was closed. Lynn had a really nice crop of broccoli available, so I'll be blanching some of what we have from this round to freeze and use later on. Too much goodness to let go to waste if we can't eat it all this week!

However, the point of this post is really to talk about how awesome one of my holiday gifts is...The Wonderbag! I can't recall where or when I first saw a post about this great kitchen tool, but after seeing it pop up on my radar a few times I started following their social media on Instagram and looked up a bit more about the company. Check out their website as I know I cannot quite do it full justice, but I'm hoping just by sharing my experience with it will help to encourage others to look into getting their own!

What is the Wonderbag?

This puffy bag is basically a slow cooker. Don't you have a slow cooker already, Katie? Why yes, I do indeed have a few electric slow cookers (and a pressure cooker), but this has no plugs or external energy source. The bag is filled with foam that insulates your cooking pot, using the heat that is already there to continue cooking your meal even after removing the pot from the heat source. So essentially you start your meal on the stove top, bring it to temperature, then pop it in the Wonderbag and let it cook through. The technology is not really new in any way, as people have been using similar bags or boxes lined with hay or blankets for a very long time to do the same thing. However, those of us in "civilized" communities tend not to ever have access to some of these traditional methods of cooking in favor of everything shiny, new and preferably easy.

Why am I so excited about a bag?

In case you haven't noticed, I do really enjoy cooking. While I try to keep my purchases to a minimum, the kitchen is one place I will invest in to continue to make sure I enjoy the act of preparing homemade, healthy, delicious meals. In this case, I was lucky enough to be gifted an item I will really use and enjoy. While I do love my electric slow cooker, I am excited to have an option that uses less energy, and will put out less heat during our hot Atlanta summers. You don't have to worry about scorching your meal in the Wonderbag, as I have done even on the low setting with an electric cooker.

The real impact, though, is not in my own kitchen, but in the lives of many others whom the Wonderbag company donates bags to. For every bag purchased here in the US or other countries, they take a percentage of the proceeds to be able to donate bags to women whose lives can be totally impacted in a positive way. In places like rural Africa, women still have to spend hours of their day cooking, mostly over fires that put out dangerous smoke. A Wonderbag can help reduce the workload of these women, and also make their homes a healthier place with having to burn less fuel. It also relieves the burden of having to find so much fuel to use, as well. I know from my friends @lizelle and @fionasfavourites in South Africa there is often loss of power from load shedding, so having a tool to continue cooking even without power is a wonderful item to have anywhere that electricity is not constantly available.

Of course I definitely wouldn't suggest buying something if you don't think you'll use it, as then you just have something extra sitting on the shelf gathering dust. However, if you or someone you need a gift for enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, then I think it is a fantastic item! I can see it working really well on a camping trip or at a pot-luck party to keep your shared dish warm. I was amazed that after four hours of leaving my cabbage soup in the bag it was still just as warm as when I took it off the stove top!

I had to make sure to use a pot holder to lift the lid off. Of course I made sure to start off with a really easy soup recipe to get a feel for the Wonderbag, but I'm sure I'll have no problem cooking other items going forward. I didn't write down the recipe from this round, but it was a basic variation of this cabbage soup that I have shared before. The only difference this time was that I sauteed the onions and celery on the stove top until they were soft, then I added the cabbage to wilt down. Once the veggies were softened up I added everything else and brought it to a boil. I then covered my pot and put it in the Wonderbag before sealing and letting it go to work!

They caution not to use un-cooked beans in with tomatoes as the acidity can cause the beans to stay hard, but I didn't have a problem with my lentils. I used half the tomatoes of the original recipe above, so perhaps all the other vegetables neutralized the mixture enough that the lentils were cooked perfectly. Most of my beans I generally cook ahead of time, but lentils I have a tendency to use in their dried form since they often cook so quickly anyway. The texture and cook on the soup was just perfect. I'm sure I could have taken it out sooner than four hours, but that's just the time frame I had between making it and when we were ready for dinner.

I'll try to share more as I continue to experiment with the Wonderbag and try even more recipes. I saw my pal @lizelle used hers to help proof her delicious bread dough the other day! So brilliant! I am happy to support such a great company that gives back and also tries to contribute to a much more eco-friendly interaction with our world. Every small action we take helps, so even something as small as using less energy for cooking can contribute in a positive way.

Speaking of positive changes, I'm gearing up for my next plant-based nutrition event here in Atlanta shortly! I'm looking forward to sharing about a common question people have about plant-based diets--where do you get your protein? I'll also be weaving in some myths and misinformation on how much protein we really need, and how choosing more plant-based options can impact not only your personal health but the health of the planet! Should be a really good one, so I'll make sure to share the recap after the event as always!

Banners by @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa

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