This Morning

I just had to report on a productive morning. Here's what I've accomplished as of 1:30 pm:

• baked a batch of whole wheat bread (scroll over for recipe)
  
• baked a double batch of french bread
• fed my kids (with only a few threats) Cream of Wheat and blueberries for breakfast
• filled out an application to join a public charter school for homeschoolers this fall
• had my new dryer delivered (we had to buy the dryer to go with our new washer) and both appliances installed. (Lowes does this for free! Next day!)
  
• washed my first loads of laundry in the new machines
• fed my kids lunch
• created an event on facebook for the family reunion that Jared & I are planning
  
• made a batch of Prudy's homemade pickles. We LOVE them around here!
• got dressed (but will squeeze in a shower later--I had to make some sacrifices for all this domestic productivity:)
• fed the baby twice
• put Ian and Bronwen down for naps twice
• set off the smoke alarm during naps by burning the cornmeal on the bottom of the french bread pans. oops.
• put Bronwen back down a third time after she freaked out from the smoke alarm
• wrote a blog post

If only every day could be so productive.

Here's what Margaret's been doing:


And my darling FIL took the boys to the free movie this morning and then kept the big boys for an afternoon swim. I'm not complaining! Now, for my nap. Do you think the city can send someone over to fold all my laundry?:)

Introducing . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen (are there at least two of you boys out there?), I am pleased to introduce Prudence Pennywise, the alter ego and blog of one of my dearest friends, former roommates, and cooking mentors. She just launched this amazing blog featuring delicious food for a great price. I will vouch for each and every recipe, even if I haven't tried them yet. But I will be getting busy to make some of the Nantucket Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies as soon as I locate the ingredients (I'm at my mom's, whose pantry is not as prepared for spur-of-the-moment cookie baking.)
You simply must check out Prudy, leave her a comment telling her I sent you (so she knows who loves her best,) and try a recipe today.

The Green Smoothie Continues

We've had some version of the green smoothie every day this week now. Up until now, I had not let the kids see when I added the spinach and other veggies to our blender. This morning, Henry asked for "green smoothie." "And can you actually make it green today, Mom?"

As I worked, I told him about my Grandpa who used to make "green drink" from leaves in his vegetable garden. They were intrigued. Henry suggested that we add some leaves to our smoothie to make it green. "What a great idea! I have some leaves right here!"

Kimball immediately recognized the leaves as spinach, and I though our cause was lost, since Henry isn't a spinach lover. But they got excited as we added the following things to the blender:

• 1/2 large fuji apple
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup grape juice
• 1/2 c. or so frozen mango
• 3 handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful of sugar snap peas
• 1 handful of baby carrots

They tasted the smoothie, then we decided to add a few frozen strawberries for flavor and because most of the things we had used weren't frozen. They were just the thing! We all enthusiastically drank up our smoothies. Again, they weren't quite green, but they tasted great. Henry said, "I can't believe that this is full of spinach, but I like it anyway!"

Thanks again, Diane. I can't believe that my kids are eating new veggies--for breakfast!

Soup Recipes

Jared's Patient Appreciation Day was a success and so were my soups. I had many requests to post the recipes, so they are below. The vegetarian chili recipe can be found here.
This Potato Cheese Soup I only make when I am taking it to poison other people. It is not remotely low calorie or low fat. As a once in a while treat, or when fattening up your husband's patients, it is just the thing.

Jared's Favorite Potato Cheese Soup
(Thanks to Erin Mylroie for sharing this recipe years ago.)

• 12 cups chicken broth
• 2 onions, chopped
• 8 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped (or use a 1 lb bad of baby carrots)
• fresh parsley
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4 cups cream, half-and-half, or whole milk (I generally use the whole milk)
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese.
  

Bring the chicken broth, onions, potatoes, and carrots to a boil in a large stockpot. Allow to simmer for 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Maintain low boil while preparing the roux: Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until pasty but smooth. Slowly add milk or cream, whisking thoroughly to eliminate lumps. Allow to thicken as it cooks until the roux begins to bubble. Remove from heat. Temper the roux by adding about 2 cups of the soup to it and mixing. Add roux/soup mixture to remaining soup and mix well. Do not allow soup to boil after adding the roux. Add a generous amount of chopped parsely, salt and pepper to taste. Add about half the cheese to the soup and mix in. Serve soup sprinkled with cheese and parsley and freshly ground pepper. Serves 10-12

Beef Stew
(another favorite recipe from Erin)

• 2 lbs. lean stew meat
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 grated potato
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaf
• 2 t. thyme
  
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 cups beef broth
  
• 8 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 8 baby carrots
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced in wedges
  
• 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
  
• 15 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree

Dredge the beef in flour. In a dutch oven over medium heat melt the butter and warm the olive oil. Brown the beef and garlic, then add the grated potato, cloves, bay leaves, thyme, wine, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for one hour. Add the remaining potatoes, onions, and carrots and allow to simmer for half an hour more. Salt and pepper to taste (fresh cracked black pepper is best here.) Add fresh parsley and crushed tomatoes just before serving. Serves 8.

Soup's On!

Recipes You Simply Must Try

The September issue of Cooking Light highlights their staff-voted best recipes of the past 20 years in 20 different categories. I have been trying several of them out and have found each recipe to be a keeper that I will add to my repetoire. I thought I'd pass on to you my favorites so far.
Best Ice Cream/Frozen Dessert: Fresh Orange Sorbet. We made this yesterday. I did substitute about 1/2 c. fresh pineapple juice for some of the orange juice because we were cutting a pineapple and I didn't want to see it go to waste. This is delicious and fresh tasting. I'm sure that it would be good with orange juice from the store (as opposed to fresh squeezed) but the freshness makes it amazing.
Best Quick Bread: Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze. I discovered this four years ago in the September 2003 issue and have made it many times. It is delicious and not nearly as loaded with fat as a traditional banana bread--but you'll never miss it. I substitute apple juice for the rum, or use 1 tsp. rum flavoring.
Best Chicken Dish: Roasted Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, and Gravy. I made this last night for Sunday dinner. The chicken took a bit longer (but it was also bigger) than the recipe called for. I also sprayed the potatoes with olive oil spray half way through cooking because they looked a little dry. The gravy is yummy and if you make as written, has virtually no fat. I also used parsley instead of oregano because the fresh oregano was ridiculously expensive this week at the store. I used sweet yellow onions and they tasted like candy after roasting for an hour and a half. Did I mention how good this was?
I mentioned in an earlier post that I made a Coconut Peach Cobbler when Chris and Morgan came to visit a week ago. It was from this issue as well in their Best Pie or Cobbler category. This was quite good with some extra toasted coconut in the filling and a pinch of ginger with the spices. Making your own pecan ice cream (starting with a store bought vanilla) was worth it, too.
I tried their Best Potato Dish for a BBQ on Labor Day: Garlic Fries. They were heavenly with our Tony Roma's CopyCat Ribs (someday I'll post that recipe.) My fries didn't cook quite long enough to get crispy because we were starving and everything else was ready, but they were still awesome--we just used a fork.
I highly recommend you try out some of these recipes on your family and friends. I love that they taste great and you don't have to feel guilty because they're from Cooking Light (of course, if you eat the entire batch, you're in trouble.) In the meantime, I'll try out a few more recipes and review them in a future post. (By the way, I'm not one of those bloggers that gets paid to review products and recipes. I wish. This is purely because I love food.)
Bon Appetit!