Nourishing Soup with an Asian Flair

I'm taking a pot of soup to my 3rd graders class today.
It goes like this. And this is pretty much how I cook alot of things. WING..wing..wing it!
In a stock pot:
Glug of Organic EVOO and 2 T of butter.
Chopped up two stalks of celery, 8 baby carrots, quarter of an onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Softened that for a bit. Added in a pinch of sea salt, and a few cranks of black pepper. Toss in some cubed chicken meat. I used thighs and breasts in this one.
Poured in two jars of homemade chicken stock. (roughly 4 cups)
Added about a 1/4 c of Tamari Sauce. (can use soy) 1 T of toasted Sesame oil, a shake of chili flakes and about a cup of peeled broccoli stems cubed. oooh and about a 1 inch nub of peeled ginger(so I could fish it out later, but if this was just for me, I'd have diced it and added it in.)Oh and I tossed in some frozen brown rice. About 2 cups.

It's very rich, because I didn't add water. And it tastes delish! I hope the kids like it. If not there is Miss Peggy's Cheeseburger Soup for them as well..(I'm looking forward to giving that a taste myself!)
And I'm bringing my griddle so they can have grilled cheese sandwiches, and I have a bakery box of Banana Cakes and Brownie Bites..Both made with White Whole Wheat flour in place of regular AP.

So here's to a healthy, nourishing lunch for 20 3rd graders!

You put the Lime in the Coconut....and

well forget the lime...for now..and put the coconut cream in your coffee...

I had some leftover coconut milk from the recipe down there..the butternut one....and one day I decided to pour it in my coffee...I mean I love coconut, and I usually put in half n half...so in went the coconut milk. (Full fat Organic BTW)
Well I REALLY REALLY enjoyed it..and one up that...Now I've been skimming the coconut cream from the can of coconut milk, and then pouring the coconut water into other things..LOL

Brownies to the 2nd Creamcheesiness Power

I've had this recipe in my stash for some time. I've used it for years! I found it when I used to do "gifts in a jar" for craft shows..years and years ago. But I embelished it and today I changed it even more.

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
adapted from me
Original Recipe

1/2 c melted or very soft butter
1.5 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1.25 c flour
2/3 c cocoa
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
4 eggs
1/2 c chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips (optional)

Cream Cheese Swirl

16oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, add melted or VERY softened butter. Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Add in one pile on top, flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder; then crack all 4 eggs. Mix all together well with a wooden spoon. Don't beat!

Grease a 9x13 pan with a bit of butter, and spread all but about 1/2 c of batter in the pan.

In the mixer bowl(electric mixer needed) add in the softened cream cheese, and beat until smooth. Add in vanilla and egg. Beat again until smooth.

Spread the cream cheese topping over the brownie batter, but not all the way to the edges. Drop on the remainder of the brownie batter, and cut through the batters with a knife making a swirl pattern.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. Don't over bake!

Pizza Fridays~yep every Friday

Every Friday we have pizza. We've been doing it for over a month now. The boys really look forward to Fridays. Most times I have atleast one in the kitchen helping, if not two..The older one..well he's usually on the computer, or on his phone or BOTH!

It is quite inexpensive to make pizza at home. ~that'll be my project this next week, to figure out just how much it costs us to make two large pizzas. We like thick chewy crust so it's two batches of the below recipe. But if you like a thin crust, one batch will make 2 10-12" crusts.
I make the pizza dough in about 15 minutes.
The process goes like this:
1: Turn the oven on to 425F.
2: Get the sauce simmering. One can of organic tomato sauce, garlic powder, italian seasoning, a bit of salt and pepper and a glug of balsamic vinegar.
3: Start the dough in two bowls. That way they are done at the same time.
Pizza Dough
~adapted from Lou
1 c warm water
1 T honey
2 1/2 t yeast
1/2 t salt
1 T EVOO
2 c white flour (ap or bread)
1 c whole wheat
Mix the warm water, honey and yeast. Let bubble for about 5 minutes. Stir in salt, oil and flours. Bring into a ball with your fingers or a fork. Work it in the bowl, forming a ball until all the flour is absorbed. Leave to rise while finishing the other prep.
4: While waiting for the yeast to bubble, get out the toppings.
5: While letting the dough rest. Fry sausage or ground beef. Grate the cheese. Remove the string cheese and cut in half lengthwise.(Yeah we like stuffed crust!)
6: When you have your toppings ready, start pre shaping the pizza dough on the counter. If you need a little flour use it..but it shouldn't be very sticky. Sprinkle the pizza pan with cornmeal. Finish pressing the dough to the desired shape. We go out a little farther than needed, because we roll a half a cheese stick into the edge and tuck it in.
7: First pizza crust is ready for the oven. Place in oven and let par bake about 10 minutes or until the top bits are just starting to show color. (If you use a thin crust, this step is not necessary.) Form the second pizza crust while the first one is in the oven.
8: Take the first pizza crust out, sauce it, cheese it, top it, cheese it again.
9: Remove 2nd crust, see step 8. Put 1st pizza back in the oven and bake until the toppings crisp and the cheese is melted.
10: Remove pizza and grate fresh Parm over liberally. Put #2 pizza in the oven.

You get this when it's all done!


We use Hormel Natural Pepperoni 1 package is good for both pizzas because one is pepperoni only and the other has nitrate free sausage and or grnd beef plus a small smattering of pepperoni. The boys like a combo of Mozzarella and about half as much cheddar as the topping.

Mmm Mmm Butternut Soup

I just created a delish bowl of soup!

Started out simple enough. Organic Produce and EVOO, homemade turkey stock (From Thanksgiving Turkey) and Organic Coconut Milk
2 giant cloves of garlic chopped
1 chunk~ 1/2" piece of peeled ginger
glug of EVOO
Place into saucepan and "sizzle" the garlic and ginger a bit, don't brown.
Pour in 2-3 cups of stock. A pinch of red pepper flakes and a few cracks of black pepper.
Pour in about 2 cups of pre roasted butternut squash cubes from the freezer.
Let simmer until the squash is falling apart.
Smash squash with potato masher, find ginger chunk and fish out (it won't smash).
~I'm not one for pureed soups..but you could certainly puree with stick blender or regular blender. I like a little body in mine..so I just smooshed it really good in the pan.
Pour in half a can of well shaken coconut milk. Stir taste..adjust seasonings...serve the hot creamy slightly sweet goodness!