hot mamas & papas - cook your fannies off campers

holy smokes!  i gots me four hot mamas and one hot papa to boot sharing their goodies for my foodies.

whooooooo-eeeeeeeeeee - it's getting hot in here....... so put your apron on...

hope you like what these peeps are bringin in their kitchens!!!

first up:

take a gander at what my hot chimmie in indy is doing with her lovely ladies...

how awesome is this!?  these fit mamas all get together once a week & they juice their little brains out for the ENTIRE week.  oh.my.word.  that is just ridonculous!!  i cannot wait to crash your juicing parties some day!!!!  hhmmmmm, i wonder how much it would cost to have you send me weekly shipments up to chi-town...:)  hee hee.

and now for denver's one and only hot papa & mama:  dan & katie's (sister love) mega amazing 

black bean cakes...yums in my tums.

put that on my list of must-make's...foh shohs.

and that is one hot mama megan with her spagetti squash and brussel sprouts.  and she quotes:  "We had to cheer them on to finish, let me tell ya!  But next time we will use spaghetti sauce instead of butter."

word to the mothers.  sauce it up.  or try this recipe i just found:  spaghetti squash, brussel sprouts and chick peas

and last but certainly not least:

take it away hotsie totsie christina!

***

It's winter, it's cold, I have a handful of winter vegetables wasting away on my counter.  What to do, what to do???  Make soup of course!  I made it a SOUPER SATURDAY and whipped up 2 yummy soups.

First off I was inspired by Lindsey's celery soup recipe here..... I am not a fan of cooked celery, honestly, I only like it raw with vege dip on it.  But I had a celery root and a bag of celery, what else could I do with it?  Whipped it up and had it for dinner.  I wasn't sure the kids would like it.  I mean, it does look a little strange, but both ate their entire bowl!  Ava (my 5 year old) especially loved it!  Next time I get some leftover celery, I know just what to do with it.

Now onto the mess of vegetables... I didn't really have enough of one type of vege to make as a dinner side dish, so I thought a roasted vege soup was in store of us.  I am about to freak you out here, but I didn't use a recipe.  This is why I don't really bake very much, you can't just throw some stuff together and have something good to eat.  I love the creativity cooking allows me!

So here is how I made my...

Christina's Roasted Winter Vege Soup:

1.  Mixed bunch of organic vegetables:  1 small butternut squash, 2 sweet potatoes, 1 white onion, 3 stalks celery, 6 carrots, 4 parsnips.  Cut everything up into similar size pieces, no need to peel anything yet, coat in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 350 degrees until the vege is fork tender.  You could also add any fresh herbs like sage, rosemary, or thyme (yes, like the old song!) but I didn't have any.

COOKING TIP: I used 2 baking sheets one for the carrots and parsnips, the other for the squash and potatoes.  After roasting the squash and potatoes for about 20 minutes, I added the celery and onion to the baking sheet since they cook faster. You could use any vege you have on hand, even throw in an apple to get crazy, whatever you have works!

half way though cooking...

so pretty!

2.  I did all of this at about noon, let everything cool.  Then I peeled the potatoes and squash.  The potato skin came right off with my hands, I used a paring knife to peel away the squash skin.  It was much easier to do this now, as opposed to before I cooked it!

3.  Then I threw all the vege into my Vitamix (or use a blender/food processor and work in batches).  It actually all fit!  Slowly turned it to high, then slowly added organic chicken stock (Costco has a great one we buy).  You could also use vege stock if you wanted to go all vege.  I left it kind of thick because I am going to freeze it to use another day.  It smelled amazing!  I of course sampled and it was AWESOME!!!  I plan to make come homemade garlic bread or croutons to have with it to round out the meal.

So next time you have a cold, winter Saturday, turn it into a SOUPER SATURDAY!!!

***

thank you my dearies, that was souper, duper-fab:)


speaking of super fab...this dr oz link should get you real excited...the gig on artificial color is officially up:  dr oz and artificial color - a kraft mac & cheese petition goes viral

can i get a what WHAT!?!?

& happy weekend to all you crazy daisies.



ps

the mullies will be taking a break for the next week....don't get your panties in a bunch...i expect big st patrick's day celebrations and prayers for the end of our long chicago winter.



pps


i just can't stop...

this is what makes me happy - camp, retainers and music...i love you banner day camp:

jt - jimmy - retainers - africa - toto...take me away

muah allen - these are the days.

xoxo