N is for noodles - a chicken (or turkey) noodle soup

i made this pot of loveliness on tuesday for my kids and wonderful babysitting-in-laws.  i had pitching lessons so they got to be with the kids with chris out and about.  i even prepped some manchego grilled cheese sandwiches:)

how did it go?  well, mary and larry LOVED both the soup and sandwiches.  the kids politely declined my soup and gobbled up all the grilled cheese. 

ingrates.

i reheated the soup for next day leftovers and gave all three of them a nice large bowl with calm, simple instructions: if they wanted any of the organic potato chips i had to share, they would have to eat the entire (freaking) bowl.

they licked their bowls clean.  mac and abbie even complimented my soup.  they also tried to leave some vege in the bowl... 

"i'm done!"

"no.you're.not."

my shady food blackmail tactic worked.  and boy do i.love.my.chips.


to the mullies with chicken noodle soup 

2 T coconut or extra virgin olive oil
6 organic rainbow chard ribs chopped (i reserve them when i make sautéed greens or smoothies! kale - hello 52 new foods challenge! - or celery works well here too).
1/2 organic red onion
4 small organic carrots
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of dried thyme
sage salt
2 qts organic vege stock
1 tsp organic chicken bouillon (optional)
1 soup bowl full of organic frozen peas
1 soup bowl full of gluten free pasta (i love the tinkyada brand)
2 handfuls of shredded organic chicken or turkey (hello leftovers from earlier in the week)

heat oil in a large stockpot over med-low heat.  add chopped chard ribs, onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, sage salt & pepper.  stir, sauté and cover low and slow until onions are translucent and just beginning to caramelize (20-30 min).  dump stock + bouillon and bring to a boil.  reduce heat, throw chicken in, cover and simmer for a short or long bit.  when you are 15-20 min from serving, bring heat back up and add peas and gluten free pasta.  season to taste.  the noodles and chicken will continue to break down with every leftover reheat... it just gets better and better.

from start to finish, you could totally make this soup fast, in 30-40 minutes.  however, i think the deliciousness factor went up 10 fold because i took my time with it.  i slow cooked the soffritto, simmered the stock, vege and chicken for a while (probably over an hour!), and then had it for two days of leftovers. the chard adds depth that celery can only wish it had!

when i got home, the noodles had blown up big sitting and cooling in the pot... i think that's my favorite part.  I had my last bowl yesterday for lunch and it was so tasty and thick and wonderful and oh I miss it in my fridge so much already.  

warm your little hearts up!  i think i'll be making it again with our turkey leftovers as it'll sure pair well with our weekend football fixins.

happy friday you foodie freakos,

xoxoL

stew up your okra lace

these pics say it all... good food + friends = love.  

do you try out new recipes on your peeps?  i meal planned a new stew recipe and tweaked the cajones out if it when i remembered we had a child with a peanut allergy coming over for dinner.  i added some extras cuz why not be adventurous with dinner guests?  if it ends up tasting like poop... so be it...  it makes for super fun goof-up stories till the end...  

remember that one time one band camp... ?

this meal fed two families (6 kids and four adults) and then was completely polished off by an after dinner party with more cocktails and friends.  

this #ballsoutrealfood recipe will be made again and again and again...  

african stew with okra laced rice 

meal planning and african peanut stew with okra rice recipe inspo made possible by jamie oliver's magical recipe app (aka "don't.leave.for.the.grocery.store.without.it")

here's another variation to get your cooking gumption on.

4 organic chicken thighs

2 c brown rice

15 okras sliced

1 tsp ground coriander + 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes + 1/2 tsp paprika (spice rub for da chicken)

1 carton (1 qt) of organic vegetable or chicken stock

1 small organic butternut squash (cored and diced.  leave skin on!)

2 small organic red onions diced

4 heirloom tomatoes quartered

1 carton mushrooms (8 oz) sliced

2 garlic cloves minced

sea salt
pepper

leftover organic bacon grease from breakfast

and this is how i threw it together...

10 qt dutch oven:

sauté low and slow:  bacon grease, diced red onions, diced squash (with skin on!), s&p until soft.  add garlic, mushrooms, some more s&p and sauté until mushrooms release their moisture and turn soft and dark.  add quartered tomatoes & cook down until all juice has been released.  add stock and diced chicken.  bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer with a vented lid for 45min-1 hour.  add s&p to taste.

lg cast iron pan:

rub chicken with spices, s&p and fry em up hot in your bacon grease until browned and gorgeous.  remove from pan, let rest for a bit and dice up.  in same pan, add a little more grease and sauté the sliced okra until they begin to brown and get some crisp.  

5 qt dutch oven:

cook brown rice to package instructions (i use vege stock for my liquid).  once cooked, stir in the bacon laced okra.

then becky says, "get your bruce wayne on" and enjoy yourself:)

say "boatswain"... he he he he... get it!?

xoxo

ps

the farm is creeping into corporate america... look what one of chris' co-workers brought to the office for us last week!  farm fresh, gorgeous eggs... oooooooohhhhhhh THE COLOR!!!!  

thank you thank you thank you mike!!!!!

a corn chowder soup challenge

did i include enough pictures for you?!  HA!

we invited the kids to join us in cooking our september food ambassador challenge recipe but alas, the kids just wanted to play.  and that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.  christina and i sure had fun picking herbs from her garden, tossing back a glass of wine and cooking up some soup together on a lazy friday night:)  

here is the fabuloso corn chowder recipe that YOU MUST MAKE!  why?

#1 inexpensive ingredients.

#2 it is easy peasy & FAST to make = key for school/work nights.

#3 we ALL loved it!

the only thing we changed? we used gluten free flour and swapped out the cow's milk and used 4 cups organic rice milk + 1 can of trader joe's light coconut milk to make it dairy & gluten free.  it was really really good.

breaking news: abbie has put in an official request to the mullies test kitchen to make this over and over again.  i was so happy i broke out in a jig.  

the last three pictures are my saturday left-over soup bowl (i hogged it to myself).  i jazzed it up with a little buffalo hot wing sauce and fresh avocado.  oh.my.word.good.

christina's garlic bread: broil buttered/oiled bread, simply rub a little garlic over the top.  

i save the "butts" of our Udi's sandwich bread - no wasting here!!  thanks to christina, i'm officially converting from my "garlic salt method" to the "real garlic rub method".  the best part? the kids can totally rub the garlic on the "butts" next time!  talk about laughing in the kitchen together... hee hee!!

each month our food revolution lake county team is going to try and get together and tackle the ambassador recipe challenges.  miss briana had a wedding this time around (boo) so she couldn't make it and we're sure looking forward to blowing up next month's recipe together!  it may not always work out with our cray cray schedules, but that's our goal!

thanks food revolution for inspiring us to make that tasty, easy soup.  i'm going to try this minestrone soup next, as it looks ahmazeballs (don't forget to check out out all their wonderful library of recipes on the right side bar)... meal planning here i come... yes please!

xoxo

ps

did i mention we multi-tasked while we were chowdah cookin...

christina's butternut squash tip of the day:

"Slice it up, toss it in a little evoo and roast it on a silpat for 20 min at 375 degrees.  it takes so much less time in the oven, not to mention way easier getting the tough outer skin off."  

yea baby yea.

and then she turned it into this last night... butternut squash gnocci and pork with a balsamic fig glaze.... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and the crowd goes wild!!!!

high fives - homemade veggie stock & celery soup

so i made my celery soup again the other day and tweaked it further which i'm so tickled about sharing with you today!!  here is my original post if you'd like to go back in time.  i was about to pour out the water i boiled all the veggies in and a little voice in my head yelled, STOP!  collaborate and listen...save it you fool...it's organic vegetable stock!  so then i proceeded to fill every container i had and shoved them all over my fridge.  the next day i realized there was no way i would be using it soon and i did not want my hard work to spoil.  so i googled the best way to freeze homemade stock and came up with this little gem:

how to use canning jars in the freezer

my sister in law gave me these lovelies for christmas and i cannot wait to use the crazy cute tops & striped paper straws for summer cocktails.

hello!  i had no idea i could freeze mason jars... i had visions of exploded contents all over my freezer... glad to know i'm just crazy with my imagination:)

vegan celery soup (orinigal recipe inspo found here)
this recipe will yield a double batch of veggies to freeze for later.

1 bag organic celery
1 organic celery root (didn't have it this time)
1 lb mixed organic potatoes (i had both red and yellow)
1 organic leek (most of green stems discarded - i chop & place in a separate bowl of water to rinse the grime)
1 organic fennel bulb with stems and fronds
- chop veggies in similar sized pieces and boil in salted water until potatoes are tender.  this water will turn into your veggie stock!

5 T organic coconut oil divided
1 yellow organic onion diced
2 c organic mushrooms sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
3 T gluten free flour blend
1 can light or full fat coconut milk (whichever you fancy)
2-3 cups of veggie stock water

- melt 2 T of the coconut oil and saute veggies until soft.  build a rue: melt and whisk in the additional 3 T of coconut oil and 3 T of gluten-free flour (i linked you to a great tutorial if you are clueless with rue making... i sure was before).  alternate whisking in about 1/2 can of the coconut milk and equal parts hot veggie water from the other pot.  keep alternating until you have enough liquid.  just eye ball it...the total liquid amount to add is somewhere between 4-5 cups.  add in 1/2 of the cooked veggies, cover and cook on low for about 20 minutes.  optional: use a hand held emersion blender and blend to desired texture.  i like my soup pureed with some hearty lumps of veggies here and there.

1/2 T white pepper
1 T oregano
*add in old bay seasoning to taste... this is the taste clincher here folks, just do it!!
s&p to taste

remove the rest of veggies from the stock pot and freeze (i am so happy to not have to do that part next time!!)  once the veggie stock has cooled, fill up your jars and you'll be all set for your next recipe adventure.

oh i'm just feeling all julia child over here now:) ...high five to the self!