Winter Vegetable Soup

This soup is like a warm blanket on a chilly winter's day. It's creamy consistency is from the potatoes and other root vegetables, it has a mild flavor which can easily be pepped up with other spices.

**Beware - when pureeing this soup, only fill your blender 1/3 full with the hot soup (about 2 1/2 cups for me). Otherwise the steam will shoot the top off the blender and send it sailing across the counter. This is dangerous and if you want to experience it (I homeschooled so this would be considered part of physics) I suggest you wear long sleeves, rubber gloves and safety glasses. Also get a volunteer to clean up.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 carrots
2 parsnips
2 celery stalks
4 medium potatoes
2 zucchini
1 small red pepper
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 tomatoes
1 medium head savoy cabbage
8 cups chicken stock (may need to add a little water to cover all veggies)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons parsley
splash of Braggs Liquid Aminos
salt and pepper to taste

Chop all the ingredients into medium pieces.
In a large kettle (mine was 6 quarts), over medium-high, heat oil with vegetables (no cabbage) for about 5 minutes.
Stir in stock, add cabbage and spices. Simmer until all the ingredients are soft.
Let cool on stove for 20 mins.  Place in blender and puree.

From Faux to Fabulous

The past few weeks have been interwoven with eliminating faux foods (ok, really reducing faux foods, I haven’t found a replacement for ketchup yet) and cooking from scratch with fabulous, fresh, 100% biology foods. I am feeling lighter in my body and no longer feeling dazed in the middle of the afternoon. I’ve been spending more time reading labels, in the produce section, and in front of a cutting board. Not only am I rearranging my cupboards, but my Daytimer is getting an overhaul too.  I’m remembering that I like cooking. Years of creating a menu for a family of diverse appetites narrowed my options and I guess I fell into a menu rut.  

I am surprised how excited I am about making soup! I made my first homemade chicken stock and the delicious difference has me excited to make a roasted vegetable stock.  

 I spent an hour making the chicken stock (from prep to clean up) and a couple hours making Winter Soup (sooo good, recipe to follow with important tips on pureeing hot foods). I have decided that one day a weekend, preferably Sunday, will once again be my Sabbath and, now also, my hearth day.

Adding zest to my life includes creating more creative moments. I have fallen away from several nurturing activities and, as I plant my garden of herbs this spring, I will also plant a garden of nurturing activities to spice up my days. My meals are becoming creative moments. Martha Stewart and Oprah would be proud.

Chicken Stock Recipe

Time to the table: at least 3 hours    Makes 2 quarts

You’ll need:

Bones from 1 baked chicken

3 quarts water

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

2 cups chopped onions

2 teaspoons salt

3 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic, smashed

5 sage leaves or 2 teaspoons rubbed sage

Several turns of the pepper grinder, to taste

Directions

Pick majority of meat off the chicken and cut the bones into 2 inch pieces.

In a 4-quart stockpot

                Add chicken bones with the water and bring to a boil. Once foam comes to the top, skim it away and add all the other ingredients. Let it simmer away uncovered for half the day ( about 4 hours), until it cooks down by about a third.

                Strain the stock, let it cook and store in a tight lidded container in the refrigerator for up a week. Otherwise freeze it for up to 3 months.

Stepping Toward Organic

Shakespeare would have been thrown. Today I was shopping for biology winning food and came across a display of beautiful roses. Out of reflex I walked over to the roses, stuck my nose in the blossoms and deeply inhaled. I paused waiting for a scent and wondered if I had been duped and mistaken plastic flowers for real.
They were "real" roses though they proved Shakespeare wrong. "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Nope.

I've always thought organic food is great, just not that big of a difference for the price. I wondering now if organic food is the real cost of growing real food and the other stuffed needs to be called by another name. After returning from France, I notice a difference in the flavor of my typical diet and how I felt afterward. Dr. Clower, in his book The French Don't Diet Plan, states 'unless the sign says "locally grown" chances are that the fruit was picked green, shipped in from somewhere far away and gassed with ethylene. Ethylene is a gas produced by the combustion of kerosene, and by ripening fruit. The fruit is gassed right before it is placed in the store to de-green it. I didn't realize that. Why isn't that considered part of the information we need to know, like ingredients. I work with people who have food allergies and sensitivities, I had never thought that the 'ripening' chemicals might play a part.

When I get curious I like to create experiments. I think experiments are more fun then pure research and make a clearer point. So, I'm going to make two recipes; one with regular grocery produce and one with organic. I'm choosing to make a veggie stir fry.

Here are the ingredients: carrots, green beans, zucchini, red pepper, asparagus, mushrooms, celery, pea pods, and broccoli, garlic and herb infused extra-virgin olive oil (homemade with herbs from our garden).

Hands down the organic stir fry tasted better. The veggies cooked up more consistently and had more water in the bottom of the pan. It also cost about twice as much.

I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the completed dish. I will with future experiments.

So, the lesson here is: locally grown and organic tastes like the food it is meant to be.