Green Spaghetti

We all LOVE this pasta around here. I probably make it once a week or so. Sawyer, who won't touch any vegetables if he can help it, devours this in no time. The kids honestly cheer when they see me making it for dinner. It's that good.
It's a great, good for you side dish that adds a little more color to your plate as well!

Green Spaghetti:

about 12 oz. fresh or frozen spinach
1/4 c. broth

(I really like to use vegetable broth, but chicken works just fine too)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. milk or plain yogurt
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained
(I use thin spaghetti or angel hair; 1/2 regular, 1/2 whole grain)
4 tbsp. butter

Steam the fresh spinach until just wilted, or the frozen until warm. Put spinach and its liquid into blender. Add warm broth and liquefy. Stir cheese and milk into the puree. Toss cooked spaghetti with butter, then with green sauce.

This is a totally painless way to eat spinach, and if you cook the spaghetti while the spinach is steaming, this is about as fast as making up a box of macaroni and cheese--and far better!

Tilapia and Veggies

This was a super quick and easy meal that we'll definitely have regularly around here.
I pared down this recipe here for what I had on hand.

Three tilapia fillets for the four of us (the kids split one), a handful of fresh green beans, grape tomatoes, 2 tbsp lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and some salt and pepper. Oh and I chickened out at the last minute, thinking the fish might be just a little on the plain side for me and added just a tiny splash of lite Italian dressing to the veggie mix before I put in on the fish.

I quartered the tomatoes and cut the green beans into about 1 inch lengths and mixed all the ingredients (minus the fish) together. Then I put each fillet on a piece of foil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and topped with a few spoonfuls of the veggie mix. Fold up and seal the foil making little packets around the fish (leaving enough room inside for everything to steam nicely) and bake at 425° degrees for 20-25 min. That's it!

It was really good! Ryan and I really liked it and Savannah ate most of it, though she wouldn't admit that she liked it. Sawyer (after making him try it) said he loved it (with ketchup) but only ate a few more bites. Over all I think it was a hit for us and I love how simple and healthy it is.
I served it with brown rice, and sides of peas and mandarin oranges.

new year

Wow. Last published post, July 13th!!
Yeah, you can say the rest of the summer and the fall (and the winter so far?) had gotten away from me. We had what seemed visitor after visitor and then trip after trip and while it's true that I let life and lazyness get in the way of smart meal planning more often that usual, it didn't completely disappear as the void in this blog would have you believe.

But it's a new year with a new start and it's good to be back!
I have some really yummy recipes that I've used a lot (in the last six months) and I want to get them on here to record and share. I've got a new motivation to keep up with the recording of recipes on here as I went to whip up one of my New Year's Dinner staples, one which I only had a bookmark/link to and it was gone. I almost cried. So from now on at the very least, all my faves are being typed up or pasted on these pages here so I know they won't disappear on me!!

Here's one to get us started...
It's been really really cold in our neck of the woods ever since Christmas (woke up to -6° this morning) and while I'm not normally an "I like soup" kind of person very often, these arctic days have had me whipping up a pot or two more often. This soup I've actually made twice in the last two weeks. Yummy!
It's a quick and heartier replacement for my usual Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup you can find here.

Here's the recipe snatched directly from Picky Palate:
(thanks Jenny!)

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
4 celery stalks, diced
6 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 Cups fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
4 cans chicken broth
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
6 oz dry chow mein stir fry noodles (they work awesome in soup!!)
Pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper
Pinch of Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley

1. Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, saute onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots and spinach for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Pour in chicken broth and add chicken breast. Bring to high heat until just starting to boil. Reduce heat and add in noodles. Stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, season according to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Simmer until ready to serve!!

8-10 large servings

[my notes: both times I made this I've actually just picked up a ready to go rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shredded it right off the bone... yummy and easy! I also have had some extra fresh mushrooms on hand and have chopped those up and added to the veggies. Totally the kind of soup that you can just throw together whatever you have on hand.]

I made this last Friday evening with some sweet potato fries and some warm beer bread while we had friends over for dinner... friends who have been fighting colds and sickness and pneumonia for the past couple of weeks... in between sipping and exclamations of "yummy!" my friend said, "Oh, I can tell this is making me better already!"

No-Cook Pizza

I found this recipe after looking high and low for another no-cook main dish that wasn't all veggies and wraps hoping maybe my kids would eat it.


Cold Ham Sandwich Pizza

• 1/2 cup cream cheese with chives, softened
  
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. horseradish sauce
• 1 prepared Boboli® pizza crust
• 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked ham
• 1-1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/4 cup creamy Italian salad dressing

In small bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and horseradish sauce and blend well. Spread over the pizza crust. Top with ham, plum tomatoes, and lettuce and drizzle with salad dressing. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. (6 servings)

I tweaked it a just a tad to fit what we had in our kitchen:
I used regular cream cheese and mixed it with the mayo and a little shot of dijon mustard since we're not a horseradish family.
I chopped up the deli ham I had, rather than cubed cooked ham, and made up my own pizza crust; I already had the oven on in the early morning making some quick breakfast bars, so I mixed up a Jiffy pizza crust (adding some garlic parmesan seasoning to the dough since I was going to be working with plain cream cheese) and popped it in the oven while it was on. Then I just left it out on the counter to cool and rest until we topped it cold at dinnertime.

Sawyer helped me spread the cheese mixture and sprinkle on the lettuce, tomatoes and ham. We threw some corn on the cob on the stove for a few minutes (so it wasn't a completely no-cook meal) and dinner was served.






























I had hoped Sawyer would be more likely to try it since he helped me make it; but notsomuch. He basically picked off a little ham off of his piece and called it good. Savannah did better, but didn't finish it. Ryan said he liked it but didn't seem blown away by it or anything. He did eat two pieces though...

I, on the other hand, loved this pizza! I was so nice and cool and refreshing. The cream cheese "sauce" was perfect and the fresh toppings were nice and light. I will definitely be coming back to this idea throughout the summer. I may pick up a Boboli or two to have on hand... or it would be really good on some focaccia bread or something similar.
Yum!!

Lemony Pork and Veggies

Well, it's been awhile.
I do have a few goodies I want to get caught up on and record here. Good dinners, yummy scones and sweet desserts.

First up, one of my old favorites that was resurrected (twice) in the past week. Everyone who's had this has loved this dish, I used to make it often for dinner guests. I was looking for an easy portable meal to make for friends last week and remembered this one. I made it for us again as well, because I couldn't resist! This pork just melts in your mouth and the slight lemony juice is just perfect on everything.
>I also always make my favorite beer bread along with this dinner!!

Lemony Pork & Veggies
2 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 16 oz package peeled baby carrots*
8 oz parsnips, cut into 1/2 inch slices*
2 medium shallots, sliced thin
1 lemon, quartered
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil**
1 14oz can chicken broth
1 1/3 cups quick cooking couscous***

-In your slow cooker, place carrots, parsnips*, shallots, lemon quarters and basil**.

-Trim excess fat from pork and cut into 1-inch pieces. Combine flour and pepper in plastic ziplock bag and add the pork, closing and shaking to coat.
In large skillet brown half of the mean in 1 tbsp of the oil about 5 min, turning to brown evenly. Remove from skillet and repeat with remaining pork in remaining 1 tbsp oil.
Place pork on top of vegetables in slow cooker.













-Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high 3 1/2-4 hours.


-Discard lemon pieces. Use slotted spoon to remove pork and vegetables to a serving dish, cover dish to keep warm, reserving 1 3/4 cups of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker. Be sure cooker is turned on high and stir couscous into liquid. Cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Fluff couscous with a fork.***

Serve pork and vegetables over couscous.

*when I very first used this recipe, I couldn't find parsnips and instead came across a bag of prewashed and prepped mixed green beans and thin carrot sticks together. I used this and it was awesome. So now that's my go-to and if I can't find that bag in the veggie section at the store (not all stores carry it) I just grab a bag of green beans and then cut a few big carrots into matchsticks to add to it.

**I rarely have fresh basil on hand. Obviously dried basil flakes sub fine... I just sprinkle a bunch in over the veggies.

***I prepared this once as directed with the couscous and didn't really care for it. I normally just throw some brown rice in my rice cooker to be done at the same time as the pork and veggies and it goes wonderfully together. Serve the meat and veggies over the rice and drizzle with the cooking liquid.

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

I'm not a fan of pasta salads. I love me some pasta, but I like it warm and usually creamy or cheesy or something of that sort. :)
But I tried a recipe I'd been eying on the back of our mini pepperoni* bag and I have to admit I'm a fan. This would be a perfect idea for pasta salad for a potluck or barbeque, as there is no mayo or anything that you have to worry about sitting out.

*we got this huge bag of the cutest tiny bitesized pepperoni at Costco... it's Hormel and they are so yummy -do you think the size makes them more appealing??- and we were all in love with them. They're perfect for making your own mini-pizzas, or for salads, or like here- for pasta salads. Sadly, Costco isn't currently carrying them and I can't find them anywhere in stores or online.

This exact recipe isn't on the Hormel website either, so I thought I'd jot it down in case I ever come across these precious mini's again. Obviously, it would work just as well with regular pepperoni cut into quarters or snipped into smalled bites...

8 ounces rotini (spiral-shaped) pasta (I used half regular and half whole wheat), cooked and drained
1 cup Pepperoni Mini's
4 ounces provolone cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I just used the shredded mozerella I had in the fridge... about a cup)
1 medium tomato, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small can sliced ripe olives, drained
3/4 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients except for the dressing and Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Add Italian dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate salad for 1-2 hours before serving. Stir well before serving and toss with Parmesan cheese.

I mostly made this to use up the last of our pepperoni, and I thought the kids would like it. They like pasta, cheese, olives, they love those little pepperonis, and (Savannah at least) like tomatoes and peppers. Turns out, I loved it as well! I picked around the bell peppers and olives, Sawyer picked around everything, but it was a hit with Ryan and Savannah. We steamed some brocolli to go with it, as well as some slices of french bread. What a great summer meal to keep in mind!!

one pot meals

I have a few new recipes we've tried lately that we were impressed with and I need to get caught up and get them written down here.
I'm always looking these days for recipes to help me use up random odds and ends from my produce co-op, and have found a few to be especially yummy (and easy!). I linked to them previously, but have learned from past experience that links sometimes go away... I think I can always go back to that recipe, wherever I found it, but one day -poof- I find it's gone! So I'm transposing them here for future reference and safe(r)-keeping.

Here are just a couple:

Garlic Potatoes and Ham

• 8 small red potatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, partially thawed
• 1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
• 1 (1 ounce) package herb and garlic soup mix*

In a large skillet, cook potatoes in oil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in broccoli, ham and dry soup mix. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

*Lipton has a great mix called Recipe Secrets Savory Herb with Garlic soup mix, which is what this recipe was written for. I simply used what I had on hand- regular Onion Soup mix- and it was still yummy. I am going to keep my eye out for the herb and garlic one though...

The kids ate this one, veggies and all!

Teriyaki Pork and Sweet Potatoes

2 md Sweet potatoes, peeled, cut
- in 3/4-inch cubes (3 cups) 1 T Oil
1 lb Boneless pork loin, cut in
- 3/4-inch cubes (3 cups) 2 c Green beans or peas
1/2 c Bottled Teriyaki glaze
1 t Grated orange peel

1. In large skillet, combine sweet potatoes and 1/2 c water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and remove
potatoes from skillet; cover to keep warm.
2. Wipe skillet with paper towels. Heat oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork; cook and stir until browned.
3. Add green beans or peas and teriyaki glaze; mix well. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until pork is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in potatoes and orange peel; cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.



Beef Stroganoff

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 pound of top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips
• 1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 cup of sour cream at room temperature

1 Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.

2 In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.

3 In the same pan, melt another 3 Tbsp of butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the tarragon on the mushrooms.

4 Reduce the heat to low and add the sour cream to the mushrooms. You may want to add a tablespoon or two of water to thin the sauce (or not). Mix in the sour cream thoroughly. Do not let it come to a simmer or boil or the sour cream will curdle. Stir in the beef and shallots. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately over egg noodles, fettucine, potatoes, or rice. (Potatoes, rice, and wheat-free pasta are wheat-free options.)

Serves 4.

This one was reeeeally good. I love a good stroganoff and this is a great one. The kids didn't go for it, but Ryan and I fought over the leftovers...

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I don't know what this soup kick is that I'm on... if you were to ask me I don't even really like soup.
I do think I like it more when I make it from scratch though... YUM!

Here's another good one. I originally had low hopes for this one. I am not a fan of cauliflower. I only made it because my neighbor recommended the recipe and we had two heads of cauliflower from our produce co-op. I wasn't planning on eating those two heads of cauliflower myself, so why not give it a whirl.
Well, it shocked me, but it turns out I like cauliflower soup! This version anyway. It's really got great flavor and it was super simple to make:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup
(from Epicurious)

2 heads cauliflower
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut cauliflower into 1-inch flowerets (about 10 cups). In a large baking pan toss cauliflower, garlic, and shallots with oil to coat and roast in middle of oven about 30 minutes, or until golden.

In a 4-quart kettle simmer broth, water, roasted cauliflower mixture, and herbs 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is very tender. Discard bay leaf and in a blender puree soup in batches until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), transferring to a bowl. Return soup to kettle and stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste. Heat soup over moderate heat until just heated through.

*****

I didn't have shallots, so I used some red onion instead. I wasn't entirely sure from the recipe how to roast the veggies, so after cutting the cauliflower, I just chunked up the onion real big and left the garlic cloves whole and tossed it all on the pan. Also, I roasted them longer than 30 minutes, as per reviews on the recipe... I think I did 45min+... they were quite blackened. I also skipped adding the water and used Half&Half instead of the heavy cream, and only just over 1 cup instead of 2. It was plenty creamy even that way.

Ryan and I were both really impressed with this soup. Savannah tried a decent amount too. She actually said it was too sweet. (?!)
We served it with cornbread and veggies and dip. We're thinking next time (and I do foresee making this again... Not sure if I'd buy cauliflower just for it, but next time we get a head or two from our co-op, I'm looking forward to this soup!) we'd try adding some sausage or cubed ham or something meatier to the soup to make it more of a filling main course.

Mmmm... fried food

I made an awesome impromptu dinner last night, if I do say so myself. We were off on our "menu plan" and I had nothing prepared or in mind. We did however, have an old(er) single piece of steak in the freezer and a ton of giant onions sitting in the pantry. Onions that are just begging to be made into onion rings. So I searched the internet for some good ideas and a great onion ring recipe. Boy did I luck out and find a great one!

First I thawed the steak, cubed it up and coated them to make steak "bites".
Here's how:
I mixed up 1 egg and a quarter cup of milk in a small bowl and let the steak bites soak for a mintue while I combined 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp of steak seasoning, some extra garlic powder and a little bit of cayenne in a gallon ziplock bag. I took the steak from the egg dip and put the pieces in the bag, sealed it up and shook to coat them all. Ryan fried them in the deep fryer. You can of course, just fry these in oil on the stove. The FryDaddy is sooo easy though! I think they fried for about 5 minutes in two batches.

Meanwhile, I went to work on the onion rings. I used this recipe and here's my low fuss process...
Put the 1 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt into a ziplock bag. I made nice big thick slices from our giant onion and threw them in the bag to coat. Then you fished them out and put them aside on a plate while you add 1 egg and 1 cup of milk to the ziplock bag. Seal it up and mash it all around good, mixing the milk/egg and flour mixture till it's a smooth batter. Then put the onions back in and work around with your hands to coat. Remove the onion rings and place on a rack over the sink or a baking pan and let the excess batter drip off of the rings. Put about a cup of breadcrumbs (I only had italian seasoned breadcrumbs handy) in a shallow dish and when the onion rings have stopped dripping, place them one at a time in the bread crumbs to coat. Then fry 'em up, just about a minute and a half on each side.

These are sooo good. Very simple flavor, but they are really so good! I might play around with it a bit next time because I have a Garlic Parmesan seasoning I thought may be really good with these, but honestly they are perfectly good on their own. I'm excited for this summer, because I'm predicting these will be a huge hit at our barbeques this summer.
I'm thinking I can make up a good batch somewhat ahead of time, have them battered and coated and ready to just have Ryan man the fryer when we're ready to eat!

Anyway, we enjoyed these steak bites, fabulous onion rings and a great big salad last night for dinner. Sawyer scarfed down the onion rings; I think he probably had close to a dozen rings! He loved 'em! I did too. I had to make myself stop. Luckily I only made one onion. Mind you, it was a HUGE onion, but at least the pile didn't go on and on like it could have, had I sliced up another. Try them!

Chicken Pot Pie

Kim directed me to this recipe last week, and her timing couldn't have been better as I had lost my favorite Chicken Pot Pie Recipe somewhere in all this moving over the past year. I'd been craving a good homemade Pot Pie lately, but dreaded tracking down a recipe that probably wouldn't live up to my expectations. Yes, my Pot Pie of the past was that good.
Well, I finally threw this one together last night and I have to say I was quite impressed. It was actually much easier than my original recipe and, if my memory serves me right, just as delicious!
Thanks Kim!

Here's the link to the recipe.
The only alteration I made was to add a cubed potato.
I think I'll be making this next month when my parents are here, and then I'll try it with broccoli or other veggies since my mom is not a pea fan.

Deception is not always so delicious... or easy.

So, as I like to do, I did a little menu rearranging during the week.
Last Friday I was feeling a bit lazy and made the executive decision to have Ryan grill up some sirloin burgers instead of making up the meatloaf. We had buns to use up and all the fixin's, so burgers it was.
Then, this didn't really make sense with my feeling lazy but I thought I'd give one of my new Deceptively Delicious recipes a whirl. I'd been eyeing these Rice Balls because they reminded me of some fried potato puffs I'd loved before. I had been curious to try them and thought they might be a nice side to the burgers, so I dove in. I'll skip the sordid details, but after much mess, I ended up with some great Mush balls. I followed the recipe, but I had a hard time dipping and coating the balls as the rice/potato mixture was not thick enough to hold together well. I made probably a dozen and then quit as my patience was wearing quite thin. They were actually quite tasty (the kids woudn't eat them of course), but they were just not holding up and turned into a pile of mush on our plates. Tasty, but too much hassle for the turn out.

This brings our recipe trials from this book to an overall 2 thumbs up, but 3 thumbs down:

Rice Balls- yummy, but yucky... I would have been just as happy eating the chicken/rice/potato mixture straight from the bowl.

Grilled Cheese- with sweet potatoes. This was tested on four adults and three kids... no one liked it. Savannah normally wolfs down grilled cheese and she didn't even eat 1/4 of her sandwich.

Pink Pancakes- made with beets... 1st of all I will never puree beets again. GROSS! The baking, the smell, the staining, just GROSS! And after all that work, I'm the only one who liked them. Ryan said he was getting beets in the aftertaste. I thought for sure they'd be a hit with SJ (hot pink pancakes!!), but she didn't finish one and requested regular brown pancakes.

French Toast- made with sweet potatoes. We all liked it.

Applesauce Muffins- these were really good, but really just like any other healthy muffin recipe. And they lost their quality fast... the next day I didn't really like them.

I'll keep trying some of these (easier) recipes. I have to admit it's frustrating to put the work into cooking and pureeing veggies that turn into recipes you don't care for. Some veggies are nice and easy like sweet potatoes and pumpkin and other squash, but dark messy things like beets and spinach are more of a hassle.
I also have the other book The Sneaky Chef published with the same premise of "sneaking" extra vitamins and nutrients into foods you know that your family will eat. I have yet to try any of her recipes, but from the looks of this book I like how there's more focus on the nutrition and the value of the ingredients you're putting into your dishes. She also has a lot of little simple ideas to give convenience foods a little kick of goodness to them... like adding sweet potato puree to a can of spaghettios (I tried this and successfully added over 1/2 cup of puree to a can of spaghettios and the kids wolfed it down! it made no difference to the color or texture) or using green tea or blueberry juice or pomegranate juice to things like jello or oatmeal instead of plain water for a boost of vitamins and nutrients. This author also has a big push for the fact of not just sneaking things into your kids food, and then forget about them learning to like to eat real veggies. She makes a point of saying that by using recipes like these, that you may be able to avoid some of these mealtime battles... you don't have to force them to eat their peas when you know there's spinach in their chicken nuggets and you know they're getting at least a bit of those nutrients. But that you also most definitely still need to be offering those vegetables and encouraging them to form those good habits of healthy eating and rounded meals. I'm definitely looking forward to experimenting with more of these recipes.

Any other experiences with recipes or ideas like these that you have to share?

New Years Day Dinner

Each year we have a big New Years Day Dinner Celebration with as many friends as we can gather. Also each year we try to create a menu of lucky foods full of good wishes for our friends for the coming year. There are many traditional and symbolic foods to celebrate the fresh start of a new year!

Here’s to a very Happy New Year… or at the very least a happy belly!
Our Menu this year:

Shrimp Martinis
(original recipe here, we just hang plain shrimp around the rim of a martini glass filled with cocktail sauce)
seafood stands for good luck and shrimp specifically signify long life and a year filled with laughter

Vegetables with Arugula Broth
(recipe here)
green foods like arugula and spinach mark growth and wealth
Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries for a simple reason — their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune. It's widely believed that the more greens one eats the larger one's fortune next year.

Grilled Pork Chops with Creamy Mashed Potatoes
(recipe here and I did these amazingly delicious make ahead potatoes found here)
pork is considered good luck and symbolizes progress or "moving forward" since the animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. Also, traditionally, a family that owned a pig would be eating "high on the hog" for the whole year; thanks to its rich fat content, it signifies wealth and prosperity.

Honey Sweet Peas
Cornbread
the saying in the south goes "peas for pennies, greens for dollars, cornbread for gold"

*Sweets in general symbolize a “sweet year” and plenty of good fortune
Here are the desserts and extra wishes we had on our table*

Champaign Shooters
Champaign (just to celebrate!) poured over Lime sorbet which symbolizes a prosperous new beginning

Gingersnaps
(recipe here)
ginger reprsents a sharp mind and intelligence and cookies mean sweetness of nature and a good disposition

Chocolate Eclair Cake
(recipe here)
pudding is symbolic of the sweetness of life

Orange, Peanut and Red Candy Plates
oranges represent gold and wealth, peanuts are for the hope and luck for the birth of children in the coming year, and red candies traditionally stand for good health and good luck.

Fall soups

Now that the weather has finally turned fall, I'm in the soup mood!!

I made Swistle's Autumnal Soup last week and have been enjoying it ever since. It's a vegetable soup and it was really simple (no cutting!!) and really yummy. Of course, as with most soups, better reheated the next day.
Swistle's Autumnal Soup

• 1 pound or so of ground beef or ground turkey (I use ground turkey, which at our store comes in 1.3 pound packages, and I use the whole package)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Contadina)
• 15 oz can tomato sauce (I like Contadina)
• 4 c. water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 16 oz package frozen mixed vegetables (I like Birdseye classic blend: carrots, beans, peas, corn)
• 8 oz frozen broccoli (I like to thaw it a little and then snip it with kitchen scissors into smaller pieces)
• 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix
• 2 t. salt (or to taste--I love love love salt so maybe start with less than I use)
• 1 t. crushed red pepper (optional, for spicier soup)

Swistle says, "Fry up the ground meat and drain off as much grease as you can. Put the meat into a big pan--at least 6 quart or you'll be a sorry, sorry cook later on. Add everything else and stir it. Heat to boiling, then reduce it to a simmer and cover it. Let it simmer for half an hour, stirring it occasionally if you feel like it. It's okay to eat right away, but I think it's better reheated the next day.

Delicious accompaniment: garlic toast.

One thing I like about this recipe is that it's flexible. You don't have to use broccoli and classic-blend vegetables, you can instead use up the little half packages of vegetables nobody liked as side dishes, or fresh vegetables that are in danger of going bad in the fridge, or a bag of Italian blend vegetables if you're feeling really wild and crazy. One summer William grew some green bean vines but didn't want to eat the green beans, so I snipped some up into my soup every time I made it. Oooh, and lima beans are good.

It freezes GREAT.

Incidentally, if you do Weight Watchers Core Plan, this soup is a freebie. Well, unless you get all tight about how many grains of that 1 tsp. of sugar are in each portion."

Next up, is a soup I have yet to make this fall, but LOVE IT!

Curried Butternut Soup
You can make this rich soup with any kind of squash, or even sweet potatoes.

• 8 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash (about 2lbs)
• Cooking spray
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cups chopped peeled Granny Smith apple
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 (14oz) cans chicken broth
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400*
Arrange squash in single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 45 min or until tender.
Melt butter in a dutch over over medium-high heat. Add apple, onion, celery, and bay leaf; saute 10 minutes. Stir in curry powder and garlic; cook 1 minute stirring contantly. Add squash, broth, ad salt; stir well.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Partially mash mixture with a potato masher until thick and chunky; stir well. Top each serving with cheese.


And another recipe I picked up last winter that we love around here,
Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 1lb shredded cooked chicken
• 1 15oz can tomatoes
• 1 10oz can enchilada sauce
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 4oz can chopped green chili peppers
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 cups water
• 1 15oz can chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 10oz package frozen corn

Put all ingredients in crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. (or high 3-4 hrs)
For serving:

• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• broken tortilla chips
• limes cut into 8ths
• shredded cheese
• sour cream

Add ingredients to top each serving.

weekend recap

Okay, I just have to say that the Tomato and Asparagus Pie?? It's my new most favorite vegetable dish ever! I could live on this the rest of the summer!! It's even good leftover and cold! Here's the recipe:

Tomato and Asparagus Pie
1lb bundle of fresh asparagus
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 9" baked pie shell (I used the frozen shells; just thaw and pre-bake according to directions on package)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Trim asparagus and roast (in a single layer on cookie sheet drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper, 500 degree oven) for 10-12 min.
Let cool slightly and cut into 1 inch pieces.
Turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Melt butter in small saute pan and cook onion until translucent.
Layer in pie shell; half the tomato slices, half the asparagus, onions, the remaining tomatoes, and remaining asparagus.
In small bowl, combine mayo, cheese and garlic salt.
Spread thin layer of mayonnaise mixture evenly over the top of the vegetables.
Bake at 325* for 30 minutes.

I was lazy and in a hurry, and we're not big onion fans, so I left out the onions but sprinkled just a bit of onion powder over the veggies for the flavor.
Mmmm... my mouth is watering just typing this up.
Of course the kids wouldn't eat it... I just saved out some bits of asparagus for them to eat. We loved it though! It's a great summertime side dish, and if you have fresh garden tomatoes, it would be even yummier!! Give it a try.

Oh yeah, and the Grilled Chicken marinade we had with the pie was great also. And we had a couple of perfect grilled steaks last night. Ahhh.. the foods of summer!