Creamy Asparagus Soup

As we quickly approach my husband's surgery date, I'm working hard to keep this soup business exciting and delicious. This has been tough with the kids, who, although they LOVE soup, prefer thick, creamy soups. My attempt at cream of mushroom was ridiculously delicious. As in, go back and scrape the bottom of the pot for another bite. It tasted like buttery mushroom gravy soup. I kid you not! The only down side of this surprisingly gourmet soup was that my oldest son wanted nothing to do with it. He calmy sipped at the broth, while ignoring the mushrooms and meat I'd included. In retrospect I really should have blended the soup. I think the consistency would have been very pleasing and a little more like the canned soup I'm so fond of. I made a variation of this Broccoli and Three Cheese soup the other day and blended everything at the end. That soup was a huge hit! Going on the theory that creamy blended soups are easy favourites for my kids, our recipe for today is a creamy asparagus soup.

2 bunches of asparagus
8 medium potatoes
Bacon (I used bacon ends from the butcher, but you could use 8 rashers of cooked bacon, cut up)
4 cups soup stock or  broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cream (optional)

This recipe is ridiculously easy! First up I fried up my bacon ends and when they were cooked on all sides I tossed then in my crockpot with the pan drippings. Then I trimmed the ends of the asparagus and tossed off the stalky ends and then cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces. I then peeled and diced the potatoes. After all that was in I mixed it around with my hands to make sure it was all even distributed in the pot. I added my salt and pepper and then poured the stock on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. At the end you can add a cup of cream or milk to add a milky flavour, but I feel that that's not necessary. The creaminess of the soup really derives from the potatoes. When you're all done either (really really carefully!) use an immersion blender and mix it up, or do it in the small batches in your regular blender. This would taste perfect with some grated old cheddar sprinkled on top.

Home made Cream of Mushroom Soup

Today my husband had his pre-op appointment for his surgery on July the 3rd. Because of his gastroparesis (aka paralysis of the stomach that means he can't digest food pretty much at all), the anaesthesiologist is concerned there may still be food left in his stomach on surgery day. They plan on giving him a general anaesthetic, which is dangerous if the person has any food in the stomach as they could aspirate it and silently choke to death. Cue my freaking out, wringing my hands, and general distress. On the advice of the staff at the hospital, we've evolved a plan to help him get adequate nutrition without having to live off drink supplements. It involves soup. Lots of soups. Delicious, home made soup. I've got a fairly good arsenal of soups at hand, but wanted to try something new. This afternoon I threw together this soup from scratch, based partially off a mushroom recipe that I fell in love with last week. Here's the run down:

1 container of fresh mushrooms (I used cremini because they're so creamy)
2 cups stock/broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)
2 cups milk or heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn starch
Spices to taste (sage is nice as its earthiness pairs well with the mushrooms. I like basil as it adds a touch of sweetness)

This is so easy it's ridiculous. Melt your butter in a stock pot and then fry your mushroom up with some salt and pepper. Once the mushrooms are golden brown add in stock. In a separate container mix in one cup of milk with the corn starch and shake until the corn starch is completely absorbed. Stir that and the remaining milk into your pot. Take a taste of your soup to get a sense of how the spices are. Turn temperature down to medium low and let simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring every so often. When done, serve with some crusty bread. If you want you can also add in some bacon or ground meat to add extra protein to this meal.

Baby Led Weaning Fun Times

We do baby led weaning, which is a fancy way of saying I hate buying, making and serving my kids purees. If you do purees, that's totally fine by me. In my experience, I've found them messy, yucky smelling, and simply not the best way to introduce my kids to flavour, texture, and a variety of food. In doing baby led weaning I still try to follow all the basic rules about what order to introduce news foods, except I get the distinct joy of skipping cereals. If my kid is digging sweet potato, there's not need to feed her iron enriched powdered cereals. Don't get me wrong, she's had some of my oatmeal. Mostly because she's a sneak thief and managed to put her whole hand in my bowl. It can be tough trying to eat food with a baby sitting on your lap.

All of this lead up is really just a means for me to tell you how cool of a Mom I am, as I just gave my 8 month old baby a grilled cheese sandwich. Before you give me some crazy sideways eyes (which you may anyway), I make my sandwiches in a little pocket sandwich maker which basically toasts the bread while heating the inside. No butter required. I stuffed two solid cheese slices (not processed, although I'm not above that) between a couple of pieces of fibre rich white bread and toasted it just long enough to melt the cheese. I had half and she had half. No word of a lie, she loved it. 10 minutes later she has completely demolished her two quarters of the sandwich and is begging for some of mine. Today, Mommy is a hero.

I would seriously do baby led weaning with every baby we ever have (4 and counting have been successfully fed with this method) just so that I could see their chubby hands pulling at the unexpected trail of cheese, stuffing every last cheesy bite in their little mouths. I think the only food victory I've enjoyed as much was the first time baby girl ate bacon. I think my next plateau of  food-related parenting bliss will probably be when I make her a bacon and grilled cheese sandwich. It's about the little things, folks.

The Lord's My Shepherd

Recently you may have noticed our family is on a home made kick. Baby girl is 6 months old now, and I'm back to my characteristic level of energy and enthusiasm. We've been spending more at our local farmer's market than at the grocery store, which is a good sign that I've been doing more from scratch. With the exception of one loaf this week, I've made all our bread, pizza dough, and rolls entirely from scratch. Today, with the help of the three big kids (if you can call a 22 month old, a 3 year old and a 4 year old big), we made some beef stock from scratch. With the exception of a little bit of rice or pasta here and there, everything is made fresh from food we're picking up at the market. I don't want any of the busy and harried folks out there to think that I'm badgering you about it, or that I think you absolutely have to do it. First of all, it's not my business what you all do in your kitchens. It's a lot of work, it takes a lot of planning, and really forces a change of diet pretty much immediately if you go all in.

I'm not bragging, trust me. My dedication to our new meal plan really would have waivered and probably failed by now if it weren't for a few circumstances that have forced me to dig in my heels and make it work. First of all, we've gradually emptied our pantry and freezer of processed or ready-to-make foods. It's hard to reach for frozen pizza when there isn't one. With 4 kids and 2 adults, it's not exactly cheap to hit the fast food chains either. With that, I'm left with whatever is fresh that we bought. It's forcing me to follow my meal plan and I must admit I love not having to think about what's on the menu. There's no last minute running to the store for a missing ingredient, which is another bonus. Secondly, baby girl has started on solids, and I absolutely refuse to use bottled or packaged foods for her. Ignoring all the recalls on that stuff lately, I can't get behind all the added preservatives and things. What's wrong with a few sweet potatoes and an ice cube tray?

The biggest reason we haven't been stocking up on frozen pizza, canned goods, and questionable grocery store meats, stems from recent instructions from the dietition trying to help my husband through his stomach issues. He's a type 1 diabetic and has recently been blighted by paralysis of the stomach. It's not a highly common complication, but once the doctor's figured it out, it was like the puzzle pieces of the past 6 or 7 years fell into place. When I met my husband he wasn't well, and was having problems understanding random low and high blood sugars unrelated to meal times. It turns out his stomach has been holding food, and most of the time only allowing it into his intestinal track as much as a week later, which was causing random jumps in his blood sugar. He's been losing weight lately and in terrible pain. Luckily, the doctors have been able to prescribe him a cocktail of drugs that are working together to make his stomach contract so that it can empty. The medications are only one side of his treatment. The other side, the side that is the long lasting treatment, is a drastic change in diet. First on the list was to eat smaller, more nutritious quantities of protein. The second was to reduce the quantity of fiber he was ingesting (these days even most white bread is fortified to have higher fiber content, thus our homemade variety is safer). He also has to stay away from anything with a high fat content. They also suggested he eat more soft cooked veggies, particularly in the blended form in soups, and to avoid processed foods whenever possible. I could be wrong, but to me that sounds a lot like the meal plan my husband and I worked on together. With baby girl well on her way with solids, a lot of these foods were on our list for her too.

Once again I sit in the face of what should have been a sudden and scary situation that would have changed our lives drastically in a matter or days, but instead of fear I'm left with the deep convictions of God's providence. God has once again led us, so gently, so slowly, to exactly where we needed to be, having armed us with the knowledge we need to do what's right. When we first got the phone call about this major dietary change we were scared and upset, but as the days went on we realised we were already there. If I needed any more proof of God's abiding love and faithfulness to us in a time when all else is falling apart, here it is. In every hour, I find God holding me, carrying me through the rough times.

For our wedding mass, we chose the psalm "The Lord's My Shepherd". I feel like we have made that psalm the motto of our marriage. Thank you, God, for leading us gently, and for loving us in times of fear and struggle. Perhaps instead of 40 days and nights in the desert, God is choosing 40 days and night of rain for our lives. Either way I know at the end God's promise stands firm, as a rainbow in the sky and the Cross on a hill faraway.

I will trust in you alone. I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me. Your goodness will lead me home.

Crockpot Leek and Potato Soup

This should be the last in the series of recipes for our 3 week meal plan. I wanted to wait until I made it to put up the recipe. As it turns out I ended up making it up as I went along so the quantities are something you can play with. The soup was creamy, rich, and had layers of flavour!

5 or 6 bacon ends (or as many rashers of bacon cooked and cut up)
4 leeks (cleaned and loosely chopped)
10 potatoes (chopped in cubes)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6-7 cups broth
1 can coconut milk
Pepper to taste

Sear your bacon ends in a pan then put them in your crockpot. Add your leeks, potatoes, garlic and pepper to the pot. Add enough stock to just cover your ingredients and cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Your potatoes will be fork tender when it's done. Puree in batches in your blender and then return it all to your crockpot. Whisk in your coconut milk and serve!

Mixed Veggie Egg Drop Soup

When baby girl was born hubby and I practically lived off soup. I would pop the ingredients in the crockpot and know we had a good nutritious meal waiting. Again, this one isn't so much as recipe as a guideline with a few suggestions.

Chop up whatever veggies are in season and fill up your crockpot about 3/4 of the way full. Add any spices you want or if you like, some pre-cooked sausage or bacon. If you want to have a starch, potatoes can go in now but things like rice or pasta will need to be in the last hour of cooking as they expand too much with extensive slow cooking. Fill up your crockpot with the stock of your choice, leaving about an inch at the top so the soup can bubble away. Cook on low for 8 hours. For the second day you can add a little more stock and cook it again for another 4-6 hours.

For the egg drop part of this soup to work it needs to be absolutely piping hot. If it's not, transfer 4 cups of broth from your crock to a pot on your stove top and bring that to a boil. Once it's bubbling away carefully stir in however many eggs you like (I'd go for 4 or even 6 for a meal to last two days). Make sure to break the yolks and lets it all spread about. Your eggs will cook right into the broth. If you've cooked them on the stovetop transfer it back into your crockpot and stir it in so it's evenly distributed. You'll notice the egg adds a really unique and delicious flavour to your soup while adding a kick of protein.

Sausage Meatballs

This isn't really a recipe, more like cooking instructions! The butcher's wife clued me into this amazing meal idea after I bemoaned the fact that I had ruined the handmade sausages I bought from Getaway Meat Mongers the previous week. Because these pre-spiced sausages are hand cased, they're so easy to use in a lot of different ways. All you have to do is gently squeeze and the sausage meat comes right out. At that point you can either shape them into patties and pan fry them, or, as I prefer, form them into several small meat balls. As I recall I got an easy five out of each sausage which was a great because it felt like less went further with each of us getting several. Portion control is in the eyes, as they say. Once I'd formed my wee army of meatballs I put them on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet and baked them at 350F for about 15-20 minutes. The best way to check them is to make a victim of one of the meatballs and cut it in half to make sure it's cooked all the way through.

Once you've made your meatballs you can serve them on top of pasta with sauce, or with simple sides of veggies and potatoes, rice or even quinoa.

Dijon Spice Pork Tenderloin

This meal is a splurge so when we have it we really love it and savour it. For such a complex tasting dish it's surprisingly easy to prepare. In medium skillet roast 2 tablespoons each whole peppercorns and cumin. You'll know it's ready when the smell of the spices really hits you. Put them on a cutting board and crush them all with the back of your pan. When that's done cover your pork tenderloin with dijon mustard and then roll it in your crushed spices.

Place your fully coated tenderloin on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400F 25 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you pierce it with a fork. Before you pick this delightful little roast up with your bare hands and eat it like a caveman make sure you let it sit for 5 minutes. By doing this you'll let the juices and flavours distribute evenly through the whole tenderloin. Slice into little tranches of meat and serve with seasonal veggies and buttered potatoes.

Shepherd's Pie

I really love Shepherd's Pie. In my opinion it is the King of the Casseroles. It has everything you want: meat, veggies and starch, all in one place with a delightful gravy tying it all together. You can use any ground meat you want, and pretty much any variety of vegetables. You can top it with any kind of potato you want (wowza it's amazing with sweet potato). It's a great way to get a lot of nutrition in one easy place!

1-2lbs ground meat (beef, lamb, chicken, pork, turkey, whatever floats your boat)
1 cup stock (again, whatever kind you like)
Chopped veggies enough to fill your casserole dish
6 cooked and mashed potatoes
Grated cheese (optional)

Brown your meat in a saucepan. Add a slurry of flour and stock to build up a gravy right there in your pan. Put your meat and gravy in an rectangular oven-safe dish. Stir in your chopped up vegetables so they get nice and coated in the gravy too. Top with mashed potatoes and cheese (if desired). Cover with tin foil and bake at 400F for about 40 minutes or until it's warm all the way through. For the kids I like to take their serving and stir it up so they can't get picky and just eat the potatoes or something!

Perfect Pancakes

On the theme of breakfast for supper comes a recipe that's now being enjoyed by the fourth generation of my husband's family. This recipe was passed down from my husband's maternal grandfather, to hubby's father, and now to me. I love this recipe as it's a snap to make and tolerates a lot of variations! My favourite is to add grated cheese (savoury pancakes!), but I also enjoy apple cinnamon nutmeg, blueberry, strawberry and chocolate chips. Let's be fair, you can put whatever you want in this sturdy yet fluffy batter! Each batch makes between 6-8 pancakes, so double as needed. We also try to make a bigger batch so we can have leftovers for the morning. You can either microwave them or, even better, pop them in your toaster!

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg (beaten)
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoon salad oil

Sift together all your dry ingredients in one bowl including any spices you want to add. In a separate bowl combine your wet ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until all the flour is moistened. It should look a little lumpy. If you over stir your batter won't be as fluffy when cooked. At this point you can add any other ingredients like fruits, cheese or chocolate. Fry them up on an ungreased pan or griddle. You'll know it's time to turn them when the batter starts bubbling on top. Also, a great tip I learned from baby girl's Godfather: Don't press down on the pancakes after you've turned them. If you push out all that air they won't be so light and fluffy.

French Toast

We're big fans of breakfast for supper in our family. It's a nice way to get a break from heavy meals and a great treat for the kids. We try to do it at least once a week. A real family favourite is French Toast, which I grew up topping with confectioner's sugar, maple syrup, table syrup, molasses, jam or even fresh fruit and whipped cream. I'm drooling just thinking about it. To make this recipe you need some bread. You can use any bread you like, but I love either Homemade White Bread or even better, my Mom's Molasses Brown Bread. I like my bread cut a little thicker because then it doesn't fall apart in the batter! We have an electric frying pan but you can do it in a regular stove-top frying pan. All you'll need to do is soak each piece of bread in the batter, making sure both sides are drenched, then fry both sides in the pan over medium heat until they're golden brown. Here's the recipe for the batter:

Beat 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, and 1 tsp sugar together. I know. Crazy how easy this is! I think I'll have to make this tonight!

Pizza

Pizza is an easy staple in our family. We do everything from the big round pizza, to muffin cups filled with dough then topped, to personal sized pizzas to calzones. For any one of these variations, you need a good, classic dough! This is my Mom's recipe for pizza dough with yeast. When I'm making my pizza in muffin cups I actually prefer a Yeast Free Pizza Dough that won't rise too much and can be pressed into the muffin cups. My recipe makes enough for 2 medium pizzas, which is great if you're planning on making enough for two nights. For those of you shaking your heads at all the waiting for the dough to rise, I usually do all my preparation for the toppings while the dough is rising so it actually works out nicely and you can have light, fluffy dough that's easy for kids and adults to eat.

Let stand for 10 minutes:
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry active yeast

Sift in large bowl:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Pour yeast mixture into your flour mixture. Add 1/3 cup lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix into a rough ball and then knead it on an oiled board for about 15 minutes (work those biceps!). Your dough should be nice and smooth, if not a little sticky from the oil. Let your kneaded dough rise in a covered bowl until it has doubled in size. (Here's your chance to get chopping on those veggies or pan-frying some bacon!) About now you should start your oven to preheat to 400F. Cut the risen dough in two and roll them out to fit in your pans. Let rise a little more in your pans. Bake just your dough in the pan for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the dough to set nicely without fully cooking it. (This will give you a sense of where air pockets will form too. I usually flatten them down so I can get my ingredients on evenly.) Top it however you like and bake for 10-15 minutes. Your crust should be a beautiful golden brown.

For calzones you'll want to roll them out into roughly the size you want, then fill on one side and fold over in half. Cut 2 or 3 slits on the top and cook on an oiled pan for 15-20 minutes or until your dough is golden and lovely.

Lastly for the muffin cups. I put some cooking spray over the whole pan (because it will bubble up) and then I press the yeast free dough firmly into the muffin cups and fill right into them. After that I simply fill them and cook them for 15-20 minutes until the crust gets lightly browned. These are a big hit with the kids! They just pick them up to eat them!

For those of you who are trying to dump canned goods out of your life, I have a nice alternative! I cut 2 tomatoes up into quarters and drop them in my blender with some spices (like basil, garlic and onion powder) and a little olive oil and blend it until it's just smooth enough. With pizza, less is more when it comes to sauce so whatever you don't use can go in the fridge for another meal. I use this same sauce over pasta took with some hand torn spinach thrown in. I hope you enjoy this meal!

3 Week Meal Plan

There's been a lot of buzz about the 100 mile diet lately and our family has decided to do our own version of it wherever possible. With that in mind, we've developped a 3 week rotating meal plan for supper based on the local produce that's available this time of year. We will be changing our meal plan in spring and summer based on what's available then. We also hope to sign up for CSA starting in April and working around our weekly food boxes. For now, here's the bare bones of our plan. I will be elaborating with recipes and adding basic pricing as I can.

A basic element of our meal plan involves making most meals to last two nights. This is financially a lot cheaper than creating 7 unique meals. More importantly, I can make a more elaborate meal with a view that I won't have to cook the next night. Our meal plan is 3 weeks instead of 4 because we liked the idea of more rotation so that the first Monday of every month or whatnot isn't always the same thing.

Week 1

Monday & Tuesday: Stir fry (1lb pork or beef stir fry pieces, veggies in season, rice, soya sauce)

Wednesday & Thursday: Butternut Squash Soup

Friday & Saturday: Pizza (homemade pizza dough, hot house tomatoes, veggies in season, bacon and/or sausage)

Sunday: Bacon & eggs with toast (made out of Homemade Molasses Brown Bread)

Week 2

Monday & Tuesday: Beef Stew

Wednesday: French Toast (eggs, milk, sugar and Homemade Molasses Brown Bread)

Thursday & Friday: Shepherd's Pie(1lb-2lbs ground beef, pork or lamb, veggies in season, mashed potatoes on top, and gravy make from homemade beef broth)

Saturday & Sunday: Crockpot Leek and Potato Soup

Week 3

Monday: Pancakes (flour, eggs, milk, oil, sugar)

Tuesday & Wednesday: Sausage Meatballs (8 uncased sausages with seasonal veggies and potatoes)

Thursday: Muffin Pan leftovers (pizza dough pressed into 12 cup muffin pan with leftover meatballs spooned in, covered with sauces and topped with cheese and baked for 15-20 minutes at 400F)

Friday & Saturday: Mixed Veggie Egg Drop Soup

Sunday: Dijon Spice Pork Tenderloin with seasonal veggies and potatoes


That's the plan for now!