Kale Soup for Any Soul

Ok I've never read ANY of the Chicken Soup books for any of the various souls it was directed towards...what I have had is kale soup and I promise this will be good for your body and soul.

Back before I started blogging my husband and I developed this recipe.

You see it was developed out of a need to use up some of the vegetables from our CSA (which we had just started to receive).

We had an abundance of kale and neither of knew if we liked it or what to do with it.

We decided the simplest thing to do would be to make soup, so I give you kale soup (and because this was created prior to blogging I do not have step by step pictures).

Your base will be a garlic broth:

6 C vegetable stock (you can substitute water)
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch of sage (to your liking)
pinch of thyme (to your liking)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute your garlic in the olive oil in a pot over low-medium heat (do not cook the garlic so much that it turns brown, it should be golden).  While that is working it's magic boil your stock/water.

Once your stock comes to a boil add it to the garlic.

Stir in your paprika, sage, and thyme.

Bring this to a boil and then allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes (the longer it simmers the more intense the flavor will be).  Then salt and pepper.

For the soup:

Garlic broth
4 medium fresh tomatoes (or about 2 cups canned)
1 bunch kale torn
1 onion diced
1 C shiitake mushrooms chopped
2 carrots peeled and diced

Chop your tomatoes (or empty your cans) into the broth pot and add your kale, onions, carrots, and mushrooms.  For the kale we just tore it into bite size pieces by hand but you are free to make the pieces any size you like.

This will need to be brought to a boil and then allowed to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While the soup is simmering boil your pasta according to the package directions (or you could make your own if you are ambitious).

We added Pasta Prima Portabello Mushroom Ravioli.  These suckers were huge (so we only added a couple to each bowl).

This soup is very versatile and would lend itself to the addition of a number of other vegetables if you have them on hand, make it your own :)  PLUS it freezes very well.

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Isn't it Ironic...don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day.  It's a free line when you've already paid. 

No I'll stop as I am not going to recite Alanic Morissette's "Ironic" for you instead I would like to relay a message of irony.

This past Sunday on the way to church my husband and I had a conversation about food.

We often talk about food, we love it and enjoy just about all aspects of it.

Since watching films such as:  Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John we are quite a bit wiser about food.  We have made a point to learn where our food comes from and how it is treated.

I've become vegetarian since gaining my knowledge and my husband and three children now only consume organic meats and grass fed beef (that is when they eat those items). 

This past Sunday though my husband and I were lamenting that the knowledge we have gained is almost like a burden.  In the past we would have thought nothing about going through a drive through and picking up a biscuit for breakfast. 

Now we can't think about eating fast food, or conventional food for that matter, without feeling ill and guilty.  Having to take time and effort to research restaurants, if we want to go out to eat, or checking all of the ingredients on packages to make sure the dreaded high fructose corn syrup isn't present really takes an effort.

Now please don't stop reading at this point and think I am whining about having to spend extra time to eat healthy.  I gladly spend the time because I care about the food that we eat and I want to ensure, more then anything, that my children aren't filled with chemicals and that they know what various fruits and vegetables actually look like in their natural state (not in French fry form or strawberry milkshake).

Back to my story :)  My husband and I just lamented that ignorance seemed simpler.  On the flipside however we have felt that burning need to share our knowledge of food to educate others...we just haven't really figured out how (other then my blog). 

Now we agree that there is NO WAY we could revert back to the old ways.  Lucky for us a reinforcement, that eating the way we do is the right path, was waiting for us at church.  Steve Tate from Goat Lady Dairy came to speak to the adults of the church during the Sunday school hour. 

Goat Lady Dairy is a local organic farm that produces goat cheese (yeah obvious I know from the name) but they also have a thriving CSA that has 150 participants.  Goat Lady hosts dinners and weddings and at every available opportunity they share the passion for locally grown organic food saying "when you change a person's relationship with their food, you change them, and the world, forever."

Steve is an ordained minister who aptly connects the ideas of caring for the land and animals to leading a Christian life.  His point is why wouldn't you want to let animals express their chickeness (scratching the ground searching for worms) and cowness (eating grass and clover) when we are given the opportunity to express our humaness every day.  Why would you want to eat chicken that has been kept inside, in the dark, for its entire short life and fed a cocktail of drugs to keep it from getting too sick?  The better, more healthy and humane, approach would be to allow the chicken to run free (without stress of being cooped up) and enjoy life until the end has come.  In the end that produces a healthier meat that will more adequately nourish your body.

Steve left us with some pretty heavy information (pun fully intended) that a recent study stated 50% of the adult population of the U.S. would be obese by 2030.  Holy Cow!  That signals to me that we need to do something about our food and our habits.  When you hear a staggering figure like that you should feel compelled to make a lifestyle change.

My husband and I left realizing this was exactly what we needed to hear.  Irony or not we were affirmed in our dedication to eating from farm to fork.

So without sounding too preachy, and I am pretty sure it is too late for that, I leave you with this.  Take an interest in your food.  Find out where you food comes from and respect your body enough to care for it.  Nurture and nourish it as it is truly a gift given to us by a God (or whatever higher power you put your faith in).

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Back to the Grind...with zucchini

Today was the first day all three of my children were at school. 

My children go to a Montessori school and there is a schedule in which they gradually get all of the kids back into school (I think this is to ease the burden on the teachers just as much as the kids). 

So in honor of their getting back to the grind I snapped these photos this morning to capture the joy (or possibly lack there of as witnessed by my 4 year olds face):

From the grind at school to the grind(er) I made this weekend, first a little background to the recipe:

My husband and I are a great team when it comes to deciding what to eat each week.

We make out a menu, and if all goes to plan we stick to it.

The focus of our meals can be found in our weekly bag from our CSA from Faucette Farms.

This week our bag was full of yummies please indulge me a few photos to share the source of inspiration

Supplemented by our own small bounty of tomatoes from our garden

Yes that is a very BRIGHT red!

This week my intention is to show you how I used the CSA to make our meals, which in turn saves us money.

Our first dish was zucchini grinders.  As a mostly non-meat eating family this is a great choice for a hearty meatless sandwich.

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 medium zucchini
2 medium squash
1 C chopped mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper
onion slices
1 baguette
mozzarella cheese

Chop the zucchini, squash, pepper, and mushrooms and added them to a skillet where they can be sauteed with the black beans in Earth Balance until they are tender and browned at the edges.

While the veggies are browning, toast the baguette opened faced in the over (we chose to broil for about 2-3 minutes).

Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese on top of the bread. 

Top your cheese with your veggie mixture (we had leftover veggies from this which in turn were used in tomorrow's delish dish).

Spoon marinara, or Kitchen Sink Sauce, on top of the veggies.  If you are using the Kitchen Sink Sauce you'll need to sprinkle a little seasoning, I recommend Italian, to give the sandwich extra punch.

Followed by another layer of mozzarella cheese.

Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and gooey.

The sandwich is delicious and filling.  It provided 3 servings for us.

I mentioned this week I would be showing you the ways I use my CSA to create meals this week.  I want to do it to show that you can eat healthy (our CSA is organic) and not spend a ton of money.  For $21.00 a week we get our CSA share.

This will be my first attempt to show people that eating healthy and having a healthier lifestyle doesn't have to be expensive.  There are ways to make it work and to make a healthier you in return. 

Stay tuned this week for some delicious veggie recipes and of course a dessert (or maybe two).

Also I will have a giveaway that I am starting on Friday...so be sure to check it out.

If you have questions please send me an e-mail through my "Contact Me" page.  I love to hear from you all!!
 

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Kitchen Sink Sauce

Between the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and our own garden, we have had a surplus of tomatoes.

So this past week when we were plum full of veggies I decided to make tomato sauce.

What better way to get an assortment of vegetables into your children then through tomato sauce (something that can go on anything from spaghetti, "meatball" subs, to stromboli).

I started out with this

I know that looks like A LOT of produce we ended up using:

3 summer squash
2 patty pan squash
2 vidalia onions
3 bell peppers
5 cloves of garlic
6 carrots
1 jalapeno
20-22 tomatoes
1 bag of spinach

It goes without saying, at least in our house, that the produce was all organic.

After I got everything chopped up (no need for pretty pieces as it will all be blended in the end) I began sauteing everything but the spinach and tomatoes.  For me this gives the vegetables another layer of flavor.

Man does that look good in the pan.  The colors are beautiful and the smell was out of this world.  I didn't use any seasonings just a tablespoon or two of olive oil for the pan.

After about 10 minutes everything had a nice brown caramelized color to it.

I added the vegetables, my vast quantity of tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of sugar to a stock pot and simmered on low while covered.

After about 20 minutes, although times can very depending on the stove, my veggies had cooked down enough that I could add my spinach.

I let the veggies simmer some more to wilt the spinach and then I let this tomato perfection cool.

It takes a REALLY long time for this to cool off, for me it was overnight.

The next day I blended everything down and canned it

You will notice that I didn't include any spices (not even pepper or salt).  The reasoning for this is that I prefer to season the sauce based upon the meal I am serving.  For example I may want red pepper flakes in one batch for some "meatball" subs (no real meat for me) but for spaghetti I might just want some pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning.
By leaving it plain you can do a variety of things and allows for lots of experimentation.

I have made this sauce once before and had some different veggies (i.e. zucchini which was missing from this batch). 

I encourage you to put anything in that you think will taste good.  This is a great way to make some super powered sauce.

I will feature this sauce next week in my eggplant parmesan...which I promise will delight and have you never thinking chicken was supposed to be in this dish.

For a great Stonyfield "Summer Pack" check out This Mama Cook's
For a great chance to win $100 gift card for Tea Collection check out Akron Ohion Mom

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CSA Haul and Updated Banana Split

On Friday's we head over to Faucette Farms to pick up our bounty from their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

WHOA!

Yet another wonderful week in which I feel we got TONS of food for the money.

That watermelon is bigger then any I have ever seen before at about 2.5 feet long.

We were lucky to still get some peaches (a recipe with them coming tomorrow!!!) and some apples (a recipe with those the day after tomorrow!!).

My favorite item in our bag were these tomatoes

Those tiny ones in the back are the best snack food.  They are about the size of a blueberry and you can just pop them in your mouth and go.

Speaking of snacks my children LOVE snacks, whole meals not so much, but mention "snack" and they are on board for whatever you are serving...hence my new favorite snack.

Aften dinner last night the kids wanted dessert and my husband mentioned banana splits...but we don't have any type of ice cream.

So to avoid going to the grocery story and spending money we didn't need to spend I decided to feed the kids these...

Cut in half and topped with this...

Nutella!!!

In a sandwich bag I placed a handful of animal crackers and crushed them with a meat mallet

The poor meat mallet hasn't gotten much of a workout since I gave up meat, but it did turn those animal crackers into this

A nice fine crunchy middle for my banana treat.

Put the banana halves back together and serve

My husband preferred to have his topped with peanut butter, animal crackers, and chocolate chips

Both very yummy and healthy alternatives to the traditional banana split.



I didn't blog this weekend, I know "BAD" Rachel, but I did want to share the items that were removed for Operation Declutter My House:

Saturday, Day 5:

Sunday (we decided to go big and to Goodwill), Day 6:

9 coffee mugs (that's alot for two people who don't drink coffee)



model train



bag of clothing and some running shoes that I have always hated

For today I am have removed this toy which provided hours of fun for my boys (Day 7):

My First Leap Pad



I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and come back tomorrow for a delicious and refreshing peach treat.

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Vegan Coleslaw

From my CSA I received a head of cabbage and I thought what better use for the cabbage then...

Coleslaw!

I am very particular about my coleslaw in that the "mayo" (I use Nayonaise) has to be minimal...I cannot stand too much.

And this hit the nail on the head

Ingredients

1 head of cabbage
2/3 C vegan mayo (I used Nasoya Nayonaise)
1/3 C sugar
1 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder

Chop cabbage to desired thickness (for me I prefer to quarted the cabbage and then julienne each quarter)

In a bowl combine all the ingredients (except cabbage)

Once everything is incorporated add cabbage and toss

It is best to refridgerate for a couple of hours before serving

Most people eat coleslaw with their BBQ (which is extremely popular here in North Carolina)

Being an animal loving non-meat eater I chose to have my coleslaw on falafel

YUM!  I am hungry just thinking about this.

The recipe made plenty of coleslaw so I also had it as a side with grilled veggies and more falafel on the following night (sometimes I just crave my falafel)

Just a quick note about Nayonaise from Nasoya. 

Nayonaise is much lighter and smoother then traditional mayo.  It makes a nice and smooth dressing.  If you haven't tried it you will want to.  If my endorsement doesn't do it alone check out the below nutrition information. 

Nutritional information on Nayonaise is:

Where as traditional mayo (this is from Duke's Mayo)

Holy Smokes!  The proof is in the pudding (or mayo)...the vegan option has an astounding edge on helping you maintain a healthier and lower calorie diet.

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Peach Bread

In my kitchen was this

What is this you ask?

Well it is the left over "juice" from a jar of peaches I canned here.

I thought it would be a great shame to just pour this out when SURELY it could have a purpose

The purpose came to me as I gazed on 3 peaches from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that we had not yet consumed.

I thought surely I could make banana bread with peaches and then was born:

Peach Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 C unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
2 peaches pureed
1 peach diced
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 shake nutmeg
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax meal, 3 Tbsp water)
1/4 C oil

I mix my flax egg first (so it can thicken) and then I combine all the other ingredients (the least amount of dishes to do afterwards the better).

Add the flax egg and mix it to incorporate

Pour into a greased loaf pan

Bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees and out pops this

While it was still warm I brushed the top with some of the reserve "juice" to give the bread a sheen.

The bread is very mild in flavor, but super moist.

My kids have especially liked this bread sliced and toasted followed up with a smear of jelly (their current favorite is Crofter's Four Fruit)

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What I Ate and Baked

Here is my second week of "What I Ate Wednesday" hosted by Peas and Crayons

This Saturday I was in a baking mood and everything we consumed was made from scratch. 

It didn't take much extra time and I think everything tasted better.

To start the day of we had  Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients

1 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 C almond milk (I prefer Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax meal and 3 Tbsp water whisked together)

I mix my flax egg first and let it thicken while all of the other ingredients are combined.

Incorporate the flax egg and you are ready to put them in the pan.

I do want to add that we put a handful of chocolate chips in our pancakes to dress things up this weekend.  This makes a yummy addition and eliminates the need for any toppings on the pancakes (which equals less mess...at least with my children).

For lunch I whipped up a stromboli filled with vegetables from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

Chop the veggies you want to include.

For me I used

1 onion
1 zucchini
2 cups of mushrooms (shiitake and oyster)

Saute your veggies in Earth Balance until they are slightly brown (the carmelization adds greatly to the flavor).

While the veggies are cooking you need to roll out your dough (we made ours fresh...recipe below)

I then topped the dough with 3 cups of spinach (use a much or as little as you like)

Sprinkle on grated mozzarella cheese (again to your liking)

The top with sauteed veggies

Place the second half of dough on top and pinch the sides to close

I brushed the top with almond milk and then sprinkled garlic salt and parmesan cheese on top

Place in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes

I cooked mine on a pizza stone, but if you don't use a stone you'll need to grease the pan you use

Fresh from the oven



A yummy delicious slice.  Oozing with fresh veggies and melted cheese.

Dough Recipe

Ingredients
1 C warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
3 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Mix your water, yeast, and sugar.  Let sit for about 5 minutes while the yeast is activated.

When time is up add your flour and salt.  Don't add the flour all at one time just incorporate in manageable amounts (1/2 to 1 C at a time).

Dough will be sticky.

Place in a greased bowl (I used 1 Tbsp olive oil, but you could use Pam or another cooking spray if you like)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a warm dry place (I put mine out on a table of our backyard deck).

Punch down the dough and split into two halves. 

Roll each half out on a lightly floured surface.  Each half should make a "circle" (mine was rather oval shaped) about 10-12" in diameter.

If you get an opportunity please send me some love at Circle of Moms as I am in the top 25 for the Family Blogs.  I would greatly appreciate any support you could give.

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