Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 red potatoes, diced 1 cups milk

2 head broccoli, chopped 3 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded

5 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

Pinch black pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Add veggies to crockpot: If you haven’t already, get chopping! Chop up all your veggies and place them in the crock pot. Add the chicken broth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (if using).

2. Cook the veggies: Cook the veggie mix on High for 2-3 hours OR on Low for 5-6 hours.

3. Blend it up: Place all the contents of the crockpot in a food processor or immersion blender. Blend until smooth. Return mix to crockpot.

4. Add the dairy: Stir in the milk and cheese.

5. Cover and heat: Let the mixture heat back up (about ten minutes) and serve!

Corn Bread

Corn Bread

½ cup butter (softened) 2 cups wheat flour

1 cup sugar ¼ cup flax seed

2 eggs ½ cup cornmeal

1 cup milk 1 Tbsp baking powder

¼ cup honey ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Prep Work: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Mix the wet stuff: In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and eggs together. Then add the milk and honey and mix well.

3. Sift the dry stuff: Add the flour, flaxseed, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and baking soda to your sifter. Then sift directly into the bowl.

4. Mix together: Mix all the wet and dry together.

5. Optional Step: Mix in ⅔ cup corn. This is delicious! Unfortunately my picky two-year-old was not a fan. So this is here for the future!

6. Bake: Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Apple-Blueberry Pudding Cake

Apple-Blueberry Pudding Cake

3 medium sized gala apples                                             ½ cup milk

¼ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)                                 2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional)                                               1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup dried blueberries                                                 1 cup caramel chips

1 cup all-purpose flour                                                   ½ cup water

¾ cup packed brown sugar                                            1 tablespoon butter    

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

Directions:

1.   Prep work: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a two quart square baking dish. Peel and core apples and then slice into thin slices.

2.   Prepare the bottom layer: In a small bowl combine apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and blueberries. Then arrange them in the bottom of the baking dish.

3.   Prepare the cake: In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. In a liquid measuring combine milk, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and the vanilla. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix well. Spread this batter evenly over the apple and blueberry mixture.

4.   Make the caramel sauce: In a saucepan combine caramel chips, water and the 1 tablespoon of butter. Bring this mixture to boiling. Then pour mixture over the batter in baking dish.

5.   Bake and serve: Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until set in the center (lightly touch the center with your finger, if it springs back, it is done). Serve warm. It is super yummy to spoon it out into a bowl, and serve with vanilla ice cream (or topped with whipped cream).

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup

4 Tbsp butter                                               ½ tsp kosher salt

4 cloves of garlic, minced                             ½ tsp parsley

½ cup minced mushrooms                             ½ tsp oregano

1/3 cup flour                                                 ½ tsp basil

1 cup chicken broth                                     ½ tsp rosemary

½ cup whole milk

Directions:

1.   Sauté garlic and mushrooms: Melt butter in a small skillet. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.

2.   Make a roux: Sprinkle flour and let cook for a minute or two (it will be pretty thick). Then whisk in the whole milk, chicken broth, salt, parsley, oregano, basil and rosemary until smooth.

3.   Thicken soup: Bring to a simmer and cook until it has thickened (about 5-8 minutes).

Notes: For cream of chicken, just omit the mushrooms. For cream of celery, substitute 2 celery stalks for the mushrooms.

Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

2 recipes pie crust (whole wheat)                                   ½ cup flour

4 cups chicken stock                                                     1/3 cup oil

2 lbs chicken                                                                 1 tsp salt

4 medium carrots, sliced                                                1 tsp parsley

8 white mushrooms, minced                                           ½ tsp thyme

2 medium red potatoes, cubed                                       ½ tsp sage

2 stalks celery, sliced                                                     1 egg

4 cloves garlic, minced                                                   2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1.   Prepare the crusts: If you haven’t already, make out two full recipes of whole wheat pie crusts (or use your favorite recipe). This recipe makes two pies, so you will want enough for two pies worth (2 tops, 2 bottoms). Roll out the pie crusts to fit two pies.

2.   Make the filling: In a large soup pot, bring the stock to a boil. Add the chicken to the broth, and bring back to a boil. Then simmer for 5 minutes. Add vegetables and bring back to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are fork tender.

3.   Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

4.   Thicken the filling: Combine flour and oil in a small skillet and cook for about 3 minutes (until they form smooth paste). Next, ladle a cup of broth into the skillet of flour mixture. Stir until the mixture is thick and smooth.

5.   Combine the filling and thickened sauce: Pour the thickened flour mixture into the large pot with the chicken and vegetable mixture. Add spices. Mix well.

6.   Finish the pie and bake: Pour the mixture into the pies. Roll out the remainder of the pie crusts and fit the top of the pies and seal the pies. Mix the egg and water together in a small bowl and brush the pies with this mixture (this will make it more flaky). Poke a few holes in the top for ventilation. Bake, uncovered for about 30 minutes.

Notes: This recipe makes two pies. So you can easily make them both up, and bake the first, and cover the second, freeze it, and then later thaw and bake it. Hello easy dinner idea!

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

For the cookies:                                                  For the icing:

¾ cup butter, softened                                          1 cup powdered sugar

1 ½ cups white sugar                                              4 tsp milk

2 eggs                                                                     1 tsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract                                               1 tsp almond extract

2 ½ cups all purpose flour                                      food coloring

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Directions:

Cookies:

1.   Make the dough: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar (using a hand mixer on a low setting) until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.

2.   Chill the dough: Cover the bowl with saran wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or overnight.

3.   Roll them out and bake: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and roll the dough out onto the parchment paper. Sprinkle the paper with powdered sugar and use powdered sugar instead of flour to keep the dough from sticking as you roll it out. Make it about ¼ inch thick. Cut out the shapes and pull the excess dough off. These will still spread a little, so don’t put them too close together. Bake for about 6-8 minutes and let them cool completely. Makes about 30 cookies.

Icing:

1.   Make the icing: In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and the milk together (using a hand mixer) until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thin, add more corn syrup. If it is too thick, add more milk.

2.   Add the color: Add whatever color you want to the bowl and mix.  

3.   Frost: You will want to frost the cookies with a base layer and let them completely dry. Then you can make up a batch of frosting and separate them into small bowls with different colors for cute designs.

Trail Mix

Trail Mix

2 cups granola

2 cups dried banana slices

1 cup dried blueberries

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup caramel bits

Directions:

1.   Mix ingredients: In a large bowl, add all the items and mix.

2.   Store: I like to store this in a one quart Pyrex bowl with a lid and just grab out a bunch to eat. You could also store it in a large Ziploc baggie, or in several small baggies.

3.   Enjoy J

Notes: 

You can experiment by adding pumpkin seeds or dried coconut, though we didn’t like them as much, so we changed the ingredients after the above picture was taken. You can also do nuts instead of seeds, our family is allergic to nuts though.