cheesy broccoli soup

This cheesy broccoli soup is such a comfort food to me! It totally met my expectations and was delicious. It is also a soup that you can make rather quickly. The best part is it doesn't call for any cream of cheddar condensed soup or anything like that. Granted, it isn't a low fat recipe, but it also doesn't have any creepy ingredients. I am keeping this recipe and adding it to my recipe binder for sure! Next time, I am thinking it would be great in homemade bread bowls. Mmmm!

Ingredients

• 1 16 ounce package of frozen organic broccoli
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups organic chicken broth
• 2 cups cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

1. Cook broccoli in microwave as directed on package
2. While broccoli cooks, melt butter in pot
3. Add onions and cook until they are translucent
4. Stir in four
5. Slowly add chicken broth and cream
6. Stir and cook until it thickens
7. Chop up broccoli if needed or desired
   
8. Add salt, cooked broccoli, and cheese
9. Continue to stir until ready to serve

alfredo sauce

We recently had some friends over for dinner and Chef Jeff made a delicious chicken alfredo pasta dish. My friend asked for the recipe for the alfredo sauce. It is NOT a low fat sauce, but it is delicious!

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound butter
• 1 cup cream
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in saucepan
2. Add cream
3. Add cheese
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Stir until smooth

It's delicious over pasta (for a meatless dish) or with cubed chicken!

Mango Salad Dressing

• Flesh of one mango
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 t. red wine vinegar
• 2 t. rice vinegar
• 2 t. olive oil
• dash of salt
• 1/4 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. dried basil
• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

Puree everything except for half of the basil until smooth. Then add the basil and enjoy with your favorite salad!

From Health-Foodie.com

squash covered pasta

Squash covered pasta. What can I say? I was scared to try it, frankly, and anticipated cold cereal for dinner following this culinary disaster. Boy was I wrong. THIS STUFF IS AMAZING. Amazing! So good that Ben (extreme squash hater) took it for lunch the next day, and the children (don't get me started on their hatred for all things vegetabley) thought it was macaroni and cheese and had second helpings. You do not like squash in any form? Try it try it, you'll conform! (wow that was clever)

Squash Pasta (adapted from Giada's Kitchen)

3 Tbs olive oil
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
3/4 to 1 cup whole milk
1 lb pasta (I used cellentani)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (very optional-- I didn't use it but it would be pretty for color)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (again, mostly for garnish and I actually preferred it without)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the squash, garlic, the salt, and the pepper (be careful not to burn your garlic). Saute until the squash is golden and tender, 5-7 minutes. Add broth, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook until squash is very soft, another 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a blender (BE CAREFUL, I've had hot things explode in there too many times) or food processor (or magic bullet) and puree until very smooth.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in salted boiling water until desired doneness.

Combine pasta, squash mixture, and 3/4 cup milk in a large pot. Stir to combine and heat through if necessary. Add remaining milk as desired to loosen the consistency. Add basil and cheese (if using), season to taste with salt and pepper and serve! I served mine with parmesan focaccia and green salad.

homemade ice cream

One of our goals for this year is that we can only eat ice cream if we make it ourselves. We've been doing just that! It saves us some money since ice cream is getting so expensive and it keeps us from eating as much since we have to take the time to make it. So far we've enjoyed some yummy flavors including peanut butter chocolate chip and peanut butter caramel cashew. We buy the cream at Costco for $2 or $3, everything else we have on hand usually. YUM!

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk to blend.
3. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.

Kitchen Aide Ice Cream Maker Directions

1. Set to stir for 15 minutes, add mix ins, let mix for another 5 minutes.
2. Transfer to another container and freeze

Chicken with Morels

I made the best food I've ever eaten on Sunday night. Seriously. Best. Food. Ever. I didn't take a photo because we were seriously too busy saying, "Are you kidding me?!" But there is a beautiful photo of it here. This is where I got the idea to make the recipe.

A few notes: I only used 1/2 ounce of morels. They are craaaaaazy expensive. I could only find them at Whole Foods and they were $15 for a 1/2 ounce. But if you think ahead you can order them on Amazon for half the price. But because I was only using 1/2 ounce I decided to follow the directions on the back of the package, simmer them in water, and strain the broth through a coffee filter (I did it twice) and use some of it for the wine. Apparently you can buy non-alcoholic wine, but I used used 3/4 cup of white grape juice and 1/4 cup morel broth in place of the wine and it tasted perfect. Also, I made my own creme fraiche (recipe follows). I did NOT however, clarify butter to brown the chicken. I used olive oil, because it was easier. I realize this sounds like a crazy amount of work, but seriously IT WAS THE BEST FOOD I'VE EVER EATEN. And I've eaten some good food. And the recipe is actually very easy if you plan ahead a little. I hope you'll try it for a special occasion. I served it with roasted potatoes and roasted acorn squash and it was the perfect meal to celebrate my parents arrival.

Anyway I'll just link to the recipe because then you can just print it out all nicely and such. Here it is!

Creme Fraiche

1 cup heavy cream
1 TBS buttermilk

Mix cream and buttermilk together in a glass container. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring 2 or 3 times. The mixture should be very similar to a loose sour cream when it's ready. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before using. Keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge.