Weekend Soup Specials

I read about this idea somewhere else a while back, and don’t recall where I read it, so oops – no hat tip to whomever posted it somewhere, but it was a great tip!

Place a container in the refridgerator and through the week, rather than toss the scraps of fresh, raw food into garbage, instead place in the container (onion ends, carrot ends, cabbage cores, shavings from potatoes, etc).  The scraps will add up and at the end of the week, cook them up in large pan with water for 20 minutes or so and you will have the makings of soup stock.  Drain the liquid via strainer into bowl, saving the liquid and discarding the now cooked scraps.

You can now use the soup stock to make soups, adding fresh raw food ingredients, ie, onions, potatoes, carrots, root vegetables, pasta, macaroni, beans, grains like barley or bulghur.

In the summer months, when I’m working on my vegetable garden, all the saved scraps go into compost bin.  In winter, though, here in Pacific Northwest, where it rains more than there is sun, I don’t work the compost, and it almost hurts to discard scraps of fresh, raw food into the garbage.  Finding another way to use the scraps to make weekender soups in the colder months is a workable idea for us.

I’ve made soups the last 2 weekenders using this idea and I call them surprise soups because not sure what I’m going to get for soup stock.   For example, I had used several apples one week, so had apple peelings, along with cabbage core.  I knew the soup stock , using these scraps would be on the sweet side,  so I wanted to make a kind of curry or ginger winter squash soup on the order of pumpkin soup.  That way I could use up some of my left over summer squash as well.   This week, I had carrot peelings, another cabbage core, and I had pulled fresh beets from the garden so tossed in the leave stocks, knowing it will produce a red, root vegetable flavored stock.  I will be adding tomato base and something along the order of potatoes, carrots, beans and make a version of vegetable type soup.

Chocolate Chili Pudding

My dear husband, Sweetie, likes to amuse people with the threat of making jalapeno brownies whenever we are asked to bring something for a potluck. Well, I didn’t find a recipe for jalapeno brownies, and he actually did make some one, adding jalapeno. It didn’t taste bad at all. Here, though, I found a recipe for chocolate chile pudding. Sounds interesting;

 

Chocolate Chili Pudding

This pudding takes no longer to make from scratch than
commercial cooked puddings, and is great tasting too!
Both chili and chocolate are herbs!  Modest amounts of
this great tasting gem also has all their nice health benefits
(antioxidants, nutrients etc.).

1/4 cup cornstarch
7 tablespoons sugar
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I like Hershey's brand-richer)
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1+ teaspoon chili powder
(or to taste and strength!), plus more for topping

Combine cornstarch and sugar in heavy sauce pan. Whisk in
milk until smooth. Add chili powder. Bring to boil over medium
high heat until thickened-stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Add butter and vanilla. Pour into bowls or pan. Cool, just before
serving dust very lightly with more chili powder if desired, and
enjoy.

A few recipes to get started

^{Albondigas Soup Recipe}

^{Preparation time: 1 hour.}

^{This Spanish meatball soup was a family favorite growing up. Not an appetizer, always a main course, either for lunch or dinner. “Albondigas” means “meatballs” in Spanish, and the trick to perfect albondigas soup is to put chopped mint leaves into the meatballs. The mint is what gives an albondigas soup meatball its unique flavor.}

^{2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)}

^{2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 lb of string beans, cut into 1 inch pieces}

^{1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup of raw white rice
1 raw egg
1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves and/or parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper}

^{1/1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
Dried oregano, crumbled
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro}

^{Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth mixture. Bring to boil and simmer. Add carrots and string beans.}

^{Prepare meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint land parsley leaves, salt and pepper. Add raw egg. Form beef into 1-inch meatballs. Return soup to gentle simmer. Add meatballs to soup. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish soup with chopped fresh cilantro.}

^{Serves 6-8.}

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Freezer Egg “McMuffins” Sandwiches

Ingredients:A dozen eggs
12 english muffins
Any deli ham about 1 lb. or less
Sliced cheese, cheddar or yellow American
Directions:

Fry all the eggs in 1 big pan, then slice english muffins in
half.

Put cheese on one muffin half then ham on the other and broil in
oven until they are lightly cooked.

Then put egg on one side of the cooked muffin, let cool a bit.
Then wrap each one in foil and put in freezer.

When you are ready to cook an egg sandwich, remove foil and wrap
in a paper towel and cook for about 90 seconds in the microwave.

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<sup>Indian Pudding Recipe

With ingredients like cornmeal, milk, eggs, and molasses, there must be some story to do with the early settlers and the American Indians,
6 cups of milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 cup seedless grapes
Heavy cream, whipped with at touch of vanillaThe recipe calls to scald the milk and butter in a large double boiler. (I found this very time consuming, so instead I heated the milk for 5 or 6 minutes on high heat in the microwave, until it was boiling, then I transfered it to a pot on the stove on medium high heat.) While the milk is heating, Mix cornmeal, flour, and salt; stir in molasses.</sup>

^{Thin the mixture with about 1/2 cup of scalded milk, then gradually add the mixture back to the large pot of scalded milk. Cook, stirring until thickened. Pour over the other ingredients mixed together in a casserole – eggs, sugar, spices. Stir until smooth. Stir in the raisins and bake for 2 hours at 250 degrees F. The pudding must cool about an hour to be at its best. It should be reheated to warm temperature if it has been chilled. Serve with whipped cream. Yield: 8-10 servings.}

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Roasted Breakfast Potatoes
Ingredients:Baker Potatoes
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika
Dried Parsley
Black Pepper
White Pepper
Oil (Flavored Works Great!)Directions:

The amounts for this recipe vary with taste and serving size,
feel free to add more or less.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Chop potatoes into small chunks,
put in bowl. Add spices and oil and mix well. Spread on a baking
sheet and throw in the oven.

It usually takes 20 minutes for them to brown, but check them
often.

A few hints to get started

 

An old sink mat goes to use in the garden

Use for an old sink mat. Clean it and turn it over and noticethat the wholes were
evenly spaced (funny how it wasn’t as obvious on the “right” side). Use it in the garden to plant seeds -a built in weed barrier.

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Hot Lemon DrinkBoil 8 oz. of water and place in your coffee mug. Add 1 large
slice of fresh lemon to the mug. Add sugar and/or honey as
desired. Really warms the tummy on a cold winter day. Enjoy.

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Wine Cork Recipe Card HolderAn inexpensive recipe card holder is a plain little cork. Just
cut a slit into the narrow end of the cork at a slight angle.
Then slide your recipe card into the slit. You will be able to
follow your recipe easily and it will keep your card clean.

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Pantyhose Punching BagMake a punching bag by putting a soccer ball into the waist
section of a pair of pantyhose. Knot the waist. Using the legs,
tie it to a hook or a beam. Now start punching.

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Keeping Children’s Art from FadingSpray your child’s art work with hairspray to keep it from fading
or getting dusty.

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Make a trellis for your climbing plant (indoor or out). Shape the
triangular part of a clothes hanger into any shape you like, then
straighten the hook. Stick the straightened hook into the soil
then train your plant around the the wire.You can also use tomato cages for ivys and either wrap them up and down or around and around.

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Freshening a Stinky MicrowaveHave a stinky microwave? Just quarter a lemon and put it in a
microwave-safe dish along with some water and cook on high for 2
minutes.

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Moisturize your feet and put socks on overnight. As you sleep and
your pores open you will absorb the moisture and retain it.The next day your feet will feel very soft.

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For a quick clean up of the stove handles/knobs, wipe with white
distilled vinegar it is a natural degreaser and works great.Add a little vinegar to dishwater you will be amazed how
effective it can be to help with the grease.