Recipes with Rachel, September edition

Rach and I decided to cut our weekly recipe adventure down to two per month. Cheaper and more realistic! September’s recipes were Miso soup and granola.

I already blogged about the Miso soup (cause I only blog about soup these days . . .) so we'll move on to the granola!

Chunky date, coconut and almond granola was enjoyed by all this past week. It was fantastic! I’ve made it twice in the last few days. We had a Fallidays family soup night on Friday and enjoyed the granola with fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream for dessert! On Sunday I made a double batch – just used up the rest of the nuts and dates and had more oats than chunks – to share with my visiting teaching sisters. We’re in love with the granola, although we are still trying to get the perfect balance of the spices. McKay thought the first batch had too much cinnamon, and I think this one has too much allspice! But we’ll definitely keep making this one and I’m sure we’ll get it down.

fall fun

So all my posts seem to be about soup lately . . . and I promise this is the last mention I'll make of it for a while (hopefully!).

This past Friday we had Fallidays Soup Night with our family in the area. It was a total blast with delicious soups and great company. The kiddos stayed for one of our famous sleepovers.

This particular sleepover was great parent prep! With school in full swing the kids are pretty wiped out by Friday night. This manifest itself differently with each kid. The older ones got ultra hyper right around bed time (with some help from McKay - a kid at heart) and the younger ones started having meltdowns, with tears. Sweet Abbie couldn't handle the noise from the older, sugar blasted kids and went upstairs to our room to sleep. Spencer, the youngest somehow made it to the sleepover without pajamas and . . . his pull-up. Fortunately for me, I had just purchased the water-proof mattress protector for our crib, so I resourcefully covered the couch with it and put him in the smallest pair of my shorts I could find. With the drawstring cinched to the max, and my alarm set for a middle of the night potty-run, we finally got everyone to sleep.

When the midnight potty run came, I discovered that Spencer doesn't really wake up in the middle of the night very easily. Even when I helped him get to his feet he plopped back to the couch, never opening his eyes. Tired myself, and not super fit for carrying a five-year old to the pot, I just threw in the towel. I figured he'd be fine.

At 5:30 am there he was, with older cousin in tow, crying by my bed. He wanted daddy. And he was all wet. By some miracle he had rolled off the couch to the floor, taking the mattress protector with him before he watered himself. With no damage to the couch OR the floor I happily tossed his clothes and blanket in the washer, and tucked him back in bed.

Everything was peaceful for the rest of the night. We enjoyed Kung Fu Panda, german pancakes and scrambled eggs before trucking the kiddies back home for Spencer's birthday party.

All in all it was a great weekend, with some great stories to go along with it!

soup week round-up

Here's just a quick follow-up post on our final days of soup week.

First, this will definitely become a Fallidays tradition! It was so much fun trying out new recipes and eating delicious, hot meals each night for dinner. Some nights we didn't eat until ten! And other days I was able to make some stuff in the afternoon so the process wasn't so long once we both got home in the evening.

Here are the soup ratings:

#1 TOP FAVORITE SOUP- Butternut Squash with Red Pepper Puree

this soup was amazing! The soup by itself isn't anything to write home about. But dash in the pepper puree and you have something magical. Because it was the winning soup, I'll include the recipe below, including my tweaks.

Second Favorite Soup- Tortilla soup with chicken and lime

this was flavorful and delicious. By using chicken broth instead of water, adding a can of corn and black beans and then topping with avocado and sour cream, we turned this soup into a delectable feast. And it was even better as leftovers!

#3 soup- A toss-up. The minestrone, the potato broccoli, and the clam chowder were all delicious. The clam chowder needed a tiny bit of tweaking - fewer and smaller clams mainly, but the flavor was incredible.

The Miso definitely took last place, but not because it wasn't good. Mostly because it was an experimental soup with a lot of changes that we would make to it next time. But I'm glad I know how to make a tasty miso soup base, and I have plenty of miso paste for future use (and wonton wrappers . . . now for a good wonton recipe).

This week was a blast! We are hosting a family soup night next weekend and I'm planning on making the butternut squash soup for it. Yum!

Butternut Squash Soup with Red Pepper Puree

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/4 cups chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 2 1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 5 1/2 cups (or more) vegetable broth

• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

*I roasted the butternut squash first. I followed this girls helpful instructions on how to roast it, then I continued with the recipe

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add squash and 5 1/2 cups broth; bring to boil (I would start with a little less broth and add more later if you want the soup thinner).

Reduce heat; cover and simmer until squash is soft, about 40 minutes (doesn't take this long if you roast the squash first).

Cool slightly.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return puree to pot. Add 1 teaspoon thyme and orange peel. Thin soup with more broth if desired. Simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and chill. Rewarm before serving, thinning with more broth if desired.)

Ladle soup into bowls. Swirl 1 tablespoon Roasted Red Pepper Puree into soup in each bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons thyme and serve with puree:

Roasted Red Pepper Puree

1 cup coarsely chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Puree all ingredients in processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

I ended up seasoning the soup with a bit more orange and thyme - but I'm telling you - the puree makes all the difference. You'll taste the base soup and wonder what it's missing. Then you'll add the pepper and be in heaven. Get a hearty bread to enjoy with this soup and love your life!

soup week!

(New England Clam Chowder, via Epicurious)

In honor of Fall, this past week has been soup week at our house. I have made a different soup each night of the week and it has been delicious and fun to try out new recipes! Some fun highlights include: my first experience using cooking wine, and somehow setting the pan on fire that contained the wine the first night using it! Big flames, no damage, pretty cool! Because there are only two of us, we have been chowing soup for lunches and snacks as well as dinner. Good thing we love soup!

So far we've enjoyed:

Potato Broccoli Soup (recipe below)

New England Clam Chowder

Tortilla Soup with Chicken and Lime

and Minestrone with Basil

(check out the reviews on all of these - most have some minor tweaks that add flavor - typically using chicken/veggie broth instead of water)

So far all have been wonderful, but the tortilla has been the favorite. We have two soups left - probably the most unique and experimental of the group!

A Butternut Squash soup and a Miso soup. We'll see how they go.

Potato Broccoli Soup

3 cups cubed peeled potato (about 1 pound)

1 cup fresh broccoli

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1 can (14.5 ounce) chicken broth

1.5 cups milk

3 Tbs all-purpose flour

6 ounces light Velveeta, cubed

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes

2. Combine milk and flour, stirring until smooth. Add milk mixture and cheese to vegetable mixture in pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until cheese melts and mixture thickens.

Cozy up with a bowl of one of these delightful concoctions! Happy Fall!

wild woman

I survived my 3.5 day camping excursion with flying colors! We had a really great time . . . but I don't know if I could have done another night on that small air mattress.

Our adventure started on Wednesday night when we met up at McKay's parents house to pack all our stuff. You should know that McKay's mom, Monta, is a legit backpacker. As in all your equipment (tent, sleeping bag, food, stove, cooking gear, water purifier, chair, etc.) is packed on your back as you hike from campsite to campsite for days and days. She even brings her own sprouting containers so she can sprout greens for her meals along the way. Intense! So this trip was lux living for her. We drove to the Uintas on Friday evening and walked a mile in to our campsite. My pack was about 20 pounds - not too bad. And I looked super hard core! The hike wasn't bad - but I was getting tired by the end of the mile!

Our campsite was gorgeous! We stayed at a lake surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery. The first couple nights were comfortable and not too cold. McKay took the cousins rock climbing all day both days, which was a blast. I sat and read and dipped my feet in the cold lake and snapped pics while the rest of the crew scaled the rock faces.

Preparing the ropes

Jumping off the rocks into the lake

Monta found the most incredible giant marshmallows - like three times the normal size - which we used to make enormous and gooey s'mores.

We had freeze-dried dinners (lightweight to pack, and actually not bad tasting!). I even dug holes behind trees when I needed to do my business. It was the real deal!

The second day we were there a big group of hikers came passing through and stopped at the lake for a while. As I looked closer at our new friends, I realized that I recognized everyone! Three families from my hometown/high school/children's choir were on a trip together! So I caught up a bit with the Bradley's, Clare's and Darling's. What are the odds, right? Seeing people I haven't seen in 5+ years in all my wilderness glory (crazy hair/make-up) was pretty fun! And later that day, Rob (McKay's dad) taught me how to skip rocks - and I did it!! I've never been able to, and it seems like all boys are born skipping rocks. Well, that day has come for me. I was a huge success!!

The last night camping was freezing cold! McKay left his meal tin soaking . . . and the next morning . . .

The freezing wind wouldn't die down so we packed as fast as we could and headed out. We stopped for lunch at Dick's - the perfect small-town burger joint in Kamas and a Uintas tradition - and pounded burgers, fries and shakes.

It was a weekend to be remembered! And, our shower and bed has never looked as good as it did on Monday afternoon when we returned home, tired, sunburned and dirty. Good memories.