Soup for the Sick

Chicken soup is the quintessential "sick" food. Always has been and always will be. When the kids or the hubs gets sick, they always request chicken soup. In the past, I've relied on pre-made stock or broth as the base for my soup, but I've honestly never been incredibly happy with it. There is a ton of sodium in canned or boxed stock and they add preservatives and who knows what all else. For some reason, I always thought that homemade stock or broth would be a pain to make and never really tried it. WELL, I finally found an easy yet incredibly flavorful recipe to use as a base for my soups. Guess where? Come on, guess...give up? Pioneer Woman, of course! Hyacinth's Chicken Soup is amazing! I mean it, a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Throw everything in the pot and simmer for a long long time. Easy! It does take a while to cool enough for the fat to coagulate at the top so that you can remove it (fatty chicken stock is just gross!) so, with that in mind, I would make it the day before you actually want to make soup. The only change I made to the original recipe is that I cracked the chicken bones before putting them back into the pot-a little tip I picked up by reading all of the comments on Pioneer Woman's blog. I always read the comments on recipes. People always leave suggestions on ways to improve the recipe or variations that they have made. It's one of the reasons that I love using the Internet for new recipes.

Anyway, after you make the broth, your possibilities are endless. You can use it in any soup you like. Little chic's favorite is chicken noodle with egg noodles. Always a good option when you're feeling under the weather. But, the last time I made the soup, I made my new favorite variation...matzo ball. I think matzo ball may be the best sick food around. Matzo balls are basically cracker dumplings which means they are soft enough for a sore throat and "crackery" enough to help soothe an upset stomach. I'm telling you, it's perfect!

One last thing before I go...my most wonderful and incredible doctor has started a blog that I think is chock full of great ideas and tips for healthy living! I've seen this same doctor for almost 20 years (wow that makes me feel old!)and one of the reasons that I really like him is that we share a passion for a more natural, chemical free lifestyle. On his blog, he's discussed all sorts of topics from red dye to grass fed beef. You should all check it out! Your Health, Your Life

Mushroom Risotto...hold the mushrooms

Yesterday I was really hungry for risotto. I knew that I had a bunch of mushrooms in the fridge, so I was planning to make it with mushrooms. I normally prep everything before I even turn to range on, but I was in a hurry last night and decided to chop as I went. Well, by the time I got to the "slice mushrooms" part, I found that my mushrooms had gotten all slimy and gross. Since I was already mid-risotto, I had to wing it. I cooked up some chicken and a few slices of bacon, caramelized some onions, and chopped up some frozen grilled eggplant and voila! - smoky balsamic chicken and eggplant risotto. At least that's what I'm calling it and if the hubs asks, it was totally intentional and no I did not waste the $5 container of mushrooms that he told me I would forget about!

The chics call it "the cheesy rice". Whatever. Big chic was thrilled that it was in her thermos, I mean Lunch Jar, today. I didn't take a photo of the thermos, cause, really, it wasn't that exciting. But, here it is in a bowl ready to eat.

She took a slice of French bread, and some white grape juice with her Lunch Jar AND she's buying a yogurt from the dining hall.

The Giada Lunch

Giada DeLaurentiis has a new book out called Giada at Home. Last night, I was lucky enough to go to her book signing to get my copy signed by the one and only shiny, sparkly Giada. It was a lot like the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode...have your ticket visible...move forward...open your book to the signing page...move to the right...hand Giada the book...move to the left.

Here's a photo that I took on my phone from the "photo opportunity spot" (which was NOT, btw, in the line or in any other location than that particular spot. Maybe she only likes to be photographed from her left side? I don't know.) I didn't take my camera cause I was trying to be all cool, ya know, so pardon the poor picture quality, but it's her...really, I swear! I wished I would have taken my camera cause everyone was snapping away. Anyway, my friend and I had a great time watching all the people in line and enjoying some time away from our kids!

So because I have a signed copy of the book now, I felt compelled to make something from the book tonight. The big chic flipped through it at breakfast and asked for the pea crostini, so that was one of our sides and then I decided on Chicken Milanese.

The big chic loved it all, so she is taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Seeded crackers, Pea crostini, Grapes, Chicken Milanese

I know the pea crostini looks a little questionable, but trust me...it is addicting. AND it's healthy. It's like hummus but with peas. The chics loved it so I think we'll be making it often! She's made the recipe on her show so the recipe is actually on the Food Network site. Here it is. Enjoy!

The "I'm a lame mom" lunch

This evening in my house the hubs walked in when I was packing this lunch up and says,"What's the theme of this lunch?" I shrugged and said, "It's the I'm tired and just wanna get a lunch made lunch." He said, "No, it should be called the I'm a lame mom lunch." Thanks babe! Geesh - everyone's a critic!

Coconut cake slice, Orange slices, Whole grain crackers, Coconut chicken tender (from Cent Mkt), Carrots and ranch dip.

Seriously, though, the big chic said that the past couple lunches haven't been very fancy or pretty, so I promised her that there would be some awesome lunches this week. She's crackin the whip so I better start planning!

Taco Salad Tuesday

Somehow I forgot to post yesterday's lunch?? The chic took a taco salad and some dark chocolate cookies that the hubs added to the Costco cart this weekend.


This salad was made up of all the leftover chicken taco ingredients from dinner the night before - chicken, lettuce, cheese, red peppers, tomatoes, etc...The dressing was sour cream that I thinned with milk. She loves sour cream!

Just a bit of leftovers...

We just got home from an all day shopping extravaganza. (Seriously...since 7:30 am, people!) Although I am exhausted, I still had to throw something together for lunch tomorrow. We had sushi and teriyaki chicken at dinner and this bit of teriyaki chicken is all that was left. I added some edamame to make it more filling.

Teriyaki chicken, Cinnamon pita chips, Valencia orange

Everyone have a great weekend!

Not Quite Goat Cheese Salad

Tomorrow's lunch is a bit of leftovers...

Cranberry pecan salad with honey "goat cheese" dressing, Panko crusted chicken drumstick, Cherry yogurt pretzels, Powerball

I started off with all intentions of making a salad tonight with a honey goat cheese dressing. I even went today and bought more spring mix. But when I came home and started scooping ingredients in the Magic Bullet (which is a blender, btw), I found that my goat cheese smelled a bit off. I'm a little freaky about the whole spoiled food thing. If there's a date on it, by golly it's goin in the trash that day. So, although the goat cheese said it didn't expire until December, I chunked it. I had to come up with a solution quick since almost all the other dressing ingredients were in the Magic Bullet and I wasn't wasting 2 tablespoons of very expensive wild honey that I had already measured out. So, I decided to substitute sour cream since it is similarly tangy. I measured it out, turned the blender on, and crossed my fingers. Although it wasn't as thick and creamy as goat cheese would have made it, the sour cream was a great "in a pinch" substitute.

We came across a sale on organic free range chicken drumsticks last weekend. I usually don't buy drumsticks, but I couldn't tell you why. The chics really loved them. I rolled them in a bit of a mustard concoction and breaded them with panko bread crumbs. Then I baked them on a rack so the whole coating would get crispy. They turned out really well. The little chic even ate two of them.

And to continue yesterday's camera tirade...my cracker submission got rejected on Foodgawker (as usual) due to shadowing. I thought it was a great picture, but what do I know? But it DID get published on Tastespotting! My dad is letting me keep the camera till the weekend so there will be plenty more gratuitous photos I'm sure! Just look at the pecans...oooooh...close up...