Sick Day

I have been working and/or going to school all day, every day, since Monday.  Operating between the hours of 7a.m. and 11p.m, 12a.m., 1a.m, 2a.m.... you get the idea.  Well, I finally did it:  dragged myself into a flu. Running around trying to do everything, getting up early and going to bed late, not to mention sneaking candy out of the Halloween buckets did not result in healthy energetic me.  My head got groggy, my sinus filled up, my nose started to drip, headache followed and pretty soon I was almost in tears just from showering because my joints hurt so badly.  I'm sure you understand if you have chronic pain or disease how debilitating a simple cold can be, and when you live with joint pain and you get the flu, sometimes, there's just no possible way to accomplish movement.

With that in mind, and hopefully a nice bright healthy sunrise on the horizon, I threw together a simple, fast "pick me up soup."  Consider this the soup to throw in what you have, and don't worry about what you don't.  Try to go heavy on the garlic and ginger, if it's spicy warm, it will help soothe your throat and kick up  your immunities.

Meanwhile, get some rest, do NOT surf Pinterest all day and dream of how lovely your house will look when you win the million dollar lottery and how many nice things off Etsy you'll own - I assure you, this will not make you feel better - yes, experience talking here!  Pick up a book (I finally settled on my new crochet book,) indulge in your favorite tv series (lots of good ones nowadays,) and lay in bed or sleep.   When you need some food, toss together this healthy and warm soup, give yourself a break and know... someday, when the kids move out, the house will be spotless.

Before we get started:  drink lots of water.  And, as I list the ingredients DO NOT cringe and shun them!  If you are sick you need quick foods!  Healthy CAN be quick but shortcuts aren't always the best route (remember the microwave?!)

Pick Me Up Soup

1-2 cans of large chunk organic chicken (OKOK DON'T PANIC!)  if you don't have cooked chicken in the house, maybe this can be a fallback.  It's not terrible!  Just quick.  However, I buy "packets" of organic chicken at costco, they cook up pretty fast and I can refreeze them in bags already cooked.  That is another option.  About 4-8 ounces of cooked, cut up chicken.  That's the important part.  If you're allergic, use turkey, or no meat.  We're flexible, we're sick.  It's ok.

4-6 cups of water (heated to a low boil)
2-4 ounces of shredded ginger
2-4 cloves of garlic -  crushed or chopped (garlic powder works also! GO FOR SIMPLE! whatever works, if using powder - about 2 taBlespoons
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (organic is great, fresh is better, BUT we don't have a lot of time to chop, saute and wait around and we are sick, go for simple!)
1 taBlespoon of coconut oil (good oils for the brain function
2 taBlespoons of Organic Better Than Bouillon  - this is my favorite kitchen shortcut in the world... it tastes SO incredible, comes in vegetarian, but I use chicken flavor, has no gluten and tastes wonderful, add a little more if you want stronger flavor.
1 can of white beans, any kind you like or have laying around
2 teaspoons of fresh cracked pepper
You can throw in a few dashes of basil (or torn up leaves) if you like,
and some dried celery flakes if you like that sort of thing
throw in onion... dried flakes, or powder whatever you have about a taBlespoon.
OPTIONAL! very optional - one egg (with a separate bowl of cold water mixed with 1 TSP cornstarch.)  I'll tell you what that's all about

Here we go!

Get all of your spices together, oil and the bouillion, put them in the water and continue to low boil,  IF you want the egg... you're going to scramble it in a small bowl...Pour the cornstarch first and stir 3 minutes, then add the beaten egg slowly "dropping" drips of it into the boiling water and swirling gently with a spoon.  Next pour the veggies, chicken and beans into the soup.  Boil for 5 minutes or until piping hot and serve.  Whatever flavor you like the most... add as much as you like.  My measurements are for reference, if you love ginger (and I know someone who LOVES ginger) then put more.  If you hate onion, don't add onion.  This soup will work for you!

Easy, fast, simple, PICK ME UP soup!  Perfect for sore throats, sluggish colds and generally not having the energy to stand in the kitchen for an hour and cook.

And it's healthy.

Mostly.

Because really?

We didn't use the microwave.  =)

Free Friday - Soup!

I'm going to be sliding into home with this one today!  Welcome to June today!  Just barely made it to the computer to type all this up.  I've been obsessed with beds and bread today.  Baked two batches of bread... I'm sure you'll get to see that one soon enough!  Also, went and got the kids a new set of bunks.  We were one bed short for everyone to have their own, so I fixed that today.   Now, I just need the kids bedroom flooring to be installed, and I'll be cooking with gas!  Actually, that won't change at all how I cook, sadly, because if new floors equaled gas stove, I'd have done that long ago.   As it is, I'm impaired with an electric.  There was some discussion to switch the kitchen to gas, but the long and the short was it's expensive to convert like that plus it's not exactly going to add value to the house, especially in this economy.  Most people like the convenience of electric, unless they are serious chefs and understand the importance of gas, and that's still a fairly small market.

Onto Friday!  Busy day!  The kitchen is finally quiet after a day of bustle, the bed is stacked in boxes in the living room and my vacuum never showed.   My seller was very quick to get it out to the shipping company, but those people really took their time.  I realize the holiday weekend was last week and that probably slowed down, and subsequently, backed up shipping, but seriously, it shouldn't take 2 weeks coming from Arizona.   Look out if the box is damaged, oy vey.  However, today's idea was the fact that I've been filling my freezer with soups.  I love soups, easy to eat and fairly easy to make, today's soup is Bok Choy Shiitake mushroom.  I DID get this recipe from another website!  It's certainly no brainchild of mine, though I was considering taking on a challenge with leeks...

So, I can't say that there are a whole lot of recipes out there that I haven't seriously modifed - rejoice! today's our day, I changed almost nothing in this recipe!  Shocked?  Me too.  It's ridiculously rare for me to find a recipe and not turn it into a three ring circus, or at least some semblance of a messy kitchen.  I did change up some things though.  First, I made it gluten free (DO NOT follow her recipe exactly if you are wheat/gluten free!!!!  Please be aware!  Soy sauce has wheat in it.)  Secondly I had to substitute an ingredient I didn't have and add one I loved, and thirdly, I changed one of the steps.  There is a really neat secret to getting some good flavor into your soup.  I used an idea from a friend and soaked the mushrooms in some of the broth before cooking them - it greatly reduces the oil they absorb while cooking.  They pick up the flavor and then it basically cooks down when they are sautéeing in the pan.

Here we go!

This is the original recipe:  http://feralkitchen.com/2012/05/19/bok-choy-shiitake-mushroom-soup/


Bok Choy Shiitake Soup


About 1 medium/large head of bok choy - chopped
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
(3 ounces of grated ginger if you like)
2 tsp coconut oil
2 tBsp tamari sauce (you can find this in low sodium versions - I have some in my fridge right now!)
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes (OR szechuan pepper - which I did not have)
1 Quart low sodium chicken stock
salt/ pepper to taste
chopped chives to garnish


Start with a large sauce pan (6-8 quarts) with about 1/3 of the broth in it and the mushrooms.  Gradually raise the temperature to 'HOT'.  HAHA!  What a description!  Basically, you're not cooking the mushrooms, you want them to soak up the broth and they're ready to be taken out when they are too hot to touch, but NOT cooked!  Use a slotted spoon to get the mushrooms out, leave the broth in the pan, keep it at a simmer but be careful to not boil it all off.

While the sauce pan heats, place the oil and onion in the frying pan and cook till they are translucent.  Add the bok choy, mushrooms, ginger, tamari sauce and pepper flakes and cook about 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked.

Take all the ingredients from the frying pan and using a spatula, scrape every tiny bit of it into the saucepan.  Pour the rest of the broth in as well.  Heat to simmer and it's piping hot, ready to serve!

No, my pictures are nowhere near as amazing as hers.  I don't have my camera yet.  I am using a Samsung Galaxy S 5.0 mp3 player for a camera.  Takes pretty good pics for an mp3 player.  =)

Welcome to a great weekend!  Hope yours is filled with delicious eats and lots of relaxation!

Enjoy!

Tuesday is the New Monday

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend, and unlike me, was not too peeved at all the places that were closed.  It's good that people are spending time with their families and everyone is on vacation mode, but sometimes you really need to get ahold of the doctor!   Ah well, I survived and so did everyone else, so here we are on Monday.  Well.  Tuesday.  Remember the post where I said even when Monday is an off day, Tuesday will just step up and take it's place?  That's totally today.  I'm so exhausted from overworking the holiday, plus not sleeping well, plus not eating well.  Ick.  Completely went weekend warrior and decided to rip out carpet and clean the house like it's never seen a mop.  Maybe I should have tried baby steps?  Time to get back on track imo.

So this week's challenge I was going to post the hint was an interesting thing I found online.  I made them last night, they turned out golden brown and beautiful, but maybe I did something wrong, because they tasted awful.  I made zucchini fritters.  I'm convinced they need to be baked like a cake at this point to maximize the flavor.   Like you would with corn bread.  Anyway, I do not feel like sharing this recipe, so we'll go on to something more creative.  Or less hassle.  One of the two.  With last week's yogurt success, I'm still over the moon about it and want to make more and more.  LOL.   Perhaps it wouldn't be such a great food blog if I post the same yogurt recipe every week though?  So here, I'm digging around in the piles of paperwork at my desk, thinking, "Ok, where did I leave that list of things I want to share on the blog?"  Then I realize I'm in dire need of an organization makeover.  There's only so much paper you can swim through in a day before realizing you're not crossing the English Channel any time soon.  =)

So, thank you for your inspiration, I cleaned out the pile of papers next to my desk and here's the list.  Amazing how many I've shared already and how many more there are to go.  I've been so obsessed with soups lately.  It seems so easy to make a soup, or eat a soup or just enjoy soup.  Easy on the stomach, great for what ails you and packed with nutrients and flavor.  If you make your own, get low sodium broth, or use a low sodium soup base like I do.   That's not to say I'll never use broth, but you can control the flavor and salt content a bit more with the soup base.

There's your hint for the day!  SOUP!  See you Friday!

Purple on Free Friday!

Here is our next Free Friday! It's sometimes hard to deal with the gluten free sugar free life, and over this past week, I've found quite a few blogs (written light years more eloquently than mine) and more people who are reaching for no wheat. It seems I'm definitely not the only one who has realized that wheat should not be such a staple in our diet. Perhaps a facet of our diet, but certainly not the main show as it tends to be now. Refer to my first post if you'd like an idea of a 'typical' American diet. It's very wheat heavy. Nutrition experts encourage people to eat a varied diet to increase vitamin and mineral intake and maximize health benefits, with emphasis on colors. So, why do we insist on continuing the old government pyramid with 12 servings of 'grains' a day - this usually equals consuming breads, pastas, and any additives in sauces and foods you didn't really know about.

After cutting grains out of my diet, I was shocked at how much better I felt. Lethargy, grogginess, depression and join pains started fading. It was an amazing transformation which was not miraculous or extreme by any means, but enough to notice that this something different was a good change for me. This may not work for everyone, but imagine the next time you snack on a candy bar only to feel tired an hour later. The body is not designed to function on empty calories and sugar, but to store those when it has a chance because it's obviously a 'treat'. Our bodies know this and react accordingly.

Today's recipe will help combat that after dinner lethargy (or lunchtime sugar crash if you prefer!). And since I'm such a fan of purple, it's so fitting that today's meal actually IS purple. LOL.

To the best of my knowledge, this is my recipe. I have adapted it from a recipe my mother made for us as a kid, and I still make it today. No internet searches were involved in the making of this meal. =) My kids do not tend to like this meal much but do tolerate it well. If you have picky kids, perhaps this won't work so well, however, it's well worth the effort to freeze in containers and take when you're in a hurry. Also, this is perfect for a nice cold winter night.

Purple Soup

1 already cooked (leftover) ham - use the bone, meat around the bone and any extra you have, a few handfuls of leftover meat is great.

1 small head of purple cabbage

2 cans cannellini beans

1/2 onion

1/2 head of garlic

handful of chopped chives

Throw all the meat into a crock pot with the spices, add about 5 oz of water, put it on high, and walk away for about 6 hours.

Chop your cabbage into small chunks, about 1" cubes - add to the crock pot after the meat is falling off the bone and can be pulled apart easily. Also, add enough water to cover the meat and cabbage. Replace the lid, cook another 2 hours on high.

1 hour before serving, add the beans. They only need to be heated, but the longer they sit, the more purple they turn!

Salt and pepper to taste, serve hot. Goes well with a side of brie or sprinkled with some walnuts for some crunch.

Freezes wonderfully, put it in individual containers to pop in the freezer and grab when you're in a hurry but need a healthy lunch!

The perfect purple soup!