Whiteley Creek Homestead

My eyes fell upon this lasagna soup recipe on my daughter Jessie's Pinterest page. She had repinned it from another's Pinterest page, who had repinned it from another's… and so it goes. The trail led me to Brenda on her blog, A Farmgirl's Dabble. She had found the recipe in the February-April 2011 edition of "At Home with Kowalski's Magazine" from Kowalski's Markets, with nine locations in the Twin Cities area. The recipe was adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds. Flavorful and hearty. Perfect for a chilly November day.

Lasagna Soup

Makes 8 servings.

Soup:

2 tsp olive oil

1 ½ lbs Italian sausage (I used mild.)

3 c chopped onions (I used 1 large.)

4 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2.)

2 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ c finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I subbed 2 tsp dried
basil.)

2 tbsp tomato paste (I subbed mild salsa.)

1-28 oz can roasted diced tomatoes (I used 2-14.5 oz cans
Eden Organic Unpeeled Diced Tomatoes.)

2 bay leaves

6 c chicken stock (or broth)

8 oz mafalda or fusilli pasta (I used Eden Organic Kamut
Spirals + a little leftover E.O. Veggie Spirals.)

salt and pepper

Cheese mixture:

8 oz ricotta (I subbed 1 c cottage cheese.)

½ c grated Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp salt

pinch pepper

2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a soup pot. Add sausage, breaking up into
bite size pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until
softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and dried
basil. (If using fresh basil, the recipe states to stir in just before
serving.) Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste (or salsa) and stir well to
incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until tomato paste turns a rusty brown
color. Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked
pasta and cook according to package directions. Do not overcook, or let soup
simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and
absorb all the soup’s broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While the
pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese mixture. In a small bowl, combine the
ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, salt, and pepper. To serve place a
(large) dollop of the cheese mixture in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the
mozzarella, and ladle the hot soup over cheese to melt. (Alternately, you can place the cheese mixture on top of the soup to melt.)

 

A quick, little, nutrient-dense treat via Jami over at eatnourishing.com.

1)The recipe calls for coconut butter, but I had none, so I used coconut oil. A hot water bath quickly melts the coconut oil, but unmelted coconut oil mixes in easily, too. My favorite coconut oil is Earth Circle Organics Raw Cold-Pressed and I like Now Real Food brand almond flour because it is made from unblanched almonds. 2)A food processor does a fast job of chopping and mixing the ingredients. I especially like my mini food processor for small amounts, as in this recipe.

No Bake Coconut Almond Cookies

¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

¼ heaping cup almond flour

2 tbsp coconut butter, melted

1 tbsp maple syrup or raw honey

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp almond flavoring

1/8 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or food processor and mix well until completely combined. Form into balls. Optional additions: 2 tbsp raisins or dates + ½ tsp cinnamon. In addition to raisins and cinnamon, I added 1 tbsp peanut butter + 2 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds. If not using a food processor, finely chop additions before adding to mixture.  

Whenever Dick's and my travels bring us to St. Cloud (Minnesota), we have lunch at the Good Earth Food Co-op. Usually we choose soup, but most recently we had stuffed tomatoes. They were so very good that I decided to replicate them. My online search brought me to a stuffed peppers recipe on bettycrocker.com which I followed quite closely but subbed tomatoes for the green peppers. 

However, I needed specifics on 1)how long to bake tomatoes vs. green peppers and 2)what to do with the pulp from the hollowed out tomatoes. Satisfied with online answers to these two questions, I got busy in the kitchen. Success! A keeper. 

Stuffed Tomatoes with Rice and Meat

6 – 8 large tomatoes

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

1 large onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cooked brown rice

8 oz tomato sauce

1 tsp sea salt

Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook rice. Brown meat in a large skillet. When the pink has disappeared,
add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté about a
minute to soften but not browned. Slice tops off tomatoes. Use a paring knife
and a spoon to loosen and scoop out the tomato flesh (pulp). Be careful not to
pierce through the tomato skin. Process the pulp in a food processor until you
have a chunky liquid. Stand tomatoes upright in an oiled baking dish. Add rice,
tomato sauce, tomato pulp, and salt to meat. Bring to a simmer, then stuff tomatoes
with meat/rice mixture. Cover pan with aluminum foil. (Instead, I turned a glass baking dish upside down and used it for a cover.) Bake at 350° for 30–45 minutes. Remove from oven and
sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Today, after cleaning the chicken coop, I trimmed my sedums' dried stalks and spread mulch in three flower beds. Having happily spent the better part of the day outside in the crisp autumn air, and satisfied with my accomplishments, I thought a little chocolate would be good. A recipe I printed from the web site Eating Rules would be perfect. Oh, yes. It was. Beyond Perfect. Self restraint. Gone.

Homemade Chocolate

½ cup of either pure cocoa butter or virgin coconut oil (I used Earth Circle Organics raw coconut oil.)

½ – ¾ cup raw, ethically sourced cocoa powder (I used 1/3 cup Earth Circle Organics raw cacao powder.)

2 – 3 tbsp honey or maple syrup (I used 3 tbsp agave nectar.)

¼ tsp vanilla bean seeds (I used ½ tsp vanilla.)

Optional: unsweetened dried fruit or raw nuts, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and/or cardamom (I used ¼ cup chopped walnuts and no spices.)

Line a small loaf pan with two strips of parchment paper that wraps up the sides. (I used a little serving bowl. See photo.) In a small saucepan, melt the cocoa butter or coconut oil. (To retain the coconut oil’s raw state, I chose to warm it by placing a small bowl into a larger bowl of hot water.) When melted, add cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla. Stir until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add optional ingredients, if using. Refrigerate until firm, approximately two hours.

 

I try to feel compassion for others, but it just slipped through, as I selfishly thought, "Better him than me." Dick had a colonoscopy today. The procedure itself is unpleasant enough, but ooooooh. The prep beforehand. The best I could offer him was a healthy alternative to the Gatorade that the Miralax (polyethylene glycol) powder laxative is mixed into. Have you ever read Gatorade's ingredients label?  Water, sucrose, dextrose, citric acid, natural flavor (natural flavor does not necessarily ensure that natural ingredients are being used… it often takes many different chemicals to create natural flavor), salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, yellow 6 (orange flavored Gatorade), glycerol ester of rosin, and brominated vegetable oil. A 12 oz serving size contains 21 grams of sugar. It means that, during the two hour period recommended for consuming the 64 oz Gatorade/Miralax mixture, 112 grams of sugar are ingested. I learned from my Internet search that I am not alone in my quest for an alternative to Gatorade. Disappointedly, I wasn't able to discover an answer until… I intently, deliberately, focused my attention down the juice aisle at the Good Earth Food Co-op in St. Cloud. It was there that I found an R.W. Knudsen product called "Recharge" Flavored Sports Drink that looked suspiciously similar to Gatorade minus the scary stuff.

Ingredients: filtered water, white grape, orange, and lemon juice concentrates, natural flavor, sea salt, beta carotene (for color), and electrolytes. No sugar added (except what is naturally present in the fruit). An 8 oz serving size contains 17 g of sugar which is a total of 136 g of sugar in the recommended 64 oz mixed with Miralax. That's 24 g more than Gatorade, but it's sourced from fruits. During the colon cleanse, the purpose of the sugar is to supply an energy boost and help your body absorb the water and electrolytes as quickly as possible. The electrolytes prevent the risk of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. The Good Earth Food Co-op had another product called "Endure" Performance Electrolyte that could be added to fruit juice if you wanted to make your own Gatorade replacement.

The bottle recommends 2.5 tsp per gallon. Confirming the proper dosage with a doctor may be advisable. By the way, the entire pathway throughout Dick's colon looks healthy. No issues.

Some longtime friends were stopping by on this chilly autumn day. A perfect moment in time to try a new recipe torn from an October 2012 issue of Delicious Living Magazine that I had tossed into my shopping bag during a recent visit to our local food co-op. The recipe called for millet. 

I had never made apple crisp with millet. I gave it a whirl. Oh, yeah. I'd do it again.  

Millet Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish. (I used a casserole dish with a cover.) In a large bowl, toss four cored, unpeeled, thinly sliced apples (such as Gala), 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp arrowroot powder, and 2 tbsp natural cane sugar. Spread in baking dish. Very finely grind ¾ cup millet in a coffee grinder (as used for flaxseed); combine with ¾ cup rolled oats, 1/3 ¼ cup natural cane sugar, ¼ tsp sea salt, ½ ¼ cup melted coconut oil or butter (I used butter), and ¼ cup honey. Spread over apples. Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden and tender. Tent with foil if top browns too quickly. (I covered it with the casserole dish’s glass cover. After baking for 25 minutes, I removed the cover for the final 10 minutes to allow the topping to brown.) Serves 8.