COLD DAY = BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP AND BISCUITS

Today was a good day, but also a sad day. I had a wonderful, quick weekend with my family from the Lou and as they departed (sad)?, I am pretty sure the temperature dropped a million degrees (even sadder)- and I was quick for comforting. So calls a hot bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup and some simple dinner Biscuits gone healthy. Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

1c chopped celery

1c chopped carrot

4c broccoli florets (chopped to your preference) 1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 tbsp butter

5 tbsp all-purpose flour

3c vegetable broth

1c whole milk

1c mild cheddar cheese

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat and add garlic and onion. Cook until the onion is just translucent, 8-10 minutes. Then add flour and mix into a paste, be careful not to brown mixture. Combine milk and vegetable broth in a large mixing cup/bowl. Add about a cup of liquid mixture at time being sure to stir well between pours. You may want to turn down the heat to med-low for this step. Once all the liquid is incorporated add cheese and stir until completely melted. Then add vegetables and bring to a slow boil for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender, stirring intermittently. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Biscuits

Ingredients:

2c all-purpose flour (in my case 1c all purpose, 1/2c whole-wheat) 4 tbsp wheat germ (optional)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

5 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into cubes

7/8-1c greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl, then add butter and cut into dry mixture until it crumbles. You may have small pea-size lumps. You can cut this with either a fork or hand dough blender (cutter), but I am cheat and make these so often I use my food processor with the dough blade and pulse until incorporated. Then add greek yogurt. Pulse until the dough pulls together. Depending on the dough and method it could either ball up into one single dough ball or several little balls. Dump out onto a floured surface and knead 7-10 times Roll out to about 3/8" thickness and then cut into about 2" rounds.

Line cooking sheets with parchment paper and place biscuits spaced about 1/4"-1/2" apart. I top ours with a little bit of honey - have fun with it! Bake for 5-

7 minutes (mine take exactly 7, but depends on the oven) and enjoy! Great for dipping. 

Avocado and Paul Westerberg

​I had this dilemma the other day.  I couldn't decide what I loved more, dancing with my son to his father's very good taste in music (Paul Westerberg, from the former Replacements...in case you don't know...) or sharing multi-grain toasted bread with gi-normous avocado slices.  I decided that it was neither - it was both.

As we hung out before bed, getting our last set of dance moves in - we snuck in some toast and avocado and some fresh juiced (from our Juiceman, courtesy of Missy - Soren's Mamaw, psst - thank you!!! your grandson LOVES juice) carrots, orange, strawberries, pineapple and celery.  The babe can't get enough of this stuff.  As soon as he hears the switch of the juicer he comes running into the kitchen, screaming, 'eeeeee!' and signing please as fast and hard as he can!  I love it!

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So in answer to my conundrum. It was all of it and more that I fell in love with that day. And the day after - something different, like watching Soren make the connection between the chalk, color and concrete. There were lines all over our sidewalks! It was the best artwork I have seen yet. I can't wait to fall in love with motherhood more tomorrow!

Mariemont in top 20

What top 20? The top 20 planned neighborhood success of ALL TIME. This hood is not 20th or even 19th, but 12th! Here in Ohio!

Mariemont is, obviously - our next Cincinnati neighbor to visit and so far has been eye opening. I never thought too much about Mariemont other than being this quant, not even a square mile community canopied by trees - but now my perception has completely changed. If you are familiar at all with the Gilmore Girls hit sitcom from the CW (if you aren't - get on top of it! Some of the best sitcom writing EVER!), the neighborhood is a real life Stars Hollow. Down to the town meetings!

So far we have had the opportunity to speak with the Woman's Art and Cultural Center which is in quite possibly the coolest barn I have ever seen. This town is so rich with Cincinnati history and culture - just to give you a snid-bit, the barn alone was built by Mary Emery - who is the woman behind the planned community of Mariemont established in the 1920's, which was used as a model creamery at which both Linder brothers worked at. The barn then sat for a period of time and was bought by the Woman's Art Club and turned into an immaculate gallery space equipped with classrooms and A LOT of character.

We snagged a sweet snack for me (because of my ridiculous obsession with ice cream...) from Graeters, another Cincinnati business - and then off to a high energy interview with the Mayor of Mariemont, the village mind you. This is even cooler. The village convenes in a town meeting to nominate the Mayor and other major offices after each completed term. The nominees then have a month to campaign before the election. The election is between specific times for one day and there you have it - a Mayor - complete with a town crier! Love it! And of course we snagged lunch at Dilly Cafe or to others the Dilly Deli - amazing, good food. This is definitely going to be a one of a kind show that I think you will all enjoy!

THAI GREEN 'CHOW CHOW' CURRY

I love Thai curries!!! And what I love perhaps more than eating Thai curries, is smelling Thai curries. If you have ever made one, you know what I am talking about.

This is perhaps one of the most aromatic dishes I have ever concocted - including RAW Granola Bars! I must admit, it took a bit of searching for a starter recipe - but they are out there folks, and good ones, simple ones....

After eating the amazing Green Chow Chow Curry at GreenDog Cafe in Columbia-Tusculum, my taste buds couldn't wait another moment. I had to cook this dish. With a little help from about.com I was able to create a curry worthy of making again...and again, and again...

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3-4 cups spinach, washed and whole

8 oz mushrooms (we went with Crimini...love Crimini), sliced 1/2 cup vegetable broth

3/4 can coconut milk

For the Green Curry Paste:

1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced

1/4 can coconut milk

1-3 jalapeno (depending on your spice ability)

1 compressed cup chopped cilantro, leaves and stems 1 shallot, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic

1 thumb-size piece ginger, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon brown sugar

For the Curry Paste - which is definitely worth making on your own. After your first wiff of it, you will understand. I am a total cheat - no mortar and pestle for me, just the ole' food processor. Feel free to combine these ingredients by hand - I am sure that you will extract more flavor this way, but for those like me with limited time and young ones - a food processor does just fine. Combine all Green Curry Paste ingredients into the food processor and puree until you get a nice paste. It will have a slight chunk to it, but should be relatively smooth.

For the final dish. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add sliced mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until most of the water has evaporated (anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on the mushroom). Then add ALL the green curry. Cook for 2-4 minutes, once the aroma is realeased, add vegetable broth and bring to a low boil/simmer and add spinach. Stir until the mixture is fully incorporated. Add remaing 3/4 can of coconut milk. Stir and let simmer for 2-4 minutes (it's hard to wait because it looks and smells SO GOOD!)

We eat this over brown rice to 'healthy' it up a bit with a Socca Pancake on top ↴

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chickpea flour 1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil pinch of cumin

Whisk ingredients together. The consistency will be like watery pancake batter. If you have a good non-stick skillet you won't need a drizzle of olive oil, but if

your's strays on the side of sticky then you will want it. Pre-heat skillet over medium heat. Pour a 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side and enjoy!

VEGGIE BAKED ZITI

I am going to get this out before moving on - I am almost certain, that this should be categorized as comfort food. However, it is pretty delicious and I guess no that unhealthy. I mean, you are making your own alfredo AND in this case it is a veggie sauce...so not that bad, right?

However, this is a great go-to dish when, in our case, you have some left-over, really tasty spaghetti sauce in the fridge. If you like cheese, you will like this version. If you are looking for something a little less rich, feel free to cut the Alfredo Sauce in half.​

Ingredients:

For Alfredo (feel free to cut this in half, this is A LOT of alfredo and should be used with 1 lb pasta):

1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese (plus more for the top) 3 tablespoons butter

3 loosely packed tablespoons flour

1  cup milk (in our case, whole milk - yeeks!)

dash of ground nutmeg salt/pepper to taste The Rest:

12 ounces spaghetti sauce (the thicker, the better) - we used Local Folk's Foods Veggie Sauce

8 oz shells or ziti noodles (we choose whole-wheat, adds a nutty flavor)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook noodles, but be sure to undercook by a couple minutes. This will prevent them from becoming to soppy after the baking process. During, or after (in the same saucepan, hate washing dishes + small galley kitchen = pan consolidation) in a saucepan, melt butter on medium-low heat. Once melted, slowly add flour while stirring. This is a delicate process, lower heat if it starts to burn. Add milk about a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring or whisking between pours. The milk will ball up after the first couple pours, continuing adding and whisking. You should end up with a nice smooth, custardy texture. Then add Parmesan and stir until fully incorporated.

Add the noodles to the alfredo. To create the ziti, I used a bread loaf pan - which I must admit, was not my idea. It stemmed from the Eatons making us frozen lasagne meals in preparation for Soren's birth - and then Rick used our loaf pans to make TWO separate zitis instead of one HUGE one. They are all geniuses. I digress - Pour half of the noodle mixture into the pan. Then spread marinara/spaghetti sauce on top. Pour other half of noodle mixture and finish with remaining spaghetti/marinara sauce. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan (and for me - a few breadcrumbs for extra crunch!). Bake for 20-30 minutes. Depending on how much crunch you like depends on how long you cook. I go for the full 30!

Serve hot and enjoy!

I would be remiss not to mention my little helper munching on strawberries. Stirring and straining imaginary pasta - his cuteness makes the dish that much better! 

*For a simple veggie spaghetti filler here is Mark Bittman's Ziti Tomato sauce, Rick loves this one and is quite good at making it:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound mushrooms (I LOVE mushrooms, our sauce was a mushroom base as well!)

1 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon garlic

1 28oz can tomatoes

(now, this will make enough for two loaf pans, or in our case = one loaf pan ziti + 15 pizza empanadas....)

Put olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften, release their water, and then begin to dry again. About 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until veggies soften - about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn heat down so mixture bubbles gently. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Simple - but tasty!